bioenergetics
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyStochastic Variation in Expression of the Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle Produces Persister CellsPersister cells are rare phenotypic variants that are able to survive antibiotic treatment. Unlike resistant bacteria, which have specific mechanisms to prevent antibiotics from binding to their targets, persisters evade antibiotic killing by entering a tolerant nongrowing state. Persisters have been implicated in chronic infections in multiple species, and growing evidence suggests that persister cells are responsible for many cases of...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyUbiquinone Biosynthesis over the Entire O2 Range: Characterization of a Conserved O2-Independent PathwayIn order to colonize environments with large O2 gradients or fluctuating O2 levels, bacteria have developed metabolic responses that remain incompletely understood. Such adaptations have been recently linked to antibiotic resistance, virulence, and the capacity to develop in complex ecosystems like the microbiota. Here, we identify a novel pathway for the biosynthesis of ubiquinone, a molecule with a key role in...
- Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceParallel Evolution of Genome Streamlining and Cellular Bioenergetics across the Marine Radiation of a Bacterial Phylum
Understanding long-term patterns of microbial evolution is critical to advancing our knowledge of past and present role microbial life in driving global biogeochemical cycles. Historically, it has been challenging to study the evolution of environmental microbes due to difficulties in obtaining genome sequences from lineages that could not be cultivated, but recent advances in metagenomics and single-cell genomics have begun to obviate...