Microbiology

A synthetic peptide mimic kills Candida albicans and synergistically prevents infection

1. Sebastian Schaefer
2. Raghav Vij
3. Jakob L. Sprague
4. Sophie Austermeier
5. Hue Dinh
6. Peter R. Judzewitsch
7. Sven Müller-Loennies
8. Taynara Lopes Silva
9. Eric Seemann
10. Britta Qualmann
11. Christian Hertweck
12. Kirstin Scherlach
13. Thomas Gutsmann
14. Amy K. Cain
15. Nathaniel Corrigan
16. Mark S. Gresnigt
17. Cyrille Boyer
18. Megan D. Lenardon
19. Sascha Brunke

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

Transcriptional regulation of SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 by SP1

1. Hui Han
2. Rong-Hua Luo
3. Xin-Yan Long
4. Li-Qiong Wang
5. Qian Zhu
6. Xin-Yue Tang
7. Rui Zhu
8. Yi-Cheng Ma
9. Yong-Tang Zheng
10. Cheng-Gang Zou

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This is a valuable report that describes that ACE2 expression is upregulated by SARS-CoV-2 infection via activation of transcription factor Sp1 and inhibition of HNF4α through the PI3K/AKT pathway. Inhibition of Sp1 reduces SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro and in an animal model. This work is solid and will be of interest to those interested in ACE2 biology and its impact in COVID-19.

Reviewed by eLife

Uncovering the Hidden Antibiotic Potential of Cannabis

1. Maya A. Farha
2. Omar M. El-Halfawy
3. Robert T. Gale
4. Craig R. MacNair
5. Lindsey A. Carfrae
6. Xiong Zhang
7. Nicholas G. Jentsch
8. Jakob Magolan
9. Eric D. Brown

Reviewed by PREreview

A Chemical Reaction Similarity-Based Prediction Algorithm Identifies the Multiple Taxa Required to Catalyze an Entire Metabolic Pathway of Dietary Flavonoids

1. Ebru Ece Gulsan
2. Farrhin Nowshad
3. Pomaikaimaikalani Yamaguchi
4. Xiaokun Dong
5. Arul Jayaraman
6. Kyongbum Lee

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This paper reports useful findings regarding gut bacteria that metabolize dietary flavonoids, which can enhance, reduce, or otherwise alter the flavonoid bioactivities. With a newly developed bioinformatics tool, the authors predict bacterial species that can metabolize parts of the flavonoid tilianin. Formal proof of concept is missing, but if experimentally confirmed, the study will change the way we think about metabolism of flavonoids and would be of broad interest regarding gut bacterial metabolism. Most of the analyses are compelling, but others require further inquiry.

Reviewed by eLife

Structure of a tripartite protein complex that targets toxins to the type VII secretion system

1. Timothy A. Klein
2. Prakhar Y. Shah
3. Polyniki Gkragkopoulou
4. Dirk W. Grebenc
5. Youngchang Kim
6. John C. Whitney

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Divergent and diversified proteome content across a serially acquired plastid lineage

1. Anna M. G. Novák Vanclová
2. Charlotte Nef
3. Adél Vancl
4. Fuhai Liu
5. Zoltán Füssy
6. Chris Bowler
7. Richard G. Dorrell

Reviewed by Review Commons

NAD(H) homeostasis is essential for host protection mediated by glycolytic myeloid cells in tuberculosis

1. Hayden T. Pacl
2. Krishna C. Chinta
3. Vineel P. Reddy
4. Sajid Nadeem
5. Ritesh R. Sevalkar
6. Kierveshan Nargan
7. Kapongo Lumamba
8. Threnesan Naidoo
9. Joel N. Glasgow
10. Anupam Agarwal
11. Adrie J. C. Steyn

Reviewed by preLights

The commensal protist Tritrichomonas musculus exhibits a dynamic life cycle that induces extensive remodeling of the gut microbiota

1. Ana Popovic
2. Eric Yixiao Cao
3. Joanna Han
4. Nirvana Nursimulu
5. Eliza V.C. Alves-Ferreira
6. Kyle Burrows
7. Andrea Kennard
8. Noor Alsmadi
9. Michael E. Grigg
10. Arthur Mortha
11. John Parkinson

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Structural basis for kinase inhibition in the tripartite E. coli HipBST toxin–antitoxin system

1. René L Bærentsen
2. Stine V Nielsen
3. Ragnhild B Skjerning
4. Jeppe Lyngsø
5. Francesco Bisiak
6. Jan Skov Pedersen
7. Kenn Gerdes
8. Michael A Sørensen
9. Ditlev E Brodersen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study presents an exhaustive structural analysis of a complete tripartite HipBST toxin-antitoxin system of the Enteropathogenic E. coli O127:H6, which represents a fascinating variation on the well-studied HipAB toxin-antitoxin system. The convincing data show that major features of the canonical HipAB system have been rerouted to form the tripartite HipBST, revealing a new mode of inhibition of a toxin kinase.

Reviewed by eLife

Structure of the two-component S-layer of the archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius

1. Lavinia Gambelli
2. Mathew McLaren
3. Rebecca Conners
4. Kelly Sanders
5. Matthew C Gaines
6. Lewis Clark
7. Vicki AM Gold
8. Daniel Kattnig
9. Mateusz Sikora
10. Cyril Hanus
11. Michail N Isupov
12. Bertram Daum

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This fundamental work substantially advances our structural understanding of S-layers in Archaea and how they are built to form formidable cell support structures able to stabilise the cytoplasmic membrane under harsh physicochemical conditions. The supporting evidence for the S-layer model is convincing, making excellent use of state-of-the-art 3D cryo-electron tomography reconstructions, although the proposed S-layer model would benefit from some additional validation.

Reviewed by eLife