Research articles

Electron cryo-microscopy revealed that ribosomes from microsporidian parasites were in a hibernating state, whereby the ribosomes form inactive pairs.

The gut commensal Akkermansia muciniphila regulates food allergy symptoms in a diet-dependent manner in mice.

Identification of divisome proteins related to human gephyrin and its membrane receptor in non-model Gram positive Corynebacteriales could provide new antibiotic targets for important pathogens including M. tuberculosis and C. diptheriae.

M3-seq uses combinatorial indexing alongside post hoc rRNA depletion in a single-cell RNA sequencing approach that reveals bacterial heterogeneity and rare populations during antibiotic stress and phage infection, as well as bet-hedging responses during growth.

Carbon catabolism of heterotrophic bacteria can be described using a simple general principle, which is their preference for either glycolytic (sugars) or gluconeogenic (amino and organic acids) carbon sources. This is reflected in their genomes via pathway abundances and GC content.

The bacterial second messenger c-di-GMP is important for host association of microbes in C. elegans and beyond.

The Parkinson’s disease-associated leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 acts as a protein scaffold promoting mitochondria–Salmonella-containing vacuole tether formation and itaconate delivery to provide cell-intrinsic defence in Salmonella-infected macrophages.

Plasmodium falciparum candidate artemisinin partial-resistance Kelch13 622I mutation co-occurs with pfhrp2/3 deletions in Ethiopia.

Trehalose polyphleates are surface-exposed glycolipids that are required for successful infection by phages BPs and Muddy when infecting Mycobacterium abscessus and M. smegmatis.

Prospective validation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo shows that implementation of nested polymerase chain reaction and nanopore sequencing is feasible in a national poliovirus laboratory

Filopodia-like extensions connect chikungunya virus-infected and non-infected cells and promote efficient viral transmission by shielding from neutralizing antibodies.

Chitin-degrading bacteria split into on- and away-from-particles subpopulations. Only on-particle cells grow and most disperse after replication, leaving chitinases behind. High dispersal is sustained by remaining cells thriving on leftover chitinases.

Fungi cause devastating crop diseases mediated by the deployment of effectors that suppress host innate immunity. Efficient translation of mRNAs encoding a subset of such effectors determines their secretion and, ultimately, host infection success.

Biochemical characterization of glycogen-degrading enzymes in vaginal bacteria reveals that the vaginal microbiota possesses the ability to metabolize glycogen in this environment.

In Pyrococcus furiosus, histones bind and bend DNA to enable integration of new spacer fragments into CRISPR loci.

Quantitative and spatial resolution on the protein interactome of intact human cytomegalovirus virions map host and virus proteins within the multilayered tegument.

The fungal genus Armillaria includes virulent necrotrophic pathogens, unusual wood decayers and the largest terrestrial organisms on Earth. Sahu et al. suggest that horizontal gene transfer contributed to the evolution of some of these unique traits.

Isotopic labelling and multi-omics experiments conducted in Biosphere 2 show how dry conditions reprogramme microbial metabolism.

A metagenomic compendium from lakes across Canada reveals bacterial metabolic potential and how it varies depending on land use in different regions.

CRISPR spacers in DPANN archaea target putative essential genes in their episymbionts and could be a widespread occurrence across diverse archaeal lineages.