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Minireview | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyFun(gi)omics: Advanced and Diverse Technologies to Explore Emerging Fungal Pathogens and Define Mechanisms of Antifungal ResistanceThe landscape of infectious fungal agents includes previously unidentified or rare pathogens with the potential to cause unprecedented casualties in biodiversity, food security, and human health. The influences of human activity, including the crisis of climate change, along with globalized transport, are underlying factors shaping fungal adaptation to increased temperature and expanded geographical regions. Furthermore, the emergence...
Minireview | Host-Microbe BiologyIt’s the Little Things (in Viral RNA)Chemical modifications of viral RNA are an integral part of the viral life cycle and are present in most classes of viruses. To date, more than 170 RNA modifications have been discovered in all types of cellular RNA. Only a few, however, have been found in viral RNA, and the function of most of these has yet to be elucidated. Those few we have discovered and whose functions we understand have a varied effect on each virus. They...
Minireview | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyHistone Modifications and Other Facets of Epigenetic Regulation in Trypanosomatids: Leaving Their MarkHistone posttranslational modifications (PTMs) modulate several eukaryotic cellular processes, including transcription, replication, and repair. Vast arrays of modifications have been identified in conventional eukaryotes over the last 20 to 25 years. While initial studies uncovered these primarily on histone tails, multiple modifications were subsequently found on the central globular domains as well. Histones are evolutionarily...
Minireview | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyEnterobacterial Common Antigen: Synthesis and Function of an Enigmatic MoleculeThe outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria poses a barrier to antibiotic entry due to its high impermeability. Thus, there is an urgent need to study the function and biogenesis of the OM. In Enterobacterales, an order of bacteria with many pathogenic members, one of the components of the OM is enterobacterial common antigen (ECA). We have known of the presence of ECA on the cell surface of Enterobacterales for...
Minireview | Host-Microbe BiologyPathogenesis of COVID-19 from the Perspective of the Damage-Response FrameworkThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) presents the medical community with a significant challenge. COVID-19 is an entirely new disease with disparate clinical manifestations that are difficult to reconcile with a single pathogenic principle. Here, we explain how the flexible paradigm of the “damage-response framework” (DRF) of microbial pathogenesis...
Minireview | Therapeutics and PreventionA Physiological Basis for Nonheritable Antibiotic ResistanceAntibiotics constitute one of the cornerstones of modern medicine. However, individuals may succumb to a bacterial infection if a pathogen survives exposure to antibiotics. The ability of bacteria to survive bactericidal antibiotics results from genetic changes in the preexisting bacterial genome, from the acquisition of genes from other organisms, and from nonheritable phenomena that give rise to antibiotic tolerance. Nonheritable...
Minireview | Host-Microbe BiologyCarboxylic Acid Transporters in Candida PathogenesisOpportunistic pathogens such as Candida species can use carboxylic acids, like acetate and lactate, to survive and successfully thrive in different environmental niches. These nonfermentable substrates are frequently the major carbon sources present in certain human body sites, and their efficient uptake by regulated plasma membrane transporters plays a critical role in such nutrient-limited conditions. Here, we cover the...
Minireview | Host-Microbe BiologyThreats Posed by the Fungal Kingdom to Humans, Wildlife, and AgricultureThe fungal kingdom includes at least 6 million eukaryotic species and is remarkable with respect to its profound impact on global health, biodiversity, ecology, agriculture, manufacturing, and biomedical research. Approximately 625 fungal species have been reported to infect vertebrates, 200 of which can be human associated, either as commensals and members of our microbiome or as pathogens that cause infectious diseases. These...
Minireview | Host-Microbe BiologyAdvances in Understanding the Human Urinary Microbiome and Its Potential Role in Urinary Tract InfectionRecent advances in the analysis of microbial communities colonizing the human body have identified a resident microbial community in the human urinary tract (UT). Compared to many other microbial niches, the human UT harbors a relatively low biomass. Studies have identified many genera and species that may constitute a core urinary microbiome. However, the contribution of the UT microbiome to urinary tract infection (UTI) and recurrent...
Minireview | Host-Microbe BiologyLatent Toxoplasmosis Effects on Rodents and Humans: How Much is Real and How Much is Media Hype?Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous, intracellular protozoan parasite with a broad range of intermediate hosts, including humans and rodents. In many hosts, T. gondii establishes a latent long-term infection by converting from its rapidly dividing or lytic form to its slowly replicating and encysting...