Regulation of extracellular vesicles for protein secretion in Aspergillus nidulans
This study reveals that Aspergillus nidulans boosts extracellular vesicle production when ER-trafficked enzymes are induced, uncovering how fungi remodel their secretome through vesicle-mediated secretion to adapt to changing environments and biofilm formation.
Transcriptomic response to different heme sources in Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes
This study uncovers how the Chagas disease parasite adapts to changes in heme, an essential molecule for its survival, providing transcriptional clues to heme metabolism and identifying a previously unreported heme-binding protein in T. cruzi.
Luminal acetylation of microtubules is not essential for Plasmodium berghei and Toxoplasma gondii survival
Acetylation of α-tubulin at lysine 40 is not essential for cytoskeletal stability in Plasmodium berghei or Toxoplasma gondii, suggesting redundancy and plasticity in microtubule regulation in these parasites.
The dual-site agonist for human M2 muscarinic receptors Iper-8-naphtalimide induces mitochondrial dysfunction in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
S. cerevisiae is a model to study human GPCRs. N-8-Iper, active against glioblastoma via M2 receptor, causes mitochondrial damage in yeast by binding Ste2, highlighting evolutionary conservation of GPCRs.
Integrative Omics reveals changes in the cellular landscape of peroxisome-deficient pex3 yeast cells
To uncover the consequences of peroxisome deficiency, we compared Saccharomyces cerevisiae wild-type with pex3 cells, which lack peroxisomes, employing quantitative proteomics and transcriptomics technologies.
Regulation of extracellular vesicles for protein secretion in Aspergillus nidulans
Rebekkah E. Pope1, Patrick Ballmann2, Lisa Whitworth3 and Rolf A. Prade1,*
This study reveals that Aspergillus nidulans boosts extracellular vesicle production when ER-trafficked enzymes are induced, uncovering how fungi remodel their secretome through vesicle-mediated secretion to adapt to changing environments and biofilm formation.
Transcriptomic response to different heme sources in Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes
Evelyn Tevere1,a, María G. Mediavilla1,a, Cecilia B. Di Capua1, Marcelo L. Merli1, Carlos Robello2,3, Luisa Berná2,4 and Julia A. Cricco
This study uncovers how the Chagas disease parasite adapts to changes in heme, an essential molecule for its survival, providing transcriptional clues to heme metabolism and identifying a previously unreported heme-binding protein in T. cruzi.
Sir2 regulates selective autophagy in stationary-phase yeast cells
Ji-In Ryua, Juhye Junga, and Jeong-Yoon Kim
This study establishes Sir2 as a previously unrecognized regulator of selective autophagy during the stationary phase and highlight how cells dynamically control organelle degradation.
Trehalose-6-phosphate promotes fermentation and glucose repression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Rebeca L. Vicente1,2, Lucie Spina1, Jose P.L. Gómez1, Sebastien Dejean3, Jean-Luc Parrou1 and Jean Marie François1,4
This study examined the capability of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS1) homologues from various species to complement the phenotypic defects of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae tps1 mutant, resulting in the classification of complementation into different groups based on metabolic patterns and fermentation capacity, shedding light on the role of TPS1 and trehalose-6-phosphate (T6P) as critical factors in sugar fermentation and glucose repression.
The translationally controlled tumor protein TCTP is involved in cell cycle progression and heat stress response in the bloodstream form of Trypanosoma brucei
Borka Jojic1, Simona Amodeo1,2 and Torsten Ochsenreiter1
This study reveals the involvement of the translationally controlled tumor protein TCTP in cell cycle regulation and heat stress response in the bloodstream form of Trypanosoma brucei, shedding light on its role in these cellular processes.
Single telomere length analysis in Ustilago maydis, a high-resolution tool for examining fungal telomere length distribution and C-strand 5’-end processing
Ganduri Swapna1, Eun Young Yu1 and Neal F. Lue1, 2
This article introduces the development of single telomere length analysis (STELA) for Ustilago maydis, a basidiomycete fungus, enabling the precise measurement of telomere lengths and distributions. The study demonstrates STELA’s utility in revealing the existence of relatively short telomeres in wild-type cells, preferential loss of long telomeres in a mutant defective in telomere replication, and the characterization of telomere C-strand 5’ ends, highlighting U. maydis as a strong model for telomere research.
