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Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyA Distinct Microbiome Signature in Posttreatment Lyme Disease PatientsMost patients with acute Lyme disease are cured with antibiotic intervention, but 10 to 20% endure debilitating symptoms such as fatigue, neurological complications, and myalgias after treatment, a condition known as posttreatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS). The etiology of PTLDS is not understood, and objective diagnostic tools are lacking. PTLDS symptoms overlap several diseases in which patients exhibit alterations in their...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyGene Dispensability in Escherichia coli Grown in Thirty Different Carbon EnvironmentsWhile there has been much study of bacterial gene dispensability, there is a lack of comprehensive genome-scale examinations of the impact of gene deletion on growth in different carbon sources. In this context, a lot can be learned from such experiments in the model microbe Escherichia coli where much is already understood and there are existing tools for the...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyCPSF6-Dependent Targeting of Speckle-Associated Domains Distinguishes Primate from Nonprimate Lentiviral IntegrationIntegration is the defining step of the retroviral life cycle and underlies the inability to cure HIV/AIDS through the use of intensified antiviral therapy. The reservoir of latent, replication-competent proviruses that forms early during HIV infection reseeds viremia when patients discontinue medication. HIV cure research is accordingly focused on the factors that guide provirus formation and associated chromatin environments that...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyEndogenous Viral Element-Derived Piwi-Interacting RNAs (piRNAs) Are Not Required for Production of Ping-Pong-Dependent piRNAs from Diaphorina citri DensovirusSmall RNAs serve as specificity determinants of antiviral responses in insects. Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are a class of small RNAs found in animals, and their primary role is to direct antitransposon responses. These responses require endogenous piRNAs complementary to transposon RNA. Additionally, piRNAs have been shown to target RNA and DNA viruses in some mosquito species. In contrast to transposons, targeting of viruses by the...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyHuman Cytomegalovirus Envelope Protein gpUL132 Regulates Infectious Virus Production through Formation of the Viral Assembly CompartmentFollowing infection of permissive cells, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) induces the reorganization of intracellular membranes resulting in the formation of a distinctive membranous compartment in the cytoplasm of infected cells. This compartment has been designated the viral assembly compartment (AC) and is thought to be a site for cytoplasmic virion assembly and envelopment. In this study, we have demonstrated that a single virion...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyThe Cu(II) Reductase RclA Protects Escherichia coli against the Combination of Hypochlorous Acid and Intracellular CopperDuring infection and inflammation, the innate immune system uses antimicrobial compounds to control bacterial populations. These include toxic metals, like copper, and reactive oxidants, including hypochlorous acid (HOCl). We have now found that RclA, a copper(II) reductase strongly induced by HOCl in proinflammatory Escherichia coli and found in many bacteria...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyHost Retromer Protein Sorting Nexin 2 Interacts with Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus Structural Proteins and is Required for Efficient Viral ProductionThe present study contributes new knowledge to understand HRSV assembly by providing evidence that nonglycosylated structural proteins M and N interact with elements of the secretory pathway, shedding light on their intracellular traffic. To the best of our knowledge, the present contribution is important given the scarcity of studies about the traffic of HRSV nonglycosylated proteins, especially by pointing to the involvement of SNX2,...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologySex Steroids Induce Membrane Stress Responses and Virulence Properties in Pseudomonas aeruginosaMolecular mechanisms by which sex steroids interact with P. aeruginosa to modulate its virulence have yet to be reported. Our work provides the first characterization of a steroid-induced membrane stress mechanism promoting P. aeruginosa virulence, which includes the release of proinflammatory outer...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyKlebsiella pneumoniae Reduces SUMOylation To Limit Host Defense ResponsesKlebsiella pneumoniae has been singled out as an urgent threat to human health due to the increasing isolation of strains resistant to “last-line” antimicrobials, narrowing the treatment options against Klebsiella infections. Unfortunately, at present, we cannot identify candidate compounds in late-stage development for treatment of multidrug-resistant ...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyBeyond Toxin Transport: Novel Role of ABC Transporter for Enzymatic Machinery of Cereulide NRPS Assembly LineThis study revealed a novel, potentially conserved mechanism involved in the biosynthesis of microbial natural products, exemplified by the mitochondrial active depsipeptide cereulide. Similar to other bioactive substances, such as the last-resort antibiotics vancomycin and daptomycin, the antitumor drug cryptophycin or the cholesterol-lowering agent lovastatin, cereulide is synthesized nonribosomally by multienzyme machinery, requiring...