Latest Articles
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyMoLAEA Regulates Secondary Metabolism in Magnaporthe oryzaeM. oryzae causes blast disease, the most serious disease of cultivated rice affecting global rice production. The genome of M. oryzae has been shown to have a number of genes involved in secondary metabolism, but most of them are uncharacterized. In fact, compared to studies of other filamentous...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyNew Mutations Involved in Colistin Resistance in Acinetobacter baumanniiAcinetobacter baumannii is an important Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen commonly infecting critically ill patients. It possesses a remarkable ability to survive in the hospital environment and acquires resistance determinants corresponding to a wide range of antibacterial agents. Given that the current treatment options for multidrug resistant...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyIdentification of the Neuroinvasive Pathogen Host Target, LamR, as an Endothelial Receptor for the Treponema pallidum Adhesin Tp0751Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum. The continued incidence of syphilis demonstrates that screening and treatment strategies are not sufficient to curb this infectious disease, and there is currently no vaccine available. Herein we demonstrate that the...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyEnterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Heat-Stable Toxin Increases the Rate of Zinc Release from Metallothionein and Is a Zinc- and Iron-Binding PeptideEnterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a major diarrheal pathogen in children in low- to middle-income countries, deployed military personnel, and travelers to regions of endemicity. The heat-stable toxin (ST) is a small nonimmunogenic secreted peptide with 3 disulfide bonds. It has been appreciated that dietary disulfides modulate intestinal redox potential and...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyConvergence between Regulation of Carbon Utilization and Catabolic Repression in Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhousThe conditions affecting catabolic regulation in X. dendrorhous are complex and suggest the presence of an alternative mechanism of regulation. The repressors Mig1, Cyc8, and Tup1 are essential elements for the regulation of the use of glucose and other carbon sources. All play different roles but, depending on the growth conditions, can work in convergent,...
Research Article | Therapeutics and PreventionPeptide Self-Assembly Is Linked to Antibacterial, but Not Antifungal, Activity of Histatin 5 DerivativesAntimicrobial peptides are important modulators of host defense against bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogens in humans and other multicellular organisms. Two converging paradigms point to a link between antimicrobial peptides that self-assemble into amyloid-like nanoassemblies and classical amyloidogenic peptides that often have potent broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, suggesting that antimicrobial and amyloidogenic peptides may...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyNovel IncR/IncP6 Hybrid Plasmid pCRE3-KPC Recovered from a Clinical KPC-2-Producing Citrobacter braakii IsolateReports of human-pathogenic C. braakii strains, especially of strains showing resistance to carbapenems, are rare. To the best of our knowledge, our results represent the first detection of carbapenemase gene blaKPC-2 in C. braakii strains. In addition, we have studied detailed...
Research Article | Therapeutics and PreventionHIV Env-Specific IgG Antibodies Induced by Vaccination of Neonatal Rhesus Macaques Persist and Can Be Augmented by a Late Booster Immunization in InfancyThe majority of new HIV-1 infections occur in young adults, with adolescent women being 3 times more likely to acquire HIV than young men. Implementation of HIV prevention strategies has been less successful in this age group; thus, a vaccine given prior to adolescence remains a high priority. We propose that instead of starting HIV vaccination during adolescence, an HIV vaccine regimen initiated in early infancy, aligned with the well-...
Commentary | Host-Microbe BiologymSphere of Influence: Interferon Ultra Is a Means To Fight Viral DiseaseConnor G. G. Bamford works in the fields of virology and innate immunity. In this mSphere of Influence article, he reflects on how three papers by Manry et al. (J. Manry, G. Laval, E. Patin, S. Fornarino, et al., J Exp Med 208:2747–2759, 2011, https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20111680), Terczyńska-Dyla et al. (E. Terczyńska-Dyla, S. Bibert, F. H. T. Duong, I. Krol, et al., Nat Commun 5:5699...
Commentary | Host-Microbe BiologymSphere of Influence: Understanding Virus-Host Interactions Requires a Multifaceted ApproachRory de Vries works in the field of viral pathogenesis and focuses on interactions between respiratory viruses (or corresponding vaccines) and the host immune system. In this mSphere of Influence article, he reflects on how the articles “Predominant infection of CD150+ lymphocytes and dendritic cells during measles virus infection of macaques” by R. L. de Swart et al. (R. L. de Swart, M. Ludlow, L. de Witte, Y. Yanagi, et al...