Host-Microbe Biology
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyDiagnostic Potential and Interactive Dynamics of the Colorectal Cancer ViromeColorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and worldwide. Its risk and severity have been linked to colonic bacterial community composition. Although human-specific viruses have been linked to other cancers and diseases, little is known about colorectal cancer virus communities. We addressed this knowledge gap by identifying differences in colonic virus communities in the stool of colorectal cancer...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyA Distinct, Non-Virion Plant Virus Movement Protein Encoded by a Crinivirus Essential for Systemic InfectionPlant viruses encode specific proteins that facilitate their ability to establish multicellular/systemic infections in their host plants. Relatively little is known of the transport mechanisms for plant viruses whose infections are phloem limited, including those of the family Closteroviridae. These viruses have complex, long filamentous virions that spread through the phloem. Lettuce infectious yellows virus (LIYV)...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyCryptococcus neoformans Cda1 and Its Chitin Deacetylase Activity Are Required for Fungal PathogenesisCryptococcus neoformans is unique among fungal pathogens that cause disease in a mammalian host, as it secretes a polysaccharide capsule that hinders recognition by the host to facilitate its survival and proliferation. Even though it causes serious infections in immunocompromised hosts, reports of infection in hosts that are immunocompetent are on the rise. The cell...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyDefining the Metabolic Pathways and Host-Derived Carbon Substrates Required for Francisella tularensis Intracellular GrowthThe widespread onset of antibiotic resistance prioritizes the need for novel antimicrobial strategies to prevent the spread of disease. With its low infectious dose, broad host range, and high rate of mortality, F. tularensis poses a severe risk to public health and is considered a potential agent for bioterrorism....
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyPosttranscriptional Regulation of HIV-1 Gene Expression during Replication and Reactivation from Latency by Nuclear Matrix Protein MATR3The life cycle of HIV-1 requires integration of a DNA copy into the genome of the host cell. Transcription of the viral genes generates RNAs that are exported to the cytoplasm with the contribution of viral and cellular factors to get translated or incorporated in the newly synthesized virions. It has been observed that highly effective antiretroviral therapy, which is able to reduce circulating virus to undetectable levels, cannot...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyChanges in Endosymbiont Complexity Drive Host-Level Compensatory Adaptations in CicadasSap-feeding insects critically rely on one or more bacteria or fungi to provide essential nutrients that are not available at sufficient levels in their diets. These microbes are passed between insect generations when the mother places a small packet of microbes into each of her eggs before it is laid. We have previously described an unusual lineage fragmentation process in a nutritional endosymbiotic bacterium of cicadas called ...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyA Genome-Wide Screen Identifies Genes in Rhizosphere-Associated Pseudomonas Required to Evade Plant DefensesWhile rhizosphere bacteria hold the potential to improve plant health and fitness, little is known about the bacterial genes required to evade host immunity. Using a model system consisting of Arabidopsis and a beneficial Pseudomonas sp. isolate, we identified bacterial genes required for both rhizosphere fitness and for evading host immune responses. This work advances our understanding of how evasion of host defenses...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyChlamydia trachomatis Inhibits Homologous Recombination Repair of DNA Breaks by Interfering with PP2A SignalingChlamydia trachomatis induces DNA double-strand breaks in host cells but simultaneously inhibits proper DNA damage response and repair mechanisms. This may render host cells prone to loss of genetic integrity and transformation. Here we show that C. trachomatis prevents activation of the key DNA...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyMaintenance of Mitochondrial Morphology in Cryptococcus neoformans Is Critical for Stress Resistance and VirulenceC. neoformans is a yeast that causes fatal brain infection in close to 200,000 people worldwide every year, mainly afflicting individuals with AIDS or others who are severely immunocompromised. One feature of this microbe that helps it cause disease is that it is able to withstand toxic molecules it encounters when host cells engulf it in their efforts to control the...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyHypoxia Promotes Immune Evasion by Triggering β-Glucan Masking on the Candida albicans Cell Surface via Mitochondrial and cAMP-Protein Kinase A SignalingAnimal, plant, and fungal cells occupy environments that impose changes in oxygen tension. Consequently, many species have evolved mechanisms that permit robust adaptation to these changes. The fungal pathogen Candida albicans can colonize hypoxic (low oxygen) niches in its human host, such as the lower gastrointestinal tract and inflamed tissues, but to colonize its...