Latest Articles
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyA Toxoplasma gondii Ortholog of Plasmodium GAMA Contributes to Parasite Attachment and Cell InvasionToxoplasma gondii is a successful human pathogen in the same phylum as malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites. Invasion of a host cell is an essential process that begins with secretion of adhesive proteins onto the parasite surface for attachment and subsequent penetration of the host cell. Conserved invasion proteins likely play roles that were maintained...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyReconfiguration of Transcriptional Control of Lysine Biosynthesis in Candida albicans Involves a Central Role for the Gcn4 Transcriptional ActivatorMicrobes evolve rapidly so as to reconfigure their gene expression to adapt to the metabolic demands in diverse environmental niches. Here, we explored how conditions of nutrient deprivation regulate lysine biosynthesis in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. We show that although both Saccharomyces...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyTgATAT-Mediated α-Tubulin Acetylation Is Required for Division of the Protozoan Parasite Toxoplasma gondiiToxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic parasite that infects at least one-third of the world population. New treatments for the disease (toxoplasmosis) are needed since current drugs are toxic to patients. Microtubules are essential cellular structures built from tubulin that show promise as antimicrobial drug targets. Microtubules can be regulated by chemical...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceA Novel Glycolipid Biosurfactant Confers Grazing Resistance upon Pantoea ananatis BRT175 against the Social Amoeba Dictyostelium discoideumThe genetic factors used for host interaction by the opportunistic human pathogen Pantoea ananatis are largely unknown. We identified two genes that are important for the production of a biosurfactant that confers grazing resistance against the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. We show that...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyUropathogenic Escherichia coli Metabolite-Dependent Quiescence and Persistence May Explain Antibiotic Tolerance during Urinary Tract InfectionRecurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) affect 10 to 40% of women. In up to 77% of those cases, the recurrent infections are caused by the same uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) strain that caused the initial infection. Upon infection of urothelial transitional cells in the bladder, UPEC appear to enter a nongrowing quiescent intracellular state that is thought to serve...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Zinc Finger Protein Mig1 Regulates Mitochondrial Function and Azole Drug Susceptibility in the Pathogenic Fungus Cryptococcus neoformansFungal pathogens of humans are difficult to treat, and there is a pressing need to identify new targets for antifungal drugs and to obtain a detailed understanding of fungal proliferation in vertebrate hosts. In this study, we examined the roles of the regulatory proteins Mig1 and HapX in mitochondrial function and antifungal drug susceptibility in the fungus Cryptococcus...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologySSTAR, a Stand-Alone Easy-To-Use Antimicrobial Resistance Gene PredictorWhole-genome sequencing (WGS) is quickly becoming a routine method for identifying genes associated with antimicrobial resistance (AR). However, for many microbiologists, the use and analysis of WGS data present a substantial challenge. We developed SSTAR, software with a graphical user interface that enables the identification of known AR genes from WGS and has the unique capacity to easily detect new variants of known AR genes,...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPprA Protein Is Involved in Chromosome Segregation via Its Physical and Functional Interaction with DNA Gyrase in Irradiated Deinococcus radiodurans BacteriaD. radiodurans is one of the most radiation-resistant organisms known. This bacterium is able to cope with high levels of DNA lesions generated by exposure to extreme doses of ionizing radiation and to reconstruct a functional genome from hundreds of radiation-induced chromosomal fragments. Here, we identified partners of PprA, a radiation-induced Deinococcus...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyCharacterization of Two Dinoflagellate Cold Shock Domain ProteinsDinoflagellate transcriptomes contain cold shock domain proteins as the major component of the proteins annotated as transcription factors. We show here that the major family of cold shock domain proteins in the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium do not bind specific sequences, suggesting that transcriptional control is not a predominant mechanism for regulating gene expression in this group of protists.
Research Article | Therapeutics and PreventionEfficacy of T-705 (Favipiravir) in the Treatment of Infections with Lethal Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome VirusSevere fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), caused by SFTS virus (SFTSV), is a recently identified emerging viral infectious disease. Despite the medical importance of this disease, there are currently neither vaccines nor effective therapeutics for SFTS. T-705, which is a pyrazine derivative, has shown broad antiviral activity against various RNA viruses. The present study demonstrated, for the first time to our knowledge, the...