Latest Articles
Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyBats Are an Untapped System for Understanding Microbiome Evolution in MammalsMammals evolved in a microbial world, and consequently, microbial symbionts have played a role in their evolution. An exciting new subdiscipline of metagenomics considers the ways in which microbes, particularly those found in the gut, have facilitated the ecological and phylogenetic radiation of mammals.
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Toxoplasma gondii Active Serine Hydrolase 4 Regulates Parasite Division and Intravacuolar Parasite ArchitectureThis work defines the function of an enzyme in the obligate intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii. We show that this previously uncharacterized enzyme is critical for aspects of cellular division by the parasite and that loss of this enzyme leads to parasites with cell division defects and which also are disorganized inside their vacuoles. This leads to defects in...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceComplete Genome Sequence of a blaKPC-2-Positive Klebsiella pneumoniae Strain Isolated from the Effluent of an Urban Sewage Treatment Plant in JapanWe isolated and determined the complete genome sequence of a KPC-2-producing K. pneumoniae strain from a sampling site in Tokyo Bay, Japan, near a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). In Japan, the KPC type has been very rarely detected, while IMP is the most predominant type of carbapenemase in clinical carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) isolates...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Interferon-Induced Exonuclease ISG20 Exerts Antiviral Activity through Upregulation of Type I Interferon Response ProteinsThe host immune responses to infection lead to the production of type I interferon (IFN), and the upregulation of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) reduces virus replication and virus dissemination within a host. Ectopic expression of the interferon-induced 20-kDa exonuclease ISG20 suppressed replication of chikungunya virus and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, two mosquito-vectored RNA alphaviruses. Since the replication of...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyTransmission of Foot-and-Mouth Disease from Persistently Infected Carrier Cattle to Naive Cattle via Transfer of Oropharyngeal FluidFoot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a viral disease of livestock with substantial impact on agricultural production and subsistence farming on a global scale. Control of FMD is impeded by the existence of a prolonged asymptomatic carrier phase during which infected cattle shed low quantities of infectious virus in oropharyngeal fluid (OPF) for months to years after infection. The epidemiological significance of FMD virus (FMDV) carriers is...
Research Article | Clinical Science and EpidemiologyDevelopment and Use of an Endpoint Titration Assay To Characterize Mumps IgG Avidity following Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccination and Wild-Type Mumps InfectionNumerous outbreaks of mumps have occurred in the United States among two-dose measles-mumps-rubella (MMR)-vaccinated populations since 2006. The avidity of mumps-specific IgG antibodies may affect susceptibility to mumps virus infection in some vaccinated individuals. To accurately measure mumps avidity, we developed and validated a mumps-specific IgG avidity assay that determines avidity at the endpoint titer of serially diluted serum...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyTransient Nutrient Deprivation Promotes Macropinocytosis-Dependent Intracellular Bacterial Community DevelopmentOtitis media is the most common bacterial infection in childhood. Current therapies are limited in the prevention of chronic or recurrent otitis media which leads to increased antibiotic exposure and represents a significant socioeconomic burden. In this study, we delineate the effect of nutritional limitation on the intracellular trafficking pathways used by nontypeable ...
Observation | Therapeutics and PreventionMCR-1 Confers Cross-Resistance to Bacitracin, a Widely Used In-Feed AntibioticPolymyxins (e.g., colistin) are the drugs of last resort to treat multidrug-resistant infections in humans. To control mobile colistin resistance, there is a worldwide trend to limit colistin use in animal production. However, simply limiting colistin use in animal production may still not effectively mitigate colistin resistance due to an overlooked non-colistin usage factor(s). Using controlled systems, in this study, we observed that...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyThe Transcription Factor VdHapX Controls Iron Homeostasis and Is Crucial for Virulence in the Vascular Pathogen Verticillium dahliaeThis study demonstrated that VdHapX is a conserved protein that mediates adaptation to iron starvation and excesses, affects microsclerotium formation, and is crucial for virulence of V. dahliae.
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyGerminant Synergy Facilitates Clostridium difficile Spore Germination under Physiological ConditionsClostridium difficile is an anaerobic spore-forming human pathogen that is the leading cause of nosocomial infectious diarrhea worldwide. Germination of infectious spores is the first step in the development of a C. difficile infection (CDI) after ingestion and passage through the stomach. This...