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The HigBA toxin–antitoxin system of Caulobacter crescentus can act as a switch between promoting and inhibiting bacterial growth, depending on the dosage of HigA antitoxin, HigB toxin and its mRNA target.
During public health emergencies, such as the current increase in microcephaly and neurological syndromes potentially associated with the Zika virus outbreak, a rapid and coordinated response necessitates the immediate sharing of data. Nature Microbiology policy is fully aligned with this imperative.
Genomic reconstruction from hot spring sediment metagenomes show that 'Hadesarchaea' have streamlined yet metabolically versatile genomes, with genes involved in CO and H2 oxidation, with potential coupling to nitrite reduction to ammonia.
T. gondii crosses biological barriers using transcellular migration or within an infected migrating cell. Here, infection and lysis of endothelial cells in the brain vasculature is identified as a new route of access to the central nervous system.
Whole genome sequencing of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis isolates from the UK and Ireland reveal a population with three predominant lineages, two of which have acquired and lost resistance multiple times.
A transmembrane protein receptor that is critical for adeno-associated virus infection has been identified through an unbiased, genome-wide screen. Its role in viral entry could potentially be harnessed to develop enhanced gene therapy vectors and better animal models of human disease.
Significant gaps in our characterization of microbial diversity remain; this meta-analysis of amplicon-based rRNA studies shows that they miss approximately 10% of environmental microbial sequences, most belonging to the candidate phyla radiation.
Deletions in amino acid biosynthetic pathways (auxotrophy) are widely used as selection markers, but induce major alterations of the Saccharomyces transcriptome, proteome and metabolome, representing a confounding factor in the use of auxotrophs.
Recombination of genes responsible for synthesis of major surface lipooligosaccharides, and consequent loss of these compounds in a Mycobacterium canettii-like progenitor, increased virulence and drove evolution from an environmental, relatively non-pathogenic status to virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the cause of the present-day TB epidemic.
Widespread antibiotic resistance is a growing public health problem. Can we revive large-scale screening to keep the pipelines flowing or will we depend increasingly on biological and ecological insights?
Colossal microbes taking over the world sounds like a B-movie plot, rather than the business plan of a stuffed toy manufacturer. We asked Drew Oliver, the creator and CEO of Giant Microbes, about how the company came about, how their products have been received and his plans for the future.
Natural volcanic CO2 seeps (mofettes) provided a natural experiment to use omic and biogeochemical approaches to explore how flooding a system with CO2 impacts algal photosynthesis and methanogenesis.
The identification of plasmid-borne resistance to an antibiotic of last resort suggests that the final pharmacological barrier holding Gram-negative bacterial infections at bay may soon be breached.
The microenvironment of injured intestinal mucosa induces the rapid emergence of microbiota constituents that contribute to repair of the mucosal wounds.
pks5-recombination-mediated cell surface remodelling increased virulence of Mycobacterium canettii, driving evolution from a putative generalist mycobacteria towards a professional pathogen of mammalian hosts.
Analysis of microbial cell and virus abundance estimates from 25 distinct marine surveys reveals that virus-to-microbial cell ratio decreases with microbial cell density, questioning the idea that viral abundance is always 10-fold higher.