Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
A recent study found that a small RNA released by the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri modulates crucial host responses in the Hawaiian bobtailed squid Euprymna scolopes, revealing a new mode of communication in beneficial animal–bacterial symbioses.
A recent study found that Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mice reprogrammes haematopoietic stem cells, limiting myelopoiesis and impairing trained immunity.
This study provides insights into how the malaria parasite persists in its human host through the dry season in Mali to enable transmission by mosquitoes during the wet season.
The rapid emergence of antibiotic resistance is recognized as a major public health threat. Nanomaterials have risen to tackle this problem through either improving the potency of existing antibiotics or generating entirely new antibacterial mechanisms.
This month’s Genome Watch examines how natural language processing and machine learning are being implemented in the hunt for new antimicrobial peptides.
Newly developed antibacterial nanostructured surfaces show excellent prospects as next-generation biomaterials. In this Review, Ivanova, Stoodley and colleagues explore the different mechanisms by which various surface nanopatterns exert the necessary physico-mechanical forces on the bacterial cell membrane that will ultimately result in cell death.
In this Review, Rotello and colleagues discuss the mechanisms by which nanomaterials can be used to target antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, highlight design elements and properties of nanomaterials that can be engineered to enhance potency, and explore recent progress and remaining challenges for clinical implementation of nanomaterials as antimicrobial therapeutics.
Escherichia coli is a commensal of the vertebrate gut as well as an opportunistic pathogen. In this Review, Denamur and colleagues explore the emergence of virulence during the evolution of E. coli, with a focus on the main ExPEC, InPEC and hybrid clones.
In this Review, Fan and Pedersen discuss how the gut microbiota and derived microbial compounds may contribute to human metabolic health and to the pathogenesis of common metabolic diseases, and highlight examples of microbiota-targeted interventions aiming to optimize metabolic health.