Latest Articles
Commentary | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceEarly Cyanobacteria and the Innovation of Microbial SunscreensMetabolism drives life; thus, understanding how and when various branches of metabolism evolved provides a critical piece to understanding how life has integrated itself into the geochemical cycles of our planet over billions of years.
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyExtensive Epitranscriptomic Methylation of A and C Residues on Murine Leukemia Virus Transcripts Enhances Viral Gene ExpressionThe data presented in the present study demonstrate that MLV RNAs bear an exceptionally high level of the epitranscriptomic modifications m6A, m5C, and Nm, suggesting that these each facilitate some aspect of the viral replication cycle. Consistent with this hypothesis, we demonstrate that mutational removal of a subset of these m6A or m5C modifications from MLV transcripts inhibits MLV...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyThe Yeast PCNA Unloader Elg1 RFC-Like Complex Plays a Role in Eliciting the DNA Damage CheckpointThe Elg1protein forms an RFC-like complex in charge of unloading PCNA from chromatin during DNA replication and repair. Mutations in the ELG1 gene caused genomic instability in all organisms tested and cancer in mammals. Here we show that Elg1 plays a role in the induction of the DNA damage checkpoint, a cellular response to DNA damage. We show that this defect is due to a defect in the signal amplification process during...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceTransient Replication in Specialized Cells Favors Transfer of an Integrative and Conjugative ElementBacterial evolution is driven to a large extent by horizontal gene transfer (HGT)—the processes that distribute genetic material between species rather than by vertical descent. The different elements and processes mediating HGT have been characterized in great molecular detail. In contrast, very little is known on adaptive features selecting HGT evolvability and fitness optimization. By studying the molecular behavior of an integrated...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Therapeutics and PreventionThe Landscape of Phenotypic and Transcriptional Responses to Ciprofloxacin in Acinetobacter baumannii: Acquired Resistance Alleles Modulate Drug-Induced SOS Response and Prophage ReplicationFluoroquinolones have been extremely successful antibiotics due to their ability to target multiple bacterial enzymes critical to DNA replication, the topoisomerases DNA gyrase and topo IV. Unfortunately, mutations lowering drug affinity for both enzymes are now widespread, rendering these drugs ineffective for many pathogens. To undermine this form of resistance, we examined how bacteria with target alterations differentially cope with...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyPotent Enhancement of HIV-1 Replication by Nef in the Absence of SERINC3 and SERINC5The Nef protein of HIV-1 and the unrelated glycoGag protein of a murine leukemia virus similarly prevent the uptake of antiviral host proteins called SERINC3 and SERINC5 into HIV-1 particles, which enhances their infectiousness. We now show that although both SERINC antagonists can in principle similarly enhance HIV-1 replication, glycoGag is unable to substitute for Nef in primary human cells and in a T cell line called MOLT-3. In MOLT...
Author Reply | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyReply to Kaldalu et al., “Reanalysis of Proteomics Results Fails To Detect MazF-Mediated Stress Proteins”
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceHigh-Throughput Analysis of Gene Function in the Bacterial Predator Bdellovibrio bacteriovorusBdellovibrio bacteriovorus is a predatory bacterium that can kill a wide range of Gram-negative bacteria, including many human pathogens. Given the global rise of antibiotic resistance and dearth of new antibiotics discovered in the past 30 years, this predator has potential as an alternative to traditional antibiotics. For many years,...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyOrigins of Enterovirus Replication Organelles Established by Whole-Cell Electron MicroscopyEnteroviruses are causative agents of a range of human diseases. The replication of these viruses within cells relies on specialized membranous structures termed replication organelles (ROs) that form during infection but whose origin remains elusive. To capture the emergence of enterovirus ROs, we use correlative light and serial block-face scanning electron microscopy, a powerful method to pinpoint rare events in their whole-cell...
Letter to the Editor | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyReanalysis of Proteomics Results Fails To Detect MazF-Mediated Stress Proteins
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyEvidence that Ergosterol Biosynthesis Modulates Activity of the Pdr1 Transcription Factor in Candida glabrataA likely contributor to the increased incidence of non-albicans candidemias involving Candida glabrata is the ease with which this yeast acquires azole resistance, in large part due to induction of the ATP-binding cassette transporter-encoding gene CDR1. Azole drugs lead to induction of Pdr1 transactivation, with a central model being that this...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPyruvate Homeostasis as a Determinant of Parasite Growth and Metabolic Plasticity in Toxoplasma gondiiToxoplasma gondii infects almost all warm-blooded animals, and metabolic flexibility is deemed critical for its successful parasitism in diverse hosts. Glucose and glutamine are the major carbon sources to support parasite growth. In this study, we found that Toxoplasma is also competent in utilizing lactate and alanine and, thus, exhibits exceptional...
Research Article | Host-Microbe Biologyβ-Lactam Antibiotics Enhance the Pathogenicity of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus via SarA-Controlled Lipoprotein-Like Cluster Expressionβ-Lactam antibiotics are widely applied to treat infectious diseases. However, certain poor disease outcomes caused by β-lactams remain poorly understood. In this study, we have identified a cluster of lipoprotein-like genes (lpl, sa2275–sa2273) that is upregulated in the major clinically prevalent MRSA clones in response to subinhibitory concentrations of β-lactam induction. The major highlight of this work...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyGenomic Identification of the TOR Signaling Pathway as a Target of the Plant Alkaloid Antofine in the Phytopathogen Fusarium graminearumFusarium head blight caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum is a devastating disease of cereal crops worldwide, with limited effective chemical treatments available. Here we show that the natural alkaloid compound antofine can inhibit fusarium head blight in wheat. Using yeast genomic screening, we identified the TOR pathway component RRD2 as a...
Observation | Host-Microbe BiologyIs Anopheles gambiae a Natural Host of Wolbachia?Anopheles gambiae mosquitos are the main vectors of malaria, threatening around half of the world’s population. The bacterial symbiont Wolbachia can interfere with disease transmission by other important insect vectors, but until recently, it was thought to be absent from natural A. gambiae populations. Here, we critically analyze the genomic,...
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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
