Microbiology

Egoviruses: distant relatives of poxviruses abundant in the gut microbiomes of humans and animals worldwide

1. Morgan Gaïa
2. Hans-Joachim Ruscheweyh
3. A. Murat Eren
4. Eugene V. Koonin
5. Shinichi Sunagawa
6. Mart Krupovic
7. Tom O. Delmont

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

A prophage-encoded anti-phage defense system that prevents phage DNA packaging by targeting the terminase complex

1. Gil Azulay
2. Nadejda Sigal
3. Keren Tzohar Rabinovich
4. Dan Koenigsfeld
5. Olga Stadnyuk
6. Avijit Das
7. Polina Lisitzin
8. Einat Biderman
9. Ilya Borovok
10. Anat A. Herskovits

Reviewed by PREreview

Complex system modelling reveals oxalate homeostasis is driven by diverse oxalate-degrading bacteria

1. Sromona D Mukherjee
2. Carlos A Batagello
3. Ava Adler
4. Jose Agudelo
5. Anna Zampini
6. Mangesh Suryavanshi
7. Andrew Nguyen
8. Teri Orr
9. Denise Dearing
10. Manoj Monga
11. Aaron W Miller

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This work presents a valuable approach based on a complex systems theoretical framework to characterize diet-host-microbe interactions and develop targeted bacteriotherapies through a three-phase workflow. Despite the partial support of the description and experimental setup of the 'complex systems theoretical approach,' the collected data are solid and advance our understanding of oxalate bacterial metabolism in microbial communities. This study will interest researchers working on gut microbiomes and the possible modulation of host-microbial interactions.

Reviewed by eLife

Wag31, a membrane tether, is crucial for lipid homeostasis in mycobacteria

1. Yogita Kapoor
2. Himani Khurana
3. Debatri Dutta
4. Arnab Chakraborty
5. Anshu Priya
6. Archana Singh
7. Siddhesh S Kamat
8. Neeraj Dhar
9. Thomas J Pucadyil
10. Vinay Kumar Nandicoori

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Understanding bacterial growth mechanisms potentially uncover novel drug targets which are crucial for maintaining cellular viability, particularly for bacterial pathogens. In this important study, Kapoor et al, investigate the role of Wag31 in lipid and peptidoglycan biosynthesis in mycobacteria. A detailed analysis of Wag31 domain architecture revealed a role in membrane tethering. More specifically, the N-terminal and C-terminal domains appeared to have distinct functional roles. The data presented are solid and support the conclusion made. This study will be of broad interest to microbiologists and molecular biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Enhanced virulence and stress tolerance are signatures of epidemiologically successful Shigella sonnei

1. Sydney L Miles
2. Dilys Santillo
3. Vincenzo Torraca
4. Ana Teresa López Jiménez
5. Claire Jenkins
6. Stephen Baker
7. Kate S Baker
8. Vanessa Sancho-Shimizu
9. Kathryn E Holt
10. Serge Mostowy

Reviewed by PREreview

Blocking toxin function and modulating the gut microbiota: caffeic acid phenethyl ester as a potential treatment for Clostridioides difficile infection

1. Yan Guo
2. Yong Zhang
3. Guizhen Wang
4. Hongtao Liu
5. Jianfeng Wang
6. Xuming Deng
7. Liuqing He
8. Jiazhang Qiu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study by Guo and colleagues reports the inhibitory activity of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) against TcdB, a key toxin produced by Clostridioides difficile. C. difficile infections are a major public health concern, and this manuscript provides interesting data on toxin inhibition by CAPE, a potentially promising therapeutic alternative for this disease. The strength of the evidence to support the conclusions is solid, with some concerns about the moderate effects on the mouse infection model and direct binding assays of CAPE to the toxin.

Reviewed by eLife

Screening Envelope Genes Across Primate Genomes Reveals Evolution and Diversity Patterns of Endogenous Retroviruses

1. Saili Chabukswar
2. Nicole Grandi
3. Elena Soddu
4. Liang-Tzung Lin
5. Enzo Tramontano

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The manuscript provides an important assessment of the number and distribution of different retrovirus env genes present in primate genomes in the form of ancient endogenous retroviruses (ERV loci) and the potential role that viral recombination played in the diversification of retrovirus env genes and their propagation in the primate germline over millions of years. The paper convincingly describes how intermixing/recombination occurs with this viruses, representing a conceptual advance with potentially broad implications.

Reviewed by eLife

Teichoic acids in the periplasm and cell envelope of Streptococcus pneumoniae

1. Mai Nguyen
2. Elda Bauda
3. Célia Boyat
4. Cédric Laguri
5. Céline Freton
6. Anne Chouquet
7. Benoit Gallet
8. Morgane Baudoin
9. Yung-Sing Wong
10. Christophe Grangeasse
11. Christine Moriscot
12. Claire Durmort
13. André Zapun
14. Cecile Morlot

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The bacterial cell wall is crucial to maintain viability. It has previously been suggested that Gram positive bacteria have a periplasmic region between the cell membrane and peptidoglycan cell wall that this is maintained by the presence of teichoic acids. In this valuable study, Nguyen et al. make clever use of electron microscopy and metabolic labelling to interrogate the role of teichoic acids in supporting the maintenance of the periplasmic region in Streptococcus pneumoniae. The findings are solid and close some crucial knowledge gaps whilst providing novel tools to further interrogate discrepancies in the field. This work will be of broad interest to microbiologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Addressing efficacy of everyday hygiene cleansing products in context of sustainable handwashing behaviour in the post-pandemic era

1. Sandip B. Pathak
2. Shafali Arora
3. Jabir Sayyed
4. Urmi Trivedi
5. Lincy Sherin
6. Nitish Kumar
7. Harshinie W. Jayasekera
8. Amitabha Majumdar
9. Sayandip Mukherjee

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

A General Mechanism for Initiating the General Stress Response in Bacteria

1. Rishika Baral
2. Kristin Ho
3. Ramasamy P Kumar
4. Jesse B Hopkins
5. Maxwell B Watkins
6. Salvatore LaRussa
7. Suhaily Caban-Penix
8. Logan A Calderone
9. Niels Bradshaw

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study combines genetic analysis, biochemistry, and structural modeling to reveal new insights into how changes in protein-protein structure activate signal transduction as part of the bacterial general stress response. The data, which was collected using validated and standard methods, and its interpretations are convincing; however, to fully meet the title's promise, additional experimental evidence is needed to strengthen the proposed model and its potential application to other systems. This manuscript will be of broad interest to microbiologists, structural biologists, and cell biologists.

Reviewed by eLife