Host-Microbe Biology
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Genetic Transformation of Chlamydia pneumoniaeThe absence of tools for the genetic manipulation of C. pneumoniae has hampered research into all aspects of its biology. In this study, we established a novel reproducible method for C. pneumoniae transformation based on a plasmid shuttle vector system. We constructed a...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyMost Sinorhizobium meliloti Extracytoplasmic Function Sigma Factors Control Accessory FunctionsFixed (reduced) soil nitrogen plays a critical role in soil fertility and successful food growth. Much soil fertility relies on symbiotic nitrogen fixation: the bacterial partner infects the host plant roots and reduces atmospheric dinitrogen in exchange for host metabolic fuel, a process that involves complex interactions between the partners mediated by changes in gene expression in each partner. Here we test the roles of a family of...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyHighly Reduced Genome of the New Species Mycobacterium uberis, the Causative Agent of Nodular Thelitis and Tuberculoid Scrotitis in Livestock and a Close Relative of the Leprosy BacilliM. uberis is an emerging skin pathogen in dairy animals. Its genome underwent massive reduction and gene decay, leading to a minimal set of genes required for an obligatory intracellular lifestyle, which highly resembles the evolution of the leprosy agents M. leprae and...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Interferon-Induced Exonuclease ISG20 Exerts Antiviral Activity through Upregulation of Type I Interferon Response ProteinsThe host immune responses to infection lead to the production of type I interferon (IFN), and the upregulation of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) reduces virus replication and virus dissemination within a host. Ectopic expression of the interferon-induced 20-kDa exonuclease ISG20 suppressed replication of chikungunya virus and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, two mosquito-vectored RNA alphaviruses. Since the replication of...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Toxoplasma gondii Active Serine Hydrolase 4 Regulates Parasite Division and Intravacuolar Parasite ArchitectureThis work defines the function of an enzyme in the obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii. We show that this previously uncharacterized enzyme is critical for aspects of cellular division by the parasite and that loss of this enzyme leads to parasites with cell division defects and which also are disorganized inside their vacuoles. This leads to defects in...
Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyBats Are an Untapped System for Understanding Microbiome Evolution in MammalsMammals evolved in a microbial world, and consequently, microbial symbionts have played a role in their evolution. An exciting new subdiscipline of metagenomics considers the ways in which microbes, particularly those found in the gut, have facilitated the ecological and phylogenetic radiation of mammals.
Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyTransient Nutrient Deprivation Promotes Macropinocytosis-Dependent Intracellular Bacterial Community DevelopmentOtitis media is the most common bacterial infection in childhood. Current therapies are limited in the prevention of chronic or recurrent otitis media which leads to increased antibiotic exposure and represents a significant socioeconomic burden. In this study, we delineate the effect of nutritional limitation on the intracellular trafficking pathways used by nontypeable ...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Transcription Factor VdHapX Controls Iron Homeostasis and Is Crucial for Virulence in the Vascular Pathogen Verticillium dahliaeThis study demonstrated that VdHapX is a conserved protein that mediates adaptation to iron starvation and excesses, affects microsclerotium formation, and is crucial for virulence of V. dahliae.
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyGerminant Synergy Facilitates Clostridium difficile Spore Germination under Physiological ConditionsClostridium difficile is an anaerobic spore-forming human pathogen that is the leading cause of nosocomial infectious diarrhea worldwide. Germination of infectious spores is the first step in the development of a C. difficile infection (CDI) after ingestion and passage through the stomach. This...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyChanges in the Gut Microbiota of Urban Subjects during an Immersion in the Traditional Diet and Lifestyle of a Rainforest VillageDespite the limitations of a small study, our results evidence higher resilience of the gut microbiota with respect to dietary manipulation in adults than in children and urge further studies to understand the extent of microbiota plasticity in response to dietary changes and the mechanisms underlying microbiota resilience. These studies are relevant to the potential of future human pre- and probiotics in preventing or curing microbiota...