Research Highlights

A recent study shows how tumour-resident intracellular bacteria enhance survival and the metastatic capacities of circulating tumour cells by protecting them from mechanical stress.

This study shows that although colistin resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae is associated with a fitness defect in gut colonization, it increases bacterial survival outside the host, thus enabling efficient host-to-host transmission.

This study reports that Listeria monocytogenes interferes with a cell death pathway involved in cell-mediated immunity to promote neuroinvasion and persistence.

A recent study uncovered a new family of Enterococcus pore-forming toxins that use human leukocyte antigen class I or major histocompatibility complex class I as receptors.

A recent study provides evidence of non-cell-autonomous disruption of nuclear architecture as a potential cause of COVID-19-associated anosmia.

Two recent papers implicate Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) as a trigger for the development of multiple sclerosis and provide mechanistic insights into EBV-mediated development of the disease.

A recent study found that constituents of the gut virome are negatively associated with seroconversion following rotavirus vaccination, possibly explaining the diminished effectiveness of rotavirus vaccines in low- and middle-income countries.

Recent studies provide new insights into the regulation of lysogeny and prophage induction.

A recent study finds that upregulation of nutrient-permeable channels in the parasitophorous vacuole membrane increases the acquisition of amino acids by artemisinin-resistant parasites to compensate for fitness costs.

This study provides insights into the neuroinvasive mechanism of neurotropic alphaherpesviruses, which involves viral assimilation and repurposing of a cellular motor protein.

A recent study provides evidence that the extracellular DNA-based architecture of bacterial biofilms relies on the rare left-handed helical form of DNA known as Z-DNA.

This study shows that segmented filamentous bacteria provide early protection against Citrobacter rodentium via a microbially derived metabolite that primes host innate immunity.

Two recent studies provide mechanistic evidence that members of the microbiota cooperate to confer colonization resistance against pathogens.

The authors of this study designed a novel therapeutic class of antimicrobials in which they optimized drug binding and permeation of the drug through bacterial membrane transporters simultaneously.

This study shows that gut bacteria accumulate host-targeted drugs intracellularly, which affects the therapeutic effect of the drug as well as metabolite secretion of the accumulating bacteria without much having an impact on bacterial growth.

This study demonstrates that commensal bacteria and fungi have opposing roles in the responses of tumours to radiotherapy.

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.