Reviews & Analysis

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  • Characterizing bacterial responses to mixtures of chemical pollutants reveals interactive effects among pollutants. Our study highlights the predictability and resilience of microbial responses to complex mixtures of pollutants, offering the potential for improvements in ecotoxicological assessments.

    Research Briefing
  • Two studies describe the discovery of proteins that harbour a photosynthetic reaction centre barrel domain and play pivotal roles in FtsZ-mediated cell division in archaea, with the photosynthetic reaction centre fold itself emerging as a key player in executing cytokinesis across archaea.

    • Daniela Barillà
    News & Views
  • Active hydrothermal vents are hotspots of life in the deep sea, but even after hot springs go extinct, highly productive microbial communities continue to thrive on the chemical energy in the minerals left behind.

    • Jesse McNichol
    News & Views
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa protects itself, and its neighbours, from the cephalosporin cefiderocol through production of the siderophore pyoverdine.

    • Fabiha Zaheen Khan
    • Kelli Palmer
    • Nicholas Dillon
    News & Views
  • Human norovirus infection is a major global health concern, but a suitable animal model is lacking. We have established repeated infection with human norovirus in rhesus macaques via oral challenge. Animals demonstrate virus shedding in the stool and subsequent serum antibody responses, and virus replication is detected in the small intestine.

    Research Briefing
  • Decomposer microbiomes are universal across cadavers regardless of environmental conditions, and they use complex cross-feeding and interkingdom interactions to break down organic matter.

    • Michael S. Strickland
    • Laurel Lynch
    News & Views
  • Metabolomics and feeding experiments demonstrate the host’s active role in sharing organic acids with a gut microbiota member, revealing host–microbe interactions that foster symbiosis.

    • Dolma Michellod
    • Manuel Liebeke
    News & Views
  • Cases of Buruli ulcer in southeastern Australia have increased over the past 10 years. Native possums are a reservoir for Mycobacterium ulcerans (the cause of Buruli ulcer), but the route of transmission to humans is unclear. Our findings identify mosquitoes as the vector of M. ulcerans from possums to humans.

    Research Briefing
  • The antimicrobial agent epifadin, which is produced by the nasal commensal Staphylococcus epidermidis, has— despite its short half-life — broad-spectrum activity, including against Staphylococcus aureus.

    • Christine Beemelmanns
    • Andreas Keller
    • Rolf Müller
    News & Views
  • Bacteroides fragilis employs two different mechanisms, secreted microbe- and host-targeting toxins, that facilitate successful colonization of the mammalian gastrointestinal tract.

    • Benjamin D. Ross
    News & Views
  • This Review discusses our current understanding of Toxoplasma protein export into host cells and how this process impacts infection.

    • Simona Seizova
    • Abel Ferrel
    • Christopher J. Tonkin
    Review Article
  • Improving HIV interventions for men could reduce HIV acquisition in women, close the growing gender gap in HIV infections and further reduce HIV incidence in African countries.

    • Bryan Tegomoh
    • Boghuma K. Titanji
    News & Views
  • The placenta nourishes the foetus and supports its development and growth. Our study now identifies the placenta as a potential route for foetal infection with Streptococcus agalactiae (group B Streptococcus), as indicated by an exaggerated in utero inflammatory response and poor perinatal outcome when group B Streptococcus is detected in the placenta.

    Research Briefing
  • Counting the number of viable cells in a culture remains a critical measurement in microbiology, but traditional dilution assays are time- and reagent-consuming. We developed the geometric viability assay that overcomes these limitations by leveraging microbial colony distribution in a cone — a pipette tip — to calculate viability across six orders of magnitude.

    Research Briefing
  • Evidence for immune imprinting in humoral responses to SARS-CoV-2 is reviewed, together with implications for COVID-19 booster vaccine programmes.

    • Chloe Qingzhou Huang
    • Sneha Vishwanath
    • Jonathan Luke Heeney
    Review Article
  • Empowering women through citizen science, from using self-collected vaginal samples to participant input on research questions, we decoded nuances in the composition of the vaginal microbiota — thereby linking female health and lifestyle to vaginal microbiota diversity. We crafted a unique dataset that should inspire new diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities.

    Research Briefing