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The beneficial rhizobacterium Bacillus velezensis SQR9 secretes YukE by the type VII secretion system; YukE inserts into the plant root cell membrane to cause iron leakage, which benefits SQR9 and thus promotes its rhizosphere colonization.
Influenza A virus can selectively recognize and degrade host transcripts via a specific molecular motif, facilitating modulation of the host immune response.
Mutational analysis of Akkermansia muciniphila identified genes important for growth in mucin and gut colonization. Mucin-degrading capabilities are essential for the bacterium to compete with other members of the microbiota, and mucin metabolism by A.muciniphila resulted in reduced transcription of genes involved with cholesterol biosynthesis in the host gut.
We characterized the cell-free DNA of bacteria and bacteriophages circulating in blood plasma of two cohorts of individuals with sepsis and uninfected controls. We found that the circulating phageome enables the identification of the bacterial pathogen with species-level resolution.
A combination of four phages engineered with a CRISPR–Cas payload can reduce the burden of Escherichia coli infections in animal models without inducing the host immune response.
Population genomics and functional validation show that a second parasite transporter, pfaat1, has a role in chloroquine resistance in Plasmodium falciparum.
Many microorganisms remain understudied due to the challenges and complexities of culturing. An integrated lab automation and machine learning platform called BacterAI could be the future.
A set of genes, including a lectin, two scavenger receptors and two actin regulators, were found to aid the early steps of coral–algal endosymbiosis, including algae recognition and uptake, in a Xenia soft coral species. The findings were made possible by using a combination of RNA interference-mediated gene knockdown, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), bioinformatics and cell biology approaches.
Almost twenty years after it was first linked to control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in macrophages, autophagy retakes centre stage, as shown in murine models and human cells.
Colistin-resistant bacteria require fatty acid synthesis to maintain cell envelope homeostasis; disrupting fatty acid biosynthesis leads to the remodelling of phospholipid composition and decreases the fluidity of the cell envelope. Inhibitors of fatty acid biosynthesis resensitize bacteria to colistin, allowing for the treatment of colistin-resistant bacterial infections in mice.
The authors argue that the virome of the last eukaryotic common ancestor is bacterial, rather than archaeal, providing support for a syntrophic model of eukaryogenesis with two endosymbiosis events.
Bladder epithelial cells exposed to uropathogenic Escherichia coli infection have long-lasting epigenetic modifications linked with inflammation that influence host susceptibility to subsequent infections.
Breakthroughs in developing an effective human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine have been rare despite decades of effort. By combining vaccination with a topical microbicide that also potentiates vaccine-induced immunity, 16 out of 20 female macaques were protected against vaginal acquisition of the highly pathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV).
Previous studies have suggested the presence of a ‘blood microbiome’. Here, we analysed sequencing data generated from the blood of 9,770 healthy individuals and found no evidence for a common blood microbiome in these individuals.
Colonoids derived from adult human stem cells support growth of human enterovirus. Instead of spreading through the epithelium or lysing infected cells, virus is released within intact infected cells. Infected cells are detected by force-sensing ion channels, a mechanism akin to that used for normal turnover of uninfected epithelia.
We present evidence that lignin, a recalcitrant and partially aromatic polymer found in plant cell walls, can be modified by anaerobic microorganisms. This finding overturns a long-standing paradigm that all biological processes of lignin degradation require oxygen and motivates further exploration of understudied biology to inform biotechnological innovation.
Phage-encoded endolysins released from neighbouring infected bacterial cells can confer a temporary resistance to phage infection by mediating the reversible loss of the cell wall.