Temporal analysis of the autophagic and apoptotic phenotypes in Leishmania parasites
Louise Basmaciyan1, Laurence Berry2, Julie Gros3, Nadine Azas3 and Magali Casanova3
This article details a comprehensive analysis of miltefosine-induced cell death and autophagy in Leishmania major, providing criteria for clear identification of apoptotic and autophagic cells, demonstrating the sequential nature of autophagy followed by apoptosis in nutrient-deprived conditions, and cautioning against using the generic kinase inhibitor staurosporine as a Leishmania apoptosis inducer, with the aim of improving the understanding of these processes and their targeting for new anti-leishmanial drugs.
Snf1 cooperates with the CWI MAPK pathway to mediate the degradation of Med13 following oxidative stress
Stephen D. Willis1, David C. Stieg1, Kai Li Ong2, Ravina Shah1,3, Alexandra K. Strich1,4, Julianne H. Grose2 and Katrina F. Cooper1
This article explores the response of eukaryotic cells to environmental stress, highlighting the role of the conserved cyclin C-Cdk8 kinase in determining pro-survival or pro-death programs. Specifically, it discusses how oxidative stress triggers the destruction of Med13 by the SCFGrr1 ubiquitin ligase, releasing cyclin C to promote mitochondrial fission and cell death in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Additionally, it reveals that the AMP kinase Snf1 activates a separate degron in Med13, contributing to the complex regulation of Med13 degradation following H2O2 stress through the coordination of the cell wall integrity and MAPK pathways.
Importance of polyphosphate in the Leishmania life cycle
Kid Kohl1, Haroun Zangger1, Matteo Rossi1, Nathalie Isorce1, Lon-Fye Lye2, Katherine L. Owens2, Stephen M. Beverley2, Andreas Mayer1 and Nicolas Fasel1
This article explores the importance of polyphosphate (polyP) in Leishmania parasites, emphasizing the role of the polyP polymerase VTC4 and its impact on parasite survival at higher temperatures. Additionally, it discusses the effects of VTC4 knockout in mouse infections, noting a delay in lesion formation and strong pathology in L. major VTC4 knockout, without confirmation through complementation and no alteration in L. guyanensis infections in mice with VTC4 knockdown.
Antagonism between salicylate and the cAMP signal controls yeast cell survival and growth recovery from quiescence
Maurizio D. Baroni1, Sonia Colombo2 and Enzo Martegani2
This article describes the effects of salicylate, the main metabolite of aspirin, on S. cerevisiae cells. It outlines how salicylate influences glucose transport, sugar phosphate biosynthesis, and apoptosis, particularly in MnSOD-deficient cells. Furthermore, it emphasizes the significant impact of salicylate on the exit from a quiescent state, inhibiting growth recovery and viability in long-term stationary phase cells. The passage also discusses the potential therapeutic implications of understanding the antagonistic relationship between cAMP and salicylate in targeting quiescent cancer cells with stem-like properties.
Evolution of substrate specificity in the Nucleobase-Ascorbate Transporter (NAT) protein family
Anezia Kourkoulou1,#, Alexandros A. Pittis2,# and George Diallinas1
L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is an essential metabolite in animals and plants due to its role as an enzyme co-factor and antioxidant activity. Here, Kourkoulou et al. show further evidence that ascorbate-specific Nucleobase-Ascorbate Transporters (NATs) evolved by optimization of a sub-function of ancestral nucleobase transporters.
Valine biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is regulated by the mitochondrial branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase Bat1
Natthaporn Takpho1, Daisuke Watanabe1 and Hiroshi Takagi1
In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the yeast, the Bat1 and Bat2 proteins, which are branched-chain amino acid aminotransferases, play distinct roles in valine biosynthesis and cell growth regulation, with Bat1 primarily located in the mitochondria and Bat2 in the cytosol, and the mitochondria being identified as the major site of valine biosynthesis in this yeast.
