Articles in 2020

Mycorrhizas are ubiquitous mutualistic symbioses established between plant roots and soil fungi. In this Review, Bonfante and colleagues explore the origin and evolution of mycorrhizal fungi, the diversity of their interactions with host plants and the potential of application of mycorrhizal symbioses in the development of sustainable agricultural and environmental strategies.

This month’s Genome Watch highlights how genomic surveillance can provide important information for identifying and tracking emerging pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2.

A recent study reports the cultivation of manganese-oxidizing chemolithotrophic bacteria.

This study suggests that primary SARS-CoV-2 exposure may protect against reinfection in rhesus macaques.

A recent study found that viral cap snatching generates host–virus chimeric proteins during infection.

The archaeal community, the archaeome, is now increasingly recognized as an important component of host-associated microbiomes. In this Review, Moissl-Eichinger and colleagues discuss the diversity and potential roles of the archaea associated with protists, plants and animals, highlighting the potential roles of archaea in human health and disease.

Two studies used advanced imaging techniques to study the formation and development of bacterial biofilms.

Two recent studies shed light on the importance of heterogeneity in determining the outcome of influenza virus infections, either by shaping the immune response to infection, or by determining the potential for influenza virus to overcome species barriers.

The last universal cellular ancestor (LUCA) is the most recent population of organisms from which all cellular life on Earth descends. In this Perspective article, Krupovic, Dolja and Koonin analyse the extant distribution of viruses across the two primary domains of life to infer the LUCA virome.

A recent study reports that gut-colonizing commensal bacteria produce a neurotransmitter that modulates the sensory behaviour of their host.

Borrelia burgdorferi has a complex life cycle with several different hosts, causing Lyme disease when it infects humans. In this Review, Fikrig and colleagues discuss how B. burgdorferi infects and interacts with its tick vector to ensure onward transmission.

During target protection, a resistance protein physically associates with an antibiotic target to rescue the latter from antibiotic-mediated inhibition. In this Review, O’Neill and colleagues describe the different molecular mechanisms underlying target protection and emphasize the importance of this phenomenon as a cause of clinically significant antibiotic resistance.

This study reports the strain-level and genomic diversity in the gut microbiota of two closely related honey bee species.

This study reports the identification of cholesterol dehydrogenases from gut microbiomes that modulate host cholesterol levels.

This study provides structural insides into the mechanism of action of mycobacterial arabinosyltransferases and the mode of action of an anti-tuberculosis drug targeting those enzymes.

This study suggests that double-membrane vesicles are the primary and likely only site of coronavirus viral RNA within the replication organelle.

A recent study identified a compound that shows bactericidal activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

Researchers report the most comprehensive analysis of the tumour microbiome to date.

A recent study finds that the neurotransmitter serotonin modulates the virulence of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli and Citrobacter rodentium.