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The Omicron variant evades vaccine-induced neutralization but also fails to form syncytia, shows reduced replication in human lung cells and preferentially uses a TMPRSS2-independent cell entry pathway, which may contribute to enhanced replication in cells of the upper airway. Altered fusion and cell entry characteristics are linked to distinct regions of the Omicron spike protein.
Structural analyses reveal that Geobacter sulfurreducens produces two different cytochrome filaments, comprised of either OmcS or OmcE, that share almost identical haem packing while having no recognizable sequence or structural similarity.
Phylogenomic analyses reveal novel environmental clades of Rickettsiales providing insights into their evolution from free-living to host-associated lifestyle.
Cryogenic electron tomography analysis of Chikungunya virus particle assembly reveals 12 intermediate structural stages during virus assembly/budding at the plasma membrane and shows that non-icosahedral nucleocapsid proteins serve as scaffold to induce icosahedral assembly of the glycoprotein spike lattice. Structural analysis also shows that budding-inhibiting antibodies act by interfering with lateral spike interactions.
A broad-range human antibody with neutralizing activity against various coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, targets a unique epitope within the highly conserved S2’ site and the fusion peptide of the spike protein that is exposed during interaction with the host cell. The pan-coronavirus antibody protects mice against infection with SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-OC43 following prophylactic and therapeutic treatment.
The DarTG toxin-antitoxin system protects bacteria against phage infection via ADP-ribosylation of the viral DNA, and this can be evaded by phages via mutation of their DNA polymerase or the gp61.2 anti-DarT factor.
The pathways responsible for inositol lipid production in human gut Bacteroides are characterized and these lipids are important for capsule expression and antimicrobial peptide resistance in vitro and colonization in vivo.
Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (COV2-2196/COV2-2130) inhibited the replication of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 but not BA.1.1 variants in the lungs of Syrian hamsters. Antivirals (molnupiravir and S-217622) were effective against BA.1 in hamsters.
Combining conjugation and structural analyses, the authors show that TraN-OMP pairings determine bacterial conjugation species specificity, with implications in resistance plasmid distribution within Enterobacteriaceae.
Soil microbes control the cycling of carbon, but how these communities will respond to climate changes is unknown. Here, 7 years of artificial warming decreased microbial richness and diversity, driven mostly by soil moisture loss.
Analysis of the humoral and cellular immune response to the BBV152/Covaxin inactivated vaccine reveals that it induces a robust SARS-CoV-2-specific immune memory that persists for at least 6 months and shows somewhat reduced efficiency against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Salmonella promotes IL-22 production in group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) to promote infection, and invades ILC3s causing caspase-1 activation and pyroptosis, which control bacterial replication.
A method that exploits the double-stranded DNA-targeting capability of the bacterial toxin-derived cytosine deaminase, DddA, can map DNA–protein interactions in bacteria in vivo at genome-wide scale.