Microbiology

Secretory protein Rv1987, a ‘probable chitinase’ from Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a novel chitin and cellulose binding protein lacking enzymatic function

1. Chiranth M. Prakash
2. Vani Janakiraman

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Glycan-specific IgM is critical for human immunity to Staphylococcus aureus

1. Astrid Hendriks
2. Priscilla F. Kerkman
3. Meri R.J. Varkila
4. Jelle L.G. Haitsma-Mulier
5. Sara Ali
6. Thijs ten Doesschate
7. Thomas W. van der Vaart
8. Carla J.C. de Haas
9. Piet C. Aerts
10. Olaf L. Cremer
11. Marc J.M. Bonten
12. Victor Nizet
13. George Y. Liu
14. Jeroen D.C. Codée
15. Suzan H.M. Rooijakkers
16. Jos A.G. van Strijp
17. Nina M. van Sorge

Reviewed by preLights

Diverse evolutionary pathways challenge the use of collateral sensitivity as a strategy to suppress resistance

1. Rebecca EK Mandt
2. Madeline R Luth
3. Mark A Tye
4. Ralph Mazitschek
5. Sabine Ottilie
6. Elizabeth A Winzeler
7. Maria Jose Lafuente-Monasterio
8. Francisco Javier Gamo
9. Dyann F Wirth
10. Amanda K Lukens

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study addresses an important question in the field of antimicrobial chemotherapy: whether combinations of enzyme inhibitors that select for mutations that confer resistance to one inhibitor and at the same time increased sensitization to the other inhibitor can provide a path towards mitigating resistance risks. The authors here investigated one such combination of inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum DHODH (dihydroorotate dehydrogenase), finding that despite "collateral sensitivity", it was still possible to select a mutation that mediated resistance to both inhibitors without any change in parasite fitness. Additional cross-susceptibility and structural modeling strengthen this study, which is performed to a high technical standard and presents a convincing body of data.

Reviewed by eLife

Candida albicans exhibits heterogeneous and adaptive cytoprotective responses to antifungal compounds

1. Vanessa Dumeaux
2. Samira Massahi
3. Van Bettauer
4. Austin Mottola
5. Anna Dukovny
6. Sanny Singh Khurdia
7. Anna Carolina Borges Pereira Costa
8. Raha Parvizi Omran
9. Shawn Simpson
10. Jinglin Lucy Xie
11. Malcolm Whiteway
12. Judith Berman
13. Michael T Hallett

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The valuable study by Dumeaux et al examines the transcriptional response to antifungal treatment in the major opportunistic human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Using solid methodology, including a novel droplet-based single cell transcriptomics platform, the authors report that fungal cells exhibit heterogeneity in their transcriptional response to antifungal drug treatment. The ability to study the trajectories of individual cells in a high-throughput manner provides a novel perspective on studying the emergence of drug tolerance and resistance in fungal pathogens.

Reviewed by eLife

A tRNA modification in Mycobacterium tuberculosis facilitates optimal intracellular growth

1. Francesca G Tomasi
2. Satoshi Kimura
3. Eric J Rubin
4. Matthew K Waldor

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This is a valuable addition to the literature as it helps us understand the role of tRNA modifying enzymes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. By knocking out one of the enzymes, the authors convincingly demonstrate the importance of tRNA-modifying enzymes for intra-host growth of tubercle bacteria. Some of the claims regarding modification as well as the role in virulence could be strengthened through further bioinformatics and phylogenetic analyses as well as experimental approaches. The work will be of interest to microbiologists.

Reviewed by eLife

The Plasmodium falciparum artemisinin resistance-associated protein Kelch 13 is required for formation of normal cytostomes

1. Madel V. Tutor
2. Gerald J. Shami
3. Ghizal Siddiqui
4. Darren J. Creek
5. Leann Tilley
6. Stuart A. Ralph

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Resistance of Plasmodium falciparum to artemisinin, which has become a threat to malaria control, has been linked to mutations in the parasite protein K13. This study provides important new insights into the function of K13 in the endocytosis of hemoglobin, a central process for the activation of artemisinin derivatives. Conditional protein mislocalization combined with high-resolution imaging provides convincing evidence that K13 is involved in the formation of cytostomes, the structures involved in the endocytosis of host cytosol. This study will be of interest to scientists working on parasite biology as well as antimalarial drug resistance.

Reviewed by eLife

A highly conserved and globally prevalent cryptic plasmid is among the most numerous mobile genetic elements in the human gut

1. Emily C Fogarty
2. Matthew S Schechter
3. Karen Lolans
4. Madeline L. Sheahan
5. Iva Veseli
6. Ryan Moore
7. Evan Kiefl
8. Thomas Moody
9. Phoebe A Rice
10. Michael K Yu
11. Mark Mimee
12. Eugene B Chang
13. Sandra L Mclellan
14. Amy D Willis
15. Laurie E Comstock
16. A Murat Eren

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Diverse and abundant phages exploit conjugative plasmids

1. Natalia Quinones-Olvera
2. Siân V. Owen
3. Lucy M. McCully
4. Maximillian G. Marin
5. Eleanor A. Rand
6. Alice C. Fan
7. Oluremi J. Martins Dosumu
8. Kay Paul
9. Cleotilde E. Sanchez Castaño
10. Rachel Petherbridge
11. Jillian S. Paull
12. Michael Baym

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

A sweet new set of inducible and constitutive promoters in Haloferax volcanii

1. Theopi Rados
2. Katherine Andre
3. Micaela Cerletti
4. Alex Bisson

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Strain dropouts reveal interactions that govern the metabolic output of the gut microbiome

1. Min Wang
2. Lucas J. Osborn
3. Sunit Jain
4. Xiandong Meng
5. Allison Weakley
6. Jia Yan
7. William J. Massey
8. Venkateshwari Varadharajan
9. Anthony Horak
10. Rakhee Banerjee
11. Daniela S. Allende
12. E. Ricky Chan
13. Adeline M. Hajjar
14. Zeneng Wang
15. Alejandra Dimas
16. Aishan Zhao
17. Kazuki Nagashima
18. Alice G. Cheng
19. Steven Higginbottom
20. Stanley L. Hazen
21. J. Mark Brown
22. Michael A. Fischbach

Reviewed by Arcadia Science