News & Views |
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Research Highlights |
Bacteria beaten by bacteria
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News & Views |
Bacterial power cords
Geochemical reactions in upper layers of marine sediments are coupled to those in deeper zones. It turns out that centimetre-long bacterial filaments acting as electrical cables are the metabolic link between the layers. See Article p.218
- Gemma Reguera
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Article |
Filamentous bacteria transport electrons over centimetre distances
Oxygen reduction occurring in the surface layer of marine sediments can be coupled to sulphide oxidation in deeper anoxic layers; it is now shown that the electron transfer is mediated by filamentous bacteria acting like living electrical cables.
- Christian Pfeffer
- , Steffen Larsen
- & Lars Peter Nielsen
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Letter |
Structure and mechanism of a bacterial sodium-dependent dicarboxylate transporter
The cytosolic concentration of citrate partially depends on its direct import across the plasma membrane by the Na+-dependent citrate transporter (NaCT); here the X-ray crystal structure of a bacterial homologue of NaCT is reported, which, along with transport-activity studies, suggests how specific conformational changes facilitate substrate translocation across the cellular membrane.
- Romina Mancusso
- , G. Glenn Gregorio
- & Da-Neng Wang
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Letter |
Genetic programs constructed from layered logic gates in single cells
The creation of orthogonal ‘AND’ logic gates by combining DNA-binding proteins into complex, layered circuits opens the way to the design of programmable integrated circuits in synthetic biology.
- Tae Seok Moon
- , Chunbo Lou
- & Christopher A. Voigt
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News |
‘Arsenic-life’ bacterium prefers phosphorus after all
Transport proteins show 4,000-fold preference for phosphate over arsenate.
- Daniel Cressey
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Letter |
The molecular basis of phosphate discrimination in arsenate-rich environments
Ultrahigh-resolution X-ray crystallography study of a phosphate-binding protein from Pseudomonas fluorescens yields insight into how phosphate ions essential for life are discriminated from the arsenate ions inimical to it, even in arsenate-rich environments.
- Mikael Elias
- , Alon Wellner
- & Dan S. Tawfik
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Research Highlights |
Symbiosis may fertilize seas
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Outlook |
Public health: Where there's smoke
Air pollution and smoking have made COPD a major problem in China, now compounded by outdated diagnostics and treatments — and experts say it's bound to get worse.
- Virginia Hughes
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News |
Bacteria replicate close to the physical limit of efficiency
Bacteria reproduce themselves rapidly — but could we make them faster still?
- Philip Ball
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News & Views |
How the unicorn got its horn
An experiment studying bacterial populations over thousands of generations shows that a novel trait can evolve through rearrangement and amplification of a few pre-existing genes. See Article p.513
- Heather Hendrickson
- & Paul B. Rainey
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Research Highlights |
Populations cooperate
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Research Highlights |
Ecosystems compete
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News |
India moves to tackle antibiotic resistance
Drug regulator aims to restrict over-the-counter sales.
- Erica Westly
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News |
Resistance to backup tuberculosis drugs increases
Disease control hindered by strains that can't be treated with second-line antibiotics.
- Kathryn Lougheed
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Research Highlights |
Cigarette smoke boosts biofilms
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Research Highlights |
Inflamed guts boost bad bacteria
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Letter |
Caspase-11 increases susceptibility to Salmonella infection in the absence of caspase-1
Activation of the non-canonical, pro-inflammatory caspase-11 by Salmonella typhimurium is shown to contribute to bacterial spread and pathogenesis by the induction of macrophage cell death.
- Petr Broz
- , Thomas Ruby
- & Denise M. Monack
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Letter |
Doubling of marine dinitrogen-fixation rates based on direct measurements
A newly developed method of measuring oceanic nitrogen-fixation rates provides significantly higher estimates than a current widely applied technique, and could close gaps in the marine nitrogen budget.
- Tobias Großkopf
- , Wiebke Mohr
- & Julie LaRoche
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Research Highlights |
Skin bacteria boost immunity
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Research Highlights |
Recycling at root of arsenic 'life'
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Research Highlights |
Bacteria bore through biofilms
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News |
Arsenic-loving bacterium needs phosphorus after all
Two teams repeat much-debated study, and find that the chemical rules of life remain unbroken.
- Quirin Schiermeier
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Correspondence |
Support for a cholera vaccine stockpile
- Agnes Binagwaho
- , Thierry Nyatanyi
- & Claire M. Wagner
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Letter |
Reduced airway surface pH impairs bacterial killing in the porcine cystic fibrosis lung
In a porcine cystic fibrosis model, lack of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is shown to result in acidification of airway surface liquid (ASL), and this decrease in pH reduces the ability of ASL to kill bacteria; the findings directly link loss of the CFTR anion channel to impaired defence against bacterial infection.
