Microreviews, Review
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.
New insights into the function of a versatile class of membrane molecular motors from studies of Myxococcus xanthus surface (gliding) motility
Tâm Mignot1 and Marcelo Nöllmann2
This article comments on work published by Faure et al. (Nature, 2016), which deciphers force transmission at focal adhesion complexes that are involved in gliding motility in bacteria.
Advancing host-directed therapy for tuberculosis: new therapeutic insights from the Toxoplasma gondii
Chul-Su Yang
This article comments on work published by Koh et al. (PLoS Pathog, 2017), which uncovered that infection-induced signaling pathways suggest possibilities for the development of novel therapeutic modalities for TB that target the intracellular signaling pathways permitting the replication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB).
Breaking the bilayer: OMV formation during environmental transitions
Katherine E. Bonnington, Meta J. Kuehn
This article comments on work published by Bonnington & Kuehn (MBio, 2016), which shows how gram-negative bacteria maintain the barrier properties of the outer membrane (OM) in a wide array of physiological conditions despite their inability to degrade lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and protein material present in the outer leaflet of the OM.
The tug-of-war over MTOR in Legionella infections
Stanimir S. Ivanov
This article comments on work published by Abshire et al (PLoS Pathog, 2016), which uncovered that the host metabolic checkpoint kinase Mechanistic target of rapamycin (MTOR) is a central regulator of the pathogen niche expansion program.
Increased Trypanosoma brucei cathepsin-L activity inhibits human serum-mediated trypanolysis
July 14, 2014
This article comments on work published by Alsford et al. (PLoS Pathogens, 2014), which identified a Trypanosoma brucei lysosomal cathepsin with an inhibitory effect on human serum’s trypanolytic action.
A novel role of centrin in flagellar motility: stabilizing an inner-arm dynein motor in the flagellar axoneme
July 14, 2014
This article comments on work published by Wei et al. (Nat Comm, 2014), which discovered that centrin maintains the stability of an inner-arm dynein in the flagellar axoneme in Trypanosoma brucei.
A non-proteolytic function of ubiquitin in transcription repression
July 6, 2014
This article comments on work published by Ndoja et al. (Mol Cell, 2014), which demonstrates that monoubiquitination of some transcription activators can inhibit transcription by recruiting the AAA+ ATPase Cdc48 (also known in metazoans as p97 or VCP), which then extracts the ubiquitinated activator from DNA.
Mutagenesis by host antimicrobial peptides: insights into microbial evolution during chronic infections
June 29, 2014
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
June 25, 2014
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
June 25, 2014
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
June 2, 2014
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.
Decoding the biosynthesis and function of diphthamide, an enigmatic modification of translation elongation factor 2 (EF2)
May 20, 2014
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
May 5, 2014
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.