Beneficial biofilms are in demand for diverse applications ranging from the production of specialized compounds to roles in agriculture and bioremediation. In this Review, Gescher and colleagues provide an overview of the applications, challenges and future of beneficial biofilms.

In this study, Ratiner et al. examine the advantages, challenges and future perspectives of utilizing microbiome data in personalized medicine for optimal patient care.

In this Review, Jassey and Jackson explore the intricate relationship between viruses and the autophagic pathway, highlighting how viruses either exploit or manipulate the autophagy pathway to influence their replication and survival within host cells.

This Genome Watch article highlights the recent use of large-scale monitoring of natural microbiomes to examine feedback between environmental change and microbial adaptation.

This study reports a mechanism whereby Wolbachia bacteriophage proteins modulate macromolecules of developing Drosophila melanogaster.

This study shows that hyphae formation is critical for Candida albicans gut colonization in the presence of commensal bacteria owing to the production of a hyphal-associated factor.

In this study, Armani-Tourret et al. show that the combination of panobinostat and pegylated interferon-α2a transforms the structure and composition of the HIV-1 reservoir and could potentially counter it.

In this study, Liu et al. explore the interplay between a fungal effector and a plant cysteine protease and design a small-molecule compound aimed at targeting this effector to combat rice blast disease.

In this Journal Club, Salvador Almagro-Moreno discusses a study by Kirn et al., which explores the emergence of virulence traits in Vibrio cholerae and demonstrates how the ability of this pathogen to colonize the host shares a common mechanism to its capacity to thrive in natural environments.