Microbiology

Secreted small RNAs of Naegleria fowleri are biomarkers for diagnosis of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis

1. A. Cassiopeia Russell
2. Joseph Dainis
3. Jose Alexander
4. Ibne Karim M. Ali
5. Dennis E. Kyle

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The manuscript by Russell et al. investigates an important problem: the current lack of methods for early and accurate N. fowleri diagnosis, which is >95% fatal. The authors provide solid evidence that a small RNA secreted by N. fowleri is detectable in biological fluids like blood and urine in a mouse model, and is present in cerebrospinal fluid and blood for a limited number of patient samples. This could potentially help with earlier diagnosis, which could save lives.

Reviewed by eLife

Structural insights into peptidoglycan hydrolysis by the FtsEX system in Escherichia coli during cell division

1. Jianwei Li
2. Yutong He
3. Xin Xu
4. Martin Alcorlo
5. Jian Shi
6. Souvik Naskar
7. Nicholas S Briggs
8. David I Roper
9. Juan A Hermoso
10. Lok-To Sham
11. Min Luo

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is a potentially useful study that provides solid, yet confirmatory structural findings about the complex (FtsEX) that controls peptidoglycan remodeling during bacterial cell division. The authors capitalize on the fact that ATP binding stabilizes the FtsEX complex allowing structural characterization for this system. A model is then developed to explain ATP regulation but there is a gap between the model presented here and in vivo data reported previously.

Reviewed by eLife

Navigating contradictions: Salmonella Typhimurium chemotaxis amidst conflicting stimuli of the intestinal environment

1. Kailie Franco
2. Zealon Gentry-Lear
3. Michael Shavlik
4. Michael J. Harms
5. Arden Baylink

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this manuscript, Franco and colleagues present compelling evidence that fecal extracts containing high concentrations of indole, a known repellent, enhance rather than protect against invasion of colonic tissue by Salmonella. The authors describe important findings that lead to the conclusion that the competing effects of attractants present in fecal matter, including L-serine, also sensed by the Tsr chemoreceptor that senses indole, override the repulsive effect of indole.

Reviewed by eLife

Effects of parental care on skin microbial community composition in poison frogs

1. Marie-Therese Fischer
2. Katherine S Xue
3. Elizabeth K Costello
4. Mai Dvorak
5. Gaëlle Raboisson
6. Anna Robaczewska
7. Stephanie N Caty
8. David A Relman
9. Lauren A O’Connell

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides an important perspective on the influence of parental care in the establishment of the amphibian microbiome. Through a combination of cross-fostering experimental work, comparative analysis, and developmental time series, the authors provide compelling evidence that vertical transmission through care is possible, and solid but somewhat preliminary evidence that it plays a significant role in shaping frog skin microbiomes in nature or across time. This work will be of interest to researchers studying the evolution of parental care and microbiomes in vertebrates.

Reviewed by eLife

REPOP: bacterial population quantification from plate counts

1. Pedro Pessoa
2. Carol Lu
3. Stanimir Asenov Tashev
4. Rory Kruithoff
5. Douglas P Shepherd
6. Steve Pressé

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study introduces a Bayesian method to determine bacterial counts that accounts for the experimental noise inherent to dilution and plating methods, and distinguishes it from biological uncertainty. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, combining simulated data and experimental data. The method will be of interest to microbial ecologists, and potentially to the broader community interested in inference from biological data, even more so if the domain of application and the limitations are further clarified.

Reviewed by eLife

An abundant merozoite surface protein of Plasmodium falciparum modulates susceptibility to inhibitory antibodies

1. Isabelle G Henshall
2. Jill Chmielewski
3. Dimuthu Angage
4. Ornella Romeo
5. Keng Heng Lai
6. Kaitlin R Turland
7. Nicki Badii
8. Michael Foley
9. Robin F Anders
10. James Beeson
11. Danny W Wilson

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important work offers a fresh perspective central to merozoite surface biology and potential implications on vaccine design, challenging the dogma that MSPs are indispensable invasion engines. Although the authors only deleted bp 132-819, the data based on Western blot, IFA, and RNA‐seq provide compelling evidence that while MSP2 is dispensable for growth, it serves as an immune modulator for AMA1. This work will be of particular interest to scientists working on different aspects of Plasmodium biology and vaccinology.

Reviewed by eLife

Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus P118 enhances host tolerance to Salmonella infection by promoting microbe-derived indole metabolites

1. Baikui Wang
2. Xianqi Peng
3. Xiao Zhou
4. Xiuyan Jin
5. Abubakar Siddique
6. Jiayun Yao
7. Haiqi Zhang
8. Weifen Li
9. Yan Li
10. Min Yue

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The microbiome field is constantly providing insight on various health-related properties elicited by the commensals that inhabit their mammalian hosts. Harnessing the potential of these commensals for knowledge about host-microbe interactions, as well as properties with therapeutic implications, will likely remain a fruitful field for decades to come. In this valuable study, Wang et al use various methods, encompassing classic microbiology, genomics, chemical biology, and immunology, to identify a potent probiotic strain that protects nematode and murine hosts from Salmonella enterica infection. The authors provide compelling evidence identifying gut metabolites that are correlated with protection, and show that a single metabolite can recapitulate the effects of probiotic administration.

Reviewed by eLife

A biofilm-tropic Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteriophage uses the exopolysaccharide Psl as receptor

1. Brenna Walton
2. Serena Abbondante
3. Michaela Ellen Marshall
4. Justyna M Dobruchowska
5. Amani Alvi
6. Larry A Gallagher
7. Nikhil Vallikat
8. Zhemin Zhang
9. Daniel J Wozniak
10. Edward W Yu
11. Geert-Jan Boons
12. Eric Pearlman
13. Arne Rietsch

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study identifies a novel bacteriophage that can use the exopolysaccharide Psl of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to infect and disrupt biofilms. The work is convincing and suggests a novel approach to control biofilms that is relevant to researchers working on biofilms, specifically in Pseudomonas, on phage physiology and discovery, and on alternatives to controlling bacterial pathogens.

Reviewed by eLife

A Singapore-centric Fungal Dataset of 518 Cultivated Strains with Visual Phenotypes and Taxonomic Identity

1. Darren Ten Wei Xian
2. Fong Tian Wong
3. Yee Hwee Lim
4. Winston Koh

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

A high-throughput, image-based assay to assess drug sensitivity of Acanthamoeba castellanii cysts

1. Carrie A. Flynn
2. Andrew Harmez
3. Rebecca I. Colón-Ríos
4. William F. Flynn
5. Barbara I. Kazmierczak

Reviewed by Arcadia Science