Cellular microbiology: Tagging proteins for the Clp protease
This study reveals that arginine phosphorylation tags proteins for degradation by the ClpCP protease (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - October 16, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Katharine H. Wrighton Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
A CRISPR outlook for apicomplexans
Nature Reviews Microbiology 14, 668 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.153
Authors: Manuela Carrasquilla & Christian K. Owusu
This month's Genome Watch discusses how advances in genome editing have contributed to our understanding of apicomplexan parasite biology. (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - October 11, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Manuela Carrasquilla Christian K. Owusu Tags: News and Analysis Source Type: research
Archaeal genomics: Divergent methanogenic archaea
Nature Reviews Microbiology 14, 667 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.156
Author: Andrea Du Toit
Methanogenic anaerobic archaea produce the largest amount of methane on Earth. Methane metabolism was thought to originate early in the evolution of the phylum Euryarchaeota, a notion that was challenged following the discovery of putative methane metabolism in the archaeal phylum Bathyarchaeota. Vanwonterghem et al (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - October 11, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Andrea Du Toit Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Bacterial pathogenesis: Spirochete spreading
Nature Reviews Microbiology 14, 667 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.155
Author: Andrea Du Toit
The ability of Treponema pallidum to disseminate throughout the host and exit from the vasculature is crucial to its pathogenesis. This process is governed by T. pallidum proteins, including TP0751 (also known as pallilysin), that mediate attachment to the host extracellular matrix (ECM). (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - October 11, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Andrea Du Toit Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Antimicrobials: Pump it out
Nature Reviews Microbiology 14, 667 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.154
Author: Andrea Du Toit
The tripartite efflux pump CmeABC is the most important efflux system in Campylobacter spp. that confers multidrug resistance. Yao, Shen et al. report the identification of a CmeABC variant that exhibits enhanced efflux function. This variant, termed resistance-enhancing CmeABC (RE-CmeABC), was more potent (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - October 11, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Andrea Du Toit Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Bacterial toxins: TcdB aims for Frizzled
This study reveals that TcdB binds to two different receptors, CSPG4 and FZD, in a cell type-dependent manner. (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - October 11, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Andrea Du Toit Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Antimicrobials: Hitting malaria on several levels
Nature Reviews Microbiology 14, 665 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.146
Author: Katharine H. Wrighton
Current antimalarial drugs cannot target all stages of the Plasmodium spp. lifecycle and are challenged by drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Kato et al. sought more effective drugs against this parasite by testing synthetic compounds, the structures of which were based on (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - October 11, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Katharine H. Wrighton Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Structural biology: Zooming in on F pili
Nature Reviews Microbiology 14, 665 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.145
Author: Katharine H. Wrighton
Despite the importance of the bacterial F pilus in DNA transfer and as an entry point for phages, its structure was unknown. Costa et al. now solve the structure of two plasmid-purified F family pili — the pED208 and F pili — at 3.6 (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - October 11, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Katharine H. Wrighton Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Marine microbiology: UCYN-A fixes N2 in the sea
Nature Reviews Microbiology 14, 665 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.144
Author: Katharine H. Wrighton
Species in the cyanobacterial genus Trichodesmium are considered to be the main contributors to microbial dinitrogen (N2) fixation in the ocean. However, Martínez-Pérez et al. now show that the symbiotic cyanobacterium UCYN-A, which associates with eukaryotic algae, also fixes N2 (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - October 11, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Katharine H. Wrighton Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Treponema pallidum, the syphilis spirochete: making a living as a stealth pathogen
Nature Reviews Microbiology 14, 744 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.141
Authors: Justin D. Radolf, Ranjit K. Deka, Arvind Anand, David Šmajs, Michael V. Norgard & X. Frank Yang
The past two decades have seen a worldwide resurgence in infections caused by Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, the syphilis spirochete. The well-recognized capacity of the syphilis spirochete for early dissemination and immune evasion has earned it the designation 'the stealth pathogen'. Despite the (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - October 9, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Justin D. Radolf Ranjit K. Deka Arvind Anand David Šmajs Michael V. Norgard X. Frank Yang Tags: Review Source Type: research
Emerging pathogenic links between microbiota and the gut –lung axis
Nature Reviews Microbiology 15, 55 (2017).
doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.142
Authors: Kurtis F. Budden, Shaan L. Gellatly, David L. A. Wood, Matthew A. Cooper, Mark Morrison, Philip Hugenholtz & Philip M. Hansbro
The microbiota is vital for the development of the immune system and homeostasis. Changes in microbial composition and function, termed dysbiosis, in the respiratory tract and the gut have recently been linked to alterations in immune responses and to disease development in the lungs. In (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - October 2, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Kurtis F. Budden Shaan L. Gellatly David L. A. Wood Matthew A. Cooper Mark Morrison Philip Hugenholtz Philip M. Hansbro Tags: Perspectives Source Type: research
Bacterial physiology: A new chaperone for regulatory sRNAs
Nature Reviews Microbiology 14, 664 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.150
Author: Naomi Attar
ProQ is revealed to be a global post-transcriptional regulator that stabilizes structured RNAs. (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - October 2, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Naomi Attar Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Harnessing the power of microbial autotrophy
Nature Reviews Microbiology 14, 692 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.130
Authors: Nico J. Claassens, Diana Z. Sousa, Vitor A. P. Martins dos Santos, Willem M. de Vos & John van der Oost
Autotrophic microorganisms convert CO2 into biomass by deriving energy from light or inorganic electron donors. These CO2-fixing microorganisms have a large, but so far only partially realized, potential for the sustainable production of chemicals and biofuels. Productivities have been improved in (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - September 25, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Nico J. Claassens Diana Z. Sousa Vitor A. P. Martins dos Santos Willem M. de Vos John van der Oost Tags: Review Source Type: research
ESX secretion systems: mycobacterial evolution to counter host immunity
Nature Reviews Microbiology 14, 677 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.131
Authors: Matthias I. Gröschel, Fadel Sayes, Roxane Simeone, Laleh Majlessi & Roland Brosch
Mycobacterium tuberculosis uses sophisticated secretion systems, named 6 kDa early secretory antigenic target (ESAT6) protein family secretion (ESX) systems (also known as type VII secretion systems), to export a set of effector proteins that helps the pathogen to resist or evade the host immune (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - September 25, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Matthias I. Gr öschel Fadel Sayes Roxane Simeone Laleh Majlessi Roland Brosch Tags: Review Source Type: research
Bacterial secretion: Reusing injected proteins
This study shows that T6SS components that are transferred between cells can be reused to assemble a fucntional T6SS system in the recipient. (Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology)
Source: Nature Reviews Microbiology - September 25, 2016 Category: Microbiology Authors: Katharine H. Wrighton Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
