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Analysis of lower respiratory tract microbiome of mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients rules out a role for secondary respiratory infections as drivers of increased mortality.
Transposon directed insertion–site sequencing (TraDIS) is used to identify T6SS toxins in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, leading to the discovery of Tse8 as a protein that is delivered to target cells where it alters the stoichiometry of the transamidosome complex and thereby inhibits protein synthesis.
Evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor-binding domain in vitro recapitulates SARS-CoV-2 variant emergence and produces an effective antiviral spike receptor-binding domain variant.
Malaria parasites are protected from febrile temperatures in humans by a heat-shock response that is coordinated by the transcriptional activator PfAP2-HS.
In this Article, the authors identify CcrZ as a protein that coordinates DNA replication and cell division in Streptococcus pneumoniae and other Firmicutes. CcrZ is localized to the division site by binding directly to the divisome protein FtsZ, and there it activates DnaA, the master initiator of DNA replication, through a still unknown mechanism.
Host preferences of commensal bacteria in the root microbiota are revealed using systematic analyses of synthetic bacterial communities in a gnotobiotic system.
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.
Single-molecule live-cell imaging of LexA in Escherichia coli shows continuous self-cleavage of this SOS repressor across the bacterial population, even during unperturbed growth. This results in substantial differences in LexA abundance across individuals, leading to spontaneous SOS induction in some cells and enhancing bacterial survival in anticipation of stress.
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.