Microbiology

Mycolactone causes destructive Sec61-dependent loss of the endothelial glycocalyx and vessel basement membrane: a new indirect mechanism driving tissue necrosis in Mycobacterium ulcerans infection

1. Louise Tzung-Harn Hsieh
2. Belinda S. Hall
3. Jane Newcombe
4. Tom A. Mendum
5. Sonia Santana-Varela
6. Yagnesh Umrania
7. Michael J. Deery
8. Wei Q. Shi
9. Josué Diaz-Delgado
10. Francisco J. Salguero
11. Rachel E Simmonds

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The toxin mycolactone is produced by mycobacterium ulcerans which is responsible for the Buruli ulcer. The authors performed a valuable study showing the effects of mycolactone on blood vessels integrity. This convincing data provide new therapeutic targets to accelerate healing of Buruli ulcers.

Reviewed by eLife

Bacterial DNA on the skin surface overrepresents the viable skin microbiome

1. Ellen M Acosta
2. Katherine A Little
3. Benjamin P Bratton
4. Jaime G Lopez
5. Xuming Mao
6. Aimee S Payne
7. Mohamed Donia
8. Danelle Devenport
9. Zemer Gitai

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this important study, the authors provide convincing evidence that current DNA-based microbial genomics for skin bacteria cannot always detect the source of sequenced DNA and whether it originated from viable or non-viable bacteria. Additionally, the authors demonstrated in humans and mice that most of the viable bacteria reside inside hair follicles rather than the surface of the skin per se. Overall, the work has significance beyond a single discipline and will be of interest to those studying microbiomes.

Reviewed by eLife

HSV-1 exploits host heterochromatin for egress

1. Hannah C Lewis
2. Laurel E Kelnhofer-Millevolte
3. Mia R Brinkley
4. Hannah E Arbach
5. Edward A Arnold
6. Srinivas Ramachandran
7. Daphne C Avgousti

Reviewed by Review Commons

A billion years arms-race between viruses, virophages, and eukaryotes

1. Jose Gabriel Nino Barreat
2. Aris Katzourakis

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The important study by Barreat and Katzourakis examines the evolutionary history of eukaryotic viruses (and related mobile elements) in the Bamfordvirae kingdom, and evaluates potential alternative scenarios regarding the origin of different lineages in this highly diverse kingdom. Through convincing phylogenetic analyses, the authors propose a new evolutionary model for the origin of this kingdom where their last common ancestor is inferred to have been an exogenous, non-virophage DNA virus with a small genome. This work advances our understanding of the deep evolutionary history of viruses, the interaction between viruses and the first eukaryotes, and the diversification of viral lineages.

Reviewed by eLife

Propylene glycol inactivates respiratory viruses and prevents airborne transmission

1. Christine T Styles
2. Jie Zhou
3. Katie E Flight
4. Jonathan C Brown
5. Charlotte Lewis
6. Xinyu Wang
7. Michael Vanden Oever
8. Thomas P Peacock
9. Ziyin Wang
10. Rosie Millns
11. John S O'Neill
12. Alexander Borodavka
13. Joe Grove
14. Wendy S Barclay
15. John S Tregoning
16. Rachel S Edgar

Reviewed by Review Commons

Profiling the bloodstream form and procyclic form Trypanosoma brucei cell cycle using single-cell transcriptomics

1. Emma M Briggs
2. Catarina A Marques
3. Guy R Oldrieve
4. Jihua Hu
5. Thomas D Otto
6. Keith R Matthews

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study identifies more than 1500 genes that are differentially transcribed over the cell cycle of the single-celled eukaryotic pathogen, Trypanosoma brucei. Analysis of the two major developmental stages of these pathogens suggests that a core set of genes are similarly regulated in both stages, while many cell cycle-related changes in gene expression were unique to one stage. Intriguingly, the levels of far fewer proteins are differentially regulated over the trypanosome cell cycle, indicating that protein levels are primarily regulated by post-transcriptional processes. The study represents a significant technical advance in analyzing gene expression at the single-cell level in unfractionated trypanosome cultures.

Reviewed by eLife

Resolving the origins of secretory products and anthelmintic responses in a human parasitic nematode at single-cell resolution

1. Clair R Henthorn
2. Paul M Airs
3. Emma K Neumann
4. Mostafa Zamanian

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this important study, the authors generate and analyse single-cell datasets for the human parasitic nematode Brugia malayi. The new resource has the potential to uncover new details of the biology of secretory systems in this filarial nematode but the main claims are only partially supported and strengthening them would require additional experimental support and new analyses. With the methodological part strengthened, the new resource would be of broad interest to parasitologists and nematode biologists and would have the potential to accelerate research in the search of new anthelmintics and vaccines.

Reviewed by eLife

Role of cytoneme structures and extracellular vesicles in Trichomonas vaginalis parasite-parasite communication

1. Nehuén Salas
2. Manuela Blasco Pedreros
3. Tuanne dos Santos Melo
4. Vanina G Maguire
5. Jihui Sha
6. James A Wohlschlegel
7. Antonio Pereira-Neves
8. Natalia de Miguel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  We believe this study has the potential to be fundamental for the field of microbial communication and compelling evidence with the chance of changing the current state-of-the-art in this area has been presented. This is will be of natural interest to the field of parasitology, but scientists in the general area of cell-to-cell communication will certainly benefit from this contribution too. A major strength of this manuscript is the clear demonstration of the role of cytoneme-like structures and extracellular vesicles in parasite communication using the Trichomonas vaginalis model. Given the potential of these findings, the authors could deepen their discussion and perspectives for other areas.

Reviewed by eLife

A universal stress protein is essential for the survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

1. Arka Banerjee
2. Moubani Chakraborty
3. Suruchi Sharma
4. Ruchi Chaturvedi
5. Avipsa Bose
6. Priyanka Biswas
7. Amit Singh
8. Sandhya S. Visweswariah

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study will be of interest to those working on mycobacterial signal transduction. A combination of experiments provides convincing evidence to show how universal stress proteins bind to cAMP and function by direct sequestration of the second messenger. Although the methods, data and analyses broadly support the conclusions, the main claims are only partially supported and can be strengthened through further analytic approaches.

Reviewed by eLife

A high-throughput cytotoxicity screening platform reveals agr-independent mutations in bacteraemia-associated Staphylococcus aureus that promote intracellular persistence

1. Abderrahman Hachani
2. Stefano G Giulieri
3. Romain Guérillot
4. Calum J Walsh
5. Marion Herisse
6. Ye Mon Soe
7. Sarah L Baines
8. David R Thomas
9. Shane Doris Cheung
10. Ashleigh S Hayes
11. Ellie Cho
12. Hayley J Newton
13. Sacha Pidot
14. Ruth C Massey
15. Benjamin P Howden
16. Timothy P Stinear

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This paper describes a new method to investigate Staphylococcus aureus intracellular virulence that has produced important insights into the mechanisms of staphylococcal pathogenesis. The results are convincing and the methodology is state-of-the-art. This paper will be of interest to scientists studying microbial intracellular pathogenesis and cell biology.

Reviewed by eLife