Microbiology

Modular small RNA drives pathogen emergence

1. Deepak Balasubramanian
2. Salvador Almagro-Moreno

Reviewed by PREreview

CoCoNuTs are a diverse subclass of Type IV restriction systems predicted to target RNA

1. Ryan T Bell
2. Harutyun Sahakyan
3. Kira S Makarova
4. Yuri I Wolf
5. Eugene V Koonin

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This paper marks a fundamental advance in our understanding of prokaryotic Type IV restriction systems. The authors provide an encyclopedic overview of a hitherto uncharacterized branch of these systems, which they name CoCoNuTs, for coiled-coil nuclease tandems. They provide compelling evidence that these nucleases target RNA and are part of an echeloned defense response following viral infection. This article will be of great interest to scientists studying prokaryotic immunity mechanisms, as well as broadly to protein scientists engaged in the analysis, classification, and functional annotation of the proteome of life.

Reviewed by eLife

A weaponized phage suppresses competitors in historical and modern metapopulations of pathogenic bacteria

1. Talia Backman
2. Sergio M. Latorre
3. Lauren Eads
4. Sarita Som
5. David Belnap
6. Allison M. Manuel
7. Hernán A. Burbano
8. Talia L Karasov

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

Reducing the Bacterial Lag Phase Through Methylated Compounds: Insights from Algal-Bacterial Interactions

1. Martin Sperfeld
2. Delia A. Narváez-Barragán
3. Sergey Malitsky
4. Veronica Frydman
5. Lilach Yuda
6. Jorge Rocha
7. Einat Segev

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Bacterial vampirism mediated through taxis to serum

1. Siena J Glenn
2. Zealon Gentry-Lear
3. Michael Shavlik
4. Michael J Harms
5. Thomas J Asaki
6. Arden Baylink

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This work uses an interdisciplinary approach combining microfluidics, structural biology, and genetic analyses to provide important findings that show that pathogenic enteric bacteria exhibit taxis toward human serum. The data are compelling and show that the behavior utilizes the bacterial chemotaxis system and the chemoreceptor Tsr, which senses the amino acid L-serine. The work provides an ecological context for the role of serine as a bacterial chemoattractant and could have clinical implications for bacterial bloodstream invasion during episodes of gastrointestinal bleeding.

Reviewed by eLife

RNA polymerase III is involved in regulating Plasmodium falciparum virulence

1. Gretchen Diffendall
2. Aurelie Claes
3. Anna Barcons-Simon
4. Prince Nyarko
5. Florent Dingli
6. Miguel M Santos
7. Damarys Loew
8. Antoine Claessens
9. Artur Scherf

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study links the activity of polymerase III to the regulation of virulence gene expression in the deadliest malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. It identifies Maf1 as a Pol III inhibitor that enables the parasite to respond to external stimuli such as magnesium chloride plasma levels by downregulating Pol III-transcribed ruf6 genes and subsequently regulated var genes. While the evidence presented is generally convincing, some of the results are incomplete, and the mechanistic link between external signals and Maf1 activation remains unknown.

Reviewed by eLife

DNA Methylome Regulates Virulence and Metabolism in Pseudomonas syringae

1. Jiadai Huang
2. Fang Chen
3. Beifang Lu
4. Yue Sun
5. Youyue Li
6. Canfeng Hua
7. Xin Deng

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study presents findings on DNA methylation as an efficient epigenetic transcriptional regulating strategy in bacteria. The authors utilized single-molecule real-time sequencing to profile the DNA methylation landscape across three model pathovars of Pseudomonas syringae, identifying significant epigenetic mechanisms through the Type-I restriction-modification system, which includes a conserved sequence motif associated with N6-methyladenine. The evidence presented is solid and the study provides novel insights into the epigenetic mechanisms of P. syringae, expanding the understanding of bacterial pathogenicity and adaptation.

Reviewed by eLife

Stratification of viral shedding patterns in saliva of COVID-19 patients

1. Hyeongki Park
2. Raiki Yoshimura
3. Shoya Iwanami
4. Kwang Su Kim
5. Keisuke Ejima
6. Naotoshi Nakamura
7. Kazuyuki Aihara
8. Yoshitsugu Miyazaki
9. Takashi Umeyama
10. Ken Miyazawa
11. Takeshi Morita
12. Koichi Watashi
13. Christopher B. Brooke
14. Ruian Ke
15. Shingo Iwami
16. Taiga Miyazaki

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This useful work by Park attempts to use machine learning algorithms to identify correlates of different observed shedding patterns in two COVID-19 cohorts. The evidence supporting the study conclusions is incomplete due to the lack of uniformity in assays between the 2 cohorts, relevant metadata (previous infection/vaccination status, viral variant), early viral load data in the cohorts, and incomplete statistical analyses. With a strengthened analysis, the work may be of interest to virologists, clinicians, and public health scientists.

Reviewed by eLife

Release of P-TEFb from the Super Elongation Complex promotes HIV-1 latency reversal

1. William J. Cisneros
2. Miriam Walter
3. Shimaa H.A. Soliman
4. Lacy M. Simons
5. Daphne Cornish
6. Ariel W. Halle
7. Eun-Young Kim
8. Steven M. Wolinsky
9. Ali Shilatifard
10. Judd F. Hultquist

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

SAM-dependent viral MTase inhibitors: herbacetin and caffeic acid phenethyl ester, structural insights into dengue MTase

1. Mandar Bhutkar
2. Amith Kumar
3. Ruchi Rani
4. Vishakha Singh
5. Akashjyoti Pathak
6. Aditi Kothiala
7. Supreeti Mahajan
8. Bhairavnath Waghmode
9. Ravi Kumar
10. Rajat Mudgal
11. Debabrata Sircar
12. Pravindra Kumar
13. Shailly Tomar

Reviewed by Review Commons