Reviews & Analysis

Single-cell sequencing of nasal swab samples from people uninfected or infected with SARS-CoV-2 shows that children have a primed innate immune response, which may protect them from severe disease.

Extracellular electron transport in Geobacter has long been ascribed to conductive pili. Cryogenic electron microscopy now reveals non-conductive filaments made of pilin-heterodimer subunits. The combined data support a role for Geobacter pili in cytochrome-nanowire secretion instead of conduction.

A promising vaccine fails to provide durable protection against infection and clinical malaria in infants, a key malaria vaccine target population, in a phase 2b clinical trial. The need for a highly effective vaccine against malaria remains as urgent as ever.

Direct sampling of lung alveoli of critically-ill patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 shows that lung microbiota and an impaired alveolar immune response together are predictive of poor clinical outcomes.

Multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium abscessus clones from individuals who smoke have infiltrated the narrow niche of patients with cystic fibrosis, which has resulted in surprising specialization and subsequent worldwide dissemination.

Proviral host factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection, cellular processes that are important in SARS-CoV-2 replication and host factors that could be targeted by antiviral therapies for COVID-19 are reviewed.

This Review summarizes sixteen known co-produced bacterial metabolites, their biosynthesis strategies and their synergistic antimicrobial activity mechanisms.

Roots of different plant species are colonized by distinct microbiota, even when grown in the same soil. A comprehensive combination of experimental manipulation of plant species, plant mutations, plant signalling, community composition and order of community application reveals how community assembly differs among plant species.

The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum survives fever during human infection by using a transcription factor to regulate its heat-shock response.

To grow and divide properly, bacteria need to coordinate DNA replication with cell division. A recent study identifies CcrZ as a protein from Streptococcus pneumoniae that links these two processes by interacting with FtsZ, the orchestrator of cell division, and modulating the activity of DnaA, the initiator of DNA replication.

This Perspective discusses current knowledge of the complex crosstalk between the microbiota and γδ T cells and future outlooks.

Entropy-driven protein sorting traffics membrane-anchored exposed proteins to the surface of Gram-positive bacteria.

Experimental evolution of persistence during Mycobacterium canettii infections of mice sheds light on the origins of virulence in ancestral Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Oomycete hyphae slice plant surfaces with a knife-like cutting action to invade underlying host cells.

Quiescent fungal conidia are heterogeneous and prepare for the future through transcriptional programmes that depend on the environment in which the conidia develop.

Some gut bacterial pathogens can escape antibody-mediated immunity by changing surface-exposed antigens, such as O-antigens. But by using vaccines targeting specific O-antigens to induce immunoglobulin A responses in the gut, such pathogens can also be directed to evolve towards expressing O-antigen variants that impair gut colonization.

A high-fat diet causes gut microbiota dysbiosis and depletion of the microbial metabolite indole-3-acetic acid in a murine model, resulting in decreased antibiotic efficacy against bacterial infections.

The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 harbours a cleavage motif for host cell proteases that is not found in closely related viruses. Peacock and colleagues show that this motif allows the virus to evade innate antiviral defences and is required for transmission.

The search for bacteriophages for the biocontrol of bacteria commonly associated with wastewater foams, such as Gordonia, unexpectedly reveals a new parasitic ultrasmall bacterium with predatory activity against foaming microorganisms.

Multiple proteins are involved in bacterial cell division, including FtsZ, the FtsZ-binding proteins and the septal peptidoglycan synthesis complex. Recent studies assessing the dynamics of these proteins provide additional insights into their functions during the bacterial division process.