development
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyTransition of Bacterial Diversity and Composition in Tongue Microbiota during the First Two Years of LifeEvaluating the development of oral microbiota during infancy is important for understanding the subsequent colonization of bacterial species and the process of formation of mature microbiota in the oral cavity. We examined tongue microbiota longitudinally collected from 8 infants and found that drastic compositional shifts in tongue microbiota occur before the age of 1 year, and then bacterial diversity and overall bacterial composition...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyA Tripartite, Hierarchical Sigma Factor Cascade Promotes Hormogonium Development in the Filamentous Cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiformeCyanobacteria are integral to global carbon and nitrogen cycles, and their metabolic capacity coupled with their ease of genetic manipulation make them attractive platforms for applications such as biomaterial and biofertilizer production. Achieving these goals will likely require a detailed understanding and precise rewiring of these organisms’ GRNs. The complex phenotypic plasticity of filamentous cyanobacteria has also made them...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyDevelopment and Validation of 13-plex Luminex-Based Assay for Measuring Human Serum Antibodies to Streptococcus pneumoniae Capsular PolysaccharidesThe pneumococcal enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) measures IgG antibodies in human serum, and it is an important assay that supports licensure of pneumococcal vaccines. The immune correlate of protection, 0.35 µg/ml of IgG antibodies, was determined by the ELISA method. Pfizer has developed a new Luminex-based assay platform to replace the ELISA. These papers describe the important work of (i) validating the Luminex-based assay...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyGenes Activated by Vibrio cholerae upon Exposure to Caenorhabditis elegans Reveal the Mannose-Sensitive Hemagglutinin To Be Essential for ColonizationThe waterborne diarrheal disease cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The facultative human pathogen persists as a natural inhabitant in the aquatic ecosystem between outbreaks. In contrast to the human host, V. cholerae requires a different set of genes to survive in this hostile...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyOpposing Transcriptional Mechanisms Regulate Toxoplasma DevelopmentToxoplasma infections are lifelong because of the development of the bradyzoite tissue cyst, which is effectively invisible to the immune system. Despite the important clinical consequences of this developmental pathway, the molecular basis of the switch mechanisms that control tissue cyst formation is still poorly understood. Significant changes in gene expression are associated with tissue cyst development, and ApiAP2...