Microbiology

Loss of Neutralizing Antibody Response to mRNA Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 Variants: Differing Kinetics and Strong Boosting by Breakthrough Infection

1. John P. Evans
2. Cong Zeng
3. Claire Carlin
4. Gerard Lozanski
5. Linda J. Saif
6. Eugene M. Oltz
7. Richard J. Gumina
8. Shan-Lu Liu

Reviewed by ScreenIT

An antibody-escape estimator for mutations to the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain

1. Allison J Greaney
2. Tyler N Starr
3. Jesse D Bloom

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Lytic transglycosylases mitigate periplasmic crowding by degrading soluble cell wall turnover products

1. Anna Isabell Weaver
2. Laura Alvarez
3. Kelly M Rosch
4. Asraa Ahmed
5. Garrett Sean Wang
6. Michael S van Nieuwenhze
7. Felipe Cava
8. Tobias Dörr

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This study addresses a major missing element in the understanding of how bacteria grow their cell wall and the role of lytic transglycosylases in this process. It had been previously assumed these enzymes cut glycan strands to make room for the insertion of new glycans. However, results presented in this manuscript demonstrate these enzymes have a very different, yet essential role in degrading uncrosslinked glycan strands in the periplasm. The authors further demonstrate that in the absence of lytic transglycosylases, cells undergo periplasmic stress due a toxic accumulation of these "free strands" in the periplasm. The work will be of interest to those in the bacterial growth and division field.

  (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 #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

An ACE2-dependent Sarbecovirus in Russian bats is resistant to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines

1. Stephanie N. Seifert
2. Shuangyi Bai
3. Stephen Fawcett
4. Elizabeth B. Norton
5. Kevin J. Zwezdaryk
6. James Robinson
7. Bronwyn Gunn
8. Michael Letko

Reviewed by ScreenIT

SARS-CoV-2 infection of olfactory epithelial cells and neurons drives acute lung injury and lethal COVID-19 in mice

1. Alan T. Tang
2. David W. Buchholz
3. Katherine M. Szigety
4. Brian Imbhiaka
5. Siqi Gao
6. Maxwell Frankfurter
7. Min Wang
8. Jisheng Yang
9. Peter Hewins
10. Patricia Mericko-Ishizuka
11. N Adrian Leu
12. Stephanie Sterling
13. Isaac A. Monreal
14. Julie Sahler
15. Avery August
16. Xuming Zhu
17. Kellie A. Jurado
18. Mingang Xu
19. Edward E. Morrisey
20. Sarah E. Millar
21. Hector C. Aguilar
22. Mark L. Kahn

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Fast bacterial growth reduces antibiotic accumulation and efficacy

1. Urszula Łapińska
2. Margaritis Voliotis
3. Ka Kiu Lee
4. Adrian Campey
5. M Rhia L Stone
6. Brandon Tuck
7. Wanida Phetsang
8. Bing Zhang
9. Krasimira Tsaneva-Atanasova
10. Mark AT Blaskovich
11. Stefano Pagliara

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript addresses mechanisms by which bacteria are able to survive and evade killing by antibiotics. Using fluorescent versions of antibiotics it studies whether if entry/efflux of the drug itself is a significant contributor to the observed variability of antibiotic activity. This study will be of interest to microbiologists and clinicians for design of better antibiotic therapies.

  (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

Single Immunization with Recombinant ACAM2000 Vaccinia Viruses Expressing the Spike and the Nucleocapsid Proteins Protects Hamsters against SARS-CoV-2-Caused Clinical Disease

1. Yvon Deschambault
2. Jessie Lynch
3. Bryce Warner
4. Kevin Tierney
5. Denise Huynh
6. Robert Vendramelli
7. Nikesh Tailor
8. Kathy Frost
9. Babu Sajesh
10. Kyle LeBlanc
11. Christine Layne
12. Lisa Lin
13. Levi Tamming
14. Daniel Beniac
15. Stephanie Booth
16. Michael Carpenter
17. David Safronetz
18. Xuguang Li
19. Darwyn Kobasa
20. Jingxin Cao

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Unconventional secretion of unglycosylated ORF8 is critical for the cytokine storm during SARS-CoV-2 infection

1. Xiaoyuan Lin
2. Beibei Fu
3. Yan Xiong
4. Na Xing
5. Weiwei Xue
6. Dong Guo
7. Mohamed Zaky
8. Krishna Pavani
9. Dusan Kunec
10. Jakob Trimpert
11. Haibo Wu

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Direct lysis RT-qPCR of SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture supernatant allows for fast and accurate quantification of virus, opening a vast array of applications

1. Nicky Craig
2. Sarah L. Fletcher
3. Alison Daniels
4. Caitlin Newman
5. Marie O’Shea
6. Amanda Warr
7. Christine Tait-Burkard

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Overexpression screen of interferon-stimulated genes identifies RARRES3 as a restrictor of Toxoplasma gondii infection

1. Nicholas Rinkenberger
2. Michael E Abrams
3. Sumit K Matta
4. John W Schoggins
5. Neal M Alto
6. L David Sibley

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Toxoplasma gondii is a widespread parasite of warm blooded animals, with estimates suggesting 2 billion people are currently and chronically infected with this pathogen. Many questions remain as to how humans control and eliminate T. gondii following infection. In this manuscript, Rinkenberger et al. reveal a previously unidentified and understudied host factor, RARRES3 that promotes cell autonomous control of T. gondii in human cells. The precise mechanism of control and its in vivo relevance remain areas for additional work.

  (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 #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife