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.
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.
Luminal acetylation of microtubules is not essential for Plasmodium berghei and Toxoplasma gondii survival
Thrishla Kumar1,a, Katharina Röver2,a, Johannes F. Stortz3,a, Annika M. Binder2,a, Benjamin Spreng2, Madlen Konert2, Markus Meissner1, Friedrich Frischknecht2,4 and Elena Jimenez-Ruiz1,*
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
Angela Cirigliano1,a, Antonia Amelina2,a, Elena Passarini2, Alessandra Ricelli1, Nicole Balasco1, Mattia Mori3, Bruno Botta4, Maria Egle De Stefano2,5, Claudio Papotto6, Claudia Guerriero2, Ada Maria Tata2,5 and Teresa Rinaldi2,*
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.
Organelle activity organized by the endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria encounter structure –ERMES– is essential for Podospora anserina development
Melisa Álvarez-Sánchez1, Matías Ramírez-Noguez1, Beatriz Aguirre-López1 and Leonardo Peraza-Reyes1
Eucaryotic cell functioning and development depend on the concerted activity of its organelles. In the model fungus Podospora anserina, sexual development involves a dynamic regulation of mitochondria, peroxisomes and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), suggesting that their activity during this process is coordinated.
Role of the putative sit1 gene in normal germination of spores and virulence of the Mucor lusitanicus
Bernadett Vágó1,2, Kitti Bauer1,2, Naomi Varghese1,2, Sándor Kiss-Vetráb1,2, Sándor Kocsubé1,2, Mónika Varga1,2, András Szekeres1,2, Csaba Vágvölgyi1,2, Tamás Papp1,2,3,# and Gábor Nagy1,2,3,#
Mucormycosis is a life-threatening infection caused by certain members of the fungal order Mucorales, with increased incidence in recent years. Individuals with untreated diabetes mellitus, and patients treated with deferoxamine are particularly susceptible to this infection.
Tumor microenvironment signatures enhances lung adenocarcinoma prognosis prediction: Implication of intratumoral microbiota
Fei Zhao1,#, Lei Wang2,3,4,#, Dongjie Du5, Heaven Zhao6,7, Geng Tian6,7, Yufeng Li2,3,8, Yankun Liu2,8,9, Zhiwu Wang2,3,10, Dasheng Liu11, Jingwu Li2,3,12, Lei Ji6,7 and Hong Zhao1
The interaction between intratumoral microbiome and the tumor microenvironment (TME) has furthered our understanding of tumor ecology. Yet, the implications of their interaction for lung cancer management remain unclear.
Peering into the ‘black box’ of pathogen recognition by cellular autophagy systems
Shu-chin Lai# and Rodney J Devenish
Autophagy is an intracellular process that plays an important role in protecting eukaryotic cells and maintaining intracellular homeostasis. This review summarises the available evidence regarding the specific recognition of invading pathogens by which they are targeted into host autophagy pathways.
Per aspera ad astra: When harmful chromosomal translocations become a plus value in genetic evolution. Lessons from Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Valentina Tosato and Carlo V. Bruschi
This review will focus on chromosomal translocations (either spontaneous or induced) in budding yeast. Indeed, very few organisms tolerate so well aneuploidy like Saccharomyces, allowing in depth studies on chromosomal numerical aberrations. The phenomenon of post-translocational adaptation (PTA) is discussed, providing some new unpublished data and proposing the hypothesis that translocations may drive evolution through adaptive genetic selection.
Intracellular phase for an extracellular bacterial pathogen: MgtC shows the way
Audrey Bernut1,#, Claudine Belon1, Chantal Soscia2, Sophie Bleves2, Anne-Béatrice Blanc-Potard1
This article discusses the article “A macrophage subversion factor is shared by intracellular and extracellular pathogens” by Belon et al. (PLoS Pathogens 11(6): e1004969, 2015).
The role of transcriptional ‘futile cycles’ in autophagy and microbial pathogenesis
Guowu Hu1, Travis McQuiston1, Amélie Bernard2, Yoon-Dong Park1, Jin Qiu1, Ali Vural3, Nannan Zhang1, Scott R. Waterman1, Nathan H. Blewett4, Timothy G. Myers5, John H. Kehrl3, Gulbu Uzel1, Daniel J. Klionsky2 and Peter R. Williamson1
Eukaryotic cells utilize macroautophagy (hereafter autophagy) to recycle cellular materials during nutrient stress. Target of rapamycin (Tor) is a central regulator of this process, acting by post-translational mechanisms, phosphorylating preformed autophagy-related (Atg) proteins to repress autophagy during log-phase growth. A role for this regulatory process in fungal virulence was further demonstrated by showing that overexpression of the Dcp2-associated mRNA-binding protein Vad1 in the AIDS-associated pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans results in constitutive repression of autophagy even under starvation conditions as well as attenuated virulence in a mouse model. In summary, Tor-dependent post-transcriptional regulation of autophagy plays a key role in the facilitation of microbial pathogenesis.
