Latest Articles
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyStable and Highly Immunogenic MicroRNA-Targeted Single-Dose Live Attenuated Vaccine Candidate against Tick-Borne Encephalitis Constructed Using Genetic Backbone of Langat VirusTick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is one of the most medically important tick-borne pathogens of the Old World. Despite decades of active research, efforts to develop of TBEV live attenuated virus (LAV) vaccines with acceptable safety and immunogenicity characteristics have not been successful. Here we report the development and evaluation of a highly attenuated and immunogenic microRNA-targeted TBEV LAV.
Commentary | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyLighting Up Mutation: a New Unbiased System for the Measurement of Microbial Mutation RatesAlthough mutation drives evolution over long and short terms, measuring and comparing mutation rates accurately have been particularly difficult. This is especially true when mutations lead to an alteration in fitness.
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyFunctional Specialization in Vibrio cholerae Diguanylate Cyclases: Distinct Modes of Motility Suppression and c-di-GMP ProductionCyclic diguanylate monophosphate (c-di-GMP) is a broadly conserved bacterial signaling molecule that affects motility, biofilm formation, and virulence. Although it has been known that high intracellular concentrations of c-di-GMP correlate with motility suppression and biofilm formation, how the 53 predicted c-di-GMP modulators in Vibrio cholerae collectively...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPhycobilisomes Harbor FNRL in CyanobacteriaCyanobacterial light-harvesting complex PBSs are essential for photochemistry in light reactions and for balancing energy flow to carbon fixation in the form of ATP and NADPH. We isolated a new type of PBS without an allophycocyanin core (i.e., CpcL-PBS). CpcL-PBS contains both a spectral red-shifted chromophore, enabling efficient energy transfer to chlorophyll molecules in the reaction centers, and an increased FNRL content...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyEnhanced Replication of Mouse Adenovirus Type 1 following Virus-Induced Degradation of Protein Kinase R (PKR)The first line of defense in cells during viral infection is the innate immune system, which is activated by different viral products. PKR is a part of this innate immune system and is induced by interferon and activated by dsRNA produced by DNA and RNA viruses. PKR is such an important part of the antiviral response that many viral families have gene products to counteract its activation or the resulting effects of its activity....
Editor's Pick Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceDiversification of Colonization Factors in a Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli Lineage Evolving under Negative Frequency-Dependent SelectionInfections with multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains of Escherichia coli are a significant global public health concern. To combat these pathogens, we need a deeper understanding of how they evolved from their background populations. By understanding the processes that underpin their emergence, we can design new strategies to limit evolution of new clones and combat...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Therapeutics and PreventionBacterial Genome-Wide Association Identifies Novel Factors That Contribute to Ethionamide and Prothionamide Susceptibility in Mycobacterium tuberculosisPhenotypic antibiotic susceptibility testing in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is slow and cumbersome. Rapid molecular diagnostics promise to help guide therapy, but such assays rely on complete knowledge of the molecular determinants of altered antibiotic susceptibility. Recent genomic studies of antibiotic-resistant M. tuberculosis have identified several...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyDynamics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Ag85B Revealed by a Sensitive Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent AssayBacterial protein secretion contributes to host-pathogen interactions, yet the process and consequences of bacterial protein secretion during infection are poorly understood. We developed a sensitive ELISA to quantitate a protein (termed Ag85B) secreted by M. tuberculosis and used it to find that Ag85B secretion occurs with slower kinetics than for proteins secreted...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyChlamydia trachomatis Lipopolysaccharide Evades the Canonical and Noncanonical Inflammatory Pathways To Subvert Innate ImmunityChlamydia trachomatis is the most common bacterial cause of sexually transmitted infections (STI). C. trachomatis STI are commonly asymptomatic, implying a pathogenic strategy for the evasion of innate inflammatory immune responses, a paradox as the C. trachomatis outer membrane contains lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a known potent agonist of...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyThe Structural Basis for a Transition State That Regulates Pore Formation in a Bacterial ToxinThe cholesterol-dependent cytolysins (CDCs) are the archetype for the superfamily of oligomeric pore-forming proteins that includes the membrane attack complex/perforin (MACPF) family of immune defense proteins and the stonefish venom toxins (SNTX). The CDC/MACPF/SNTX family exhibits a common protein fold, which forms a membrane-spanning β-barrel pore. We show that changing the relative stability of an extensive intramolecular interface...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyThe Impact of Anthelmintic Treatment on Human Gut Microbiota Based on Cross-Sectional and Pre- and Postdeworming Comparisons in Western KenyaThe gut microbiome is an important factor in human health. It is affected by what we eat, what medicines we take, and what infections we acquire. In turn, it affects the way we absorb nutrients and whether we have excessive intestinal inflammation. Intestinal worms may have an important impact on the composition of the gut microbiome. Without a complete understanding of the impact of mass deworming programs on the microbiome, it is...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyCoordination of Polyploid Chromosome Replication with Cell Size and Growth in a CyanobacteriumPolyploidy has evolved many times across the kingdom of life. The relationship between cell growth and chromosome replication in bacteria has been studied extensively in monoploid model organisms such as Escherichia coli but not in polyploid organisms. Our study of the polyploid cyanobacterium...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyQuantitative Analyses Reveal Novel Roles for N-Glycosylation in a Major Enteric Bacterial PathogenAdvances in genomics and mass spectrometry have revealed several types of glycosylation systems in bacteria. However, why bacterial proteins are modified remains poorly defined. Here, we investigated the role of general N-linked glycosylation in a major food poisoning bacterium, Campylobacter jejuni. The aim of this study is to delineate the direct and...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyA Dopamine-Responsive Signal Transduction Controls Transcription of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Virulence GenesIn this study, MarR family regulator EmrR is identified as a novel virulence factor of enteric bacteria, here exemplified by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and Yersinia pestis. EmrR exerts an essential effect as a transcription activator for expression of virulence determinants, including...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyAdipose Tissue Regulates Pulmonary Pathology during TB InfectionAlthough the lungs are the port of entry and the predominant site of TB disease manifestation, we and others have demonstrated that M. tuberculosis also persists in adipose tissue of aerosol-infected animals and directly or indirectly alters adipose tissue physiology, which in turn alters whole-body immuno-metabolic homeostasis. Our present report demonstrates a...
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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
