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Pathogenic bacteria need to respond rapidly to changes in their environment to adjust their gene expression and physiology. Johansson and colleagues review the role of RNAs, including 5′ untranslated regions (UTRs), 3′ UTRs,cis-acting antisense RNAs and trans-acting small non-coding RNAs, as regulatory molecules of bacterial virulence.
The great structural diversity of polyketide natural products stems from their mode of synthesis by polyketide synthases. Crawford and Townsend review the latest progress in our understanding of the mode of action of fungal polyketide synthases, including starter unit selection, chain length control and cyclization specificity.
Interest in the human intestinal microbiota has intensified in recent years, but research has been largely focused on bacteriology. This month's Genome Watch reviews a recent metagenomics study that instead aims to better characterize the viruses that inhabit our guts.
Viral security proteins are structurally and biochemically unrelated proteins that function to counteract host defences. Here, Agol and Gmyl consider the impact of the picornavirus security proteins on viral reproduction, pathogenicity and evolution.
Colicins are folded protein toxins that must translocate across one or both of theEscherichia coli cell membranes to induce cell death. In this Progress article, Colin Kleanthous discusses recent advances in our understanding of the molecular determinants of colicin translocation into E. coliand the novel insights that this has provided into host protein function.
Many bacterial species shut down metabolism and enter a dormant state in order to survive in unfavourable conditions. Exit from dormancy in response to cell wall muropeptide signals from neighbouring cells has recently been observed forBacillus subtilisspores. In this Opinion article, Dworkin and Shah propose that this might be a more general phenomenon.
A new paper in theISME Journalprovides the first evidence for a role of a bacterial type III secretion system (T3SS) in an interaction between a bacterium and a fungus.
Following on from last month's discussion of sequence assembly and correction, this month's Genome Watch examines genome annotation in the context of advances in second-generation sequencing.
A look back at the microbiologists who have won a Nobel Prize, and at those who have been overlooked, provides a wonderful view of the recent history of microbiology and reveals the central place of microbiology in past and current biological science.
Our monthly round up of infectious diseases news, which this month includes an outbreak of chikungunya fever in France, the origin of human malaria and the first description of an intrinsic mechanism of retrovirus recognition.
In terms of disability-adjusted life years, the disease burden resulting from hookworm infection and schistosomiasis is considerable. In this Review, Hotez and colleagues outline the pathology of these parasitic infections and discuss recent progress in vaccine development.
Glycosylation, the most abundant polypeptide chain modification in nature, was first identified in bacteria and archaea in the 1970s. Here, Nothaft and Szymanski review recent progress in our understanding of the bacterialN-glycosylation and O-glycosylation systems.
Organotypic three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models are becoming more widely used in infectious-disease research, as they mimic the 3D architecture ofin vivotissues more faithfully than traditional 2D cell culture. Cheryl Nickerson and colleagues review one such 3D model system, the rotating wall vessel bioreactor, and its applications in the study of microbial pathogenesis and host–pathogen interactions.
Climate change can affect microbial processes, which are, in turn, known to affect greenhouse gas flux. Singh and colleagues review the feedback responses between climate change and terrestrial microbial processes and discuss the potential to exploit microorganisms to mitigate anthropogenic climate change.
The identification and characterization of bacterial lipid rafts and their role in the signalling pathways that regulate biofilm formation inBacillus subtilis.
