Microreviews, Review
Functions and regulation of the MRX complex at DNA double-strand breaks
Elisa Gobbini1, Corinne Cassani1, Matteo Villa1, Diego Bonetti2 and Maria Pia Longhese1
DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) pose a serious threat to genome stability and cell survival. Cells possess mechanisms that recognize DSBs and promote their repair through either homologous recombination (HR) or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). The present review focuses mainly on recent works in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to highlight structure and regulation of the evolutionary conserved Mre11-Rad50-Xrs2 (MRX) complex as well as its interplays with Tel1.
Inhibition of Zika virus by Wolbachia in Aedes aegypti
Eric Pearce Caragata, Heverton Leandro Carneiro Dutra and Luciano Andrade Moreira
This article comments on work published by Dutra et al. (Cell Host Microbe, 2016), which investigated the potential of Wolbachia infections in Aedes aegypti to restrict infection and transmission of Zika virus.
Syphilis: Re-emergence of an old foe
Lola V. Stamm
Syphilis is caused by infection with Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, a not-yet-cultivable spiral-shaped bacterium that is usually transmitted by sexual contact with an infected partner or by an infected pregnant woman to her fetus. This review provides insights into the etiology, epidemiology, clinical manifestation, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of syphilis.
Trichomoniasis – are we giving the deserved attention to the most common non-viral sexually transmitted disease worldwide?
Camila Braz Menezes, Amanda Piccoli Frasson, Tiana Tasca
Trichomonas vaginalis is the etiologic agent of trichomoniasis, the most common non-viral sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the world. This article contributes to claim the attention of public health policies to control this STD.
House of cellulose – a new hideout for drug tolerant Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Ashwani Kumar
This article comments on work published by Trivedi et al. (Nat Commun, 2016), which shows that Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells organise themselves into biofilms in response to intracellular thiol reductive stress.
Antibiotic use in childhood alters the gut microbiota and predisposes to overweight
Katri Korpela and Willem M de Vos
This article comments on work published by Korpela et al. (Nat Commun, 2016), which investigates the correlation between the use of antibiotics in early life and the excessive weight gain in later childhood.
Evidence for the hallmarks of human aging in replicatively aging yeast
Georges E. Janssens, Liesbeth M. Veenhoff
Recently, efforts have been made to characterize the hallmarks that accompany and contribute to the phenomenon of aging, as most relevant for humans. Remarkably, studying the finite lifespan of the single cell eukaryote budding yeast has been paramount for our understanding of aging. Here, we compile observations from literature over the past decades of research on replicatively aging yeast to highlight how the hallmarks of aging in humans are present in yeast.
Bacterial outer membrane vesicle biogenesis: a new mechanism and its implications
Sandro Roier, Franz G. Zingl, Fatih Cakar, and Stefan Schild
This article comments on work published by Roier et al. (Nat Commun, 2016), which proposes a novel and highly conserved bacterial outer membane vesicle biogenesis mechanism based on phospholipid accumulation in the outer leaflet of the outer membrane.
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.