Microbiology

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

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

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

MX2 restricts HIV-1 and herpes simplex virus type 1 by forming cytoplasmic biomolecular condensates that mimic nuclear pore complexes

1. George D. Moschonas
2. Louis Delhaye
3. Robin Cooreman
4. Franziska Hüsers
5. Anayat Bhat
6. Delphine De Sutter
7. Eef Parthoens
8. Anne-Sophie Desmet
9. Aleksandra Maciejczuk
10. Hanna Grzesik
11. Saskia Lippens
12. Zeger Debyser
13. Beate Sodeik
14. Sven Eyckerman
15. Xavier Saelens

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

Chalkophore-mediated respiratory oxidase flexibility controls M. tuberculosis virulence

1. John A Buglino
2. Yaprak Ozakman
3. Chad E Hatch
4. Anna Benjamin
5. Derek S Tan
6. Michael S Glickman

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this important study, the authors advance our understanding of copper uptake by chalkophores and their targeted metalloproteins in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These convincing data demonstrate that chalkophore-acquired copper is solely incorporated into the Mtb bcc:aa3 copper-iron respiratory oxidase under low copper conditions, and that chalkophore-mediated protection of the respiratory chain is critical to Mtb virulence. These findings may be leveraged for drug discovery and will be of broad interest to those studying bacterial pathogenesis.

Reviewed by eLife, Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

SARS-CoV-2 ORF8 modulates lung inflammation and clinical disease progression

1. Marisa E. McGrath
2. Yong Xue
3. Louis Taylor
4. Carly Dillen
5. Jeremy Ardanuy
6. Norberto Gonzalez-Juarbe
7. Lauren Baracco
8. Raymond Kim
9. Rebecca Hart
10. Nacyra Assad-Garcia
11. Sanjay Vashee
12. Matthew B. Frieman

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases, PREreview

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

1. Talia Backman
2. Sergio M. Latorre
3. Efthymia Symeonidi
4. Artur Muszyński
5. Ella Bleak
6. Lauren Eads
7. Paulina I. Martinez-Koury
8. Sarita Som
9. Aubrey Hawks
10. Andrew D. Gloss
11. David M. Belnap
12. Allison M. Manuel
13. Adam M. Deutschbauer
14. Joy Bergelson
15. Parastoo Azadi
16. Hernán A. Burbano
17. Talia L. Karasov

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

Engineering probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 to block transfer of multiple antibiotic resistance genes by exploiting a type I CRISPR-Cas system

1. Mengdie Fang
2. Ruiting Zhang
3. Chenyu Wang
4. Zhizhi Liu
5. Mingyue Fei
6. Biao Tang
7. Hua Yang
8. Dongchang Sun

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

Comparative analysis of culture- and ddPCR-based wastewater surveillance for carbapenem-resistant bacteria

1. Siyi Zhou
2. Esther G. Lou
3. Julia Schedler
4. Katherine B. Ensor
5. Loren Hopkins
6. Lauren B. Stadler

Reviewed by PREreview

Starvation of the bacterium Vibrio atlanticus induces simultaneous attacks on the dinoflagellate Alexandrium pacificum

1. Jean-Luc Rolland
2. Estelle Masseret
3. Mohamed Laabir
4. Guillaume Tetreau
5. Benjamin Gourbal
6. Anne Thebault
7. Eric Abadie
8. Alice Rodrigues-Stien
9. Carole Veckerle
10. Elodie Servanne-meunier
11. Delphine Destoumieux-Garzon
12. Arnaud Lagorce
13. Raphael Lami

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study convincingly shows that Vibrio bacteria act as predators of ecologically significant algae that contribute to harmful blooms in the lab and in their natural habitat, and that predation is induced by starvation. The authors suggest a working model that can be the basis for future work on this system. The study will be very impactful to those interested in the diversity of microbial predator-prey interactions and controlling toxic algal bloom.

Reviewed by eLife

The role of MICOS in organizing mitochondrial cristae in malaria parasites

1. Silvia Tassan-Lugrezin
2. Irina Bregy
3. Judith López Orra
4. Nicholas I Proellochs
5. Geert-Jan van Gemert
6. Rianne Stoter
7. Felix Evers
8. Taco WA Kooij
9. Laura van Niftrik

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides valuable insights into mitochondrial cristae organization in Plasmodium falciparum, particularly in the context of its divergent MICOS composition. The authors present convincing evidence, supported by phenotypic and morphological analyses, that cristae junction maintenance can be uncoupled from de novo cristae formation, reinforcing an emerging model of mitochondrial inner membrane organization. Notably, the absence of Mic10 alongside an enlarged and divergent MICOS complex highlights an intriguing evolutionary adaptation, although further characterization of the complex would strengthen the study's overall significance.

  [Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons.]

Reviewed by eLife, Review Commons

Identifying a novel mechanism of L-leucine uptake in Mycobacterium tuberculosis using a chemical genomic approach

1. Nisheeth Agarwal
2. Himanshu Gogoi
3. Eeba
4. Linus Augustin
5. Md. Younus Khan
6. Yashwant Kumar
7. Sayan Kumar Bhowmick
8. Bappaditya Dey

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  By screening an FDA-approved small-molecule library against a leucine-dependent M. tuberculosis strain, this study identifies semapimod as an inhibitor of Mtb growth that functions by impairing leucine import. The work is useful in linking leucine uptake to cell wall lipid biology in Mtb. However, the mechanistic understanding remains incomplete. Additional experimental evidence is required to clarify how PDIM contributes to or regulates leucine uptake.

Reviewed by eLife