Volume 9 Issue 5, May 2011

The omission of viruses from investigations into the dynamics of complex biological systems results in many studies lacking a crucial part of the picture. Here, Forest Rohwer and Merry Youle outline why the viral component should receive far greater attention and describe how explorations that include it can yield a more complete picture, as well as foster novel biological discoveries.

HIV can enter and establish latent infection in hematopoietic stem cells.

Bacterial communities can be stable even under changing nutrient conditions and when faced with invaders.

Investigation of an actin orthologue in crenarchaeota provides insight into the formation of cell shape in archaea.

Lipid II translocation across the bacterial cell membrane is mediated by the integral membrane protein FtsW.

Salmonella entericasubsp.entericaserovar Typhimurium uses TLR-dependent phagosome acidification as a cue to induce virulence genes and establish a successful infection.

Three papers begin to provide a detailed mechanistic understanding of the final steps in the release of enveloped viruses from the host cell.

Bacterially derived enzymes that can degrade lignocellulose from plant biomass may help the production of biofuels.

Our monthly round up of infectious diseases news, which this month includes a rise in HIV infections in the United Kingdom, faster diagnoses and cures for tuberculosis, papillomavirus in men and a new deadly bunyavirus.

Termination is an important way of regulating transcription and requires stringent control. Here, Santangelo and Artsimovitch discuss the different mechanisms of antitermination in bacteria and phages.

In this Review, Krulwich, Sachs and Padan describe how the evolution of diverse mechanisms for pH sensing and homeostasis has enabled bacteria to survive sudden changes in external pH and to grow in environments with external pH values that would otherwise be toxic.

Xanthomonasspp. cause disease in nearly 400 plant hosts, including many economically important crops. Dow and colleagues discuss the insights that functional and comparative genomic studies are providing into the adaptation of these bacteria to exploit an extraordinary diversity of plant hosts and different host tissues.

The gut microbiota and the host immune system are in a careful balance. The Paneth cells in the endothelium of the small intestine produce a large array of antimicrobial proteins that help set this balance and protect the host from pathogens.

Entry of enveloped viruses into the host cell is an intricate process. Here, Connolly and colleagues describe the different proteins of herpes simplex viruses and Epstein–Barr virus that are involved in tethering the viruses to host cells and promoting fusion of the viruses with these host cells.

Egress of herpesviruses requires that viral capsids containing the viral DNA travel from the nucleus to the cell surface, traversing nuclear and cytoplasmic membranes. Johnson and Baines describe how viral proteins remodel cellular membranes in order to escape host cells.