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Decomposing remains, whether human or other animal, are attractive to organisms across the tree of life because they are concentrated sources of nutrients and moisture. Blow flies (likely to be Chrysomya rufifacies in this photo), for which larval stages are obligate flesh feeders, are key vectors of a specialist carrion decomposer microbial network that appears universal across terrestrial environments.
A participatory research initiative generates actionable data on avian diseases in New York City, showcases how a community-based approach can tackle misinformation, and actively engages students from historically underrepresented communities in science, technology, engineering and maths.
Decomposer microbiomes are universal across cadavers regardless of environmental conditions, and they use complex cross-feeding and interkingdom interactions to break down organic matter.
Active hydrothermal vents are hotspots of life in the deep sea, but even after hot springs go extinct, highly productive microbial communities continue to thrive on the chemical energy in the minerals left behind.
Two studies describe the discovery of proteins that harbour a photosynthetic reaction centre barrel domain and play pivotal roles in FtsZ-mediated cell division in archaea, with the photosynthetic reaction centre fold itself emerging as a key player in executing cytokinesis across archaea.
Human norovirus infection is a major global health concern, but a suitable animal model is lacking. We have established repeated infection with human norovirus in rhesus macaques via oral challenge. Animals demonstrate virus shedding in the stool and subsequent serum antibody responses, and virus replication is detected in the small intestine.
Graft-versus-host disease, a T cell-driven inflammatory condition, is associated with altered microbial bile acid metabolism in both mice and humans and this is linked to outcomes.
Bacteria cooperate by secreting siderophores that displace iron from the antibiotic cefiderocol, reducing drug uptake and promoting the cross-protection of susceptible siblings and other species.
The bacterial alarmone (p)ppGpp induces β-lactam resistance through modification of RNA polymerase and ribosome function rather than regulation of peptidoglycan metabolism in Escherichia coli.
Radiolabel-based bioassays, nanoSIMs, metagenomics and lipidomics conducted on samples collected along the East Pacific Rise show higher than expected chemosynthetic microbial activity on inactive vents.
The Candida albicans toxin, candidalysin, is embedded in an unusual conserved precursor peptide sequence (Ece1). The precursor is not required to block premature pore-forming toxicity, but rather to prevent candidalysin auto-aggregation.
Autophagy in CD11c+ phagocytes prevents myeloid-derived suppressor cell recruitment and promotes protective T cell responses during high-dose Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mice.
During archaeal cell division, proteins containing photosynthetic reaction centre domains enable the formation of a defined cell division plane by direct interaction with SepF.
Photosynthesis reaction centre barrel proteins are important components of the FtsZ-based cell division apparatus in Haloferax volcanii and other archaea.
GWAS in difficult-to-recruit populations identifies variants associated with Lassa fever outcome and susceptibility at loci proximal to LIF, GRM7 and LARGE1.
Peptidoglycan biosynthesis is regulated by a feedback mechanism preventing the pathway from sequestering essential lipid carriers used to assemble and transport surface glycan subunits.
Rhesus macaques are susceptible to oral challenge of human noroviruses and can be used as a model to recapitulate infection and adaptive immune responses in humans.
Biochemical, genetic and structural analyses show how phage ΦKZ co-opts the Pseudomonasaeruginosa gene expression machinery using a factor that binds to host ribosomes at 5S ribosomal RNA.
A 5 year longitudinal, retrospective and multi-centre epidemiological study of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae across China reveals antibiotic resistance, virulence gene and capsule profiles for 1,017 isolates showing increased K64 prevalence, increased hypervirulence and moderate frequency, stable circulation of capsule- or O-antigen-deficient strains.
A set of computational tools to de novo recognize plasmids in complex environments, like the human gut microbiome, and to organize them into evolutionarily cohesive units.
Metabolic engineers and synthetic biologists can produce recombinant proteins at scale without royalty payments, or strain distribution constraints, using OPENPichia.