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A study of blood-feeding female sand flies has shown how successive blood meals amplify Leishmania infections in the vector’s gut and enhance transmission of the tropical disease leishmaniasis.
Topical administration of aminoglycoside antibiotics has been shown to induce expression of interferon-stimulated genes in dendritic cells, inducing an antiviral state in the vaginal and lung mucosa that increases resistance to infection with herpes simplex virus 1, influenza and Zika viruses.
Bacteria encode many strategies to prevent or escape infection. Through the analysis of metagenomic dark matter, several novel defence systems were identified, some of which were engineered and characterized in vivo, showing that they provide resistance against viruses and plasmids.
The coupling of root nutrient exudation by plants with microbial nutrient utilization preferences helps drive the assembly of rhizosphere microbiomes, enabling the use of metabolite interaction traits to engineer favourable microbial communities on roots.
Bacteria can compete in the environment using antibacterial type VI secretion systems. A recent study reveals that the simultaneous deployment of an arsenal of different toxins promotes both synergy between those toxins and an optimized answer in the face of inconstant environments.
The TRiC chaperonin has been identified as a crucial player in the assembly of reovirus capsids by folding the σ3 outer-capsid protein into its native conformation. These findings provide a functional understanding of TRiC in virus replication and a rationale for the development of TRiC inhibitors as broad-spectrum anti-viral agents.
Metagenomic sequencing, bioinformatic analysis and heterologous expression of an orphan biosynthetic gene cluster widely found in the environment led to the discovery and structural characterization of a novel group of calcium-dependent antibiotics hidden in plain sight.
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infects pluripotent haematopoietic progenitor cells, yet it is latent in monocyte/myeloid-lineage cells. A new study reveals that HCMV achieves this by actively reprogramming the infected progenitor cell into a unique monocyte subset, enabling the successful lifelong persistence of HCMV in its host.
G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) enable fungi to sense and respond to their environment. The structure and function of fungal GPCRs are discussed, as well as their potential as targets for antifungal drug development.
CRISPR immunity begins with the acquisition of sequences from invading nucleic acids through spacer integration into a CRISPR locus. Off-target integration of spacers into other parts of the genome is now implicated as a spontaneous source of new CRISPR loci.
Effective treatment and eradication of tuberculosis requires highly sensitive and specific, easy-to-use detection methods. New advances in molecular tools and technology are driving improved tuberculosis diagnostics, including ways to rapidly identify highly drug-resistant infections.
An alternative nitrogenase enzyme that only utilizes iron as its cofactor is shown to reduce carbon dioxide while actively fixing dinitrogen, so that it simultaneously produces ammonium, hydrogen and methane.
Geographic mapping of pathogen emergence risk, as recently done for viral haemorrhagic fever in Africa, provides an important tool for targeting interventions. More comprehensive preparedness and prediction systems that increase surveillance and forecast infectious disease outbreak growth and spread in real time are also needed.
Detailed biochemical, structural and growth studies reveal how Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron coordinates a complex enzymatic response to deconstruct pectins — complex dietary components that comprise a tremendous diversity of monosaccharide units and glycosidic linkage combinations.
APOBEC3G is an antiviral protein that has long been known to inhibit retrovirus replication by hypermutating viral DNA. An additional mechanism is now identified, in which APOBEC3G binds to the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, inhibiting viral DNA synthesis.
In recent years, there has been a growing appreciation of the role metabolism plays in controlling nearly all aspects of cellular function. Three recent articles explore how host metabolic cues influence different aspects of Plasmodium biology during infection, including parasite growth and sexual differentiation.
Functional and structural studies highlight the remarkable evolution and features of the typhoid toxin from Salmonella Typhi. This reveals that attachment of the toxin to specific N-glycan chains accounts for its tropism for selected human tissues.
The colonization resistance paradigm is explored, with a focus on the benefits and limitations of current murine models used to assess the role of the microbiota in enteric infection.
