In this Review, Flemming et al. revisit our understanding of the biofilm matrix, focusing on the diversity of the extracellular polymeric substance components and novel aspects of mechanisms and consequences of their functional interactions.

In this Review, Carabelli, Robertson and colleagues explore data on the neutralization of globally circulating variants of concern by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and discuss how knowledge of the dynamics of viral evasion of mAbs can contribute to viral surveillance and the development of novel mAb treatments, as well as inform predictions of resistance that may arise in the future.

In this Review, Severn and Horswill highlight new developments in our understanding of Staphylococcus epidermidis strain diversity, skin colonization dynamics and its multifaceted positive and negative interactions with the host and other members of the skin microbiota during skin colonization or infection.

Mazzolini and colleagues have developed an engineered Mycoplasma pneumoniae strain to treat and prevent Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in the lung.

Yang et al. present the fluorogenic reversible reporter SURF to monitor real-time interactions between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and ACE2, and identify compounds that block such interaction.

This study reports that Acinetobacter baumannii establishes intracellular reservoirs in the bladder that can seed recurrent infections following catheterization.

Choi et al. demonstrate there is a mutualistic interaction between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and cancer cells that modulates tumour homeostasis.

This study reports the finding that the commensal Streptococcus salivarius exacerbates allergic rhinitis.

A recent study found that the Helicobacter pylori genome evolves during disease progression and that these genomic changes select for effective colonizers of gastric metaplasia.