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  • This study describes the isolation of a new compound, turbinmicin, which shows potent activity in mice against multidrug-resistant fungi and might have a novel mechanism of action.

    • Katie Kingwell
    Research Highlight
  • A recent study provides new evidence that rotavirus-infected cells produce pancrine signals that uninfected cells respond to, leading to intercellular calcium waves and ultimately to diarrhoea.

    • Ashley York
    Research Highlight
  • This study shows that a distinct gut microbiome composition as well as specific bacterial metabolites provide radioprotection in mice.

    • Andrea Du Toit
    Research Highlight
  • A recent study found that a small RNA released by the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri modulates crucial host responses in the Hawaiian bobtailed squid Euprymna scolopes, revealing a new mode of communication in beneficial animal–bacterial symbioses.

    • Ashley York
    Research Highlight
  • This study provides insights into how the malaria parasite persists in its human host through the dry season in Mali to enable transmission by mosquitoes during the wet season.

    • Grant Otto
    Research Highlight
  • Two recent studies use electron cryomicroscopy to determine the architecture of bacterial flagellum stator complexes.

    • Akila Sridhar
    Research Highlight
  • In this study, the authors have used a modular approach to create synthetic acetylation-resistant streptogramins.

    • M. Teresa Villanueva
    Research Highlight
  • This study provides insights into how a mycovirus decreases the pathogenicity of its fungal host and promotes plant defences, and how this can be translated into the development of a plant vaccine.

    • Andrea Du Toit
    Research Highlight
  • This study shows that Aspergillus fumigatus develops spatial hypoxic microenvironments during biofilm maturation that contribute to antifungal drug resistance.

    • Andrea Du Toit
    Research Highlight
  • Two recent studies report the structural basis of transcription–translation coupling in Escherichia coli, and a further study reports functionally uncoupled transcription–translation in Bacillus subtilis.

    • Ashley York
    Research Highlight
  • This study shows that dying cells can release a signal that alerts their kin to the presence of antibiotics and makes them more resistant.

    • Ursula Hofer
    Research Highlight
  • A recent study found that a bacterial metabolite is necessary to execute the cancer driving potential of ‘hotspot’ mutations in the p53 tumour suppressor gene.

    • Akila Sridhar
    Research Highlight
  • This paper identifies a non-retroviral endogenous viral element in mosquitoes that has antiviral functions.

    • Ursula Hofer
    Research Highlight
  • Two studies now provide insights into how surface contact and sensing stimulate the synthesis of c-di-GMP, which accelerates cell cycle progression and cell differentiation in Caulobacter crescentus.

    • Andrea Du Toit
    Research Highlight
  • Two studies used advanced imaging techniques to study the formation and development of bacterial biofilms.

    • Ursula Hofer
    Research Highlight
  • Two recent studies shed light on the importance of heterogeneity in determining the outcome of influenza virus infections, either by shaping the immune response to infection, or by determining the potential for influenza virus to overcome species barriers.

    • Ashley York
    Research Highlight
  • A recent study reports that gut-colonizing commensal bacteria produce a neurotransmitter that modulates the sensory behaviour of their host.

    • Akila Sridhar
    Research Highlight
  • This study suggests that double-membrane vesicles are the primary and likely only site of coronavirus viral RNA within the replication organelle.

    • Andrea Du Toit
    Research Highlight
  • A recent study identified a compound that shows bactericidal activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

    • Akila Sridhar
    Research Highlight