Latest Articles
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyEvasion of Immune Surveillance in Low Oxygen Environments Enhances Candida albicans VirulenceSuccessful human colonizers have evolved mechanisms to bypass immune surveillance. Infiltration of PMNs to the site of infection led to the generation of a low oxygen niche. Exposure to low oxygen levels induced fungal cell wall masking, which in turn hindered pathogen sensing and antifungal responses by PMNs. The cell wall masking effect was prolonged by increasing lactate amounts produced by neutrophil metabolism under oxygen...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPetrobactin Protects against Oxidative Stress and Enhances Sporulation Efficiency in Bacillus anthracis SterneBacillus anthracis causes the disease anthrax, which is transmitted via its dormant, spore phase. However, conversion from bacillus to spore is a complex, energetically costly process that requires many nutrients, including iron. B. anthracis requires the siderophore petrobactin to scavenge iron...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyGut Microbial and Metabolic Responses to Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium and Candida albicansThe gut microbiota is increasingly recognized for playing a critical role in human health and disease, especially in conferring resistance to both virulent pathogens such as Salmonella, which infects 1.2 million people in the United States every year (E. Scallan, R. M. Hoekstra, F. J. Angulo, R. V. Tauxe, et al., Emerg Infect Dis 17:7–15, 2011, https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1701....
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyGenomic Surveillance of Enterococcus faecium Reveals Limited Sharing of Strains and Resistance Genes between Livestock and Humans in the United KingdomThe rise in rates of human infection caused by vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VREfm) strains between 1988 to the 2000s in Europe was suggested to be associated with acquisition from livestock. As a result, the European Union banned the use of the glycopeptide drug avoparcin as a growth promoter in livestock feed. While some studies reported a decrease in...
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 BiologySplicing Factor 3B Subunit 1 Interacts with HIV Tat and Plays a Role in Viral Transcription and Reactivation from LatencyThe reason why HIV cannot be cured by current therapy is because of viral persistence in resting T cells. One approach to permanent HIV remission that has received less attention is the so-called “block and lock” approach. The idea behind this approach is that the virus could be permanently disabled in patients if viral genome or surrounding chromatin could be altered to silence the virus, thus enabling patients to stop therapy. In this...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceLeishmania Genome Dynamics during Environmental Adaptation Reveal Strain-Specific Differences in Gene Copy Number Variation, Karyotype Instability, and Telomeric AmplificationProtozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania cause severe human and veterinary diseases worldwide, termed leishmaniases. A hallmark of Leishmania biology is its capacity to adapt to a variety of unpredictable fluctuations inside its human host, notably pharmacological interventions, thus, causing...
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...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceThe Transferable Resistome of ProduceProduce is one of the most popular food commodities. Unfortunately, leafy greens can be a reservoir of transferable antibiotic resistance genes. We found that IncF and IncI plasmids were the most prevalent plasmid types in E. coli isolates from produce. This study highlights the importance of the rare microbiome associated with produce as a source of antibiotic...