Molecular Biology and Physiology
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyRole of LmeA, a Mycobacterial Periplasmic Protein, in Maintaining the Mannosyltransferase MptA and Its Product Lipomannan under StressMycobacteria differentially regulate the cellular amounts of lipoglycans in response to environmental changes, but the molecular mechanisms of this regulation remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that cellular lipoarabinomannan (LAM) levels rapidly decline under two stress conditions, stationary growth phase and nutrient starvation, while the levels of another related lipoglycan, lipomannan (LM), stay relatively constant. The...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyThe Inorganic Nutrient Regime and the mre Genes Regulate Cell and Filament Size and Morphology in the Phototrophic Multicellular Bacterium AnabaenaMost studies on the determination of bacterial cell morphology have been conducted in heterotrophic organisms. Here, we present a study of how the availability of inorganic nitrogen and carbon sources influence cell size and morphology in the context of a phototrophic metabolism, as found in the multicellular cyanobacterium Anabaena. In Anabaena, the expression of the MreB, MreC, and MreD proteins, which influence cell...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyFunctional Characterization of Core Regulatory Genes Involved in Sporulation of the Nematophagous Fungus Purpureocillium lavendulumPlant-parasitic nematodes cause serious damage to crops throughout the world. Purpureocillium lavendulum is a nematophagous fungus which is a natural enemy of nematodes and a potential biocontrol agent against plant-parasitic nematodes. The conidia play an important role during infection of nematodes. In this study, we identified and characterized genes involved in regulating asexual development of P. lavendulum. We...
Editor's Pick Commentary | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyLessons from Microbes: What Can We Learn about Equity from Unculturable Bacteria?Many microbiologists exhibit a fascination with unculturable bacteria. This intrigue can be expressed through curiosity about nutrient needs, as well as about parameters such as optimal temperature, oxygen levels, minimum and optimal light, or other such environmental factors. Microbiologists study organisms’ genetic language, as well as their environment of origin, for clues about essential factors or organisms’ need for coculture to...
Observation | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyStructured RNA Contaminants in Bacterial Ribo-SeqStructured ncRNAs are pivotal mediators of bioregulation in bacteria, and their functions are often reliant on their specific structures. Here, we first inspect Ribo-Seq reads across noncoding regions, identifying contaminant reads in these libraries. We observe that contaminant reads in bacterial Ribo-Seq experiments that are often disregarded, in fact, strongly overlap with structured regions of ncRNAs. We then perform several...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyA Human IRE1 Inhibitor Blocks the Unfolded Protein Response in the Pathogenic Fungus Aspergillus fumigatus and Suggests Noncanonical Functions within the PathwayThe unfolded protein response (UPR) is a signaling pathway that maintains endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis, with functions that overlap virulence mechanisms in the human-pathogenic mold Aspergillus fumigatus. The canonical pathway centers on HacA, its master transcriptional regulator. Translation of this protein requires the removal of an unconventional intron...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyHigh-Resolution Genome-Wide Occupancy in Candida spp. Using ChEC-seqSystemic fungal infections caused by Candida albicans and the “superbug” Candida auris are becoming a serious public health threat. The ability of these yeasts to cause disease is linked to their faculty to modulate the expression of genes that mediate their escape from the immune surveillance and...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyStreamlined Subpopulation, Subtype, and Recombination Analysis of HIV-1 Half-Genome Sequences Generated by High-Throughput SequencingThe highly recombinogenic nature of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) leads to recombination and emergence of quasispecies. It is important to reliably identify subpopulations to understand the complexity of a viral population for drug resistance surveillance and vaccine development. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) provides improved resolution over Sanger sequencing for the analysis of heterogeneous viral subpopulations....
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPrecise Expression of Afmed15 Is Crucial for Asexual Development, Virulence, and Survival of Aspergillus fumigatusThe identification and characterization of regulators essential for virulence or development constitute one approach for antifungal drug development. In this study, we screened and functionally characterized Afmed15, a novel developmental regulator in A. fumigatus. We demonstrate that the precise transcriptional expression of Afmed15 is crucial for...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPseudomonas aeruginosa Volatilome Characteristics and Adaptations in Chronic Cystic Fibrosis Lung InfectionsPseudomonas aeruginosa is a leading cause of chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis (CF), which are correlated with lung function decline. Significant clinical efforts are therefore aimed at detecting infections and tracking them for phenotypic changes, such as mucoidy and antibiotic resistance. Both the detection and tracking of lung infections rely on sputum...