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.
Chromosome-condensed G1 phase yeast cells are tolerant to desiccation stress
Zhaojie Zhang1 and Gracie R. Zhang2
The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is capable of surviving extreme water loss for a long time. However, less is known about the mechanism of its desiccation tolerance. In this study, we revealed that in an exponential culture, all desiccation tolerant yeast cells were in G1 phase and had condensed chromosomes. (…)
Detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its first variants in fourplex real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR assays
Mathieu Durand1, Philippe Thibault1, Simon Lévesque2,3, Ariane Brault4, Alex Carignan2, Louis Valiquette2, Philippe Martin2 and Simon Labbé4
The early diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections is required to identify and isolate contagious patients to prevent further transmission of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we present a multitarget real-time TaqMan reverse transcription PCR (rRT-PCR) assay for the quantitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 and some of its circulating variants harboring mutations that give the virus a selective advantage. Seven different primer-probe sets that included probes containing locked nucleic acid (LNA) nucleotides were designed to amplify specific wild-type and mutant sequences in Orf1ab, Envelope (E), Spike (S), and Nucleocapsid (N) genes (…)
Forced association of SARS-CoV-2 proteins with the yeast proteome perturb vesicle trafficking
Cinzia Klemm1,#, Henry Wood1,#, Grace Heredge Thomas1,#, Guðjón Ólafsson1,2, Mara Teixeira Torres1 and Peter H. Thorpe1
This work demonstrates that the yeast Synthetic Physical Interactions method is a rapid way to identify potential functions of ectopic viral proteins.
Airborne bacteria in show caves from Southern Spain
Irene Dominguez-Moñino1, Valme Jurado1, Miguel Angel Rogerio-Candelera1, Bernardo Hermosin1 and Cesareo Saiz-Jimenez1
This study analyzes the factors conditioning the diversity of airborne bacteria recorded in three Andalusian show caves, subjected to different managements.
Landscapes and bacterial signatures of mucosa-associated intestinal microbiota in Chilean and Spanish patients with inflammatory bowel disease
Nayaret Chamorro1,#, David A. Montero1,2,#, Pablo Gallardo3, Mauricio Farfán3, Mauricio Contreras4, Marjorie De la Fuente2, Karen Dubois2, Marcela A. Hermoso2, Rodrigo Quera5,6, Marjorie Pizarro-Guajardo7,8,9, Daniel Paredes-Sabja7,8,9, Daniel Ginard10, Ramon Rosselló-Móra11 and Roberto Vidal1,8,12
This study investigates the landscapes and alterations of mucosa-associated intestinal microbiota in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, which cause chronic inflammation of the gut, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Genome, transcriptome and secretome analyses of the antagonistic, yeast-like fungus Aureobasidium pullulans to identify potential biocontrol genes
Maria Paula Rueda-Mejia1, Lukas Nägeli1, Stefanie Lutz2, Richard D. Hayes3, Adithi R. Varadarajan2, Igor V. Grigoriev3,4, Christian H. Ahrens2,5 and Florian M. Freimoser1
This study highlights the value of a sequential approach starting with genome mining and consecutive transcriptome and secretome analyses in order to identify a limited number of potential target genes for detailed, functional analyses in Aureobasidium pullulans.
Proanthocyanidin-enriched cranberry extract induces resilient bacterial community dynamics in a gnotobiotic mouse model
Catherine C. Neto1,2,#, Benedikt M. Mortzfeld3,#, John R. Turbitt1,2, Shakti K. Bhattarai3, Vladimir Yeliseyev4, Nicholas DiBenedetto4, Lynn Bry4 and Vanni Bucci2,3
This study investigates the effect of a water-soluble, proanthocyanidin-rich cranberry juice extract on the short-term dynamics of a human-derived bacterial community in a gnotobiotic mouse model.
Dry biocleaning of artwork: an innovative methodology for Cultural Heritage recovery?
Giancarlo Ranalli1, Pilar Bosch-Roig2, Simone Crudele1, Laura Rampazzi3,4, Cristina Corti3 and Elisabetta Zanardini5
This work proposes an innovative methodology based on applied biotechnology for the recovery of altered stonework: the “dry biocleaning”, which envisages the use of dehydrated microbial cells without the use of free water or gel-based matrices.