- Alejandro A. Pezzulo
- , Xiao Xiao Tang
- & Joseph Zabner
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Editorial |
Pig out
If farmers do not rein in the use of antibiotics for livestock, people will be severely affected.
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Research Highlights |
Bacterial border defence
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Letter |
Control of a Salmonella virulence locus by an ATP-sensing leader messenger RNA
The Salmonella virulence gene mgtC is regulated by the levels of ATP through an ATP-sensing leader messenger RNA.
- Eun-Jin Lee
- & Eduardo A. Groisman
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Letter |
SbsB structure and lattice reconstruction unveil Ca2+ triggered S-layer assembly
Nanobody-aided X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy are used to describe the Ca2+-dependent polymerization dynamics of the S-layer of the Geobacillus stearothermophilus cell wall.
- Ekaterina Baranova
- , Rémi Fronzes
- & Han Remaut
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Research Highlights |
Partners for the sunshine vitamin
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News |
US beef tests cook up a storm
Critics question benefits of broader E. coli screening.
- Helen Shen
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News |
Reform falters after Europe’s E. coli scare
Political debate leaves German surveillance law in limbo.
- Marian Turner
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Comment |
Recover the lost art of drug discovery
Bacterial evolution is overwhelming our antibiotic defences, says Kim Lewis. Using modern technology to replicate past success might tip the balance in our favour.
- Kim Lewis
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Letter |
Atomic model of the type III secretion system needle
The structure of the needle of the type III secretion system of Salmonella typhimurium, used to inject virulence proteins into host cells during infection, has been resolved by a combination of in vitro needle production, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, electron microscopy and Rosetta modelling at atomic resolution.
- Antoine Loquet
- , Nikolaos G. Sgourakis
- & Adam Lange
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News |
Slo-mo microbes extend the frontiers of life
Community in the deep seabed uses so little oxygen that it is no longer clear where the lower bound for life lies.
- Leigh Phillips
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Research Highlights |
Shunting bacteria on a chip
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Research Highlights |
Bacterial biofilm breakdown
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News |
Drug-resistant bacteria go undetected
Poor training in use of tests allows ‘superbugs’ to evade surveillance.
- Daniel Cressey
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Research Highlights |
Gene behind MRSA's menace
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Research Highlights |
Microbe alliance with gutless worm
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Letter |
A Xanthomonas uridine 5′-monophosphate transferase inhibits plant immune kinases
The plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris effector, AvrAC, is shown to have uridine 5′-monophosphate transferase activity, enabling it to interfere with plant immune signalling by using this protein modification.
- Feng Feng
- , Fan Yang
- & Jian-Min Zhou
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News & Views |
Adaptation by target remodelling
Bacteria direct their movement in response to certain chemicals by controlling the rotation of whip-like appendages called flagella. The sensitivity of the response can be adjusted at the signal's target, the flagellar motor. See Letter p.233
- Gerald L. Hazelbauer
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Letter |
The anti-Shine–Dalgarno sequence drives translational pausing and codon choice in bacteria
Internal Shine–Dalgarno-like sequences in bacterial messenger RNA determine the elongation rate of protein synthesis and synonymous codon usage.
- Gene-Wei Li
- , Eugene Oh
- & Jonathan S. Weissman
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Research Highlights |
A pulsating gut on a chip
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Research Highlights |
Bacteria signal to survive
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Letter |
Endospore abundance, microbial growth and necromass turnover in deep sub-seafloor sediment
A new approach, the d:l-amino-acid model, is used to quantify the distributions and turnover times of living microbial biomass, endospores and microbial necromass, and to determine their role in the sub-seafloor carbon budget.
- Bente Aa. Lomstein
- , Alice T. Langerhuus
- & Arthur J. Spivack
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Letter |
The Shigella flexneri effector OspI deamidates UBC13 to dampen the inflammatory response
Shigella flexneri translocates several virulence factors into host cells during infection; one of these proteins, OspI, is a glutamine deamidase that specifically modifies UBC13, a protein involved in immune signalling.
- Takahito Sanada
- , Minsoo Kim
- & Chihiro Sasakawa
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Letter |
Identification and characterization of a bacterial hydrosulphide ion channel
A channel for the transport of hydrosulphide ions in Clostridium difficile is identified and shown to be polyspecific, being a member of the formate/nitrite transporter family.
- Bryan K. Czyzewski
- & Da-Neng Wang
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