Protein aggregation triggers a declining libido in elder yeasts that still have a lust for life
Fabrice Caudron
This article comments on work published by Schlissel et al (Science 2017), showing that aging in yeast does not lead to the expected loss of heterochromatin silencing due to Sir2 inactivity, but rather to reduced mating pheromone sensitivity caused by the aggregation of the RNA-binding protein Whi3, which can be reversed by eliminating Whi3’s polyglutamine domain.
Post-transcriptional regulation of ribosome biogenesis in yeast
Isabelle C. Kos-Braun and Martin Koš
Microorganisms adapt to environmental changes by regulating their metabolism, and one key survival strategy is to decrease energy use during adverse conditions by halting ribosome production, with recent findings showing yeast can switch between pre-rRNA processing pathways in response to environmental shifts, adding complexity to ribosome biogenesis regulation.
Placeholder factors in ribosome biogenesis: please, pave my way
Francisco J. Espinar-Marchena, Reyes Babiano1 and Jesús de la Cruz
In ribosome synthesis, “placeholder” factors are crucial trans-acting elements that regulate the timing and assembly of ribosomal proteins, ensuring speed and accuracy in this intricate process by preventing premature interactions and guiding the proper formation of functional ribosomal subunits.
Insights from the redefinition of Helicobacter pylori lipopolysaccharide O-antigen and core-oligosaccharide domains
Hong Li1,2, Tiandi Yang3, Tingting Liao2, Aleksandra W. Debowski2,4, Hans-Olof Nilsson2, Stuart M. Haslam3, Anne Dell3, Keith A. Stubbs4, Barry J. Marshall2 and Mohammed Benghezal2,5
This article comments on work published by Li et al. (PloS Pathog, 2017), focusing on Helicobacter pylori infections. They are mostly asymptomatic but can lead to serious conditions, and H. pylori lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is crucial for colonization and persistence, making the study of its structure and biosynthesis pathway vital for understanding pathogenesis and developing treatments.
Evading plant immunity: feedback control of the T3SS in Pseudomonas syringae
Christopher Waite1, Jörg Schumacher1, Milija Jovanovic1, Mark Bennett1 and Martin Buck1
This article comments on work published by Waite et al. (mBio, 2017), which indicates that a negative autogenous control mechanism, where the sigma factor HrpL represses its own expression, permits the plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae to fine-tune its type III secretion system, potentially reducing the elicitation of plant immunity and enhancing its ability to cause disease.
Microbial flora, probiotics, Bacillus subtilis and the search for a long and healthy human longevity
Facundo Rodriguez Ayala, Carlos Bauman, Sebastián Cogliati, Cecilia Leñini, Marco Bartolini and Roberto Grau
This article comments on work published by Donato et al. (Nat Commun, 2017), which reveals that the probiotic Bacillus subtilis extends the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans via mechanisms including the formation of biofilms and the production of signaling molecules like NO and CSF, suggesting a potential pathway through insulin-like signaling that could impact human longevity and age-related diseases.
Chlamydia trachomatis’ struggle to keep its host alive
Barbara S. Sixt1-4, Raphael H. Valdivia5, Guido Kroemer1-4,6-7
This article comments on work published by Sixt et al. (Cell Host Microbe, 2016), which analyzed a CpoS-deficient mutant yielding unique insights into the nature of cell-autonomous defense responses against Chlamydia.
Means of intracellular communication: touching, kissing, fusing
Anne Spang1
This work highlights different aspects of communication between organelles, including the importance of organellar contact sites.
Neuropathogenesis caused by Trypanosoma brucei, still an enigma to be unveiled
Katherine Figarella1
This Editorial addresses the meningo-encephalitic stage of Trypanosoma brucei infection and the resultig neuropathogenesis as well as the impact that the application of tools developed in the last years in the field of neuroscience will have on the study of neglected tropical diseases.
Lichens – growing greenhouses en miniature
Martin Grube1
This commentary article provides an overview on different aspects of lichen biology and the remarkable symbiotic association between fungi and algae.
Regulation of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore and its effects on aging
Damiano Pellegrino-Coppola1
Aging is linked to mitochondrial function, with the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) playing a key role. Yeast is a useful model for studying how mPTP affects cell survival, aging, and related diseases.