The many facets of homologous recombination at telomeres
Clémence Claussin and Michael Chang
The ends of linear chromosomes are capped by nucleoprotein structures called telomeres. A dysfunctional telomere may resemble a DNA double-strand break (DSB), which is a severe form of DNA damage. The presence of one DSB is sufficient to drive cell cycle arrest and cell death. Therefore cells have evolved mechanisms to repair DSBs such as homologous recombination (HR). HR-mediated repair of telomeres can lead to genome instability, a hallmark of cancer cells, which is why such repair is normally inhibited. However, some HR-mediated processes are required for proper telomere function. The need for some recombination activities at telomeres but not others necessitates careful and complex regulation, defects in which can lead to catastrophic consequences. Furthermore, some cell types can maintain telomeres via telomerase-independent, recombination-mediated mechanisms. In humans, these mechanisms…
From the baker to the bedside: yeast models of Parkinson’s disease
Regina Menezes1,2, Sandra Tenreiro3,5, Diana Macedo2, Cláudia N. Santos1,2, Tiago Fleming Outeiro4,5,6
The baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been extensively explored for our understanding of fundamental cell biology processes highly conserved in the eukaryotic kingdom. This review provides a brief historical perspective on the emergence of yeast as an experimental model and on how the field evolved to exploit the potential of the model for tackling the intricacies of various human diseases. In particular, the authors focus on existing yeast models of the molecular underpinnings of Parkinson’s disease (PD), focusing primarily on the central role of protein quality control systems.
Why are essential genes essential? – The essentiality of Saccharomyces genes
Zhaojie Zhang and Qun Ren
Essential genes are defined as required for the survival of an organism or a cell. This article reviews and analyzes the levels of essentiality of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes and groups the genes into four categories: (1) Conditional essential: essential only under certain circumstances or growth conditions; (2) Essential: required for survival under optimal growth conditions; (3) Redundant essential: synthetic lethal due to redundant pathways or gene duplication; and (4) Absolute essential: the minimal genes required for maintaining a cellular life under a stress-free environment. The essential and non-essential functions of the essential genes are further analyzed.
Membrane depolarization-triggered responsive diversification leads to antibiotic tolerance
Natalie Verstraeten, Wouter Joris Knapen, Maarten Fauvart, Jan Michiels
In this article, the authors discuss the article “Obg and membrane depolarization are part of a microbial bet-hedging strategy that leads to antibiotic tolerance”, Verstraeten et al., Mol. Cell 2015 Jul 2; 59 (1): 9-21.
Evolutionary rewiring of bacterial regulatory networks
Tiffany B. Taylor1,*, Geraldine Mulley1, Liam J. McGuffin1, Louise J. Johnson1, Michael A. Brockhurst2, Tanya Arseneault1,3, Mark W. Silby4 and Robert W. Jackson1,5
Bacteria have evolved complex regulatory networks that enable integration of multiple intracellular and extracellular signals to coordinate responses to environmental changes. However, our knowledge of how regulatory systems function and evolve is still relatively limited. There is often extensive homology between components of different networks, due to past cycles of gene duplication, divergence, and horizontal gene transfer, raising the possibility of cross-talk or redundancy. Consequently, evolutionary resilience is built into gene networks – homology between regulators can potentially allow rapid rescue of lost regulatory function across distant regions of the genome. This article discusses Taylor, et al. Science (2015), 347(6225), reporting mutations that facilitate cross-talk between pathways can contribute to gene network evolution, but which come with severe pleiotropic costs. Arising from this work are a number of questions surrounding how this phenomenon occurs.
The emerging role of complex modifications of tRNALysUUU in signaling pathways
Patrick C. Thiaville1,2,3,4 and Valérie de Crécy-Lagard2,4
This comment discusses the article “Loss of wobble uridine modification in tRNA anticodons interferes with TOR pathway signaling” by Scheidt et al (Microbial Cell, 2014).
Only functional localization is faithful localization
Roland Lill1,2,3
This article comments on work published by Peleh et al. (Microbial Cell 2014), which analyzes the localization of Dre2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
One cell, one love: a journal for microbial research
Didac Carmona-Gutierrez1, Guido Kroemer2-6 and Frank Madeo1
In this inaugural article of Microbial Cell, we highlight the importance of microbial research in general and the journal’s intention to serve as a publishing forum that supports and enfolds the scientific diversity in this area as it provides a unique, high-quality and universally accessible source of information and inspiration.
What’s the role of autophagy in trypanosomes?
Katherine Figarella1 and Néstor L. Uzcátegui1,2
This article comments on Proto et al. (Microbial Cell, 2014), who report first insights into the molecular mechanism of autophagy in African trypanosomes by generating reporter bloodstream form cell lines.
Microbial Cell
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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.
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Metabolic pathways further increase the complexity of cell size control in budding yeast
Jorrit M. Enserink
This article comments on work published by Soma et al. (Microbial Cell, 2014), which teased apart the effect of metabolism and growth rate on setting of critical cell size in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.