Review Articles in 2007

The application of microtechnology to the discipline of microbiology is poised to transform the study of microbial physiology and behaviour. Here, Weibel and colleagues review the tools and techniques of microfabrication and how it is now possible to physically manipulate individual cells and their local environments.

Cannibalism and fratricide refer to the killing of genetically identical sibling cells that was recently identified inBacillus subtilis and Streptococcus pneumoniae, respectively. Here, Claverys and Håvarstein describe the investigations to characterize the scene of these crimes and identify the murderers, the victims, the murder weapons and the motives.

This Review describes how single-virus tracking can be used to monitor the journey that viruses make through cells in exquisite detail. With specific examples of the entry, cellular transport and exit of selected viruses, the technicalities and benefits of this approach are revealed.

HIV-1 and some other retroviruses can infect cells that are not dividing, so the viral DNA must cross the intact nuclear envelope to integrate into the host chromatin and persist. This Review teases apart the different threads of research to try and identify the mechanisms that underlie the nuclear entry of retroviruses.

Retroviruses, which encode fewer than ten genes, need to interact with cellular proteins for virtually all aspects of their replication cycle. In this Review, Stephen Goff describes how host factors and cellular pathways are exploited at each stage of the retrovirus lifecycle. Throughout, comparisons are drawn between HIV and other retroviruses.

Retroviruses are a unique family of RNA viruses that depend on the translational machinery of the host cell for protein synthesis. Here, the mechanisms used by these viruses to ensure efficient protein synthesis within a highly competitive cellular environment are reviewed.

The existence of a reservoir of latently infected resting CD4⁺ T cells is a major barrier to curing HIV-1 infection. Robert Siliciano and colleagues review the biology of the latent reservoir and the experimental methods that are currently available to analyse HIV-1 latency both in vitro and in vivo.

The authors review the aerobic carbon monoxide (CO)-oxidizing bacteria, which include important human and animal pathogens and plant symbionts. Genomic and metagenomic analyses has allowed the identification of new CO oxidizers, and thecoxgene sequences have provided important insights into aerobic CO dehydrogenase structure and activity.

RNA viruses, particularly positive-strand RNA viruses, interact with the nucleolus to usurp host-cell functions and recruit nucleolar proteins to facilitate virus replication. Here, Julian Hiscox reviews the latest data on RNA-virus interactions with this dynamic subnuclear structure.

All organisms use numerous signal-transduction systems to sense and respond to their environments and survive in a range of biological niches. Here, the authors review the molecular mechanisms used by the fungal kingdom to sense, and adapt in response to, diverse environmental cues.