Volume 19 Issue 11, November 2021

A 1,000-day experiment explored bacterial longevity under nutrient starvation.

A study in human airway epithelial cells shows that measles virus forms infectious centres, which detach and might promote transmission.

This study demonstrates that commensal bacteria and fungi have opposing roles in the responses of tumours to radiotherapy.

This study shows that gut bacteria accumulate host-targeted drugs intracellularly, which affects the therapeutic effect of the drug as well as metabolite secretion of the accumulating bacteria without much having an impact on bacterial growth.

An analysis of more than 30,000 genomes shows that global trade of breeding chickens contributed to the spread of Salmonella Enteritidis.

This study shows that bacteria can secrete a lipopolysaccharide receptor to capture outer membrane vesicles.

A monkey challenge study shows that infections with a low virus dose can lead to asymptomatic COVID-19.

This month’s Genome Watch highlights how recent advances in computational identification of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), and in their experimental manipulation, are opening new avenues to access novel secondary metabolites.

Elucidating the structure and function of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) proteins is vital for understanding the molecular mechanisms of viral replication and COVID-19 pathogenesis, and could lead to the development of novel therapeutics. In this Review, Yang and Rao delineate the structural features of SARS-CoV-2 from the whole viral particle to the individual viral proteins and discuss their functions as well as their potential as targets for therapeutic interventions.

Biofuels produced by conversion of biomass by engineered microorganisms have the potential to replace fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions. In this Review, Keasling and colleagues discuss engineering of metabolic pathways to produce advanced biofuels and approaches to reduce metabolite toxicity and cost and increase titre, rate and yield.

In this Review, Galán discusses the mechanisms by which Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium triggers inflammation in the intestinal tract through the activities of effector proteins as well as the mechanisms that are aimed at recovering host homeostasis after the inflammatory response.

Small antibacterial molecules termed bacteriocins can influence microbiome composition by providing an advantage to bacteriocin producers over bacteriocin-sensitive strains. In this Review, Peschel and colleagues provide an overview of the types of bacteriocins, their costs and benefits, and how they may provide new avenues for antibacterial drug development.