This Review discusses the diversity of cell envelope architectures across major bacterial phyla and highlights conserved features found in diderm lineages.

In this Review, the authors discuss fungal pathogen–host interactions with a focus on phagocytosis and intracellular processing of pathogens within phagosomes. They also outline potential therapeutic approaches for targeting intraphagosomal pathogens.

A microbially derived bile acid, taurolithocholic acid, limits viral replication, host inflammation and ferroptosis during infection with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus, an emerging tick-borne haemorrhagic fever virus.

Primary colonization by microbial communities dominated by Bifidobacteria contribute to stable gut microbiota assembly and long-term pathogen resistance in neonates.

CRISPR–Cas9 screens in primary CD4⁺ T cells enable identification of SLC35A2 as a host factor that restricts CXCR4-tropic HIV-1 viral entry and promotes that of CCR5-tropic viruses.

Murine parainfluenza virus (Sendai) persists and imprints lung innate immune cells, leaving long-lasting transcriptomic alterations associated with type-2 inflammation and development of chronic lung diseases.

A multi-omics investigation at Sweden’s Stordalen Mire shows that microbial dynamics and metabolites must be taken into account to predict ecosystem responses to environmental change.

Surveying next generation sequencing capabilities in 13 Asian countries identifies challenges to be met for improved implementation, pathogen surveillance and integration into public health decision-making.

Specialized Listeria monocytogenes subpopulations produce high quantities of densely packed tailocins to confer a population-level advantage against kin competitors.

Bismuth-based drugs combined with antibiotics enhance efficacy against multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa by disrupting bacterial iron homeostasis and electron transport.

We provide a brief insight into our roles as professional journal editors to facilitate mutually respectful relationships between scientists and editors.

Thomas Mettenleiter was president of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut for 27 years and retired in June 2023. Looking back, he reflects on events around and following the reunification of Germany that changed his career path.

Julie Chih-yu Chen is the head of Data Sciences at the National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba, Canada. She develops and applies statistical and machine learning techniques to diverse omics data related to infectious disease.

Persistence of the transcriptionally active HIV reservoir has important implications for people living with HIV, including chronic immune activation and inflammation. Supplementing antiretroviral therapy with transcriptional inhibitors could overcome this by silencing the transcriptionally active HIV reservoir.

To successfully tackle the current mpox public-health emergency, we must learn from past outbreaks to focus research questions and take collaborative action.

Moving from academia to government was challenging, but learning to translate evidence-based results into policy decisions that impact society is hugely rewarding, writes Robin May.