Mostly Microbes and Infection - by David Ojcius

  Highlights • HapX is essential for iron-limited growth in  Talaromyces marneffei . • Deletion of hapX impairs siderophore biosynthesis and disrupts iron-responsive gene regulation. • Loss of HapX reduces conidiation, conidial germination, and stress tolerance (cell wall, membrane, and nitrosative stress). • The Δ hapX  mutant shows increased susceptibility to amphotericin B. • HapX is required for intracellular survival and full virulence in infection models. .

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is an effective therapy for recurrent   Clostridioides difficile   infection and is increasingly being explored for other microbiota-associated diseases. However, general research has largely focused on bacterial engraftment, overlooking the contribution of the gut virome. In this perspective, we highlight phage-mediated horizontal gene transfer (HGT) as a potentially influential process occurring following FMT. Donor-derived phages may potentially influence community structure, engraft in resident bacteria, and modulate microbial functions or host physiology. In addition, temperate phages are well-equipped to mobilize bacterial genes, such as metabolic functions, stress-response traits, and antibiotic resistance determinants, raising the possibility that gene flow could well contribute to FMT outcomes. We propose a conceptual model in which phages act as bidirectional mediators of adaptation, not only accompanying bacterial communities b...

  Article highlights • Screening of 578  Mucorales  isolates from clinical and fermented food indicated that endosymbiotic bacteria occur exclusively in  Rhizopus  species. • 16S rDNA sequencing and FISH analyses confirmed  Mycetohabitans  as the predominant bacterial symbiont detected in pathogenic  Rhizopus  strains. • A  Rhizopus homothallicus  isolate was found to harbor  Mycetohabitans  sp. showing 98.37% 16S rRNA similarity to  M. rhizoxinica , suggesting a potential novel species-level lineage. • Ecological and geographic data compilation illustrated that  Mucorales  - bacteria associations span multiple environments and continents.

Highlights • Long-term organic-free enrichment with hydrothermal sulfide/iron-rich sediment successfully constructed diverse sulfur-oxidizing communities. • 36 potential sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (including 10 novel species) were isolated from the mineral-enriched community. • Sulfitobacter  sp. L-8 and  Roseovarius  sp. B-10 achieved 68%–93% thiosulfate consumption and mediated diverse and significant mineral transformation. • This study connects microbial sulfur-oxidizing metabolisms with sulfide weathering, expanding insights into microbial roles in sulfide mineral weathering and utilization. • SOB act as key drivers of sulfide transformation, biogeochemical cycling and energy dynamics in deep-sea hydrothermal vents ecosystems.

  Highlights • High rhizosphere microbial diversity improves soybean performance under drought • Diversity-triggered 2-naphthoic acid accumulates under drought stress • Sinorhizobium  CS204 senses 2-naphthoic acid via chemoreceptors and ABC transporters • S .CS204-metabolite synergy boosts nitrogen cycling and plant drought tolerance

  Highlights • Microbiota-driven inflammation and lipid uptake drive intestinal ILC3 lipotoxicity • Inflammatory signaling suppresses fatty acid oxidation in ILC3s but not Th17 cells • ILC3-specific immunometabolic vulnerability is conserved in intestine of mice and human • HFD-mediated intestinal ILC3 depletion is reversible upon dietary normalization

  Highlights • A global atlas and biogeography of human bacterial pathogens in soils are reported • Dominant human bacterial pathogens are more abundant in wet ecosystems worldwide • Soil biodiversity is negatively associated with the prevalence of human pathogens • Many dominant pathogens are likely to increase their proportion in future climates