Microbiology

Parallel expansion and divergence of an adhesin family in pathogenic yeasts

1. Rachel A Smoak
2. Lindsey F Snyder
3. Jan S Fassler
4. Bin Z He

Reviewed by Review Commons

A choline-releasing glycerophosphodiesterase essential for phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis and blood stage development in the malaria parasite

1. Abhinay Ramaprasad
2. Paul-Christian Burda
3. Enrica Calvani
4. Aaron J Sait
5. Susana Alejandra Palma-Duran
6. Chrislaine Withers-Martinez
7. Fiona Hackett
8. James Macrae
9. Lucy Collinson
10. Tim Wolf Gilberger
11. Michael J Blackman

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This high-quality study characterizes a key enzyme in asexual red blood stages of the malaria parasites that is used to salvage lipid precursors needed for membrane biogenesis and parasite growth in red blood cells. A previously identified glycerophosphodiesterase (PfGDPD), is shown to mediate the hydrolysis of host lyso-phosphatidycholine to generate choline, which in turn is required for parasite de novo phosphatidylcholine synthesis. Extensive analysis of the localization, growth phenotype and lipidomic profiles of PfGDPD deficient parasites indicate that this salvage pathway is essential for lipid homeostasis and asexual parasite development.

Reviewed by eLife

Promoting Fc-Fc interactions between anti-capsular antibodies provides strong immune protection against Streptococcus pneumoniae

1. Leire Aguinagalde Salazar
2. Maurits A den Boer
3. Suzanne M Castenmiller
4. Seline A Zwarthoff
5. Carla de Haas
6. Piet C Aerts
7. Frank J Beurskens
8. Janine Schuurman
9. Albert JR Heck
10. Kok van Kessel
11. Suzan HM Rooijakkers

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This paper will be of interest to immunologists and infectious disease experts, as it reports the investigation of a novel treatment of invasive pneumococcal diseases using complement-activating monoclonal antibodies. Using a combination of in vitro and in vivo methods, the authors demonstrate convincingly that the introduction of specific mutations in human monoclonal antibodies that target the surface of pneumococcus bacteria can result in enhanced complement activation after these antibodies bind to the bacterial surface.

Reviewed by eLife

A novel class of sulphonamides potently block malaria transmission by targeting a Plasmodium vacuole membrane protein

1. Sabrina Yahiya
2. Charlie N. Saunders
3. Sarah Hassan
4. Ursula Straschil
5. Oliver J. Fischer
6. Ainoa Rueda-Zubiaurre
7. Silvia Haase
8. Gema Vizcay-Barrena
9. Mufuliat Toyin Famodimu
10. Sarah Jordan
11. Michael J. Delves
12. Edward W. Tate
13. Anna Barnard
14. Matthew J. Fuchter
15. Jake Baum

Reviewed by Review Commons

Genetic glyco-profiling and rewiring of insulated flagellin glycosylation pathways

1. Nicolas Kint
2. Thomas Dubois
3. Patrick H. Viollier

Reviewed by Review Commons

Genome-wide profiling of histone modifications in Plasmodium falciparum using CUT&RUN

1. Riward Campelo Morillo
2. Chantal T Harris
3. Kit Kennedy
4. Samuel R Henning
5. Björn FC Kafsack

Reviewed by Review Commons

Critical roles for ‘housekeeping’ nucleases in type III CRISPR-Cas immunity

1. Lucy Chou-Zheng
2. Asma Hatoum-Aslan

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  CRISPR-Cas systems are essential components of an adaptive immune system that protects bacteria and archaea from infection by foreign genetic elements like phages and plasmids. The work presented here demonstrates that some CRISPR systems (i.e., type III-A) rely on host nucleases (i.e., RNase R and PNPase) for faithful processing of CRISPR RNAs. Collectively, this work expands the fundamental understanding of how nucleases involved in RNA metabolism contribute to the adaptive immune response in bacteria.

Reviewed by eLife

Magnesium Modulates Bacillus subtilis Cell Division Frequency

1. Tingfeng Guo
2. Jennifer K. Herman

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Phage resistance profiling identifies new genes required for biogenesis and modification of the corynebacterial cell envelope

1. Amelia C McKitterick
2. Thomas G Bernhardt

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment:

  The authors perform a Transposon-Sequencing screen to determine bacterial factors (including receptors) important for infection by two phages in the model bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum. Using their established high-density transposon library, they identify genes required for infection with the phages Cog and CL31. They also identified a spontaneous phage-resistant mutant that led to the discovery of a gene involved in mycolic acid synthesis. Overall, the work is of broad interest to scientists in the field of cell wall biogenesis, phage infection, and bacterial cell biology.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1, Reviewer #2 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Evidence linking APOBEC3B genesis and evolution of innate immune antagonism by gamma-herpesvirus ribonucleotide reductases

1. Sofia N Moraes
2. Jordan T Becker
3. Seyed Arad Moghadasi
4. Nadine M Shaban
5. Ashley A Auerbach
6. Adam Z Cheng
7. Reuben S Harris

Reviewed by Review Commons