Microbiology

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

Cyclic AMP binding to a universal stress protein in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is essential for viability

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

Lipopolysaccharide integrity primes bacterial sensitivity to a cell wall-degrading intermicrobial toxin

1. Kristine L Trotta
2. Beth M Hayes
3. Johannes P Schneider
4. Jing Wang
5. Horia Todor
6. Patrick Rockefeller Grimes
7. Ziyi Zhao
8. William L Hatleberg
9. Melanie R Silvis
10. Rachel Kim
11. Byoung Mo Koo
12. Marek Basler
13. Seemay Chou

Reviewed by Review Commons

Extensive remodelling of the cell wall during the development of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia

1. Edward JA Douglas
2. Nathanael Palk
3. Tarcisio Brignoli
4. Dina Altwiley
5. Marcia Boura
6. Maisem Laabei
7. Mario Recker
8. Gordon YC Cheung
9. Ryan Liu
10. Roger C Hsieh
11. Michael Otto
12. Eoin O'Brien
13. Rachel M McLoughlin
14. Ruth C Massey

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study uses an innovative GWAS approach and targeted testing to highlight S. aureus genes that modify susceptibility to serum, serum-derived antimicrobial products, and commonly used antibiotics. These findings are significant in that they highlight evidence of evolution of virulence determinants in the setting of exposure to host stressors expected to be present during bacteremia and antibiotic therapy. Compelling results build on a foundation of work attributing loss-of-function mutations in tcaA to glycopeptide non-susceptibility.

Reviewed by eLife

The importance of cellulolytic and xylanolytic activities of Bacillus subtilis on dairy cow feed digestibility

1. Valeria Bontà
2. Marco Battelli
3. Erlinda Rama
4. Michela Casanova
5. Lorenzo Pasotti
6. Gianluca Galassi
7. Stefania Colombini
8. Cinzia Calvio

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Amino acid auxotrophies in human gut bacteria are linked to higher microbiome diversity and long-term stability

1. Svenja Starke
2. Danielle M M Harris
3. Johannes Zimmermann
4. Sven Schuchardt
5. Mhmd Oumari
6. Derk Frank
7. Corinna Bang
8. Philip Rosenstiel
9. Stefan Schreiber
10. Norbert Frey
11. Andre Franke
12. Konrad Aden
13. Silvio Waschina

Reviewed by Arcadia Science