Bacterial physiology articles from across Nature Portfolio

E. coli maintains membrane lipid asymmetry by transferring glycerophospholipids from the outer membrane to the inner membrane; this requires outer membrane protein MlaA, periplasmic chaperone MlaC, and inner-membrane complex MlaBDEF. Here, the authors show that in some bacteria that lack MlaA and MlaC, MlaD forms a transenvelope bridge comprising a typical inner-membrane domain and, in addition, an outer-membrane domain.

Many microorganisms are auxotrophic, that is, unable to synthesize the compounds they require for growth. Here, Ramoneda et al. predict amino acid biosynthetic capabilities of over 26,000 bacterial genomes using a metabolic pathway model validated with empirical data, and identify ecological contexts in which auxotrophy can be a successful strategy.

The bacterium Bacillus subtilis can form various types of surface-associated communities, such as colonies, pellicles and submerged biofilms. Here, Dergham et al. provide a direct comparison of spatial transcriptional heterogeneity across the three types of surface-associated communities, revealing mosaic expression patterns for genes involved in various pathways.

H-NS is a global regulatory protein that represses expression of many genes in bacteria. Here, Li et al. show that a second messenger, cyclic di-GMP, binds to H-NS and inhibits its binding to DNA, thus relieving H-NS-mediated transcriptional silencing.

Here, cryo-EM is used to identify an unreported fibril species derived from lab-cultured Bacillus amyloiquefaciens composed of the extracellular serine peptidase Vpr. Fibrillar Vpr is shown to be enzymatically active, suggesting the fibril form represents a strategy of enriching Vpr extracellular activity.

As well as being the substrate for the lipopolysaccharide transport protein complex comprising LptA–G, lipopolysaccharide binding to Lpt proteins promotes their assembly into a bridge linking the inner and outer membranes of Gram-negative bacteria.

The data of the study suggest that bacteria possess a physiological iron memory that persists over multiple generations.

This study reports that intracellular cord formation by Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an important feature of early pathogenesis.

In this study, Gül et al. show that usage of different carbon sources by Enterobacteriaceae strains determines their expansion and co-existence in the mouse gut and favours plasmid transfer.

In this study, Irazoki et al. show that Vibrio cholerae releases d-amino acids into the environment, which are sensed by a bacterial chemoreceptor to prompt a repellent chemotactic response.

This study provides insights into the mechanism whereby Citrobacter rodentium transitions from the intestinal lumen to its mucosal niche.

Liz Sockett recounts lessons learned by getting to know Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus, a single-celled predator that invades and kills Gram-negative bacteria from within.