Guidelines for DNA recombination and repair studies: Mechanistic assays of DNA repair processes
Hannah L Klein1, Kenny K.H. Ang2, Michelle R. Arkin2, Emily C. Beckwitt3,4, Yi-Hsuan Chang5, Jun Fan6, Youngho Kwon7,8, Michael J. Morten1, Sucheta Mukherjee9, Oliver J. Pambos6, Hafez el Sayyed6, Elizabeth S. Thrall10, João P. Vieira-da-Rocha9, Quan Wang11, Shuang Wang12,13, Hsin-Yi Yeh5, Julie S. Biteen14, Peter Chi5,15, Wolf-Dietrich Heyer9,16, Achillefs N. Kapanidis6, Joseph J. Loparo10, Terence R. Strick12,13,17, Patrick Sung7,8, Bennett Van Houten3,18,19, Hengyao Niu11 and Eli Rothenberg1
Mechanistic assays of DNA repair processes are a powerful tools but each comes with its particular advantages and limitations. Here the most commonly used assays are reviewed, discussed, and presented as the guidelines for future studies.
Imbalance in gut microbes from babies born to obese mothers increases gut permeability and myeloid cell adaptations that provoke obesity and NAFLD
Taylor K. Soderborg1 and Jacob E. Friedman1,2,3
This article comments on work published by Soderborg et al. (Nat Commun, 2018), which demonstrates a causative role of early life microbiome dysbiosis in infants born to mothers with obesity in novel pathways that promote developmental programming of NAFLD.
Retroviral integration site selection: a running Gag?
Paul Lesbats1,2,3 and Vincent Parissi1,2,3
In this article, the authors comment on the study “Structural basis for spumavirus GAG tethering to chromatin” by Lesbats et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci, 2018) that revealed that the Gag protein of the spumaretrovirus prototype foamy virus (PFV) directly interacts with the nucleosome acidic patch, acting as a chromatin tether, and its disruption leads to delocalization of viral particles and integration sites, shedding light on the importance of retroviral structural proteins in the selection of integration sites.
Insights into the host-pathogen interaction: C. albicans manipulation of macrophage pyroptosis
Teresa R. O’Meara1 and Leah E. Cowen1
In this article, the authors comment on the study “High-Throughput Screening Identifies Genes Required for Candida albicans Induction of Macrophage Pyroptosis” by O’Meara et al. (MBio, 2018) that provides a comprehensive analysis of the genetic circuitry in both Candida albicans and host macrophages that leads to pyroptosis, revealing the impact of altered pyroptosis on infection, the role of pyroptosis in facilitating neutrophil accumulation at the site of C. albicans infection, and the decoupling of inflammasome priming and activation in the response to C. albicans infection, thus shedding new light on the factors governing the outcomes of this interaction.
A comparative approach to decipher intestinal animal-microbe associations
Keisuke Nakashima1
In this article, the authors comment on the study “Chitin-based barrier immunity and its loss predated mucus-colonization by indigenous gut microbiota” by Nakashima et al. (Nat Commun, 2018) that used comparative analyses of chordates to investigate the development of animal-microbe associations, suggesting that microbial colonization of the mucus layer over mammalian gastrointestinal epithelium was established upon the loss of ancestral chitin-based barrier immunity, providing insights into the establishment of these associations in an evolutionary context.
Pathways of host cell exit by intracellular pathogens
Antje Flieger1,#, Freddy Frischknecht2, Georg Häcker3, Mathias W. Hornef4, Gabriele Pradel5
This review provides an overview of the diverse host cell exit strategies employed by intracellular-living bacterial, fungal, and protozoan pathogens, highlighting the commonalities and system-specific variations of these strategies, and discussing potential microbial molecules involved in host cell exit as targets for future intervention approaches.
An unexpected benefit from E. coli: how enterobactin benefits host health
Aileen K. Sewell1,2, Min Han1,2 and Bin Qi1,2
In this article, the authors comment on the study “Microbial Siderophore Enterobactin Promotes Mitochondrial Iron Uptake and Development of the Host via Interaction with ATP Synthase” by Qi et al. (Cell, 2018) that uncovered a surprising role for the Escherichia coli-produced siderophore enterobactin (Ent) in facilitating iron uptake by the host, marking a major shift in the understanding of its function and indicating potential new benefits from commensal bacteria in aiding the host’s iron homeostasis.
Protective roles of ginseng against bacterial infection
Ye-Ram Kim1 and Chul-Su Yang1
This review highlights the antibacterial effects of ginseng against pathogenic bacterial infections, discussing its regulation of pathogenic factors and proposing the therapeutic potential of ginseng as a natural antibacterial drug to address antibiotic resistance and toxicity in the context of global public health challenges.
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.