Fungal infections in humans: the silent crisis
Katharina Kainz1, Maria A. Bauer1, Frank Madeo1-3 and Didac Carmona-Gutierrez1
This article highlights the growing global threat of fungal infections – exacerbated by rising drug resistance and medical practices – and emphasizes the urgent need for intensified research to develop more effective antifungal strategies.
Digesting the crisis: autophagy and coronaviruses
Didac Carmona-Gutierrez1, Maria A. Bauer1, Andreas Zimmermann1,2, Katharina Kainz1,
Sebastian J. Hofer1, Guido Kroemer3-7 and Frank Madeo1,2,8
This article reviews the multifaceted role of autophagy in antiviral defense and highlights how coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, interact with this pathway, raising the possibility that targeting autophagy could offer novel therapeutic strategies against COVID-19.
Microbial Cell
is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal that publishes exceptionally relevant research works that implement the use of unicellular organisms (and multicellular microorganisms) to understand cellular responses to internal and external stimuli and/or human diseases.
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Peer-reviewed, open-access research using unicellular organisms (and multicellular microorganisms) to understand cellular responses and human disease.
The journal (founded in 2014) is led by its Editors-in-Chief Frank Madeo, Didac Carmona-Gutierrez, and Guido Kroemer
Microbial Cell has been publishing original scientific literature since 2014, and from the very beginning has been managed by active scientists through an independent Publishing House (Shared science Publishers). The journal was conceived as a platform to acknowledge the importance of unicellular organisms, both as model systems as well as in the biological context of human health and disease.
Ever since, Microbial Cell has very positively developed and strongly grown into a respected journal in the unicellular research community and even beyond. This scientific impact is reflected in the yearly number of citations obtained by articles published in Microbial Cell, as recorded by the Web of Science (Clarivate, formerly Thomson/Reuters):
The scientific impact of Microbial Cell is also mirrored in a series of milestones:
2015: Microbial Cell is included in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), a selection of developing journals drafted by Clarivate Analytics based on the candidate’s publishing standards, quality, editorial content, and citation data. Note: As an ESCI-selected journal, Microbial Cell is currently being evaluated in a rigorous and long process to determine an inclusion in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), which allows the official calculation of Clarivate Analytics’ impact factor.
2016: Microbial Cell is awarded the so-called DOAJ Seal by the selective Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The DOAJ Seal is an exclusive mark of certification for open access journals granted by DOAJ to journals that adhere to outstanding best practice and achieve an extra high and clear commitment to open access and high publishing standards.
2017: Microbial Cell is included in Pubmed Central (PMC), allowing the archiving of all the journal’s articles in PMC and PubMed.
2019: Microbial Cell is indexed in the prestigious abstract and citation database Scopus after a thorough selection process. This also means that Microbial Cell obtains, for the first time, an official Scopus CiteScore as well as an official journal ranking in the Scimago Journal and Country Ranking.
2022: Microbial Cell’s CiteScore reaches a value of 7.2 for the year 2021, positioning Microbial Cell among the top microbiology journals (previously available CiteScores: 2019: 5.4; 2020: 5.1).
2022: Microbial Cell is indexed in the highly selective Science Citation Index Expanded™, which covers approx. 9,500 of the world’s most impactful journals across 178 scientific disciplines. In their journal selection and curation process, Clarivate´s editors apply 24 ‘quality’ criteria and four ‘impact’ criteria to select the most influential journals in their respective fields. This selection is also a pre-requisite for inclusion in the JCR, which features the impact factor.
2022: Microbial Cell is listed in the Journal Citation Reports™ (JCR), and obtains its first official Journal Impact Factor™ (JIF) for the year 2021: 5.316.Check Article Types and Manuscript Preparation guidelines. Submit online via Scholastica.
The long and winding road of reverse genetics in Trypanosoma cruzi
Miguel A. Chiurillo1 and Noelia Lander1
This Editorial provides a brief historic overview that highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the molecular strategies that have been developed to genetically modify Trypanosoma cruzi, emphasizing the future directions of the field.