Latest Articles
Commentary | Therapeutics and PreventionUncovering the Harms of Treating Clostridioides difficile ColonizationPatients with toxin-negative Clostridioides difficile-positive diarrhea are often treated with oral vancomycin with the assumption that treatment is more beneficial than harmful. However, this hypothesis has never been formally tested, and recent studies suggest that most such patients recover quickly without treatment and can be colonized rather than infected.
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Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceGenes Influencing Phage Host Range in Staphylococcus aureus on a Species-Wide ScaleStaphylococcus aureus is a widespread, hospital- and community-acquired pathogen, many strains of which are antibiotic resistant. It causes diverse diseases, ranging from local to systemic infection, and affects both the skin and many internal organs, including the heart, lungs, bones, and brain.
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceSoil Health Management Enhances Microbial Nitrogen Cycling Capacity and ActivityConservation agriculture practices that promote soil health have distinct and lasting effects on microbial populations involved with soil nitrogen (N) cycling. In particular, using a leguminous winter cover crop (hairy vetch) promoted the expression of key functional genes involved in soil N cycling, equaling or exceeding the effects of inorganic N fertilizer.
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyA Novel N4-Like Bacteriophage Isolated from a Wastewater Source in South India with Activity against Several Multidrug-Resistant Clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa IsolatesIn India, multidrug resistance determinants are much more abundant in community-associated bacterial pathogens due to the improper treatment of domestic and industrial effluents. In particular, a high bacterial load of the opportunistic pathogen P. aeruginosa in sewage and water bodies in India is well documented.
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologySpecific Norovirus Interaction with Lewis x and Lewis a on Human Intestinal Inflammatory Mucosa during Refractory Inflammatory Bowel DiseaseInflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are progressive diseases affecting millions of people each year. Flare-ups during IBD result in severe mucosal alterations of the small intestine (in CD) and in the colon and rectum (in CD and UC).
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyOXA-181-Like Carbapenemases in Klebsiella pneumoniae ST14, ST15, ST23, ST48, and ST231 from Septicemic Neonates: Coexistence with NDM-5, Resistome, Transmissibility, and Genome DiversityNeonatal sepsis is a leading cause of neonatal mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Treatment of sepsis in this vulnerable population is dependent on antimicrobials, and resistance to these life-saving antimicrobials is worrisome.
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPhosphorylation of the Canonical Histone H2A Marks Foci of Damaged DNA in Malaria ParasitesPlasmodium falciparum is the deadliest human parasite that causes malaria when it reaches the bloodstream and begins proliferating inside red blood cells, where the parasites are particularly prone to DNA damage. The molecular mechanisms that allow these pathogens to maintain their genome integrity under such conditions are also the driving force for acquiring genome...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyCoexistence of Communicating and Noncommunicating Cells in the Filamentous Cyanobacterium AnabaenaMulticellularity is found in bacteria as well as in eukaryotes, and the filamentous heterocyst-forming (N2-fixing) cyanobacteria represent a simple and ancient paradigm of multicellular organisms. Multicellularity generally involves cell-cell adhesion and communication.
Observation | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyAn Observational Laboratory-Based Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 Molecular Diagnostics in Benin, Western AfricaMonths after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, case numbers from Africa are surprisingly low, potentially because the number of SARS-CoV-2 tests performed in Africa is lower than in other regions. Here, we show an overload of COVID-19-related diagnostics in the central laboratory of Benin, Western Africa, with a stagnating average number of positive samples irrespective of daily sample counts.
Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyRandomized Controlled Trial of Oral Vancomycin Treatment in Clostridioides difficile-Colonized PatientsA gold standard diagnostic for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) does not exist. An area of controversy is how to manage patients whose stool tests positive by nucleic acid amplification tests but negative by toxin enzyme immunoassay.