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Pelagibacter simultaneously produces the biogenic gases methanethiol and dimethyl sulfide from dimethylsulfoniopropionate, regulated by a kinetic switch that balances DMSP allocation between each pathway depending on cellular sulfur demands.
Influenza virus PB2 and M1 induce translocation of host protein CLUH from the cytoplasm to SC35-positive speckles in the nucleoplasm where it has a role in subnuclear transport of the viral ribonucleoprotein.
The translocation assembly module (TAM) of Escherichia coli functions together with the BAM complex to mediate the rapid assembly of usher proteins, the molecular platform important for the biogenesis of bacterial fimbriae.
Global sampling campaigns show that the CHAB-I-5 Roseobacter cluster is abundant in the marine environment, and found from the poles to the tropics. Analysis of the draft genome of strain SB2 reveals adaptation to an oligotrophic lifestyle.
Single-cell measurements of metabolic activities using NanoSIMS reveals that substrate limitation increases phenotypic heterogeneity in Klebsiella oxytoca metabolism, which allows cells to cope with nutrient fluctuations.
Bacteria enriched from surface and plume waters of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill show that the combined capabilities of community-wide hydrocarbon degradation is greater than its individual components.
Analysis of 60 sites in three ocean basins suggests that overgrowth of fleshy algae on coral reefs supports higher microbial abundances dominated by copiotrophic, potentially pathogenic bacteria via the provision of dissolved inorganic carbon.
Using a bacteriophage infection model that allows physical separation between growth and mutagenesis, this study provides support for the natural selection of random mutations as a basis for adaptation to stress.
Using Volta phase plate cryo-electron tomography, influenza virus haemagluttinin is shown to induce two independent pathways of viral membrane fusion, through lipidic junctions or through a fusion pore.
High fidelity, ultra-deep sequencing of a modified replicon system revealed >1000-fold differences in mutation rate across the hepatitis C virus genome, with extreme variation even between adjacent nucleotides.
An update to the ‘tree of life’ has revealed a dominance of bacterial diversity in many ecosystems and extensive evolution in some branches of the tree. It also highlights how few organisms we have been able to cultivate for further investigation.
The fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum is shown to use a functional homologue of the plant regulatory peptide RALF (rapid alkalinization factor) to induce alkalinization and cause disease in plants.
Antibiotic-mediated selection may promote or suppress conjugation dynamics, dependent on the population structure, physiological status of cells and energy availability.
Comparative genomic analyses suggest that Lokiarchaeota, the closest known prokaryotic relative of eukaryotes, are hydrogen dependent, supporting the ‘hydrogen hypothesis’ for the origin of eukaryotic cells.
Enrichment of oral microbiota in the bronchoalveolar lavage of apparently healthy people is associated with a pro-inflammatory phenotype, suggesting that aspiration-derived microbiota play a role in regulating basal inflammatory status.
A GWAS method that captures lineage-level associations even when locus-specific associations cannot be fine-mapped, detects genes and genetic variants underlying resistance to antimicrobials in M. tuberculosis, S. aureus, E. coli and K. pneumoniae.