News & Views

Diverse marine bacteria exhibit a preference for either sugars or acids as carbon sources and this preference is predictable from genomic signatures.

The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae uses transfer RNA modifications to fine-tune effector protein secretion into host plant cells.

Multi-cohort meta-analysis provides a framework for studies that aim to define causal relationships between the microbiome and autism spectrum disorder.

CRISPR systems canonically confer microorganisms with protection against invading viral DNA, plasmids and mobile genetic elements, however a multi-omics investigation of deep subsurface archaeal communities suggests that archaeal CRISPR systems might target other archaeal parasites or force a transition from parasitism to mutualism.

A mouse model identifies FcγRIIIa engagement on splenic macrophages as a driver of disease severity during dengue infection.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa drives heterogeneity of cyclic di-GMP signalling in biofilms as a division-of-labour strategy to maximize colonization and dispersal using the protein HecE.

Tracking the journey of inulin, a soluble dietary fibre, reveals its fate and transformation by the gut microbiota to alleviate liver disease in mice.

Influenza A virus can selectively recognize and degrade host transcripts via a specific molecular motif, facilitating modulation of the host immune response.

A combination of four phages engineered with a CRISPR–Cas payload can reduce the burden of Escherichia coli infections in animal models without inducing the host immune response.

Population genomics and functional validation show that a second parasite transporter, pfaat1, has a role in chloroquine resistance in Plasmodium falciparum.

Many microorganisms remain understudied due to the challenges and complexities of culturing. An integrated lab automation and machine learning platform called BacterAI could be the future.

Residual human DNA reads in sequenced faecal samples may allow some individuals to be identified.

Almost twenty years after it was first linked to control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in macrophages, autophagy retakes centre stage, as shown in murine models and human cells.

Bladder epithelial cells exposed to uropathogenic Escherichia coli infection have long-lasting epigenetic modifications linked with inflammation that influence host susceptibility to subsequent infections.

Dysbiosis of the gut microbiome confers alterations in appetitive and metabolic regulation of body weight in anorexia nervosa in humans and mice.

Phage-encoded endolysins released from neighbouring infected bacterial cells can confer a temporary resistance to phage infection by mediating the reversible loss of the cell wall.

Mycobacterium abscessus requires high levels of biotin biosynthesis during infection, because this vitamin enables key adaptations to the alkaline lung airway environment through fatty acid remodelling that increases fluidity of the cell envelope.

‘Candidatus Methanoperedens nitroreducens’, an anaerobic methanotrophic archaeon, sectors itself into two morphologically and functionally distinct populations that enable adaptation and cross-species interactions in a dynamic bioreactor ecosystem.

New World arenaviruses are pathogens capable of zoonotic infections that cause viral haemorrhagic fevers, which are frequently lethal in humans. However, a recombinant live-attenuated pentavalent vaccine shows promising efficacy against infection.

Longitudinal sampling of patients with hepatitis C virus before and after elimination of the virus reveals links between functions of the gut microbiome and liver disease.