Microbiology

An IS-mediated, RecA-dependent, bet-hedging strategy in Burkholderia thailandensis

1. Lillian C Lowrey
2. Leslie A Kent
3. Bridgett M Rios
4. Angelica B Ocasio
5. Peggy A Cotter

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This paper reports a bet hedging strategy in bacteria based on chromosomal duplications and rearrangements that confer advantages in certain growth conditions. The work is of fundamental importance for understanding the role of genetic and biological variation in bacteria. The experimental work is exceptionally strong and convincing. The paper will be of interest to a broad audience including bacteriologists, geneticists and evolutionary biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Nanopore-based enrichment of antimicrobial resistance genes – a case-based study

1. Adrian Viehweger
2. Mike Marquet
3. Martin Hölzer
4. Nadine Dietze
5. Mathias W. Pletz
6. Christian Brandt

Reviewed by GigaByte

The Ebola virus VP40 matrix undergoes endosomal disassembly essential for membrane fusion

1. Sophie L. Winter
2. Gonen Golani
3. Fabio Lolicato
4. Melina Vallbracht
5. Keerthihan Thiyagarajah
6. Samy Sid Ahmed
7. Christian Lüchtenborg
8. Oliver T. Fackler
9. Britta Brügger
10. Thomas Hoenen
11. Walter Nickel
12. Ulrich S. Schwarz
13. Petr Chlanda

Reviewed by Review Commons

Uptake-independent killing of macrophages by extracellular aggregates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is ESX-1 and PDIM-dependent

1. Chiara Toniolo
2. Neeraj Dhar
3. John D. McKinney

Reviewed by Review Commons

Molecular Basis for Interferon-mediated Pathogen Restriction in Human Cells

1. Sumit K. Matta
2. Hinissan P. Kohio
3. Pallavi Chandra
4. Adam Brown
5. John G. Doench
6. Jennifer A. Philips
7. Siyuan Ding
8. L. David Sibley

Reviewed by Review Commons

Initiation of HIV-1 Gag lattice assembly is required for recognition of the viral genome packaging signal

1. Xiao Lei
2. Daniel Gonçalves-Carneiro
3. Trinity M Zang
4. Paul D Bieniasz

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This work presents valuable findings that advance our understanding of the roles of the CA domain in specific binding of HIV-1 Gag to the viral genomic RNA. The compelling evidence obtained using the modified CLIP-seq and chemical crosslinking approaches support the authors' conclusion that the initial Gag lattice formation mediated by CA is essential for Gag recognition of the 5' Ψ sequence. This work will be of interest to virologists working on gRNA packaging of not only HIV-1 but also other RNA viruses.

Reviewed by eLife

GWAS and functional studies suggest a role for altered DNA repair in the evolution of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

1. Saba Naz
2. Kumar Paritosh
3. Priyadarshini Sanyal
4. Sidra Khan
5. Yogendra Singh
6. Umesh Varshney
7. Vinay Kumar Nandicoori

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a growing threat to global public health. By analysing a large database of clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates, the authors of this study identify previously unrecognized genetic mutations that might be implicated in improved mycobacterial survival under antibiotic treatment. Using laboratory and experimental infection models, they present evidence that these mutations should be considered potential genetic markers of reduced antibiotic efficacy and accelerated acquisition of TB drug resistance.

Reviewed by eLife

A human-specific motif facilitates CARD8 inflammasome activation after HIV-1 infection

1. Jessie Kulsuptrakul
2. Elizabeth A Turcotte
3. Michael Emerman
4. Patrick S Mitchell

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The study shows that human inflammasome-forming sensor CARD8 contains a specific motif that allows cleavage by the proteases of HIV-1 and its direct precursor infecting chimpanzees. In comparison, CARD8 proteins from non-human primates contain changes in this motif and seem largely resistant to proteolytic activation. The results are important, and the data on the cleavage of CARD8 in HEK293T cells are convincing, while effects on inflammasome stimulation and cell death in primary viral target cells are insufficiently supported.

Reviewed by eLife, PREreview

A glycine zipper motif governs translocation of type VI secretion toxic effectors across the cytoplasmic membrane of target cells

1. Jemal Ali
2. Manda Yu
3. Li-Kang Sung
4. Yee-Wai Cheung
5. Erh-Min Lai

Reviewed by Review Commons

Competitive interactions between culturable bacteria are highly non-additive

1. Amichai Baichman-Kass
2. Tingting Song
3. Jonathan Friedman

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study presents an interesting example of how complexities of communities may be reduced by showing that the joint effects of two or more species on a focal species are generally not additive, but rather dominated by the strongest single effect. The evidence, enabled by over 14,000 measurements using nanodroplet-based microfluidics, is compelling, although the generality of the conclusion awaits further studies. This paper is of interest to microbial ecologists.

Reviewed by eLife