Volume 3 Issue 10, October 2018

The H445Y mutation in the β-subunit of RNA polymerase in Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes resistance to the antibiotic rifampicin and changes mycobacterial lipid composition. Infection with rpoB H445Y results in metabolic shifts that allow the bacteria to bypass a key host inflammatory response.

How the immune system handles the relentless presence of commensal bacteria is an area of great interest. Here, researchers describe a role for autophagy in mediating tolerance to the microbiota, the absence of which can impart beneficial resistance to infection but also possible detriment in the form of autoimmunity.

Components of the sphingolipid biosynthetic pathway induce a favourable conformation in the proteinaceous murine norovirus receptor (CD300lf) that facilitates virus entry.

Genomic characterization of a new ebolavirus, detected in free-tailed bats in Sierra Leone, whose viral glycoprotein can mediate entry into human cells.

A combination of regulated gene expression, mutagenesis and electrophysiology experiments shows that EXP2, in addition to its role as part of the Plasmodium translocon of exported proteins (PTEX), functions as a nutrient-permeable channel in the vacuolar membrane of the parasite.

A prevalent rifampicin resistance mutation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis alters bacterial virulence lipid expression and enables bypasses of a host immune axis that is critical for the control of drug-susceptible infections.

The serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) complex, which is required for de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis, is required for the murine norovirus receptor, CD300lf, to adopt a conformation permissive for viral binding.

Cryo-electron-microscopy imaging of hibernating ribosomes from Escherichia coli elucidates the molecular composition of these complexes and their mode of assembly, reveals how translation initiation is inhibited, and identifies a role for the ribosomal protein S1 in ribosome inactivation.

Salmonella Typhimurium type III secretion effectors activate Cdc42 and PAK1 to induce enteric inflammation and promote bacterial growth without engaging innate immune receptors.

Autophagy-deficient murine hosts are protected from infection and injury at the intestinal barrier and this is driven by a microbiota-dependent type I interferon response, indicating that autophagy is important for limiting host responses to the microbiota.

A combination of cryo-EM structures and experiments using liposomes and lipid nanodiscs elucidates how the Tse6 effector is loaded into the type VI secretion system and travels across membranes to intoxicate target cells.

X-ray crystallography uncovers the structural basis of interaction between Lujo virus GP1 with its neuropilin-2 (NRP2) receptor.

Male offspring of pregnant mice infected with a low dose of Zika virus infection have increased testosterone levels, an increased number of immature neurons in apical hippocampal dendrites and are less likely to survive in utero infection than female littermates.

Genomic analysis uncovers global prevalence of three multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis lineages encoding rifampicin resistance and reduced susceptibility to glycopeptide antibiotics.