Microbiology

Chemostat culturing reduces fecal eukaryotic virus load and delays diarrhea after virome transplantation

1. Simone Margaard Offersen
2. Signe Adamberg
3. Malene Roed Spiegelhauer
4. Xiaotian Mao
5. Torben Sølbeck Rasmussen
6. Frej Larsen
7. Jingren Zhong
8. Duc Ninh Nguyen
9. Dennis Sandris Nielsen
10. Lise Aunsholt
11. Thomas Thymann
12. Kaarel Adamberg
13. Anders Brunse

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this valuable study, the authors report on an innovative chemostat propagation system to reduce eukaryotic viruses while retaining phages in mixtures used for FVTs (fecal virome transplant). The authors hypothesized that chemostat-propagated viromes could modulate the gut microbiota and reduce necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) lesions while avoiding potential side effects, such as earlier onset of diarrhea. Although no effect on NEC could be demonstrated, the revised document addressed the other concerns and is much improved from its original version. The study is convincing in that it integrates in vitro fermentation, high-resolution metagenomics, immunogenicity assays, and in vivo validation, demonstrating the potential of FVT using eukaryotic-free virome-based therapeutics.

Reviewed by eLife

An abundant merozoite surface protein of Plasmodium falciparum modulates susceptibility to inhibitory antibodies

1. Isabelle G Henshall
2. Jill Chmielewski
3. Dimuthu Angage
4. Ornella Romeo
5. Keng Heng Lai
6. Kaitlin R Turland
7. Nicki Badii
8. Michael Foley
9. Robin F Anders
10. James Beeson
11. Danny W Wilson

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important work provides a fresh perspective on merozoite surface biology and its implications for vaccine design, challenging the prevailing dogma that MSPs are indispensable invasion engines. The revised manuscript strengthens the compelling evidence that, although MSP2 is dispensable for parasite growth, it acts as an immune modulator of AMA1. While the study is commendable for its use of state-of-the-art technologies and the skillful application of monoclonal antibodies, the inclusion of human monoclonal antibodies and electron microscopy imaging approaches would significantly add to the importance of these observations. Overall, this work will be of considerable interest to investigators studying Plasmodium biology and vaccine development.

Reviewed by eLife

Fine-tuning of outer membrane–peptidoglycan tethering by the redox-active lipoprotein LppB from Salmonella enterica

1. Elisa S Pierre Despas
2. Seung-Hyun Cho
3. Bogdan I Iorga
4. Jean-François Collet

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study convincingly demonstrates how bacterial cells can modulate outer membrane-peptidoglycan tethering by expressing two different Lpp homologs with distinct cross-linking efficiencies, revealing that Salmonella typhimurium LppB forms disulfide-based homodimers (or heterotrimers with Lpp when present) and is covalently attached to peptidoglycan primarily via the L,D-transpeptidase LdtB at residue K58. The evidence supporting the authors' claims is solid, including the regulatory role of LppB dimerization for its abundance in E. coli and its ability to inhibit Lpp/A crosslinking to peptidoglycan, although additional analysis and quantification of muropeptides in wild-type E. coli overexpressing LppB would further strengthen the findings. Overall, the work will be of great interest to microbiologists studying cell envelope biogenesis.

Reviewed by eLife

Screening the MMV Pathogen Box reveals the mitochondrial bc1-complex as a drug target in mature Toxoplasma gondii bradyzoites

1. Deborah Maus
2. Elyzana Putrianti
3. Tobias Hoffmann
4. Michael Laue
5. Frank Seeber
6. Martin Blume

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study utilizes a newly developed approach to culture T gondii bradyzoites in myotubes, and then takes advantage of the antiparasitic compound collection known as the Pathogen Box, to find compounds that target both tachyzoite and bradyzoite forms of the parasite. A set of compounds yielding patterns consistent with targeting the mitochondrial bc1 complex was explored further, with solid evidence for changes in ATP production in bradyzoites to support the conclusions about the importance of this complex. The paper will be interesting for parasitologists studying drug discovery of apicomplexan parasites.

Reviewed by eLife

β-Coronaviruses use lysosomal organelles for cellular egress

1. S Ghosh
2. TA Dellibovi-Ragheb
3. E Pak
4. Q Qiu
5. M Fisher
6. PM Takvorian
7. C Bleck
8. V Hsu
9. AR Fehr
10. S Perlman
11. SR Achar
12. MR Straus
13. GR Whittaker
14. CAM de Haan
15. G Altan-Bonnet
16. N Altan-Bonnet

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases, ScreenIT

The riboflavin biosynthetic pathway as a novel target for antifungal drugs against Candida species

1. Jana Nysten
2. Arne Peetermans
3. Dries Vaneynde
4. Stef Jacobs
5. Liesbeth Demuyser
6. Patrick Van Dijck

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

Immunoreactive peptide maps of SARS-CoV-2

1. Nischay Mishra
2. Xi Huang
3. Shreyas Joshi
4. Cheng Guo
5. James Ng
6. Riddhi Thakkar
7. Yongjian Wu
8. Xin Dong
9. Qianlin Li
10. Richard S. Pinapati
11. Eric Sullivan
12. Adrian Caciula
13. Rafal Tokarz
14. Thomas Briese
15. Jiahai Lu
16. W. Ian Lipkin

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases, ScreenIT

Post-sampling degradation of viral RNA in wastewater impacts the quality of PCR-based concentration estimates

1. James D. Munday
2. Jolinda de Korne-Elenbaas
3. Charles Gan
4. Adrian Lison
5. Julien Riou
6. Christoph Ort
7. Timothy R. Julian
8. Tanja Stadler

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

Emetine dihydrochloride inhibits Chikungunya virus nsP2 helicase and shows antiviral activity in the cell culture and mouse model of virus infection

1. Anshula Sharma
2. Chandru Subramani
3. KA Shouri
4. Ghanshyam Sharma
5. Brohmomoy Basu
6. Abhay Deep Pandey
7. Archana Rout
8. Devendra Sharma
9. Deepti Jain
10. Sudhanshu Vrati

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

Clinical Trypanosoma cruzi isolates share a common antigen repertoire that is absent from culture adapted strains

1. Jill M.C. Hakim
2. Sneider A.G. Guiterrez
3. Angel Duran
4. Edith Malaga-Machaca
5. Carolina Duque
6. Lulu Singer
7. Rony Colanzi
8. Jacqueline E. Sherbuk
9. Caryn Bern
10. Robert H. Gilman
11. Lousia A. Messenger
12. Monica R. Mugnier
13. Working Group on Chagas Disease in Bolivia and Peru

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases