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In this Perspective, Su, Du and Jiang discuss lessons from previous vaccine development efforts for other viruses and how the mechanisms of vaccine-associated disease enhancement seen in some viral infections can inform the development of a safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccine.
We know a lot about antibiotics and their targets; however, how antibiotics actually kill bacteria is not entirely clear and is up for debate. In this Perspective, Baquero and Levin reflect on this ultimate action of antibiotics and consider different mechanisms and modulating factors.
The last universal cellular ancestor (LUCA) is the most recent population of organisms from which all cellular life on Earth descends. In this Perspective article, Krupovic, Dolja and Koonin analyse the extant distribution of viruses across the two primary domains of life to infer the LUCA virome.
In this Perspective article, Bernheim and Sorek present the ‘pan-immune system’ model in which bacteria employ horizontal gene transfer to access immune defence mechanisms encoded by closely related strains, and conclude by discussing the implications on the evolution of anti-defence strategies in phages.
The origin of viruses is an unsolved, controversial question. In this Opinion article, Krupovic, Dolja and Koonin propose a new scenario for the origin of viruses based on primordial, selfish replicators acquiring structural proteins from cells, enabling them to form virions.
In this Opinion article, Sonnenburg and Sonnenburg explore whether individuals in the industrialized world may be harbouring a microbial community that is now incompatible with human biology, and they hypothesize that the modern, industrial lifestyle has contributed to alterations in the microbiota that may be linked to the deterioration of human health.
Studies of ancient DNA and endogenous viral elements have revealed extraordinary conservation of virus genome sequences over thousands or millions of years. In this Opinion article, Simmonds, Aiewsakun and Katzourakis describe a niche-filling model that describes how viruses can rapidly evolve to adapt to new host environments while their longer-term evolution is increasingly driven by their hosts.
In this Opinion article, Banerjee et al. explore the importance of microbial keystone taxa and keystone guilds in microbiome structure and functioning, describe challenges in the characterization and manipulation of such taxa, and propose a definition of keystone taxa in microbial ecology.
The microbiota can influence host behaviour through the gut–brain axis. In this Opinion, Johnson and Foster explore the evolution of this relationship and propose that adaptations of competing gut microorganisms may affect behaviour as a by‑product, leading to host dependence.
Interactions among organisms are not limited to the exchange of electron donors. Most microorganisms are auxotrophs and thus rely on external nutrients for growth. In this Opinion article, Zengler and Zaramela postulate that auxotrophies and nutrient requirements among members of complex communities have profound implications for microbial interactions and thus the overall microbial network.
