Mostly Microbes and Infection - by David Ojcius

  Highlights • CCBs bind the inner pore of the HCMV US21 viroporin and abolish pUS21-mediated ER Ca 2+  leakage. • CCBs inhibit HCMV replication. • CCBs prevent the cytobiological consequences of pUS21 expression. • CCBs treatment restores ER Ca 2+  levels to those of control cells. • CCBs do not affect basal intracellular Ca 2+  homeostasis.

  Highlights • Translation measurements reveal how microbes allocate resources in communities • Functional profiles predict microbial competition and niche allocation • Predictions enable rational design of prebiotic and probiotic interventions • Interventions enable targeted modulation of complex microbiomes  in vitro  and  in vivo

  Highlights • Bacterial CD-NTase synthesizes 2'3'-cGAMP with mammalian cGAS-like enzymatic properties • 2'3'-cGAMP drives stepwise monomer-to-filament assembly of 3TM-SAVED family effectors • Filament assembly reconfigures TM helices and amphipathic hairpins to shear membranes • Vertical membrane shearing defines a distinct mode of membrane disruption

  Highlights • Borrelia spirochetes have a unique mechanism to evade host immune system. • Borrelia persica has one chromosome, 12 linear and one circular plasmids. • Telomeric hairpin motifs were detected in the chromosome and linear plasmids. • Plasmid profiles remained stable after one year of continuous in vitro culture. • A Vlp common variable region kept the same external position across structures.

  Highlights • Neurospora crassa  has lower sugar metabolic gene redundancy than  Aspergillus niger • The mating type of  N. crassa  affects growth of sugar metabolic deletion strains • We present a strongly improved sugar metabolic model for  N. crassa

  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...