Volume 6 Issue 2, February 2021

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are being integrated into bioeconomy strategies around the world, including the European Green Deal. We highlight how microbiome-based innovations can contribute to policies that interface with the SDGs and argue that international cooperation in microbiome science is crucial for success.

Commensal pneumococci convert invasive diseases to peaceful colonizers by commandeering the host nuclear KDM6B demethylase to mark NF-κB sites of the IL-11 cytokine promoter and increase epithelium repair.

Most soil microorganisms can use the trace gases carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane — and potentially other inorganic compounds — to supplement their cellular energetic needs.

Multi-omics and geochemical data reveal that dinoflagellates, abundant marine microorganisms, utilize numerous metabolic strategies to survive in diverse ocean environments.

Bacteria use CRISPR–Cas systems as adaptive defence weapons against attacking phages. A new study shows that under severe stress conditions, Serratia turn off their CRISPR immune system to increase the uptake of potentially beneficial plasmids.

BiofilmQ is an image cytometry software tool that enables the visualization, quantification and analysis of biofilm properties, providing insights into their structure and function.

The authors characterize two phages against Acinetobacter baumannii, both in vitro and in vivo. A. baumannii strains develop resistance against both phages, but are in turn resensitized to different antimicrobial compounds.

A genetic screen using SorTn-seq—which combines transposon mutagenesis, cell sorting and deep sequencing—identifies multiple pathways that regulate CRISPR–Cas immunity in Serratia sp. ATCC 39006.

A combined geochemical and multi-omics analysis across a 4,600-km transect in the central Pacific Ocean reveals that dinoflagellates play a previously unrecognized role in ecosystem and biogeochemical processes.

A DNA-based vaccine elicits humoral and cellular immunity and provides protection against Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus-mediated disease in a non-human primate model.

Using kefir as a natural model microbial ecosystem, the authors apply metabolomics, transcriptomics and large-scale mapping of inter-species interactions to study the drivers of stable coexistence of species in space and time.

SprF1, a type I RNA antitoxin, interacts with ribosomes via its 5′-end to reduce translation initiation, thus promoting persister cell formation in Staphylococcus aureus.

Using cryo-electron microscopy, the authors describe the structure and function of a molecular motor powering both the Bacteroidetes type 9 protein secretion system and the associated gliding motility apparatus.

A comparative proteomics approach identifies substrates of viral antagonists and reveals host factors that act on viral DNA genomes to restrict infection.

A combination of metagenomic analyses, thermodynamic modelling and in situ measurements of gas fluxes shows that a large fraction of soil bacteria can use inorganic energy sources, such as the trace gases hydrogen and carbon monoxide, for growth and persistence.

A non-invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae strain induces a unique NF-κB signature response in epithelial cells that requires the histone demethylase KDM6B. Modulation of KDM6B can interchange the host response to non-invasive and invasive pneumococcal strains, demonstrating the biological role of KDM6B in cellular responses during infection.