Review Articles

The first line of host defence against both encroaching commensal bacteria and invading enteric pathogens is the intestinal mucosal barrier, which is composed of epithelial cells and a host-secreted mucous layer. In this Review, Martens and colleagues discuss the complex interactions of commensal and pathogenic microorganisms with the intestinal mucosal barrier.

In this Review, Burnham and Hendrixson explore the unique combination of determinants of Campylobacter jejuni biology that together establish commensalism in many animal hosts and promote diarrhoeal diarrheal disease in humans, including cellular shape and architecture, genotypic and phenotypic diversity, a multi-functional flagellum and metabolic requirements for growth.

Virulence plasmids have a major role in the development of disease that is caused by enteric bacterial pathogens. In this Review, Pilla and Tang discuss virulence plasmids in enteric pathogens, outline the mechanisms by which they are maintained in bacterial populations and speculate on how these might contribute their propagation and success.

Complex microbial communities shape the dynamics of various environments. In this Review, Knight and colleagues discuss the best practices for performing a microbiome study, including experimental design, choice of molecular analysis technology, methods for data analysis and the integration of multiple omics data sets.

Flores and O’Neill review novel approaches to control mosquito-transmitted diseases, with a focus on control methods that are based on the release of mosquitoes, including the release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, and strategies to genetically modify the vector.

Ubiquitin-like protein ISG15 is an interferon-induced protein that has been implicated as a central player in the host antiviral response. In this Review, Perng and Lenschow provide new insights into how ISG15 restricts and shapes the host response to viral infection and the viral immune-evasion strategies that counteract ISG15.

Implant infections are often resistant to treatment and immune responses owing to the formation of biofilms. In this Review, Arciola, Campoccia and Montanaro summarize the strategies that pathogens such as staphylococci use to infect implants and novel treatment approaches.

As an obligate human pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis has evolved to survive and thrive in biochemically challenging niches in its host. Ehrt, Schnappinger and Rhee review the unique metabolic features that enable M. tuberculosis pathogenesis and persistence but also represent drug targets.

In this Review, Jennings and colleagues discuss interactions involving host and bacterial glycans that have a role in bacterial pathogenesis. They also highlight recent technological advances that have illuminated the glycoscience of microbial pathogenesis.

In recent years, several non-polio enteroviruses (NPEVs) have emerged as serious public health concerns. In this Review, van Kuppeveld and colleagues summarize recent insights from enterovirus research, with a special emphasis on NPEVs, and reflect on how recent discoveries may help in the development of new antiviral strategies.

Carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae on the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract is the prerequisite for transmission and tissue invasion. In this Review, Weiser, Ferreira and Paton summarize the mechanisms that allow pneumococci to transmit and progress from colonizer to pathogen.

Autophagy is crucial for innate and adaptive antiviral immunity; in turn, viruses evade and subvert autophagy to support their replication and pathogenesis. In this Review, Choi, Bowman and Jung discuss the molecular mechanisms that govern autophagy during host–virus interactions.

Bacterial microcompartments are self-assembling organelles that consist of an enzymatic core that is encapsulated by a selectively permeable protein shell. In this Review, Kerfeld and colleagues discuss recent insights into the structure, assembly, diversity and function of bacterial microcompartments.

Much of the molecular virology of rabies virus has been well characterized, and we are gaining a better understanding of how infection dynamics and immune status relate to transmission. In this Review, Schnell and colleagues explore rabies virus transmission, enzootic maintenance and epizootic spread, as well as molecular evolutionary dynamics, host adaptation and the origins of rabies virus.

Pseudomonas syringaeuses a multitude of virulence factors to infect plants. In this Review, Xin and colleagues highlight key virulence strategies — immune suppression and water soaking — that allow this bacterium to become a successful pathogen under the right environmental conditions.

The causative agents of tuberculosis are a group of closely related bacteria known as theMycobacterium tuberculosiscomplex (MTBC). In this Review, Gagneux discusses recent insights into the origin of the MTBC, its molecular evolution and population genetic characteristics, and the evolution of antibiotic resistance.

Hopanoid lipids are structurally and functionally related to sterols, which are important building blocks of membranes. In this Review, Newman, Silipo and colleagues explore the diversity of bacterial hopanoids and their roles in stress adaptation and plant symbiosis.

The host-adapted human pathogenNeisseria gonorrhoeaeis the causative agent of gonorrhoea. In this Review, Quillin and Seifert provide an overview of the bacterial factors that are important for the different stages of pathogenesis, including transmission, colonization and immune evasion, and discuss the problem of antibiotic resistance.

In this Review, Bartenschlager and colleagues discuss howFlaviviridaeviruses rewire cellular pathways and co-opt organelles. They compare strategies employed by flaviviruses with those employed by hepaciviruses and discuss the importance of these virus–host interactions in the context of viral replication and antiviral therapies.

Nitrogen-transforming microorganisms shape global biogeochemical nutrient cycles. In this Review, Kuypers, Marchant and Kartal explore the vast diversity of these microorganisms and their enzymes, highlighting novel pathways, and discuss how nitrogen-transforming microorganisms form complex nitrogen-cycling networks in different environments.