Microbiology

Oxydifficidin, a potent Neisseria gonorrhoeae antibiotic due to DedA-assisted uptake and ribosomal protein RplL sensitivity

1. Jingbo Kan
2. Adrian Morales-Amador
3. Yozen Hernandez
4. Melinda A Ternei
5. Christophe Lemetre
6. Logan W Maclntyre
7. Nicolas Biais
8. Sean F Brady

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Kan et al. report the discovery of a Bacillus amyloliquifaciens strain that kills Nerisseria gonorrhoeae via oxydifficidin which targets ribosomal proteins. Resistance occurred via mutation in the DedA flippase to influence oxydifficidin uptake. The overall mechanism of action is well described making this an important study with implications for combating clinical antibiotic resistance. The evidence presented is convincing due to rigour employed in the methodological approach. The authors should consider performing a more comprehensive genetic analyses of DedA and RpIL in this clinically relevant strain. This work will be of broad interest to microbiologists and synthetic biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

The relationship between gut and nasopharyngeal microbiome composition can predict the severity of COVID-19

1. Benita Martin-Castaño
2. Patricia Diez-Echave
3. Jorge García-García
4. Laura Hidalgo-García
5. Antonio Jesús Ruiz-Malagon
6. José Alberto Molina-Tijeras
7. María Jesús Rodríguez-Sojo
8. Anaïs Redruello-Romero
9. Margarita Martínez-Zaldívar
10. Emilio Mota
11. Fernando Cobo
12. Xando Díaz-Villamarin
13. Marta Alvarez-Estevez
14. Federico García
15. Concepción Morales-García
16. Silvia Merlos
17. Paula Garcia-Flores
18. Manuel Colmenero-Ruiz
19. José Hernández-Quero
20. Maria Nuñez
21. Maria Elena Rodriguez-Cabezas
22. Angel Carazo
23. Javier Martin
24. Rocio Moron
25. Alba Rodríguez Nogales
26. Julio Galvez

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This potentially valuable work characterizes the changes in the microbial composition of the nasal and fecal microbiomes in COVID-19 patients based on disease severity. This study enhances the understanding of COVID-19 severity predictors by identifying changes in bacterial species abundance in nasopharyngeal and fecal samples as a biomarker for predicting disease severity. The methods and statistics used appear to be solid and in line with the standards of the field.

Reviewed by eLife

Magnesium modulates phospholipid metabolism to promote bacterial phenotypic resistance to antibiotics

1. Hui Li
2. Jun Yang
3. Su-fang Kuang
4. Huan-zhe Fu
5. Hui-yin Lin
6. Bo Peng

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The study explored the influence of magnesium on phenotypic antibiotic resistance in two strains of Vibrios: V. alginolyticus ATCC33787 and V. parahaemolyticus VP01. This research is fundamental for revealing the phenotypic antibiotic resistance mechanism utilized by the specified model bacteria in elevated levels of magnesium. The study produced convincing evidence indicating that in high concentrations of magnesium, the efficacy of selected antibiotics was diminished due to decreased biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids and PE, along with an increase in the biosynthesis of PG.

Reviewed by eLife

Development of an Immunoassay for the Detection and Diagnosis of Microbially Influenced Corrosion Caused by Methanogenic Archaea

1. Sven Lahme
2. Jorge Mantilla Aguas

Reviewed by PREreview

Novel class IIb microcins show activity against Gram-negative ESKAPE and plant pathogens

1. Benedikt M Mortzfeld
2. Shakti K Bhattarai
3. Vanni Bucci

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents important advances in the discovery and assessment of microcins that improve our understanding of their prevalence and roles. The bioinformatics analysis, expression, and antimicrobial assays are solid, although the diverging evaluations also indicated the need for additional support regarding the sequence analysis and validation to fully back some of the claims and conclusions. This study will appeal to researchers working on the discovery and analysis of novel peptide natural products.

Reviewed by eLife

A fast-acting inhibitor of blood-stage P. falciparum with mechanism distinct from artemisinin and chloroquine

1. Stephanie Kabeche
2. Thomas Meister
3. Ellen Yeh

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

A system for functional studies of the major virulence factor of malaria parasites

1. Jakob Cronshagen
2. Johannes Allweier
3. Paolo Mesén-Ramírez
4. Jan Stäcker
5. Anna Viktoria Vaaben
6. Gala Ramón-Zamorano
7. Isabel Naranjo-Prado
8. Susann Ofori
9. Pascal WTC Jansen
10. Joëlle Hornebeck
11. Florian Kieferle
12. Agnes Murk
13. Elicia Martin
14. Carolina Castro-Peña
15. Richárd Bártfai
16. Thomas Lavstsen
17. Iris Bruchhaus
18. Tobias Spielmann

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study introduces an important approach using selection linked integration (SLI) to generate Plasmodium falciparum lines expressing single, specific surface adhesins PfEMP1 variants, enabling precise study of PfEMP1 trafficking, receptor binding, and cytoadhesion. By moving the system to different parasite strains and introducing an advanced SLI2 system for additional genomic edits, this work provides compelling evidence for an innovative and rigorous platform to explore PfEMP1 biology and identify novel proteins essential for malaria pathogenesis including immune evasion.

Reviewed by eLife

Microbiota from young mice counteracts susceptibility to age-related gout through modulating butyric acid levels in aged mice

1. Ning Song
2. Hang Gao
3. Jianhao Li
4. Yi Liu
5. Mingze Wang
6. Zhiming Ma
7. Naisheng Zhang
8. Wenlong Zhang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is an important study showing that age-related gut microbiota modulate uric acid metabolism through the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway and thereby regulate susceptibility to age-related gout. Several experimental approaches (mechanistic insights) and methods (data quality) remain incomplete. This paper should be of interest to researchers working on gout and microbiota.

Reviewed by eLife

Virus adaptation to heparan sulfate comes with capsid stability tradeoff

1. Han Kang Tee
2. Simon Crouzet
3. Arunima Muliyil
4. Gregory Mathez
5. Valeria Cagno
6. Matteo Dal Peraro
7. Aleksandar Antanasijevic
8. Sophie Clément
9. Caroline Tapparel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is an important work and it correlates capsid stability with mutations that promote heparan sulfate binding. The data is solid, but there is a need for further analysis and experiments to support the claims and to propose a more detailed mechanism that could explain how these mutations altered capsid stability.

Reviewed by eLife

Microbes with higher metabolic independence are enriched in human gut microbiomes under stress

1. Iva Veseli
2. Yiqun T Chen
3. Matthew S Schechter
4. Chiara Vanni
5. Emily C Fogarty
6. Andrea R Watson
7. Bana Jabri
8. Ran Blekhman
9. Amy D Willis
10. Michael K Yu
11. Antonio Fernàndez-Guerra
12. Jessika Füssel
13. A Murat Eren

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents an important new bioinformatics tool for normalizing gene copy number from metagenomic assemblies and applies it to gain functional insights into the loss of microbial diversity during conditions of stress. The inclusion of extensive computational validation makes this a compelling study that raises intriguing new hypotheses regarding the impact of disease states on the gut microbiome. This paper will likely be of broad interest to researchers studying the role of complex microbial communities in host health and disease.

Reviewed by eLife