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In this Progress article, Cossart and colleagues discuss the unique features of unusually long antisense RNAs and discuss the excludon paradigm, which describes a genomic locus that encodes a long antisense RNA which inhibits the expression of one operon while simultaneously driving the expression of the adjacent operon.
Repair of double-strand DNA breaks by homologous recombination can be carried out in bacteria by RecBCD, AddAB and AdnAB. Here, Dale Wigley discusses recent insights into how these complexes mediate repair, as well as their evolution.
Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells have an intrinsic capacity to recognize a broad microbial repertoire through their invariant T cell receptor, which interacts with antigen presented by MHC class I-related protein 1 (MR1). Here, Marielle Gold and David Lewinsohn highlight recent insights suggesting that this unique, 'innate' T cell subset plays an important part in the early recognition and containment of infection.
The throughput of protein structure determination has increased greatly over the past decade, thanks to advances in X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy. Protein structure information is now routinely used in vaccine design, and here, Rappuoli and colleagues describe some of the most recent developments in this new field of structural vaccinology.
A bidirectional neurohumoral communication system known as the gut–brain axis integrates the activities of the intestine and the brain. In this Progress article, Collins, Surette and Bercik describe recent evidence suggesting that the intestinal microbiota is intimately connected with the gut–brain axis and can influence animal behaviour, development and health.
SAMHD1 has emerged as a novel HIV restriction factor that inhibits viral replication by limiting dNTP availability. Here, Schwartz and colleagues discuss the studies that led to the identification and characterization of SAMHD1, and speculate on why HIV-1 does not encode the SAMHD1-targeting protein, Vpx.
In this Progress article, Pallen, Loman and colleagues present a snapshot of the high-throughput sequencing platforms available to microbiologists today, together with the relevant analytical tools, and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in obtaining bacterial genome sequences.
The search for therapeutics to treat infections by ebolaviruses and Marburg virus has focused on identifying compounds that interfere with viral entry into host cells. Here, White and Schornberg discuss recent studies that have identified Niemann–Pick C1 (NPC1), a protein that resides deep in the endocytic pathway, as an important host factor in this process.
