Trends in Microbiology最新文献

Arbovirus transmission by mosquitoes remains a major global health concern. A clearer understanding of the molecular mechanisms enabling mosquitoes to acquire and transmit these pathogens (i.e., their vector competence) is crucial for developing more effective control strategies. This review focuses on Aedes aegypti and dengue virus, highlighting the diverse approaches, ranging from foundational forward genetics to high-throughput omics and advanced reverse genetics, used over the past decades to discover mosquito molecular factors underlying vector competence. We discuss the progress and limitations of these research methods and emphasize next-generation techniques that have the potential to transform our understanding of mosquito-arbovirus interactions. These novel approaches offer promising avenues for describing within-vector infection dynamics, predicting infection outcomes, and developing targeted tools for vector-oriented control of mosquito-borne diseases.

Argentina's microbiology, born from 19th-century public health challenges, built enduring institutions and contributed globally to the fight against infectious diseases, to agriculture, and to biotechnology. Yet chronic underfunding, political instability, and policy discontinuity have undermined progress. Revitalization requires a sustained strategy that fosters investment and collaboration, transforming historical strengths into lasting scientific and societal development.

The prokaryotic pangenome, the full complement of genes within a species, is strikingly large. To understand how ecological forces shape this diversity, it is useful to examine the variable gene pool within a single population, defined as cells of the same species coexisting in the same time and place. This single-population pangenome reflects the minimal flexible gene repertoire required in a specific environmental context. Recent long-read metagenomic studies of marine prokaryotes show that local population pangenomes remain large, often comprising thousands of genes. Specifically, cells belonging to the same species of the streamlined alfaproteobacterium Pelagibacter, coming from the same sampling site and even sample, contain more than a thousand genes. Many of these genes are related variants that collectively expand the population's metabolic potential, akin to paralogs within a single large genome. We propose for them the name 'metaparalogs' together with the idea that these data reflect cooperative, population-level strategies, where the flexible genome operates as a public good (sensu Samuelson), enhancing both adaptability and ecological resilience. A role for extracellular vesicles in facilitating resource sharing is also suggested.

This paper proposes an ethical framework for microbiome research with the Yanomami, an Indigenous Amazonian people, grounded in collaboration, reciprocity, and relational accountability. Key elements include dedicated funding for community-identified initiatives, sustained community-led ethical oversight, and meaningful benefit-sharing. This approach fosters trust and supports equitable, culturally aligned, and sustainable research collaboration.

Johnson and Marín's paper presents functional team selection (FTS) as a major conceptual advance in plant-microbiome ecology. FTS explains how limiting resources and/or stress selects cooperative microbial teams that promote plant adaptation, integrating ecological feedback and evolutionary selection to predict when and where resilient plant-microbiome partnerships will arise.

Recent research on human and crop fungal pathogens has highlighted a set of unexpected and seemingly unrelated mechanisms fuelling adaptation to drugs and the host immune system. These mechanisms include the loss of RNA interference (RNAi) in human pathogens, the rapid accumulation of point mutations, and the activity of transposable elements. Despite mechanistic differences driving the extreme accumulation of mutations (i.e., hypermutation) in some pathogens, we argue that the origins follow defined principles. The appearance of hypermutation phenotypes puts pathogens on a unique evolutionary trajectory, and mitigation strategies need to be carefully adapted.

Anaerobic microorganisms inhabit diverse anoxic environments and play a fundamental role in global biogeochemical cycles. Expanding our knowledge of these organisms offers the potential to transform our understanding of ecological and evolutionary processes and to uncover new biotechnological applications. Recent advances in DNA sequencing have revealed a striking gap between the vast microbial diversity found in anoxic environments and the small number of anaerobes - fewer than 0.1% of the estimated millions of anaerobic species in nature - that have been cultivated in the laboratory. This challenge reflects the 'great plate count anomaly', in which most microorganisms observed in nature fail to grow in laboratory conditions, and aligns with the 'scout' model, which suggests that only a few opportunistic species thrive under standard cultivation approaches. Overcoming these limitations requires a shift in cultivation strategies. Here, we review recent advances in the cultivation and isolation of novel anaerobes. Specifically, we introduce a growth-curve-guided strategy that uses real-time monitoring of microbial growth (primarily at the species level) to inform approaches that leverage relative growth advantages and improve the recovery of target microorganisms. By prioritizing growth performance over abundance and selectively removing non-target microbes, this approach offers a more predictable and adaptable framework for isolating anaerobes from complex communities.

Iron-sulfur ([Fe-S]) cluster proteins are essential cofactors that support key biological processes in bacteria. Among the various [Fe-S] protein biogenesis systems (ISC, SUF, NIF, MIS, SMS), mycobacterial species rely exclusively on the sulfur utilization factor (SUF) machinery for [Fe-S] cluster biogenesis. In this review, we summarize current knowledge of the SUF system in bacteria and compare it with other [Fe-S] protein biogenesis systems. We outline the cellular sources of iron and sulfur in mycobacteria, propose a global model for [Fe-S] cluster assembly, and present an overview of [Fe-S] proteins in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other mycobacterial species, emphasizing their roles in virulence, persistence, metabolism, and antibiotic resistance. Finally, we discuss emerging inhibitors targeting [Fe-S]-dependent pathways and their potential as antimycobacterial agents. Together, this overview provides a framework for unraveling the complexity of [Fe-S]-based metabolism in mycobacteria and highlights new opportunities for therapeutic intervention.