Host-Microbe Biology
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologySpatial and Temporal Analysis of the Stomach and Small-Intestinal Microbiota in Fasted Healthy HumansThe gut microbiota are linked to a variety of gastrointestinal diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease. Despite this importance, microbiota dynamics in the upper gastrointestinal tract are understudied. Our article seeks to understand what factors impact microbiota dynamics in the healthy human upper gut. We found that the upper gastrointestinal tract contains consistently prevalent bacterial OTUs that dominate the overall...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyDisruption of the Putative Ribosome-Binding Motif of a Scaffold Protein Impairs Cytochrome c Oxidase Subunit Expression in Leishmania majorLeishmania parasites are trypanosomatid protozoans that persist in infected human hosts to cause a spectrum of pathologies, from cutaneous and mucocutaneous manifestations to visceral leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania donovani. The latter is usually fatal if not treated. Persistence of L. major...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyGenotypic and Phenotypic Diversity of Herpes Simplex Virus 2 within the Infected Neonatal PopulationHerpes simplex virus (HSV) causes invasive disease in half of infected neonates, resulting in significant mortality and permanent cognitive morbidity. The factors that contribute to invasive disease are not understood. This study revealed diversity among HSV isolates from infected neonates and detected the first associations between viral genetic variations and clinical disease manifestations. We found that viruses isolated from...
Research Article | Host-Microbe Biologyd-Serine Degradation by Proteus mirabilis Contributes to Fitness during Single-Species and Polymicrobial Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract InfectionUrinary tract infections are among the most common health care-associated infections worldwide, the majority of which involve a urinary catheter (CAUTI). Our recent investigation of CAUTIs in nursing home residents identified Proteus mirabilis, Enterococcus species, and Escherichia coli as...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Antibiotic Neomycin Enhances Coxsackievirus Plaque FormationCoxsackieviruses primarily infect the gastrointestinal tract of humans, but they can disseminate systemically and cause severe disease. Using antibiotic treatment regimens to deplete intestinal microbes in mice, several groups have shown the bacteria promote infection with a variety of enteric viruses. However, it is possible that antibiotics have microbiota-independent effects on viruses. Here we show that an aminoglycoside antibiotic...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyUnsupervised Learning Approach for Comparing Multiple Transposon Insertion Sequencing StudiesForward genetic screens are powerful tools for functional genomics. The comparison of similar forward genetic screens performed in different organisms enables the identification of genes with similar or different phenotypes across organisms. Transposon insertion sequencing is a widely used method for conducting genome-scale forward genetic screens in bacteria, yet few bioinformatic approaches have been developed to compare the results...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyVraSR and Virulence Trait Modulation during Daptomycin Resistance in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus InfectionMethicillin-resistant S. aureus continues to develop resistance to antimicrobials, including those in current clinical use as daptomycin (DAP). Resistance to DAP arises by mutations in cell membrane and cell wall genes and/or upregulation of the two-component VraSR system. However, less is known about the connection between the pathogen and virulence traits during DAP...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyIdentification of Recessive Lethal Alleles in the Diploid Genome of a Candida albicans Laboratory Strain Unveils a Potential Role of Repetitive Sequences in Buffering Their Deleterious ImpactCandida albicans is a major fungal pathogen, whose mode of reproduction is mainly clonal. Its genome is highly tolerant to rearrangements, in particular loss of heterozygosity events, known to unmask recessive lethal and deleterious alleles in heterozygous diploid organisms such as C. albicans. By...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyTranscriptional Sequencing Uncovers Survival Mechanisms of Salmonella enterica Serovar Enteritidis in Antibacterial Egg WhiteSalmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is a major foodborne pathogen that causes salmonellosis mainly through contaminated chicken eggs or egg products and has been a worldwide public health threat since 1980. Frequent outbreaks of this serotype through eggs correlate significantly with its exceptional survival ability in the antibacterial egg white. Research on the...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyA Controlled Human Infection Model of Group A Streptococcus Pharyngitis: Which Strain and Why?GAS (Streptococcus pyogenes) is a leading global cause of infection-related morbidity and mortality. A modern CHIM of GAS pharyngitis could help to accelerate vaccine development and drive pathogenesis research. Challenge strain selection is critical to the safety and success of any CHIM and especially so for an organism such as GAS, with its wide strain diversity and...