Trends in Microbiology最新文献

Antibiotic combination therapy has a critical role in limiting emergent antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens. Collateral sensitivity (CS), resistance to one antibiotic that is inextricable from sensitivity to another antibiotic, presents an opportunity for combinations explicitly selecting against resistance. Complementing efforts to select against resistance, differential genetic vulnerability mapping unravels dependencies unique for resistant strains. In this review, we discuss the potential implications of CS and genetic vulnerability data for the design of bespoke antibiotic combinations, drug discovery, and tracking evolution of resistant strains.

Viral infections of marine microbes greatly impact ecological and biogeochemical processes. Typically, these host-virus interactions are studied at the population level using bulk transcriptomics, which presents a population-averaged perspective and masks diverse infection states. Recent advancements in single-cell technologies enable a simultaneous view of the virus and its host within a population and expose phenotypic heterogeneity during infection. We present a promising avenue for investigating marine viral ecology from a new single-cell perspective to reveal the viral life cycle and host antiviral strategies employed by rare resistant cells. Consequently, we can detect specific host-virus dynamics in the complex natural population, track the spread of infection across ecosystems, and study the ecological impact of marine viruses at an unprecedented resolution.

Little is known about the processes that drive microbial community merging and development in transplanted soils. A recent study by Causevic et al. disentangled the relative contribution of habitat filtering and microbiota taxa origin in shaping transplant outcomes, providing valuable insights for advancing microbial engineering.

One Health is an integrative concept striving for healthy environments, animals, and humans. Microbes play a fundamental role for this concept as they are key drivers of ecosystem stability and host health. A central microbial feature across various environments is the secretion of siderophores, low-molecular-weight metabolites that chelate ferric iron (Fe³⁺) with high affinity. We propose that, by steering iron and metal availability, siderophores can be important for One Health in four key areas via: (i) enhancing crop yield, (ii) mitigating heavy metal pollution, (iii) preventing pathogen colonization, and (iv) serving as potential treatments for established infections. Collectively, siderophores are attractive molecules to complement our efforts in increasing human, animal, and environmental health.

While often overlooked in studies of influenza antibody responses, the virally encoded neuraminidase (NA) is emerging as an attractive vaccine target due to its comparably high sequence conservation. Recent studies by Jo et al., Lederhofer et al., and Lv et al. reveal a common theme of receptor mimicry mediated by structurally convergent antibodies.

Microbial-assisted restoration (MaR) is gaining traction, yet its outcomes under recurring and extreme drought remain uncertain. We propose that ecological debt - functional erosion from trade-offs between stress tolerance and performance - can limit MaR success. By linking this debt to microbial coalescence dynamics, we offer a framework to improve microbiome-based restoration under climatic stress.

Mangroves are known worldwide but their concealed network of microbiomes is poorly understood. Huang et al., on genomic indicators, Siblos and Tabugo's 16S rRNA sequencing of the mangrove microbiome, and Dechavez et al.'s culture-dependent survey collectively highlight the ecological significance of mangroves, their conservation potential, and their role as key ecological gatekeepers.

Microbial hitchhikers are rewriting the rules of horizontal gene transfer. He, Patkowski, et al. reveal how phage satellites assemble chimeric infective particles that deliver DNA across species boundaries through 'tail piracy'. This discovery reframes microbial innovation and provides a blueprint for next-generation biotechnologies, achieving what phage engineering has long pursued.

In their DNA genomes, the devastating plant-infecting geminiviruses contain partially overlapping genes which encode multifunctional proteins. For decades, geminiviral genomes were believed to contain four to eight open-reading frames (ORFs); now, a burst of independent works has found evidence for the existence of additional ORFs, revealing that their coding space remains to be fully explored.