Microbiology

Peptidoglycan recycling is critical for cell division, cell wall integrity, and β-lactam resistance in Caulobacter crescentus

1. Pia Richter
2. Anna Merz
3. Jacob Biboy
4. Nicole Paczia
5. Timo Glatter
6. Jared Ng
7. Waldemar Vollmer
8. Martin Thanbichler

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript presents a valuable investigation of the peptidoglycan (PG) recycling pathway in Caulobacter crescentus. The authors showed that PG recycling in C. crescentus is essential not only for β-lactam (ampicillin) resistance but also for cell morphology, efficient division, and overall fitness. The study is comprehensive and compelling.

Reviewed by eLife

Reactive Oxygen Detoxification Contributes to Mycobacterium abscessus Antibiotic Survival

1. Nicholas A Bates
2. Ronald Rodriguez
3. Rama Drwich
4. Abigail Ray
5. Sarah A Stanley
6. Bennett H Penn

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Using a transposon sequencing (TN-seq) approach, the authors identified key genetic determinants of drug tolerance in Mycobacterium abscessus. Given that M. abscessus is inherently resistant to multiple antibiotics, this valuable study makes a significant contribution by uncovering how antibiotic tolerance is linked to reactive oxygen species (ROS) in this non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) species. The solid findings further strengthen the growing evidence that ROS play a central role in the mechanism of antibiotic action and tolerance in mycobacteria. However, the use of words persistence or tolerance should follow the consensus definition given in the Balaban 2019 Nat Rev Micro paper.

Reviewed by eLife

Evaluation of antibiotic and peptide vaccine strategies for mirror bacterial infections

1. Alexander Kleinman
2. Joe Torres
3. Brian Wang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study experimentally probes potential antibiotic activity against hypothetical "mirror bacteria" with reversed chirality, showing that D-enantiomers of several approved antibiotics largely lack activity against natural bacteria (as a proxy for mirror organisms) and that conjugated D-peptides can elicit strong binding antibody responses in mice when adjuvanted. The evidence is solid for these core observations but incomplete on issues of chiral purity, functional antibody assays, replicates, and pharmacodynamic readouts; the work also overreaches in extrapolations without deeper mechanistic integration or native-format validation. Overall, the work offers a cautious, relevant contribution to mirror microbiology discussions and will interest infectious disease researchers.

Reviewed by eLife

Role of zinc in growth, stress response and virulence gene expression of pathogenic Mucorale Rhizopus arrhizus

1. Rachna Singh
2. Anjna Kumari
3. Pavneet Kaur
4. Jasdeep Kaur

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

Global transcription factors analyses reveal hierarchy and synergism of regulatory networks and master virulence regulators in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

1. Jiadai Huang
2. Yue Sun
3. Fang Chen
4. Shumin Li
5. Xiangkai You
6. Liangliang Han
7. Jingwei Li
8. Zhe He
9. Canfeng Hua
10. Chunyan Yao
11. Tianmin Li
12. Beifang Lu
13. Yung-Fu Chang
14. Xin Deng

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides an important, comprehensive, large-scale dataset on transcription factor binding in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, along with analyses of its regulatory network, key virulence and metabolic regulators, and a pangenomic examination of transcription factors. Utilizing large-scale ChIP-seq and multi-omics integration, the research convincingly supports the hierarchical regulatory structures and offers insights into virulence mechanisms. This dataset, made available through an online database, should be an invaluable resource to the research community studying P. aeruginosa, a key pathogen at risk for hospital infections and development of antibiotic resistance.

Reviewed by eLife

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

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