Microreviews – Page 8 – Microbial Cell

Microreviews, Review

Hormesis: a fundamental concept in biology

Edward J. Calabrese

This article addresses the concept of hormetic dose response, which describes the limits to which integrative endpoints can be modulated (i.e., enhanced or diminished) by pharmaceutical, chemical and physical means.

Live longer on MARS: a yeast paradigm of mitochondrial adaptive ROS signaling in aging

Gerald S. Shadel

In this article, the potential relevance of Mitochondrial Adaptive ROS Signaling (MARS) to the human disease Ataxia-Telangiectasia and as a potential anti-aging target is discussed.

Prokaryotic Argonautes – variations on the RNA interference theme

John van der Oost¹, Daan C. Swarts¹, Matthijs M. Jore^1,2

This article comments on work published by Swarts et al. (Nature, 2014), which demonstrates that Argonaute family protein of the bacterium Thermus thermophilus acts as a barrier for the uptake and propagation of foreign DNA.

Longevity pathways and maintenance of the proteome: the role of autophagy and mitophagy during yeast ageing

Belém Sampaio-Marques^1,2, William C. Burhans³, Paula Ludovico^1,2

This review describes recent findings that shed light on how longevity pathways and metabolic status impact maintenance of the proteome in both yeast ageing paradigms. These findings demonstrate that yeast remain a powerful model system for elucidating these relationships and their influence on ageing regulation.

Secondary structures involving the poly(A) tail and other 3’ sequences are major determinants of mRNA isoform stability in yeast

Zarmik Moqtaderi^#, Joseph V. Geisberg^# and Kevin Struhl

This article comments on work published by Geisberg et al. (Cell (2014), which points to an important role for mRNA structure at 3’ termini in governing transcript stability, likely by reducing the interaction of the mRNA with the degradation apparatus.

De novo peroxisome biogenesis revisited

Marten Veenhuis and Ida J. van der Klei

This article comments on work published by Knoops et al. (JCB, 2014), which describes an alternative peroxisome formation pathway in yeast pex3 and pex19 cells, which relies on the existence of small peroxisomal remnants that are present in these cells.

Transcriptional and genomic mayhem due to aging-induced nucleosome loss in budding yeast

Zheng Hu¹, Kaifu Chen², Wei Li² and Jessica K. Tyler²

This article comments on work published by Zheng et al. (Genes and Development, 2014), which investigated a loss of histones during replicative aging in budding yeast, which was also accompanied by a significantly-increased frequency of genomic instability including DNA breaks, chromosomal translocations, retrotransposition, and transfer of mitochondrial DNA into the nuclear genome.

The Parkinson’s disease-associated protein α-synuclein disrupts stress signaling – a possible implication for methamphetamine use?

Shaoxiao Wang¹ and Stephan N. Witt^1,2

This article comments on work published by Wang et al. (PNAS, 2012), which reported that human α-syn, at high expression levels, disrupts stress-activated signal transduction pathways in both yeast and human neuroblastoma cells. Disruption of these signaling pathways ultimately leads to vulnerability to stress and to cell death.

Massive gene swamping among cheese-making Penicillium fungi

Jeanne Ropars^1,2, Gabriela Aguileta^1,2,3, Damien M. de Vienne^4,5 and Tatiana Giraud^1,2

This article comments on work published by Cheeseman et al. (Nat Comm, 2014), which indicates that horizontal gene transfer is a crucial mechanism of rapid adaptation, even among eukaryotes.

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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.