Volume 7 Issue 12, December 2022

Prochlorococcus is the most abundant photosynthetic organism in the ocean, but single-cell measurements and model simulations reveal that this organism might obtain only 20% of the carbon required for growth from photosynthesis in the deep water column.

Tecovirimat blocks replication of 2022 monkeypox virus isolate in vitro, supporting its use in ongoing human clinical trials.

A phage genetic engineering platform will enable a better understanding of phage biology and engineering of phage therapies.

A CRISPR-Cas13 enzyme is shown to have potent anti-phage activity that is harnessed to produce a phage genome engineering method with broad utility.

Detection of monkeypox viruses (MPXV) in archival testes samples from acute and convalescent MPXV-infected macaques provides evidence supporting the potential for sexual transmision of MPXV.

A phase 1 clinical trial evaluates the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the ChulaCov19 mRNA vaccine in healthy adults.

Gold-standard evidence for correlates of protection is provided by analysis of a randomized phase 3 trial of Ad26.COV2.S for protection against moderate to severe-critical COVID-19 disease.

White-tailed deer are a potential reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Siderophores from diet-derived or intestinal fungi can be used by Salmonella for growth in the murine gut.

A heteromeric disulfide-linked complex binds to the RCR complex and is required for invasion of human erythrocytes by Plasmodium falciparum.

Genomic analyses of Klebsiella isolates sampled from multiple human, animal and environmental sources in Northern Italy explore Klebsiella population diversity and show that transmission of multidrug-resistant clones between clinical and environmental settings is scarce.

Single-cell measurements and modelling show that the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus obtain most of the carbon required for growth from mixotrophy, extending their ecological range and impact in the water column.

Recently discovered type III-E CRISPR–Cas systems use the single Cas7-11 effector to cleave foreign RNA. Here the authors use cryo-electron microscopy and biochemical approaches to reveal the mechanisms underlying crRNA maturation, target RNA recognition and cleavage, and communication with the protease Csx29 by Cas7-11.

Aerobic methanotrophy is a rare trait, yet bacteria with this capacity are key players in the global methane cycle. Here the authors find a methanotrophic Mycobacterium in a cave, indicating that methane utilization is more widespread across bacteria than previously assumed.

HIV-1 latency is enabled by SMC5/6-mediated epigenetic silencing of unintegrated viral genomes.

The dcw cluster has an ancient origin and has been inherited vertically by all Bacteria.

This Resource combines amplicon sequencing, shotgun metagenomic sequencing and untargeted metabolomics to provide a global view of microbial–metabolite associations across Earth’s environments.