Microbiology

Transposon mutagenesis in Mycobacterium abscessus identifies an essential penicillin-binding protein involved in septal peptidoglycan synthesis and antibiotic sensitivity

1. Chidiebere Akusobi
2. Bouchra S Benghomari
3. Junhao Zhu
4. Ian D Wolf
5. Shreya Singhvi
6. Charles L Dulberger
7. Thomas R Ioerger
8. Eric J Rubin

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This study reports the results of a transposon inactivation screen to identify essential genes in Mycobacterium abscessus. The authors investigate one hit, the gene encoding the class B penicillin-binding protein, PBP-lipo. They confirm that the PBP-lipo gene is essential despite the presence of a homologous gene and that PBP-lipo is present in other mycobacteria, but not essential in these. They further characterize the consequences of PBP-lipo gene depletion in M. abscessus and demonstrate that the gene product is required for maintaining cell morphology, whilst also participating in a network with other cell wall enzymes. The manuscript will be of interest for researchers working on fundamental aspects of cell wall synthesis in mycobacteria. It may also be relevant for researchers who aim to specifically target M. abscessus using new drugs or drug combinations.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Emergence of new subgenomic mRNAs in SARS-CoV-2

1. Harriet V Mears
2. George R Young
3. Theo Sanderson
4. Ruth Harvey
5. Margaret Crawford
6. Daniel M Snell
7. Ashley S Fowler
8. Saira Hussain
9. Jérôme Nicod
10. Thomas P Peacock
11. Edward Emmott
12. Katja Finsterbusch
13. Jakub Luptak
14. Emma Wall
15. Bryan Williams
16. Sonia Gandhi
17. Charles Swanton
18. David LV Bauer

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Nonstructural protein 1 widespread RNA decay phenotype varies among coronaviruses

1. Yahaira Bermudez
2. Jacob Miles
3. Mandy Muller

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Compellingly high SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility of Golden Syrian hamsters suggests multiple zoonotic infections of pet hamsters during the COVID-19 pandemic

1. Claudia Blaurock
2. Angele Breithaupt
3. Saskia Weber
4. Claudia Wylezich
5. Markus Keller
6. Björn-Patrick Mohl
7. Dirk Görlich
8. Martin H. Groschup
9. Balal Sadeghi
10. Dirk Höper
11. Thomas C. Mettenleiter
12. Anne Balkema-Buschmann

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Ocular tropism of SARS-CoV-2 with retinal inflammation through neuronal invasion in animal models

1. Gi Uk Jeong
2. Hyung-Jun Kwon
3. Hyun Woo Moon
4. Gun Young Yoon
5. Hye Jin Shin
6. Ji Soo Chae
7. Seong-Jun Kim
8. In-Chul Lee
9. Dae-Gyun Ahn
10. Kyun-Do Kim
11. Suresh Mahalingam
12. Young-Chan Kwon

Reviewed by ScreenIT

A novel lineage-tracing mouse model for studying early MmuPV1 infections

1. Vural Yilmaz
2. Panayiota Louca
3. Louiza Potamiti
4. Mihalis Panayiotidis
5. Katerina Strati

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This is a very significant new model for papillomavirus infection but all the reviewers have major reservations about the data as they stand, and the quality of some of the data. The manuscript is not publishable without better/more data and a re-write. The work has potential but there is quite a bit of essential experimental work required to make this manuscript sound.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1, Reviewer #2 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Intestinal GCN2 controls Drosophila systemic growth in response to Lactiplantibacillus plantarum symbiotic cues encoded by r/tRNA operons

1. Théodore Grenier
2. Jessika Consuegra
3. Mariana G Ferrarini
4. Houssam Akherraz
5. Longwei Bai
6. Yves Dusabyinema
7. Isabelle Rahioui
8. Pedro Da Silva
9. Benjamin Gillet
10. Sandrine Hughes
11. Cathy I Ramos
12. Renata C Matos
13. François Leulier

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Previous studies found that a component of the microbiota, Lactobacillus plantarum, can provide support to its host Drosophila melanogaster during development. They further explore this interaction using defined diets where they find that under conditions that have low levels of some essential amino acids, the bacteria can still promote survival even though the bacteria is not synthesizing the amino acid. Through a screen of bacterial transposon insertion mutants, these authors identify bacterial transfer and ribosomal RNAs as necessary for this effect. And studies in the fly demonstrate that the host kinase GCN2, a protein known to associate with host tRNAs, in enterocytes is the mediator of this response. This manuscript links the intestinal microbiota to host protective responses.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Mutual inhibition of airway epithelial responses supports viral and fungal co-pathogenesis during coinfection

1. Patrick Dancer
2. Adam Pickard
3. Wiktoria Potocka
4. Kayleigh Earle
5. Rachael Fortune-Grant
6. Karl Kadler
7. Margherita Bertuzzi
8. Sara Gago

Reviewed by ScreenIT

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 Variant Infection of Human Colon Epithelial Cells

1. Avan Antia
2. David M. Alvarado
3. Qiru Zeng
4. Luis A. Casorla-Perez
5. Deanna L. Davis
6. Naomi M. Sonnek
7. Matthew A. Ciorba
8. Siyuan Ding

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Determinants of Spike infectivity, processing, and neutralization in SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants BA.1 and BA.2

1. Chiara Pastorio
2. Fabian Zech
3. Sabrina Noettger
4. Christoph Jung
5. Timo Jacob
6. Theo Sanderson
7. Konstantin M.J. Sparrer
8. Frank Kirchhoff

Reviewed by ScreenIT