Microbiology

Modular small RNA drives the emergence of virulence traits and environmental trade-offs in Vibrio cholerae

1. Deepak Balasubramanian
2. Cole Crist
3. Salvador Almagro-Moreno

Reviewed by PREreview

The Shigella flexneri effector IpaH1.4 facilitates RNF213 degradation and protects cytosolic bacteria against interferon-induced ubiquitylation

1. Luz Saavedra-Sanchez
2. Mary S Dickinson
3. Shruti Apte
4. Yifeng Zhang
5. Maarten de Jong
6. Samantha Skavicus
7. Nicholas S Heaton
8. Neal M Alto
9. Jörn Coers

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors report that a secreted ubiquitin ligase of Shigella, called IpaH1.4, mediates the degradation of a host defense factor, RNF213. The data are solid and represent an important contribution to our understanding of cell-autonomous immunity and bacterial pathogenesis, as they provide new mechanistic insight into how the cytosolic bacterial pathogen Shigella flexneri evades IFN-induced host immunity.

Reviewed by eLife

β-1,6-Glucan plays a central role in the structure and remodeling of the bilaminate fungal cell wall

1. Clara Bekirian
2. Isabel Valsecchi
3. Sophie Bachellier-Bassi
4. Cyril Scandola
5. J Inaki Guijarro
6. Murielle Chauvel
7. Thierry Mourer
8. Neil AR Gow
9. Vishu Kumar Aimanianda
10. Christophe d'Enfert
11. Thierry Fontaine

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The paper will be of broad interest to fungal biologists and fungal immunologists seeking to understand the biosynthesis of the fungal cell wall, in particular of ß-1,6-glucan synthesis and the importance of this so far understudied constituent of the cell wall for cell wall integrity and immune response. The study is of fundamental significance and adds structural clarity to the genetic, and biochemical basis of this difficult-to-analyze carbohydrate. It opens the potential for understanding its role in immune recognition and potentially as a drug target. Overall, the data is compelling, properly controlled and analyzed.

Reviewed by eLife

Telomerase RNA component knockout exacerbates Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia by extensive inflammation and dysfunction of T cells

1. Yasmina Reisser
2. Franziska Hornung
3. Antje Häder
4. Thurid Lauf
5. Sandor Nietzsche
6. Bettina Löffler
7. Stefanie Deinhardt-Emmer

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this manuscript, the authors sought to elucidate mechanistic intricacies of inflammatory responses, with emphasis on T cell dysfunction, to S. aureus-induced pneumonia in the context of aging process using Terc deficient mice. Conceptually, the study is very interesting with a set of useful findings. Although some experimental approaches are appropriate, the work as shown in the revised manuscript remains significantly underpowered and the absence of rigorous controls make this study incomplete in support of its claims.

Reviewed by eLife

Staphylococcus aureus counters organic acid anion-mediated inhibition of peptidoglycan cross-linking through robust alanine racemase activity

1. Sasmita Panda
2. Yahani P Jayasinghe
3. Dhananjay D Shinde
4. Emilio Bueno
5. Amanda Stastny
6. Blake P Bertrand
7. Sujata S Chaudhari
8. Tammy Kielian
9. Felipe Cava
10. Donald R Ronning
11. Vinai C Thomas

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this useful study, the authors present convincing evidence linking the enzyme D-alanine-D-alanine ligase (Ddl), crucial for cell wall fortification, to organic acid exposure in Staphylococcus aureus. While it's established that organic acids impede bacterial growth, the researchers reveal a novel coping mechanism where S. aureus maintains elevated levels of D-alanine, the substrate for Ddl, to counteract this inhibition. This discovery illuminates a bacterial strategy for organic acid tolerance, offering new insights for microbiologists and potentially informing future antimicrobial approaches.

Reviewed by eLife, Arcadia Science

Characterization of vaginal microbiomes in clinician-collected bacterial vaginosis diagnosed samples

1. Hayden N. Brochu
2. Qimin Zhang
3. Kuncheng Song
4. Ling Wang
5. Emily A. Deare
6. Jonathan D. Williams
7. Crystal R. Icenhour
8. Lakshmanan K. Iyer

Reviewed by PREreview

Establishing the green algae Chlamydomonas incerta as a platform for recombinant protein production

1. Kalisa Kang
2. Évellin do Espirito Santo
3. Crisandra Jade Diaz
4. Aaron Oliver
5. Lisa Saxton
6. Lauren May
7. Stephen Mayfield
8. João Vitor Dutra Molino

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Validation of optimised methods for avian influenza virus isolation in specific pathogen-free embryonated fowls’ eggs

1. Scott M. Reid
2. Vivien J. Coward
3. Joe James
4. Rowena D. E. Hansen
5. Colin Birch
6. Mayur Bakrania
7. Sharon M. Brookes
8. Ian H. Brown
9. Ashley C. Banyard

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

RNase III in Salmonella Enteritidis enhances bacterial virulence by reducing host immune responses

1. Bill Kwan-wai Chan
2. Yingxue Li
3. Hongyuhang Ni
4. Edward Wai-chi Chan
5. Xin Deng
6. Linfeng Huang
7. Sheng Chen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful study examines the function of the rnc gene, which encodes the RNase III ribonuclease, as it relates to virulence of Salmonella Enteritidis. The authors demonstrate that the rnc gene is markedly upregulated in strains proposed to exhibit high virulence and that the product of the rnc gene promotes the expression of SodA, which contributes to the survival of Salmonella Enteritidis in the face of oxidative stress. The study also suggests that elevated levels of rnc gene expression assist Salmonella Enteritidis in evading immune responses by diminishing the presence of accumulated double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), although the evidence substantiating this and the above assertions remains incomplete.

Reviewed by eLife

Lipid discovery enabled by sequence statistics and machine learning

1. Priya M Christensen
2. Jonathan Martin
3. Aparna Uppuluri
4. Luke R Joyce
5. Yahan Wei
6. Ziqiang Guan
7. Faruck Morcos
8. Kelli L Palmer

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study reports important findings on identifying sequence motifs that predict substrate specificity in a class of lipid synthesis enzymes. It sheds light on a mechanism used by bacteria to modify the lipids in their membrane to develop antibiotic resistance. The evidence is compelling, with a careful application of machine learning methods, validated by mass spectrometry-based lipid analysis experiments. This interdisciplinary study will be of interest to computational biologists and to the community working on lipids and on enzymes involved in lipid synthesis or modification.

Reviewed by eLife