Latest Articles
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyAspergillus fumigatus Strain-Specific Conidia Lung Persistence Causes an Allergic Broncho-Pulmonary Aspergillosis-Like Disease PhenotypeAllergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) patients often present with long-term colonization of Aspergillus fumigatus. Current understanding of ABPA pathogenesis has been complicated by a lack of long-term in vivo fungal persistence models.
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceGenomic Background Governs Opposing Responses to Nalidixic Acid upon Megaplasmid Acquisition in PseudomonasNumerous studies have demonstrated that gene transfer events (e.g., plasmid acquisition) can entail a variety of costs that arise as by-products of the incorporation of foreign DNA into established physiological and genetic systems. These costs can be ameliorated through evolutionary time by the occurrence of compensatory mutations, which stabilize the presence of a horizontally transferred region within the genome but which also may...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyEngineering a Cysteine-Deficient Functional Candida albicans Cdr1 Molecule Reveals a Conserved Region at the Cytosolic Apex of ABCG Transporters Important for Correct Folding and Trafficking of Cdr1Overexpression of the fungal pleiotropic drug resistance (PDR) transporter Cdr1 is a major cause of antifungal drug resistance in Candida albicans, a significant fungal pathogen that can cause life-threatening invasive infections in immunocompromised individuals. To date, no structure for any PDR ABC transporter has been solved.
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyGlucan Unmasking Identifies Regulators of Temperature-Induced Translatome Reprogramming in C. neoformansCryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen that causes devastating morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised individuals. It possesses several virulence factors that aid in its evasion from the host immune system, including a large polysaccharide capsule that cloaks the antigenic cell wall.
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyGlucose-6-Phosphate Acts as an Extracellular Signal of SagS To Modulate Pseudomonas aeruginosa c-di-GMP Levels, Attachment, and Biofilm FormationPathogens sense and respond to signals and cues present in their environment, including host-derived small molecules to modulate the expression of their virulence repertoire. Here, we demonstrate that the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa responds to glucose-6-phosphate.
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyAPEX2 Proximity Proteomics Resolves Flagellum Subdomains and Identifies Flagellum Tip-Specific Proteins in Trypanosoma bruceiSleeping sickness is a neglected tropical disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei. The disease disrupts the sleep-wake cycle, leading to coma and death if left untreated. T. brucei motility, transmission, and virulence depend on its flagellum (cilium), which consists of several...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyTranscription Profiles Associated with Inducible Adhesion in Candida parapsilosisInvasive Candida infections are frequent complications of the immunocompromised and are associated with substantive morbidity and mortality. Although C. albicans is the best-studied species, emerging infections by non-albicans Candida species have led to increased efforts to understand aspects of their pathogenesis that are unique from...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyIdentification and Characterization of Novel Antibody Epitopes on the N2 NeuraminidaseThe influenza virus neuraminidase is an emerging target for universal influenza virus vaccines. However, in contrast to influenza virus hemagglutinin, we know little about antibody epitopes and antigenic sites on the neuraminidase. Characterizing and defining these sites is aiding vaccine development and helping to understand antigenic drift of NA.
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyMolecular Evolution of Human Coronavirus 229E in Hong Kong and a Fatal COVID-19 Case Involving Coinfection with a Novel Human Coronavirus 229E GenogroupSince its first appearance in the 1960s, the genetic diversity and evolution of human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) have been relatively understudied. In this study, we report a fatal case of COVID-19 coinfected with HCoV-229E in Hong Kong.
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyClinical and Molecular Epidemiology of an Emerging Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-Positive ST5 Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Clone in Northern AustraliaStaphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen that causes a wide range of clinical infections. In the past 2 decades, an epidemic of community-associated skin and soft tissue infections has been driven by S. aureus strains with specific virulence factors and resistance to beta-lactam...