Review Articles in 2022

In this Review, Caballero-Flores, Pickard and Núñez explore how the microbiota limits colonization by pathogens and the strategies used by pathogens to counter colonization resistance.

In this Review, Kim and Diamond highlight recent advances in our understanding of the host factors required for alphavirus entry, the mechanisms of action by which protective antibodies inhibit different steps in the alphavirus infection cycle and candidate alphavirus vaccines currently under clinical evaluation.

A better understanding of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is essential to inform public health measures. In this Review, Puhach, Meyer and Eckerle explore insights into what influences SARS-CoV-2 shedding, how this drives transmission and the tools available to measure this and determine infectiousness.

This Review discusses the ecophysiology and diversity of Trichoderma and the complexity of its relationships in the agroecosystem environment. Considerations are also presented on how to advance Trichoderma applications in real-world scenarios, contributing towards eco-sustainable agriculture.

In this Review, Blair, Webber and colleagues explore our understanding of the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, including reduced permeability, antibiotic efflux, modification or alteration of the antibiotic target, modification or destruction of the drug itself, and bypass of metabolic pathways. They also discuss how this information can aid in developing the next generation of antimicrobial therapies.

Like the gut, the lung harbours a diverse, interacting assortment of microbiota. In this review, Natalini, Singh and Segal examine the role of the lung microbiome in health and disease and discuss future work that is needed to produce novel diagnostic and therapeutic tools aimed at improving lung health.

In this Review, Scott and Hwa describe how physiological constraints are sensed through metabolic fluxes and how flux-controlled regulation gives rise to simple empirical relations between protein levels and the rate of cell growth.

Soil viruses are highly abundant and have important roles in the regulation of host dynamics and soil ecology. In this Review, Jansson and Wu explore our current understanding of soil viral diversity and ecology, and how climate change (such as extended and extreme drought events or more flooding and altered precipitation patterns) is influencing soil viruses.

In this Review, Carabelli, Robertson and colleagues explore data on the neutralization of globally circulating variants of concern by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and discuss how knowledge of the dynamics of viral evasion of mAbs can contribute to viral surveillance and the development of novel mAb treatments, as well as inform predictions of resistance that may arise in the future.

In this Review, Gow and Lenardon describe how fungal cell walls are organized, focusing on the underlying architectural and mechanical principles that are required to deliver differing and bespoke biochemical and biophysical attributes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on respiratory virus infections worldwide. In this Review, Chu and colleagues discuss the changes in community spread and consequent infections by respiratory viruses other than severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) throughout the course of the pandemic, and describe the impact on the evolution and genetic diversity of these viruses.

The gut microbiota metabolizes bile acids, thereby influencing human health and diseases including obesity, colitis and cancer. In this Review, Patterson and colleagues discuss host–microbiota interactions and their influence on the bile acid pool as well as therapeutic implications.

In this Review, Rogers, Mileto and Lyras explore the impact of enteric bacterial infections at and beyond the epithelial barrier. They highlight how different bacterial pathogens disrupt structural first line defences of the gut, the influence this has on the systemic dissemination of gut contents, the acute inflammatory processes that are triggered and the collective implication of these events on the regeneration of efficient barrier functions.

In this Review, Brouns and colleagues discuss our current understanding of RNA-targeting type III and type VI CRISPR–Cas systems by detailing their composition, properties and defence processes, and describing the biological rationale behind the broad activated immune responses as an effective strategy to combat viral infection.

In this Review, Flemming et al. revisit our understanding of the biofilm matrix, focusing on the diversity of the extracellular polymeric substance components and novel aspects of mechanisms and consequences of their functional interactions.

Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever that spills over from its rodent reservoir. Continued viral evolution and increasing exposure make Lassa virus a high-risk pathogen. In this Review, Garry highlights new insights into the virology, disease presentation and potential countermeasures.

In this Review, Severn and Horswill highlight new developments in our understanding of Staphylococcus epidermidis strain diversity, skin colonization dynamics and its multifaceted positive and negative interactions with the host and other members of the skin microbiota during skin colonization or infection.

One health links human, animal and environmental health, and microorganisms have a central role in this connection. In this Review, Banerjee and van der Heijden outline the central role of the soil microbiome for one health and its detrimental or beneficial effects.

In this Review, Gilbert and colleagues discuss recent progress in drug discovery for kinetoplastid diseases and how an improved understanding of parasite biology affects the drug discovery process

Epstein–Barr virus infects most of the human population and, depending on other risk factors, contributes to the development of multiple sclerosis. In this Review, Soldan and Lieberman discuss supporting evidence and potential mechanisms that link Epstein–Barr virus to multiple sclerosis.