Volume 20 Issue 5, May 2022

A recent study uncovered a new family of Enterococcus pore-forming toxins that use human leukocyte antigen class I or major histocompatibility complex class I as receptors.

This study shows that staphylococcal superantigen induces macrophage dysfunction through interferon-γ, thus contributing to bacterial pathogenesis.

An analysis of the metadata in large databases reveals a skewed representation of the global human population in microbiome studies.

A large survey in Chinese game animals identifies a multitude of potentially pathogenic viruses and evidence for spillover events.

This study presents the results of a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) challenge trial with EDP-938, a nonfusion replication inhibitor of RSV, showing effective lowering of viral load and symptoms, without apparent safety concerns.

The results of this study suggest that phages of the gut modulate cognitive function.

This study set out to resolve the differences in the inferred Archaea–Bacteria branch length.

This study reports that Listeria monocytogenes interferes with a cell death pathway involved in cell-mediated immunity to promote neuroinvasion and persistence.

This month’s Genome Watch highlights how genome and transcriptome sequencing of newly identified endosymbionts helps to connect genetic information to their protective functions.

In this Review, Larsson and Flach discuss the drivers of and bottlenecks for environmental evolution and transmission of antibiotic resistance, and they explore environmental surveillance strategies that could complement clinical surveillance systems.

In this Review, Lamers and Haagmans explore recent clinical and experimental advances in understanding severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pathogenesis, interactions with host cells and the involvement of the immune system in the development of severe disease. Specifically, they focus on mechanisms underlying the development of COVID-19-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Clostridioides difficile produces up to three different toxins, which are key to the pathogenesis of C. difficile infection of the colon. In this Review, Kordus, Thomas and Lacy discuss the structure and function of these toxins and how this information informs new therapeutic approaches.

Bats harbour a multitude of coronaviruses and owing to their diversity and wide distribution are prime reservoir hosts of emerging viruses. Ruiz-Aravena, McKee and colleagues analyse the currently available information on bat coronaviruses and discuss their role in recent and potential future spillovers.