Volume 7 Issue 2, February 2022

Many bacteria and archaea are polyploid. Here, the means by which some of these prokaryotes carry genomes that are not always equivalent in sequence and/or function are described, and the importance of such non-equivalent genomes is discussed.

Infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) induces remodelling of the host-cell transcriptome, which is mediated by epigenetic mechanisms. Histone acetylation of KCNJ15 stimulates transcription and the activation of genes implicated in apoptosis to promote Mtb clearance.

Homeodomain protein 1 (HDP1), a DNA-binding protein unrelated to AP2 transcription factors, has been identified as a regulator of gametocyte maturation in Plasmodium falciparum.

A combination of highly accurate long-read sequencing and genome contact maps has been used to produce hundreds of lineage-resolved metagenome-assembled genomes from a complex microbial community isolated from a sheep fecal sample.

A third vaccination with BNT162b2 against SARS-CoV-2 elicits antibody and T-cell responses in 4 out of 5 reported older adults who were previously low-/non-responders.

The recovery of two circularized genomes of the Heimdallarchaeum species from hydrothermal vent enrichment cultures reveals that these Asgard archaea carry diverse mobile genetic elements, such as an integrative viral genome and aloposons. These mobile genetic elements contain several bacteria- and phage-derived genes, modulating the shuffling of information between bacteria and archaea, and potentially influencing eukaryogenesis.

An optimized transmission caging system reveals the increased transmission competitiveness of the Alpha variant via aerosols compared with SARS-CoV- 2 lineage A in vivo.

Longitudinal multi-omic analysis of 114 healthy infants from birth to 12 months of age showed that first viral encounters are associated with airway inflammation, changes in respiratory microbiota and later susceptibility to clinical respiratory tract infections.

Analysis of bacterial, archaeal, fungal and viral species in the gut microbiome of patients with colorectal cancer identified cross-kingdom interactions and multi-kingdom markers of disease.

Genomic analyses of 1,246 Shigella isolates collected from seven LMICs reveal the important role of Shigella genomic diversity in vaccination design and Shigella evolution of resistance against currently recommended antibiotic treatments, underscoring the use of pathogenomics for shigellosis prevention and control.

Multi-omics analyses of faecal samples from patients with ulcerative colitis reveal a link between Bacteroides vulgatus protease activity and severity of disease symptoms.

A combined analysis of SARS-CoV-2 viral load and whole-genome sequences from COVID-19 patients, including some who were previously vaccinated, reveals that vaccine breakthrough infections are more commonly associated with antibody-resistant SARS-CoV-2 variants than infections in unvaccinated individuals, and that symptomatic breakthrough infections may be as efficient in spreading COVID-19 as unvaccinated infections.

HDP1 is a novel DNA-binding protein that functions as a positive transcriptional regulator of genes that gives Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes their characteristic ‘banana’ shape.

The cyanobacterium Trichodesmium fixes nitrogen exclusively during the day to reduce glycogen ballast and remain buoyant in the surface ocean, where it occupies a specialized niche based on colony formation, high-light adaptation and mineral-dust utilization.

Genome-wide histone acetylation profiling in cohorts of patients with active and latent tuberculosis reveals acetylation changes in host immune cells modulating potassium channel expression and apoptosis response.

A systematic screen across hundreds of eukaryotes and thousands of viral taxa provides insights into the directionality and functionality of horizontal gene transfer in these organisms.