Research Highlights

A recent study finds that the gut microbiota generates diurnal rhythms in innate immune responses that synchronize with host feeding rhythms in mice, allowing the host to anticipate exposure to pathogens.

This study shows that co-existence of the four Lactobacillus species in the gut of the honey bee is mainly dependent on the pollen-rich diet of the host, and mediated by the specialization of the gut symbionts towards distinct pollen-derived nutrients.

This study reports that bacteriocins are encoded in temperate phages, and that they can be transferred between bacterial hosts, which provides a competitive advantage.

This article shows that a plant fungus manipulates caterpillars to ensure its spread.

A recent study finds that sense codon reassignment enables phage resistance and encoded polymer synthesis in Escherichia coli.

This study reports that Vibrio cholerae outer membrane vesicles protect the cholera toxin from degradative enzymes in the intestinal tract and deliver the active toxin to host cells by a porin-mediated mechanism.

This study analysed environmental growth rates of bacterial predators to study their role in microbial food webs.

This study shows that FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 have different functions during archaeal cell division.

This study reports that ICEBs1, which is an integrative and conjugative element of Bacillus subtilis, provides a selective advantage to its host cells during two developmental processes: biofilm formation and sporulation.

This study identifies a cyanobacterial toxin that causes mass mortality of eagles and other birds.

This study reports that antigens derived from intracellular bacteria are presented by tumour cells and activate the immune system.

This study uncovered mutations in core metabolic genes that confer resistance to antimicrobials in clinically relevant pathogens, suggesting that metabolic adaptation may represent a new general mechanism of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria.

This study identifies a promising preclinical candidate for the treatment of Dengue virus infection.

Two recent papers report the first-in-human clinical trials investigating the efficacy and safety of faecal microbiota transplantation for metastatic melanoma that is refractory to cancer immunotherapy.

This study shows that Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium virulence and survival are modulated by changes in host cell metabolism during infection.

A recent study found that prior infections enhance colonization resistance through a process whereby the host, prompted by transient infection, deploys the sulfonic acid taurine as a nutrient to train the gut microbiota and provide resistance to subsequent infections.

This study suggests that m⁶A methylation promotes the clearance of reactive endogenous retrovirus-derived mRNA species.

This study provides evidence that an antisense RNA antitoxin is involved in persister cell formation by inhibiting transcription of a toxin and by inhibiting global translation.

This study describes the isolation of a new compound, turbinmicin, which shows potent activity in mice against multidrug-resistant fungi and might have a novel mechanism of action.

A recent study provides new evidence that rotavirus-infected cells produce pancrine signals that uninfected cells respond to, leading to intercellular calcium waves and ultimately to diarrhoea.