Review Articles in 2013

In this Review, Nierhaus and colleagues discuss the recent structural and mechanistic insights that have improved our understanding of elongation factor G (EF-G)-mediated forward-translocation and EF-4-mediated back-translocation on the bacterial ribosome.

The ribosome is one of the primary antibiotic targets in the bacterial cell. Here, Daniel Wilson discusses how high-resolution crystal structures of antibiotic–ribosome complexes have provided molecular insight into the mechanisms of antibiotic action and bacterial resistance, in addition to the approaches being pursued for the development of improved and novel ribosome-targeting antibiotics.

Staphylococcus aureusis an important human pathogen that can cause invasive, potentially fatal infections.S. aureus expresses several virulence factors, which include cell wall-anchored surface proteins. Here, Foster and colleagues review the structural characteristics and functions of these proteins and how this knowledge can be used to combat S. aureusinfection.

Here, Gahlmann and Moerner describe single-molecule imaging in live bacterial cells, which has transformed the study of bacterial cell biology. They discuss the insights that have been gained about the bacterial cytoskeleton, nucleoid organization and chromosome segregation and partitioning, as well as transcription and translation.

Oncolytic viruses can infect and destroy tumour tissues; however, many have proven less effective in clinical trials than anticipated. Miest and Cattaneo outline strategies to enhance the efficacy of next-generation virotherapy and to provide the clinic with a range of viruses that are engineered to safely and specifically destroy cancer cells.

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus and, more recently, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus has highlighted the pathogenic and epidemic potential of this virus family. Here, Graham, Donaldson and Baric review key biological properties of coronaviruses and how to target them with potential therapeutics.

Current antimalarial therapy heavily relies on artemisinins, a drug class that only targets the blood stages of the parasite and which is increasingly feared to elicit drug resistance. Flannery, Chatterjee and Winzeler discuss the approaches used to develop novel drugs that are active against different life cycle stages with the ultimate aim of eliminating malaria.

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) establish latent infections, during which the viral genomes are maintained in the host cell as viral episomes. As discussed by Lieberman, latency depends on numerous factors, including viral genome chromatinization and epigenetic modification, as well as tight control of the latency transcription programme.

Apicomplexan parasites have unique lipid-scavenging and -synthesis pathways that are not found in their mammalian hosts. Coppens gives an overview of these pathways inPlasmodium spp., Toxoplasma gondii and Cryptosporidiumspp. and highlights promising drug targets to interfere with the parasites' high demand for isoprenoids, sphingolipids and cholesterol.

In plants, RNA silencing targets viral RNA for degradation, and viruses have evolved mechanisms to avoid silencing, most notably by expressing silencing suppressors. The recent identification of silencing suppressors in plant pathogenic bacteria and oomycetes suggests that RNA silencing functions in plant defence against a broad range of pathogens, not just viruses. There is also increasing evidence that plants have evolved counter-counter-defence responses to pathogen-mediated RNA-silencing suppression.

Giraldo and Valent review the latest research into the molecular and cellular biology of the effectors that are secreted during biotrophic invasion of plant cells by eukaryotic filamentous pathogens, with an emphasis on results obtained by live-cell imaging of effector dynamics during natural plant invasions.

Structural biology studies of proteins involved in plant pathogen–host interactions are crucial to understanding the molecular mechanisms of both pathogen virulence and host defence. Banfield and colleagues review the current developments in the structural biology of plant–pathogen interactions, highlighting examples in which structural studies have had the biggest effect on our understanding of molecular function.

Geminiviruses are important plant pathogens that cause devastating crop losses worldwide. Here, Hanley-Bowdoin and colleagues review how viral proteins interact with cellular machineries and reprogramme cellular control pathways in their plant host to support viral DNA replication, gene expression and trafficking, and to interfere with host defences.

The rhizosphere – the interface between plant roots and soil – is an intriguingly complex and dynamic niche. Laurent Philippot and colleagues review recent progress in rhizosphere research and suggest that going back to the roots could be crucial to further improve the sustainability of crop production.

The symptoms of malaria are associated with the erythrocytic phase ofPlasmodiumspp. infection, but the pre-erythrocytic (PE) phase, which is clinically silent, has long been of interest as a potential vaccination target. Robert Ménard and colleagues review how our understanding of the PE phase has changed over the past decade and how this in turn has informed our understanding of the host immune response.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a positive-strand RNA virus that causes significant pathology in humans. Here, Lindenbach and Rice discuss recent insights into the unique properties of HCV particles and then review HCV entry and assembly, with a focus on the viral and host factors involved.

Recent studies have revealed that bacteriophages have a remarkable capacity to defend against the antiviral systems of their bacterial hosts. Here, Moineau and colleagues discuss the diverse mechanisms that phages use to evade adsorption inhibition, restriction–modification systems, CRISPR–Cas systems and abortive infection.

Recent studies have provided mechanistic insight into the cell cycle of coccoid bacteria. In this Review, Pinho, Kjos and Veening discuss our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms orchestrating peptidoglycan synthesis, cell division and chromosome segregation inStaphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Achieving intestinal homeostasis is a balancing act of attacking pathogens while tolerating the gut microbiota, and repairing damaged tissue following infection. Here, Lemaitre and colleagues discuss insights obtained from the study of host–microorganism interactions in theDrosophila melanogastergut.

Bernander and Lindås provide an overview of recent studies that have enhanced our understanding of the archaeal cell cycle. They discuss the multiple-origin mode of DNA replication, the archaeal replisome, the identification of a genome segregation machinery, the first cytoskeletal structure and the discovery of a novel cell division system.