Microbiology

Hybridization breaks species barriers in long-term coevolution of a cyanobacterial population

1. Gabriel Birzu
2. Harihara Subrahmaniam Muralidharan
3. Danielle Goudeau
4. Rex R Malmstrom
5. Daniel S Fisher
6. Devaki Bhaya

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides important insights into bacterial genome evolution by analyzing single-cell genome sequences of cyanobacteria from Yellowstone hot springs. Using compelling evidence, the authors demonstrate that both homologous recombination within species and frequent hybridization across species are major drivers of genome diversification. Despite the challenges that are inherent to sparse and fragmented single-cell data, the analyses are thorough, carefully controlled, and supported by multiple complementary approaches, making the conclusions highly robust. This work represents a significant advance in our understanding of microbial evolution in natural environments.

Reviewed by eLife

Extrusion-modulated DnaA activity oscillations coordinate DNA replication with biomass growth

1. Dengjin Li
2. Hai Zheng
3. Yang Bai
4. Zheng Zhang
5. Hao Cheng
6. Xiongliang Huang
7. Ting Wei
8. Matthew Chang
9. Arieh Zaritsky
10. Terence Hwa
11. Chenli Liu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This work provides high-precision single-cell data on the relationship between DnaA activity and cell size, offering important insights for the field of cell cycle control. These findings motivate a novel and intriguing hypothesis for DNA replication initiation -the "extrusion model"- in which DNA-binding proteins modulate free DnaA availability in response to biomass-DNA imbalance. While the current indirect evidence does not fully establish the model, an experimental perturbation involving H-NS offers convincing support for its plausibility, laying the groundwork for future investigation.

Reviewed by eLife

Decoding the biogenesis of HIV-induced CPSF6 puncta and their fusion with nuclear speckles

1. Chiara Tomasini
2. Celine Cuche
3. Selen Ay
4. Maxence Collard
5. Bin Cui
6. Mohammad Rashid
7. Shaoni Bhattacharjee
8. Bruno Tello-Rubio
9. Julian Buchrieser
10. Charlotte Luchsinger
11. Cinzia Bertelli
12. Vladimir Uversky
13. Felipe Diaz-Griffero
14. Francesca Di Nunzio

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is a valuable study that presents convincing evidence on the genesis of the CPSF6 condensates that form upon HIV-1 infection and the specific molecular determinants involved in their formation, as well as their interactions with SRRM. The study could be strengthened by assessing the relevance of their findings to infection, and in particular, with reverse transcription and gene expression

Reviewed by eLife

A recursive pathway for isoleucine biosynthesis arises from enzyme promiscuity

1. Vittorio Rainaldi
2. Stefano Donati
3. Sarah D’Adamo
4. Nico J Claassens

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The study reports a potential pathway for isoleucine biosynthesis mediated by the underground activity of AHASII, which converts glyoxylate and pyruvate to 2-ketobutyrate. While the findings are valuable in revealing a possible alternative route for isoleucine production, the evidence presented remains incomplete. More comprehensive biochemical experiments are required to substantiate the physiological feasibility of this pathway.

Reviewed by eLife

Polyamine depletion inhibits norovirus infection by blocking virus-induced apoptosis

1. Maryna Chaika
2. Heike Laschin
3. Marina Pekelis
4. Carmen Mirabelli
5. Sandra Niendorf
6. Christiane E. Wobus
7. Stefan Taube

Reviewed by preLights

The Shigella flexneri effector IpaH1.4 facilitates RNF213 degradation and protects cytosolic bacteria against interferon-induced ubiquitylation

1. Luz Saavedra-Sanchez
2. Mary S Dickinson
3. Shruti S Apte
4. Yifeng Zhang
5. Maarten De Jong
6. Samantha Skavicus
7. Nicholas S Heaton
8. Neal M Alto
9. Jorn Coers

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this manuscript, the authors report the fundamental finding that a secreted ubiquitin ligase of Shigella, called IpaH1.4, mediates the degradation of a host defense factor, RNF213. The data are convincing and represent a major contribution to our understanding of cell-autonomous immunity and bacterial pathogenesis as they provide new mechanistic insight into how the cytosolic bacterial pathogen Shigella flexneri evades IFN-induced host immunity.

Reviewed by eLife

The vaccine candidate Liver Stage Antigen 3 is exported during Plasmodium falciparum infection and required for liver-stage development

1. Robyn McConville
2. Ryan WJ Steel
3. Matthew T O’Neill
4. Alan F Cowman
5. Norman Kneteman
6. Justin A Boddey

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful study provides new insights into the liver stage antigen LSA3, its export to erythrocytes, and its role in liver stage development. While the functional importance of LSA3 is well-demonstrated, the data underlying conclusions about antibody specificity, liver stage localization, and phenotype remain incomplete. A key gain is the use of mosquito and humanized mouse models to access life cycle stages rarely studied in most laboratories.

Reviewed by eLife

Leaffooted bugs enrich local soil with their horizontally acquired symbiont

1. Bibek Singh Parajuli
2. John Teodosio
3. Alison Ravenscraft

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Interferon-β induction heterogeneity during KSHV infection is correlated to levels and activation of the transcription factors ATF2 and RelA, and not IRF3

1. Machika Kaku
2. Marta Maria Gaglia

Reviewed by Review Commons

Detecting, mapping, and suppressing the spread of a decade-long Pseudomonas aeruginosa nosocomial outbreak with genomics

1. William Stribling
2. Lindsey R Hall
3. Aubrey Powell
4. Casey Harless
5. Melissa J Martin
6. Brendan W Corey
7. Erik Snesrud
8. Ana Ong
9. Rosslyn Maybank
10. Jason Stam
11. Katelyn V Bartlett
12. Brendan T Jones
13. Lan N Preston
14. Katherine F Lane
15. Bernadette Thompson
16. Lynn M Young
17. Yoon I Kwak
18. Alice E Barsoumian
19. Ana Elizabeth Markelz
20. John L Kiley
21. Robert J Cybulski
22. Jason W Bennett
23. Patrick T Mc Gann
24. Francois Lebreton

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important work presents an example of how genomic data can be used to improve understanding of an ongoing, long-term bacterial outbreak in a hospital with an application to multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and will be of interest to researchers concerned with the spread of drug-resistant bacteria in hospital settings. The convincing genomic analyses highlight the value of routine surveillance of patients and environmental sampling and show how such data can help in dating the origin of the outbreak and in characterising the epidemic lineages. These findings highlight the importance of understanding environmental factors contributing to the transmission of P. aeruginosa for guiding and tailoring infection control efforts.

Reviewed by eLife