Research Highlights in 2012

Experimental evolution of measles virus reveals that a new phenotype emerges through cooperation between two different viral genomes in a single virion.

Cross-bands in the stalks ofCaulobacter crescentusare composed of at least four proteins and act as diffusion barriers for both soluble and membrane proteins.

A single T3SS effector protein fromS. Typhimurium can expand the narrow host range of S. Typhi by targeting the RAB32-dependent trafficking pathway, which controls the composition of the SCV.

A second level of export control forPlasmodium falciparumeffectors is uncovered.

This study reveals the signalling cascade that is activated by SteC and leads to actin accumulation atSalmonella-containing vacuoles.

A combination of genetic, biochemical and structural approaches reveals how the nucleoid-associated protein MatP compacts theE. colichromosome using a bridging mechanism.

Rather than inhibiting bacterial growth by completely blocking protein synthesis, macrolide antibiotics permit the translation of a distinct subset of proteins, and this could be even more detrimental to the bacterial cell.

The phenoloxidase (PO) cascade is an additional weapon in the antiviral armoury of the mosquito.

Alternative splicing of a hypervariable pattern recognition receptor confers pathogen specificity in insects.

Didier Raoult, Eugene Koonin and colleagues now provide more details about the complement of mobile genetic elements associated with giant viruses.

The identification of cable-like filamentous bacteria that support the long-distance transport of electrons in anoxic sediments.

A newly discovered lytic phage of the phytopathogenPectobacterium atrosepticumsuppresses toxin-mediated abortive infection by mimicking or hijacking the corresponding RNA antitoxin.

The identification of a novel endonuclease inC. crescentusthat cleaves chromosomal DNA in response to DNA damage, providing support for the hypothesis that bacteria undergo apoptosis-like cell death.

Pathogenic SIV infection is associated with expansion of the enteric virome.

Characterization of a bacterial cytoplasmic membrane protein that requires the action of both the Sec and Tat pathways to ensure correct insertion into the membrane.

Two recent papers provide evidence to support a role for efferocytosis at different points in the host response toMycobacterium tuberculosisinfection.

The interferon-stimulated early response geneSLFN11specifically inhibits HIV protein synthesis in a codon-usage-based manner.

HSV-1 obtains its envelope from the plasma membrane.

Endogenous non-coding RNAs fromEscherichia coli alter Caenorhabditis elegansgene expression to protect the bacterium from foraging by the worm.

Stacking interactions between two rings formed in the KaiC homohexamer drive the cyanobacterial circadian oscillator.