: Microbiology Articles
Review: Symbiotic conversations are revealed under genetic interrogationThe recent development and application of molecular genetics to the symbionts of invertebrate animal species have advanced our knowledge of the biochemical communication that occurs between the host and its bacterial symbionts. In particular, the ability to manipulate these associations experimentally by introducing genetic variants Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp752-762 |
Review: Wolbachia: master manipulators of invertebrate biologyWolbachia are common intracellular bacteria that are found in arthropods and nematodes. These alphaproteobacteria endosymbionts are transmitted vertically through host eggs and alter host biology in diverse ways, including the induction of reproductive manipulations, such as feminization, parthenogenesis, male killing and sperm–egg incompatibility. They Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp741-751 |
Perspective: Are biologists in 'future shock'? Symbiosis integrates biology across domainsThe study of symbiosis is quintessential systems biology. It integrates not only all levels of biological analysis — from molecular to ecological — but also the study of the interplay between organisms in the three domains of life. The development of this field is still Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp789-792 |
Review: Arbuscular mycorrhiza: the mother of plant root endosymbiosesArbuscular mycorrhiza (AM), a symbiosis between plants and members of an ancient phylum of fungi, the Glomeromycota, improves the supply of water and nutrients, such as phosphate and nitrogen, to the host plant. In return, up to 20% of plant-fixed carbon is transferred to the Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp763-775 |
Review: Symbiotic diversity in marine animals: the art of harnessing chemosynthesisChemosynthetic symbioses between bacteria and marine invertebrates were discovered 30 years ago at hydrothermal vents on the Galapagos Rift. Remarkably, it took the discovery of these symbioses in the deep sea for scientists to realize that chemosynthetic symbioses occur worldwide in a wide range of Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp725-740 |
Research Highlight: Environmental Microbiology: Arsenic in actionThe first species of bacteria that derives its energy from arsenic through anoxygenic photosynthesis has now been discovered. As reported in Science, this finding by Kulp and colleagues may have important implications for how the arsenic cycle was established and maintained on the ancient Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp711-711 |
Research Highlight: Antimicrobials: New drugs for an old scourge?Tuberculosis (TB) remains a serious problem worldwide. The causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is difficult to treat, in part because it can persist under hypoxic (low oxygen) conditions in a dormant form that has reduced sensitivity to many antibiotics. Rao and colleagues report that de Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp712-712 |
Research Highlight: Virology: A virus gets a virusRaoult and co-workers previously challenged the field of virology by identifying a virus that was so large its size questioned the definition of a virus. Now, publishing in Nature, La Scola, Desnues, Raoult and colleagues describe a new strain of the giant mimivirus that Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp714-714 |
Research Highlight: Bacterial Physiology: Energizing the spore coatSpores formed by Bacillus subtilis are encased in a complex multilayered coat that comprises more than 50 different proteins. Ramamurthi and Losick have published a study in Molecular Cell which shows that ATP hydrolysis by the morphogenic coat protein SpoIVA, which enables Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp714-714 |
Research Highlight: In BriefAntibioticsNon-ribosomal peptide synthetase module fusions to produce derivatives of daptomycin in Streptomyces roseosporusDoekel, S.et al. Microbiology154, 2872–2880 (2008)Peptide antibiotics, such as daptomycin, are made by large non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). These enzymes Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp712-712 |
Research Highlight: Symbiosis: Follow the scentThe bacterial pathogen Candidatus Phytoplasma mali alters the odour of the plant that it infects to ensure maximum spread, according to new research published in the Journal of Chemical Ecology.Apple proliferation disease, which causes severe economic losses, is caused by Ca. Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp713-713 |
Research Highlight: Innate Immunity: PIMS knows friends and foesHow do metazoans balance immune responses to commensal and pathogenic bacteria? In a paper just published in Cell Host & Microbe Lhocine et al. report the identification of a protein in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster that functions to dampen the immune Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp715-715 |
Research Highlight: Viral pathogenesis: Virus SETs host transcription to offParamecium bursaria Chlorella virus 1 (PBCV1) encodes a SET domain-containing histone methyltransferase (vSET) that methylates histone H3 on lysine 27 (H3K27). vSET subverts host cell epigenetic regulation to repress host cell transcription, according to a paper just published in Nature Cell Biology Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 6 #10, pp713-713 |