Microbiology

Fitness advantage of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron capsular polysaccharide in the mouse gut depends on the resident microbiota

1. Daniel Hoces
2. Giorgia Greter
3. Markus Arnoldini
4. Melanie L Stäubli
5. Claudia Moresi
6. Anna Sintsova
7. Sara Berent
8. Isabel Kolinko
9. Florence Bansept
10. Aurore Woller
11. Janine Häfliger
12. Eric Martens
13. Wolf-Dietrich Hardt
14. Shinichi Sunagawa
15. Claude Loverdo
16. Emma Slack

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study addresses whether the composition of the microbiota influences the intestinal colonization of encapsulated vs unencapsulated Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, a resident micro-organism of the colon. This is an important question because factors determining the colonization of gut bacteria remain a critical barrier in translating microbiome research into new bacterial cell-based therapies. To answer the question, the authors develop an innovative method to quantify B. theta population bottlenecks during intestinal colonization in the setting of different microbiota. Their main finding that the colonization defect of an acapsular mutant is dependent on the composition of the microbiota is valuable and this observation suggests that interactions between gut bacteria explains why the mutant has a colonization defect. The evidence supporting this claim is currently insufficient. Additionally, some of the analyses and claims are compromised because the authors do not fully explain their data and the number of animals is sometimes very small.

Reviewed by eLife

A frameshift in Yersinia pestis rcsD alters canonical Rcs signalling to preserve flea-mammal plague transmission cycles

1. Xiao-Peng Guo
2. Hai-Qin Yan
3. Wenhui Yang
4. Zhe Yin
5. Viveka Vadyvaloo
6. Dongsheng Zhou
7. Yi-Cheng Sun

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study substantially advances our understanding of the phenotypic divergence of the plague-causing bacterium, Yersinia pestis, from a closely related species, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, which causes much milder disease. The authors provide convincing evidence that a frameshift mutation in the Y. pestis rcsD gene changes a signaling pathway that contributes to the flea-mammal transmission of plague. The work shows how small genetic differences can alter pathogenicity and stress survival.

Reviewed by eLife

Interactions between metabolism and growth can determine the co-existence of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

1. Camryn Pajon
2. Marla C Fortoul
3. Gabriela Diaz-Tang
4. Estefania Marin Meneses
5. Ariane R Kalifa
6. Elinor Sevy
7. Taniya Mariah
8. Brandon Toscan
9. Maili Marcelin
10. Daniella M Hernandez
11. Melissa M Marzouk
12. Allison J Lopatkin
13. Omar Tonsi Eldakar
14. Robert P Smith

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  How the pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus compete and co-occur within opportunistic infections is a topic of broad significance, but the major drivers of these interactions remain unclear. Here the authors defined parameters that predict the coexistence of these microbes using their absolute growth in certain nutritional conditions, leading to questions about how other nutrients lead to the dominance of one or the other during infections. Within a confined context, this valuable study provides solid support for a novel framework in which to evaluate this clinically important species interaction.

Reviewed by eLife

The sphingolipids ceramide and inositol phosphorylceramide protect the Leishmania major membrane from sterol-specific toxins

1. Chaitanya S. Haram
2. Samrat Moitra
3. Rilee Keane
4. F. Matthew Kuhlmann
5. Cheryl Frankfater
6. Fong-Fu Hsu
7. Stephen M. Beverley
8. Kai Zhang
9. Peter A. Keyel

Reviewed by Review Commons

The Plasmodium falciparum apicoplast cysteine desulfurase provides sulfur for both iron-sulfur cluster assembly and tRNA modification

1. Russell P Swift
2. Rubayet Elahi
3. Krithika Rajaram
4. Hans B Liu
5. Sean T Prigge

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides important new insights into iron sulfur biosynthesis in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. The work is based on elegant and robust genetic approaches, and not only confirms the essentiality of the plastid-hosted Suf iron-sulfur cluster synthesis pathway, but also highlights an important additional role for the cysteine desulfurase SufS in apicoplast maintenance via tRNA modification. The work provides compelling evidence for a dual function of parasite SufS, although impact on tRNA has not been established directly. These findings reveal a potential new target for metabolic intervention, and will be of interest to researchers studying apicomplexan parasites, and more broadly, in the field of plastid biology.

Reviewed by eLife

Exploitation of ATP-sensitive potassium ion (KATP) channels by HPV promotes cervical cancer cell proliferation by contributing to MAPK/AP-1 signalling

1. James A. Scarth
2. Christopher W. Wasson
3. Molly R. Patterson
4. Debra Evans
5. Diego Barba-Moreno
6. Holli Carden
7. Rosa Cassidy
8. Adrian Whitehouse
9. Jamel Mankouri
10. Adel Samson
11. Ethan L. Morgan
12. Andrew Macdonald

Reviewed by Review Commons

Highly diverse and unknown viruses may enhance Antarctic endoliths’ adaptability

1. Cassandra L. Ettinger
2. Morgan Saunders
3. Laura Selbmann
4. Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
5. Claudio Donati
6. Davide Albanese
7. Simon Roux
8. Susannah Tringe
9. Christa Pennacchio
10. Tijana G. del Rio
11. Jason E. Stajich
12. Claudia Coleine

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

High-efficiency transfection of Acanthamoeba castellanii using a cationic polymer

1. Anaísa B. Moreno
2. Viktor Ek
3. Jens Eriksson
4. Mikael E. Sellin
5. Lionel Guy

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Fecal transplant from myostatin deletion pigs positively impacts the gut-muscle axis

1. Zhao-Bo Luo
2. Shengzhong Han
3. Xi-Jun Yin
4. Hongye Liu
5. Junxia Wang
6. Meifu Xuan
7. Chunyun Hao
8. Danqi Wang
9. Yize Liu
10. Shuangyan Chang
11. Dongxu Li
12. Kai Gao
13. Huiling Li
14. Biaohu Quan
15. Lin-Hu Quan
16. Jin-Dan Kang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Myostatin KO is known to increase muscle mass, but can transplanting the gut microbiome from these animals also increase muscle mass and strength? Based on the experiments performed in this paper, the answer is yes, and the positive impact of myostatin deletion on the gut-muscle axis may proceed through alteration of gut bacterial metabolism, including short-chain fatty acids. This is important work and will contribute to the expanding field of the gut-muscle axis.

Reviewed by eLife

A circular zone of attachment to the extracellular matrix provides directionality to the motility of Toxoplasma gondii in 3D

1. Rachel V Stadler
2. Shane R Nelson
3. David M Warshaw
4. Gary E Ward

Reviewed by Review Commons