Latest Articles
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPseudomonas savastanoi Two-Component System RhpRS Switches between Virulence and Metabolism by Tuning Phosphorylation State and Sensing Nutritional ConditionsThe plant pathogen Pseudomonas savastanoi invades host plants through a type III secretion system, which is strictly regulated by a two-component system called RhpRS. The orthologues of RhpRS are widely distributed in the bacterial kingdom. The master regulator RhpR specifically depends on the phosphorylation state to regulate the majority of the virulence-related...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyAP-2-Dependent Endocytic Recycling of the Chitin Synthase Chs3 Regulates Polarized Growth in Candida albicansCandida albicans is a human commensal yeast that can cause significant morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised individuals. Within humans, C. albicans can adopt different morphologies as yeast or filamentous hyphae and can occupy different niches with distinct temperatures, pHs, CO2...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyYet More Evidence of Collusion: a New Viral Defense System Encoded by Gordonia Phage CarolAnnProphage-mediated viral defense systems play a key role in microbial dynamics, as lysogeny is established relatively efficiently, and prophage-expressed genes can strongly inhibit lytic infection of other, unrelated phages. Demonstrating such defense systems in Gordonia terrae suggests that these systems are widespread and that there are a multitude of different...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyFirst Betalain-Producing Bacteria Break the Exclusive Presence of the Pigments in the Plant KingdomSeveral studies have demonstrated the health-promoting effects of betalains due to their high antioxidant capacity and their positive effect on the dose-dependent inhibition of cancer cells and their proliferation. To date, betalains were restricted to plants of the order Caryophyllales and some species of fungi, but the present study reveals the first betalain-producing bacterium, as well as the first steps in the formation of pigments...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyEscherichia coli Remodels the Chemotaxis Pathway for SwarmingThe fundamental motile behavior of E. coli is a random walk, where straight “runs” are punctuated by “tumbles.” This behavior, conferred by the chemotaxis signaling system, is used to track chemical gradients in liquid. Our study results show that when migrating collectively on surfaces, E. coli...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyStructure of Vibrio FliL, a New Stomatin-like Protein That Assists the Bacterial Flagellar Motor FunctionSome flagellated bacteria regulate motor torque in response to the external load change. This behavior is critical for survival, but the mechanism has remained unknown. Here, we focused on a key protein, FliL of Vibrio alginolyticus, and solved the crystal structure of its periplasmic region (FliLPeri). FliLPeri reveals striking structural...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyWerner Helicase Control of Human Papillomavirus 16 E1-E2 DNA Replication Is Regulated by SIRT1 DeacetylationHPV16 is the major viral human carcinogen responsible for between 3 and 4% of all cancers worldwide. Following infection, this virus activates the DNA damage response (DDR) to promote its life cycle and recruits DDR proteins to its replicating DNA in order to facilitate homologous recombination during replication. This promotes the production of viable viral progeny. Our understanding of how HPV16 replication interacts with the DDR...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyHelicobacter pylori VacA Targets Myeloid Cells in the Gastric Lamina Propria To Promote Peripherally Induced Regulatory T-Cell Differentiation and Persistent InfectionHelicobacter pylori has coexisted with humans for at least 60.000 years and has evolved persistence strategies that allow it to evade host immunity and colonize its host for life. The VacA protein is expressed by all H. pylori strains and is required for high-level persistent infection in...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceA Parasitic Arsenic Cycle That Shuttles Energy from Phytoplankton to Heterotrophic BacterioplanktonIn vast, warm regions of the oceans, phytoplankton face the problem of arsenic poisoning. Arsenate is toxic because it is chemically similar to phosphate, a scarce nutrient that phytoplankton cells need for growth. Many phytoplankton, including the commonest phytoplankton type in warm oceans, Prochlorococcus, detoxify arsenate by adding methyl groups. Here we show that the most abundant non-photosynthetic plankton in the oceans...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyStromal Fibroblasts Drive Host Inflammatory Responses That Are Dependent on Chlamydia trachomatis Strain Type and Likely Influence Disease OutcomesChlamydia trachomatis is a human pathogen and the leading cause of preventable blindness and sexually transmitted diseases in the world. Certain C. trachomatis strains cause ocular disease, while others cause upper genital tract pathology. However, little is known about the cellular or immunologic...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyStaphylococcal Superantigens Stimulate Epithelial Cells through CD40 To Produce ChemokinesMenstrual toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a serious infectious disease associated with vaginal colonization by Staphylococcus aureus producing the exotoxin TSS toxin 1 (TSST-1). We show that menstrual TSS occurs after TSST-1 interaction with an immune costimulatory molecule called CD40 on the surface of vaginal epithelial cells. Other related toxins, where the entire...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyMore Evidence of Collusion: a New Prophage-Mediated Viral Defense System Encoded by Mycobacteriophage SbashViral infection is an ongoing challenge to bacterial survival, and there is strong selection for development or acquisition of defense systems that promote survival when bacteria are attacked by bacteriophages. Temperate phages play central roles in these dynamics through lysogenic expression of genes that defend against phage attack, including those unrelated to the prophage. Few prophage-mediated viral defense systems have been...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyInteraction of the Human Papillomavirus E1 Helicase with UAF1-USP1 Promotes Unidirectional Theta Replication of Viral GenomesHuman papillomaviruses (HPVs) are important pathogens that replicate their double-stranded circular DNA genome in the nucleus of infected cells. HPV genomes replicate in infected cells via bidirectional theta replication and a poorly understood unidirectional mechanism, and the onset of viral replication requires the engagement of cellular DNA damage response pathways. In this study, we showed that the previously described interaction...
Research Article | Therapeutics and PreventionA More Robust Gut Microbiota in Calorie-Restricted Mice Is Associated with Attenuated Intestinal Injury Caused by the Chemotherapy Drug CyclophosphamideImproving the gut microbiota via calorie restriction is beneficial for human health. Our findings showed differential responses between calorie-restricted mice and ad libitum-fed mice. Compared with the ad libitum-fed mice, the calorie-restricted mice were less susceptible to cyclophosphamide side effects otherwise observed on the gut integrity and its microbiota. These results show the potential benefits of...
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mBio® is ASM's first broad-scope, online-only, open access journal. mBio offers streamlined review and publication of the best research in microbiology and allied fields.
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Dr. Arturo Casadevall, Editor in Chief
