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A viral infection can reduce expression of a host phosphatase that would otherwise dampen the oncogenic activity of a bacterial virulence factor. The results suggest a possible mechanism for cooperation of infections in the development of stomach cancer.
Because of their ability to biochemically transform their growing environments, microorganisms are playing a new creative role as a culinary tool, enabling both professional and amateur cooks to create entirely new flavours from existing ingredients.
Global phylogenetic analyses of Shigella dysenteriae isolates uncover the transcontinental transmission events and evolution of antibiotic resistance behind the major dysentery epidemics in the modern era.
Influenza A virus polymerase has a β-hairpin in the thumb subdomain, which is shown to be essential for the initiation of viral replication, but auxiliary for other replicative steps and viral transcription.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have traditionally been considered an ancient asexual lineage. Comparative genomic analyses of Rhizophagus irregularis provides evidence of sexual reproduction in these fungi.
The mosquito gut microbiome utilizes C-type lectins to evade the bactericidal capacity of host-derived antimicrobial peptides, providing a mechanism for microbiome-induced manipulation of host immunity and maintenance of gut homeostasis.
A host SHP1 phosphatase dephosphorylates and antagonizes the function of the Helicobacter pylori virulence factor CagA. EBV co-infection dampens SHP1 expression, leading to CagA hypervirulence.
Interactions amongst Bacillus subtilis cells in a defined spatial environment are sufficient to enable the formation of self-organized patches that allow survival at cell densities otherwise too low to sustain growth.
Binding of type 3 secretion system translocons to host intermediate filaments mediate Shigella, Salmonella and Yersinia docking and facilitate effector translocation.
Evolution of high levels of multidrug tolerance in E. coli occurs rapidly via single point mutations and adapts to drug treatment frequency. Conversely reversion in the absence of antibiotic treatment is slow and only partially effective.
Antibiotic therapy has varying effects on the species richness of the preterm infant gut microbiota, but can lead to a dominance of multi-drug resistant species and an enrichment of antibiotic resistance genes.
Light sensing in Aspergillus nidulans is shown to depend on the SakA (HogA) pathway, known to be crucial for osmosensing and now revealed as a hub for environmental signal integration in fungi.
Rapid variation in the phytoplankton and bacterioplankton communities of a spring bloom provides new insights into the biological and physical parameters affecting plankton succession.
A transposon-based screen identifies a family of outer membrane proteins — named surface lipoprotein assembly modulator (Slam) — that are important for the surface display of lipoprotein virulence factors in Neisseria spp.
Faecal microbiota transplantation has proved efficacious for diseases such as recurrent Clostridium difficile infection via restoration of gut microbial ecology and bile acid content. However, despite its adoption by mainstream medicine, misuse of this technology in clinical or domestic settings warrants caution.
Genomic analysis of Salmonella Enteritidis isolates taken from a single individual with a chronic and relapsing infection reveals how these bacteria have adapted to their host surroundings. Increased within-host fitness comes at the expense of ancillary traits such as virulence.