Microreviews – Page 8 – Microbial Cell

Microreviews, Review

Mutagenesis by host antimicrobial peptides: insights into microbial evolution during chronic infections

Dominique H. Limoli and Daniel J. Wozniak

This article comments on work published by Limoli et al. ((PLoS Pathogens, 2014), which provides evidence that at subinhibitory levels, AMPs promote mutations in bacterial DNA, which enhance bacterial survival.

Where antibiotic resistance mutations meet quorum-sensing

Rok Krašovec¹, Roman V. Belavkin², John A.D. Aston³, Alastair Channon⁴, Elizabeth Aston⁴, Bharat M. Rash¹, Manikandan Kadirvel^5,6, Sarah Forbes⁶, and Christopher G. Knight¹

This article comments on work published by Krašovec et al. (Nat Comm, 2014), which found that the modulation of de novo mutation to promote antibiotic resistance depends on the density of the bacterial population and cell-cell interactions (rather than, for instance, the level of stress).

Sphingolipids and mitochondrial function, lessons learned from yeast

Pieter Spincemaille¹, Bruno P.A. Cammue^1,2 and Karin Thevissen¹

This article reviews recent research showing that Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an invaluable model to investigate sphingolipids as signaling molecules in modulating mitochondrial function, but can also be used as a tool to further enhance our current knowledge on sphingolipids and mitochondria in mammalian cells.

Genome evolution in yeast reveals connections between rare mutations in human cancer

Xinchen Teng^1,2 and J. Marie Hardwick²

This article comments on work published by Teng et al. (Mol Cell, 2013), which, using the yeast knockout collections, provides hard evidence that single gene deletions/mutations in most non-essential genes can drive the selection for cancer-like mutations.

Cell-autonomous mechanisms of chronological aging in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Anthony Arlia-Ciommo^#, Anna Leonov^#, Amanda Piano^#, Veronika Svistkova^# and Vladimir I. Titorenko

This article critically analyzes recent advances in the understanding of cell-autonomous mechanisms of chronological aging in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It proposes a concept of a biomolecular network underlying the chronology of cellular aging in yeast, whichposits that such network progresses through a series of lifespan checkpoints.

Decoding the biosynthesis and function of diphthamide, an enigmatic modification of translation elongation factor 2 (EF2)

Raffael Schaffrath and Michael J. R. Stark

This article comments on work published by Uthman et al. (PLoS Genet, 2013), which suggests that Dph5 has a novel role as an EF2 inhibitor that affects cell growth when diphthamide synthesis is blocked or incomplete and shows that diphthamide promotes the accuracy of EF2 performance during translation.

Autophagy extends lifespan via vacuolar acidification

Christoph Ruckenstuhl¹, Christine Netzberger¹, Iryna Entfellner¹, Didac Carmona-Gutierrez¹, Thomas Kickenweiz¹, Slaven Stekovic¹, Christina Gleixner¹, Christian Schmid¹, Lisa Klug¹, Ivan Hajnal¹, Alice G. Sorgo¹, Tobias Eisenberg¹, Sabrina Büttner¹, Guillermo Marin͂o^2-4, Rafal Koziel⁵, Christoph Magnes⁶, Frank Sinner^6,7, Thomas R. Pieber^6,7, Pidder Jansen-Dürr⁵, Kai-Uwe Fröhlich¹, Guido Kroemer^2,3,8-11, and Frank Madeo¹

This article comments on work published by Ruckenstuhl et al. (PLoS Genet, 2014), which uses Saccharomyces cerevisiae to show that autophagy promotes lifespan extension upon MetR and requires the subsequent stimulation of vacuolar acidification, while it is epistatic to the equally autophagy-dependent anti-aging pathway triggered by TOR1 inhibition or deletion.

When less is more: hormesis against stress and disease

Andreas Zimmermann¹, Maria A. Bauer¹, Guido Kroemer^2-5, Frank Madeo¹ and Didac Carmona-Gutierrez¹

This article condenses the conceptual and potentially therapeutic importance of hormesis by providing a short overview of current evidence in favor of the cytoprotective impact of hormesis, as well as of its underlying molecular mechanisms.

Morphed and moving: TNFα-driven motility promotes cell dissemination through MAP4K4-induced cytoskeleton remodeling

Min Ma^1,2and Martin Baumgartner¹

This article comments on work published by Ma and Baumgartner (PLoS Patho, 2014), which investigated Theileria parasite control of host cell motile properties in the context of inflammatory signaling.

Previous Next

Toxin-mediated gene regulatory mechanism in Staphylococcus aureus

December 29, 2016

This article comments on work published by Joo et al. (MBio, 2016), which describes the first molecular regulatory mechanism exerted by an S. aureus toxin, setting a paradigmatic example of how S. aureus toxins may influence cell functions to adjust them to times of toxin production.

NprR, a moonlighting quorum sensor shifting from a phosphatase activity to a transcriptional activator

November 5, 2016

This article comments on work published by Perchat et al. (PLoS Pathog, 2016), which demonstrates that, in the absence of the signaling peptide NprX, the sensor NprR is a dimer, which negatively controls sporulation in Bacillus thuringiensis, independently of its transcription factor activity.

The interaction between herpes simplex virus 1 genome and promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies (PML-NBs) as a hallmark of the entry in latency

November 4, 2016

This article comments on work published by Maroul et al. (PLoS Pathog, 2016), which demonstrates that the interaction of the viral genomes with the nuclear architecture and specifically the promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies is a major determinant for the entry of HSV-1 into latency.

Francisella IglG protein and the DUF4280 proteins: PAAR-like proteins in non-canonical Type VI secretion systems?

October 30, 2016

This article comments on work published by Rigard et al. (PLoS Pathog, 2013), which identified the function of IgIG, a protein of unknown function, encoded within the Francisella Pathogenicity Island.

B cell-helping functions of gut microbial metabolites

September 23, 2016

This article comments on work published by Kim et al. (Cell Host & Microbe, 2016), which showed that the microbial metabolites short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) regulate the metabolism and gene expression in B cells to promote antibody production.

Cryptococcus flips its lid – membrane phospholipid asymmetry modulates antifungal drug resistance and virulence

August 1, 2016

This article comments on work published by Huang et al. (MBio, 2016), which reported that in the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans loss of lipid flippase activity sensitized cryptococcal cells to multiple classes of antifungal drugs and abolished fungal virulence in murine models.