Microbiology

Non-cognate immunity proteins provide broader defenses against interbacterial effectors in microbial communities

1. Abigail Knecht
2. Denise Sirias
3. Daniel R Utter
4. Karine A Gibbs

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides valuable insights into the specificity and promiscuity of toxic effector and immunity protein pairs. While the work is improved over a previous version, there are still some questions regarding the methodology used to draw certain conclusions, rendering the study somewhat incomplete. Nevertheless, this work will likely be of interest to microbiologists and biochemists working with toxin-antitoxin systems and effector-immunity proteins.

Reviewed by eLife

Polysaccharide breakdown products drive degradation-dispersal cycles of foraging bacteria through changes in metabolism and motility

1. Astrid Katharina Maria Stubbusch
2. Johannes M Keegstra
3. Julia Schwartzman
4. Sammy Pontrelli
5. Estelle E Clerc
6. Samuel Charlton
7. Roman Stocker
8. Cara Magnabosco
9. Olga T Schubert
10. Martin Ackermann
11. Glen G D'Souza

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript is a valuable contribution to our understanding of foraging behaviors in marine bacteria. The authors present a conceptual model for how a marine bacterial species consumes an abundant polysaccharide. Using experiments in microfluidic devices and through measurements of motility and gene expression, the authors offer convincing evidence that the degradation products of polysaccharide digestion can stimulate motility.

Reviewed by eLife

Mitochondrial ATP synthesis is essential for efficient gametogenesis in Plasmodium falciparum

1. Penny C Sparkes
2. Mufuliat Toyin Famodimu
3. Eduardo Alves
4. Eric Springer
5. Jude Przyborski
6. Michael J Delves

Reviewed by PREreview

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

SPARK regulates AGC kinases central to the Toxoplasma gondii asexual cycle

1. Alice L Herneisen
2. Michelle L Peters
3. Tyler A Smith
4. Emily Shortt
5. Sebastian Lourido

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This fundamental study identifies protein kinases in the parasitic protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii that are required for parasite invasion of host cells and differentiation to drug-resistant chronic stages. The use of advanced proteomic and functional approaches provides compelling evidence for the proposed signalling pathway, although additional analyses are needed to fully validate some findings. The work will be of broad interest to cell biologists and parasitologists with an interest in cell signalling and environmental sensing.

Reviewed by eLife

Rifampicin tolerance and growth fitness among isoniazid-resistant clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from a longitudinal study

1. Srinivasan Vijay
2. Nguyen Le Hoai Bao
3. Dao Nguyen Vinh
4. Le Thanh Hoang Nhat
5. Do Dang Anh Thu
6. Nguyen Le Quang
7. Le Pham Tien Trieu
8. Hoang Ngoc Nhung
9. Vu Thi Ngoc Ha
10. Phan Vuong Khac Thai
11. Dang Thi Minh Ha
12. Nguyen Huu Lan
13. Maxine Caws
14. Guy E Thwaites
15. Babak Javid
16. Nguyen Thuy Thuong

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study demonstrates that there is significant variation in the susceptibility of isoniazid-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates to killing by rifampicin, in some cases at the same tolerance levels as bona fide resistant strains. The evidence provided is solid, with no clear genetic marker for increased tolerance, suggesting that there may be multiple routes to achieving this phenotype. The work will be of interest to infectious disease researchers.

Reviewed by eLife

Functional genomics reveals the mechanism of hypoxic adaptation in nontuberculous mycobacteria

1. Yoshitaka Tateishi
2. Yuriko Ozeki
3. Akihito Nishiyama
4. Yuta Morishige
5. Yusuke Minato
6. Anthony D Baughn
7. Sohkichi Matsumoto

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This descriptive study reports the genetic requirements for growth and fitness of multiple clinical strains of a relatively understudied species of mycobacteria, Mycobacterium intracellulare. The findings are valuable however, the study is incomplete as the primary claims related to hypoxia adaptation need additional experimental support and data presentation requires more clarity. The work will be of interest to microbiologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Addition of Soil Protists Enhances Performance of Agrochemical Seed Treatments

1. Christopher J. Hawxhurst
2. Travis McClure
3. Daniel Kirk
4. Mikhael Shor
5. Daniel J. Gage
6. Leslie M. Shor

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Recombinant origin and interspecies transmission of a HERV-K(HML-2)-related primate retrovirus with a novel RNA transport element

1. Zachary H Williams
2. Alvaro Dafonte Imedio
3. Lea Gaucherand
4. Derek C Lee
5. Salwa Mohd Mostafa
6. James P Phelan
7. John M Coffin
8. Welkin E Johnson

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This work is a bioinformatic analysis of HML-2-like proviruses found in the genomes of Rhesus Macaques, which convincingly argues that an HML-2 provirus underwent an ancient recombination event with a HERV-K (HML-8) related virus. The authors also provide data to suggest that the recombinant retrovirus may have acquired a distinct mechanism for the regulation of expression of spliced and unspliced transcripts. This paper should be of broad interest to virologists as it uses molecular 'fossil-like' evidence contained in the genomes of modern pirates to document the generation of what could be considered a previously undescribed retrovirus species, through recombination.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

CyAbrB2 is a nucleoid-associated protein in Synechocystis controlling hydrogenase expression during fermentation

1. Ryo Kariyazono
2. Takashi Osanai

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The authors provide solid data on a functional investigation of potential nucleoid-associated proteins and the modulation of chromosomal conformation in a model cyanobacterium. These valuable findings will be of interest to the chromosome and microbiology fields. Additional analysis and the tempering of conclusions has helped to improve the work, although further refinement remains possible.

Reviewed by eLife