Microreviews, Review
Forty-five-year evolution of probiotic therapy
Scarlett Puebla-Barragan1,2 and Gregor Reid1,2
The field of probiotics has greatly expanded over the past 45 years, driven by the need for safer alternatives to drugs, interest in natural microbial products, and clinical proof of effectiveness, with scientific formulations increasingly defining the market and promising applications for various health areas expected in the future.
Role of pheromone recognition systems in creating new species of fission yeast
Taisuke Seike1 and Chikashi Shimoda2
This article comments on work published by Seike at al. (PloS Biol., 2019), which demonstrated an “asymmetric” pheromone recognition system in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.
Adaptive bacterial response to low level chlorhexidine exposure and its implications for hand hygiene
Günter Kampf1
This article shows that bacteria can adapt to low levels of Chlorhexidine digluconate (CHG), resulting in increased tolerance and cross-resistance to other antimicrobials, suggesting caution in the widespread use of CHG to minimize avoidable selection pressure for resistance.
Microevolution of the pathogenic yeasts Candida albicans and Candida glabrata during antifungal therapy and host infection
Pedro Pais1,2,#, Mónica Galocha1,2,#, Romeu Viana1,2, Mafalda Cavalheiro1,2, Diana Pereira1,2, Miguel Cacho Teixeira1,2
This review explores how Candida albicans and Candida glabrata, common fungal pathogens resistant to antifungal therapy, adapt and evolve within different environments, aiming to identify stable adaptive mechanisms as potential drug targets.
The extracellular matrix of mycobacterial biofilms: could we shorten the treatment of mycobacterial infections?
Poushali Chakraborty1 and Ashwani Kumar1, 2
The article discusses the challenges presented by biofilms formed by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) species, which can lead to persistent infections that are difficult to treat due to phenotypic drug tolerance. The role of various cell wall components in mycobacterial biofilm formation is outlined, with a particular focus on Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Guidelines for DNA recombination and repair studies: Cellular assays of DNA repair pathways
Hannah L. Klein1, Giedrė Bačinskaja2, Jun Che3, Anais Cheblal4, Rajula Elango5, Anastasiya Epshtein1, Devon M. Fitzgerald6-9, Belén Gómez-González10, Sharik R. Khan11, Sandeep Kumar7, Bryan A. Leland12, Léa Marie13, Qian Mei14, Judith Miné-Hattab16,17, Alicja Piotrowska18, Erica J. Polleys19, Christopher D. Putnam20,21, Elina A. Radchenko19, Anissia Ait Saada22,23, Cynthia J. Sakofsky24, Eun Yong Shim3, Mathew Stracy25, Jun Xia6-9, Zhenxin Yan7, Yi Yin26, Andrés Aguilera10, Juan Lucas Argueso27, Catherine H. Freudenreich19,28, Susan M. Gasser4, Dmitry A. Gordenin24, James E. Haber29, Grzegorz Ira7, Sue Jinks-Robertson30, Megan C. King12, Richard D. Kolodner20, 31-33, Andrei Kuzminov11, Sarah AE Lambert22,23, Sang Eun Lee3, Kyle M. Miller6,15, Sergei M. Mirkin19, Thomas D. Petes26, Susan M. Rosenberg6-9,14, Rodney Rothstein34, Lorraine S. Symington13, Pawel Zawadzki18, Nayun Kim35, Michael Lisby2 and Anna Malkova5
DNA recombination, repair and mutagenesis assays are 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.
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.
New insights in the mode of action of anti-leishmanial drugs by using chemical mutagenesis screens coupled to next-generation sequencing
January 21, 2020
In this article, the authors comment on the study "Coupling chemical mutagenesis to next generation sequencing for the identification of drug resistance mutations in Leishmania" by Bhattacharya et al. (Nat Commun, 2019), which introduces Mut-seq, a chemical mutagenesis and sequencing approach, to uncover drug resistance mechanisms in Leishmania, revealing links between lipid metabolism genes and miltefosine resistance, and a protein kinase involved in translation conferring paromomycin resistance.
Microfluidic techniques for separation of bacterial cells via taxis
January 15, 2020
Microfluidic tools, ideal for studying microbial motility due to their control over laminar flows at microscopic scales, enable precise analysis of various taxis behaviors and have advanced applications in synthetic biology, directed evolution, and medical microbiology.
Influence of delivery and feeding mode in oral fungi colonization – a systematic review
January 7, 2020
A systematic review of oral fungal colonization in infants found that while breastfeeding did not significantly affect the oral mycobiome, vaginal delivery was associated with higher oral yeast colonization, particularly of Candida albicans.
A holobiont view on thrombosis: unravelling the microbiota’s influence on arterial thrombus growth
January 6, 2020
In this article, the authors comment on the study "The microbiota promotes arterial thrombosis in low-density lipoprotein receptor-deficient mice" by Kiouptsi et al. (mBio, 2019) that showed that commensal microbiota, intricately linked to host physiology, may influence cardiovascular disease, as shown by studies using germ-free atherosclerosis-prone mice to examine how microbial presence and diet affect arterial thrombosis and lesion development.
The role of Lactobacillus species in the control of Candida via biotrophic interactions
November 25, 2019
Microbial communities, including Candida and Lactobacillus species, play a crucial role in human health, particularly in the context of mucosal infections, but our understanding of their interactions and effects is still incomplete due to the variability of species and isolates as well as the complexity of the human host.
Tribal warfare: Commensal Neisseria kill pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae using its DNA
October 19, 2019
This article comments on work published by Kim et al (Cell Host Microbe, 2019), which adds a new dimension to the concept of commensal protection. It shows that commensal Neisseria kill the closely related pathogen N. gonorrhoeae through an unexpected mechanism, one that involves genetic competence, DNA methylation state and recombination.
Yet another job for the bacterial ribosome
October 17, 2019
This article comments on work published by Knüpffer et al (mBio, 2019), which revealed the intricate interaction of uL23 with yet another essential player in bacteria, the ATPase SecA, which is best known for its role during post-translational secretion of proteins across the bacterial SecYEG translocon
Gut microbial metabolites in depression: understanding the biochemical mechanisms
September 27, 2019
This article shows how the gut microbiota contributes to the pathophysiology of depression and examines the mechanisms by which microbially-derived molecules may influence depressive behavior, highlighting the potential of dietary interventions as novel therapeutic strategies.
The multiple functions of the numerous Chlamydia trachomatis secreted proteins: the tip of the iceberg
August 21, 2019
CThis article shows an in-depth review on the current knowledge and outstanding questions about secreted proteins from Chlamydia trachomatis, detailing their roles in host cell interaction and immune response evasion.
Inhibiting eukaryotic ribosome biogenesis: Mining new tools for basic research and medical applications
August 20, 2019
This article comments on work published by Awad et al (BMC Biology, 2019), which screened for novel inhibitors of the ribosome biogenesis pathway in yeast.