Latest Articles
Resource Report | Synthetic BiologyPlasmids for Independently Tunable, Low-Noise Expression of Two GenesMicrobiologists often express foreign proteins in bacteria in order study them or to use bacteria as a microbial factory. Usually, this requires controlling the number of foreign proteins expressed in each cell, but for many common protein expression systems, it is difficult to “tune” protein expression without large cell-to-cell variation in expression levels (called “noise” in protein expression). This work describes two protein...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceAgent-Based Modeling Demonstrates How Local Chemotactic Behavior Can Shape Biofilm ArchitectureMost bacteria exist in aggregated, three-dimensional structures called biofilms. Although biofilms play important ecological roles in natural and engineered settings, they can also pose societal problems, for example, when they grow in plumbing systems or on medical implants. Understanding the processes that promote the growth and disassembly of biofilms could lead to better strategies to manage these structures. We had previously shown...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyThe AGC Kinase SsAgc1 Regulates Sporisorium scitamineum Mating/Filamentation and PathogenicityThe AGC signaling pathway represents a conserved distinct signaling pathway in regulation of fungal differentiation and virulence, while it has not been identified or characterized in the sugarcane smut fungus Sporisorium scitamineum. In this study, we identified a PAS domain-containing AGC kinase, SsAgc1, in S. scitamineum. Functional analysis revealed that SsAgc1 plays a regulatory role on the fungal dimorphic switch...
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 | Host-Microbe BiologyStage-Specific and Selective Delivery of Caged Azidosugars into the Intracellular Parasite Toxoplasma gondii by Using an Esterase-Ester Pair TechniqueSelective delivery of small molecules into intracellular parasites is particularly problematic due to the presence of multiple membranes and surrounding host cells. We have devised a method that can deliver caged molecules into an intracellular parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, that express an uncaging enzyme in a stage-specific manner without affecting host cell biology....
Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyIn Vivo Gene Essentiality and Metabolism in Bordetella pertussisOur study describes the first in vivo transposon sequencing (Tn-seq) analysis of B. pertussis and identifies genes predicted to be essential for in vivo growth in a murine model of intranasal infection, generating key resources for future investigations into B. pertussis...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceDiverse Commensal Escherichia coli Clones and Plasmids Disseminate Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Domestic Animals and Children in a Semirural Community in Ecuador...Even though Escherichia coli strains may share nearly identical phenotypic AMR profiles and AMR genes and overlap in space and time, the diversity of clones and plasmids challenges research that aims to identify sources of AMR. Horizontal gene transfer appears to play a more significant role than clonal expansion in the spread of AMR in this community.
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyNeuropilin-1 Regulates the Secondary CD8 T Cell Response to Virus InfectionCD8 T cell responses are critical to control both virus infections and tumors. The ability of these cells to persist for long periods of time can result in lifelong immunity, as relatively small populations of cells can expand rapidly to counter reexposure to the same insult. Understanding the molecules necessary for this rapid secondary expansion is critical if we are to develop therapies that can provide lifelong protection. This...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyRobust Transcriptional Response to Heat Shock Impacting Diverse Cellular Processes despite Lack of Heat Shock Factor in MicrosporidiaWe do not fully understand why some fungal species are able to grow at temperatures approaching mammalian body temperature. Nosema ceranae, a microsporidium, is a type of fungal parasite that infects honey bees and grows optimally at the colony temperature of 35°C despite possessing cellular machinery for responding to heat stress that is notably simpler than that of...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyTitrating Gene Function in the Human Fungal Pathogen Candida albicans through Poly-Adenosine Tract InsertionInvestigating a protein’s functional importance at the whole-organism level usually involves altering its expression level or its specific activity and observing the consequences with respect to physiology or phenotype. Several approaches designed to partially or completely abolish the function of a gene, including its deletion from the genome and the use of systems that facilitate conditional expression, have been widely applied....