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In vivo experimental evolution of Mycobacterium canettii populations reveals enhanced persistence of evolved mutants due to resistance to host-derived stresses, providing insight into the emergence of persistent Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Longitudinal tracing of antibody responses to the ChAdOx1 and the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccines in 45,965 adults from the United Kingdom give indications for vaccine prioritization.
A population genomic analysis of 1,854 Listeria soil isolates collected across the contiguous United States identifies geographically prevalent phylogroups with increased pangenome openness and recombination, as a result of adaptation to variable environments.
The oxidoreductase (NXR) multiprotein complex is a key enzyme in the nitrogen cycle. A detailed structural and biochemical characterization of NXR from the anammox bacterium Kuenenia stuttgartiensis shows that this complex is a filament-forming protein that catalysers both nitrite oxidation and nitrate reduction, and elucidates the mechanisms governing complex assembly and function.
Several Fusobacterium species, such as Fusobacterium nucleatum, have been associated with cancer. Here, using differential RNA-sequencing, the authors provide high-resolution global RNA maps for five clinically relevant fusobacterial strains, elucidating basic aspects of fusobacterial gene expression and identifying multiple non-coding RNAs, including an oxygen-induced small RNA, FoxI, which represses the major outer membrane porin FomA.
Direct gut sampling shows that probiotics reduce the number of antibiotic resistance genes in the gut of colonization-permissive and antibiotic-naïve individuals. However, when given after antibiotic treatment, probiotics can expand the gut resistome via a bloom of indigenous strains carrying vancomycin resistance genes, rather than antibiotic resistance genes carried by the probiotics themselves.
Surface-deformation imaging, molecular-fracture sensors and modelling reveal that plant-pathogenic Phytophthora slice through the plant surface during host invasion. The underlying mechanism resembles cutting with a sharp knife and is termed naifu invasion.
Arabidopsis thaliana plants lacking the rbohD gene, which encodes the NADPH oxidase RBOHD, have an altered leaf microbiome including an enrichment of opportunistic pathogens, indicating that RBOHD is essential for maintaining leaf microbiota homeostasis.
A two-protein module mediates Vibrio cholerae cell curvature and is sufficient to curve other Gram-negative bacteria. This module functions independently of cytoskeleton-directed machineries by directly binding to the cell wall.
Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing and RNA sequencing analyses reveal that the transcriptional activity of fungal conidia (spores) before dormancy contributes to conidia maturation and impacts fitness, drug resistance and virulence following germination.
The SARS-CoV-2 variant A.23.1 became predominant in Uganda and shows amino acid changes within the S protein and non-spike proteins similar to known variants of concern.
Using microcosms, stable isotope probing, genome-resolved metagenomics and NanoSIMS, the authors identify diverse bacterial taxa that can degrade extracellular DNA in marine sediments, including ‘Candidatus Izemoplasma’, which encode numerous extracellular nucleases.
The presence of an accessory genetic element, tarIJLM—which leads to the production of a S. aureus-type wall teichoic acid—alters the lifestyle of S. epidermidis invasive clones, impairing in vivo mouse colonization but increasing endothelial attachment and host mortality.
High-fat diet decreases antibiotic efficacy in a mouse model via an altered gut microbiota and decreased indole-3-acetic acid, which potentially converts tolerant bacterial cells into susceptible metabolically active cells.
Tracking individual bacterial cells entering and exiting stationary phase under precise environmental controls reveals different size-control principles along the growth curve, and shows that cells that become persisters on exit from stationary phase are those that divided more times upon entry.
IFI16 enhances the type I IFN response to inhibit influenza virus replication by two mechanisms: it directly binds viral RNA to promote RIG-I activation and upregulates RIG-I expression via recruiting RNA polymerase II and binding to the RIG-I promoter.
Fetal meconium does not have a detectable microbiota, as shown using 16S rRNA sequencing and culture of rectal swabs collected during elective breech caesarean sections without labour and before antibiotics, indicating that colonization occurs during and after birth.