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Article
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Anoxygenic phototroph of the Chloroflexota uses a type I reaction centre
Cultivation of a new anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium from Boreal Shield lake water—representing a transition form in the evolution of photosynthesis—offers insights into how the major modes of phototrophy diversified.
- J. M. Tsuji
- , N. A. Shaw
- & J. D. Neufeld
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Article |
Within-host evolution of a gut pathobiont facilitates liver translocation
Within-host evolution is a critical regulator of commensal pathogenicity that provides a unique source of stochasticity in the development and progression of microbiota-driven disease.
- Yi Yang
- , Mytien Nguyen
- & Noah W. Palm
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Article
| Open Access
Emergence of methicillin resistance predates the clinical use of antibiotics
Methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus appeared in European hedgehogs in the pre-antibiotic era as a co-evolutionary adaptation to antibiotic-producing dermatophytes and have spread within the local hedgehog populations and between hedgehogs and secondary hosts.
- Jesper Larsen
- , Claire L. Raisen
- & Anders R. Larsen
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Article |
Human gut bacteria contain acquired interbacterial defence systems
An interbacterial defence strategy, involving clusters of immunity genes against toxins released by the type VI secretion system of the same or different species, is widespread among Bacteroides species, and transfer of these gene clusters confers resistance to toxins in vitro and in the mammalian gut.
- Benjamin D. Ross
- , Adrian J. Verster
- & Joseph D. Mougous
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Article |
Bacterial biodiversity drives the evolution of CRISPR-based phage resistance
The biotic environment can fundamentally alter bacteria and phage interactions, and influence the evolution of resistance mechanisms.
- Ellinor O. Alseth
- , Elizabeth Pursey
- & Edze R. Westra
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Article |
Engineering orthogonal signalling pathways reveals the sparse occupancy of sequence space
Engineered two-component signalling proteins in Escherichia coli have residue specificities different to their parent proteins and are orthogonal to all extant paralogues, demonstrating that sequence space is not densely occupied.
- Conor J. McClune
- , Aurora Alvarez-Buylla
- & Michael T. Laub
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Letter |
Salmonella persisters promote the spread of antibiotic resistance plasmids in the gut
The re-seeding of antibiotic-resistant persister subpopulations of Salmonella enterica into the gut lumen favours the transfer of resistance plasmids to gut-resident enterobacteria, showing that even small reservoirs of persister bacteria facilitate the spread of antibiotic resistance.
- Erik Bakkeren
- , Jana S. Huisman
- & Wolf-Dietrich Hardt
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Letter |
The diversity-generating benefits of a prokaryotic adaptive immune system
Population-level spacer diversity is a key fitness determinant of CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems because it limits the emergence of escape virus.
- Stineke van Houte
- , Alice K. E. Ekroth
- & Edze R. Westra
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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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Article |
Type VI secretion requires a dynamic contractile phage tail-like structure
Microscopy reveals the dynamics of the type VI secretion system of Vibrio cholerae and its structural and functional resemblance to the contractile tail sheath of bacteriophages.
- M. Basler
- , M. Pilhofer
- & J. J. Mekalanos
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Research Highlights |
The first microtubules
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Letter |
Ecology drives a global network of gene exchange connecting the human microbiome
- Chris S. Smillie
- , Mark B. Smith
- & Eric J. Alm
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News & Views |
Plague's progress
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. The first complete genome sequence of the causative Yersinia pestis bacterium provides a fresh perspective on plague evolution. See Letter p.506
- Edward C. Holmes
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News |
E. coli outbreak strain in genome race
Sequence data reveal pathogen's deadly origins.
- Marian Turner
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News |
Critics weigh in on arsenic life
Field needs independent experiments to prove or disprove the work, researchers say.
- Erika Check Hayden
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News |
Virus-like particles speed bacterial evolution
The exchange of genetic information among ocean bacteria has been greatly underestimated.
- Amy Maxmen
DNA glycosylases provide antiviral defence in prokaryotes
Slow evolvers win in the end