552 papers
Microbiology explores the invisible world of tiny life forms that shape our health, environment, and even the air we breathe. From bacteria and viruses to fungi and parasites, this field investigates how these microscopic organisms interact with us and each other, driving everything from disease outbreaks to beneficial fermentation processes. Understanding them is crucial for developing new medicines, improving food safety, and combating global health challenges.
At Gist.Science, we make the latest discoveries in this dynamic field accessible to everyone. We process every new preprint uploaded to bioRxiv in this category, transforming dense academic findings into both clear, plain-language explanations and detailed technical summaries. This ensures that whether you are a student, a researcher, or simply curious, you can grasp the significance of cutting-edge science without getting lost in jargon.
Below are the most recent papers in microbiology, curated and summarized directly from the bioRxiv server to keep you at the forefront of discovery.
This study elucidates the molecular interface between influenza hemagglutinin and MHC-II by combining deep mutational scanning and cryo-EM to reveal that diverse influenza subtypes utilize MHC-II for cell entry, with specific structural determinants on both the viral protein and the host receptor governing this interaction.
This study demonstrates that human metapneumovirus transmission in LLC-MK2 cells follows a biphasic mechanism, beginning with localized cell-to-cell spread via surface filaments and transitioning to widespread dissemination through cell-free spherical particles as infection progresses and membrane integrity declines.
Experimental evolution demonstrates that while bacteria rapidly evolve phage resistance, a diverse microbial community promotes coexistence by constraining this resistance through growth trade-offs, thereby sustaining higher phage densities and preventing extinction.
This multi-omic study of 620 children demonstrates that family context and shared environment exert a far stronger influence on gut microbiome and metabolic profiles than an autism diagnosis, thereby challenging the existence of a universal ASD-specific microbiome biomarker.
This study reveals that over 80 years of human circulation, the influenza B virus hemagglutinin evolves through complex epistatic networks that enable antigenic drift via recurring mutations while maintaining viral fitness, highlighting both similarities to and distinct differences from influenza A(H3N2) evolution.
This study demonstrates that evolving uropathogenic *E. coli* for fosfomycin resistance within a human bladder 3D microtissue model yields clinically relevant mutations in genes like *glpT* and *uhpT* that mirror those found in patient isolates, thereby validating the model's potential to improve the translational relevance of antimicrobial resistance research.
The Flu Mutation Explorer is an accessible, interactive web platform that integrates large-scale influenza A virus genomic data with a curated database of mammalian adaptation mutations to help users interpret viral genetic variation and host adaptation without requiring bioinformatics expertise.
This study demonstrates that while environmental factors are the dominant constraint on barley rhizosphere microbiome composition across diverse locations, barley genotype significantly influences the recruitment of specific bacterial and fungal taxa within those environmental constraints.
This study expands the *Acinetobacter baumannii* K locus reference database to 409 types by incorporating 168 novel loci and curating 309 protein clusters, thereby enhancing the *in silico* prediction of capsular polysaccharide diversity and revealing that a small subset of K loci dominates the majority of sequenced isolates.
This study identifies BMM_1567, a peptide potentiator that restores aminoglycoside efficacy against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative ESKAPE pathogens by directly inhibiting aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes, thereby reducing bacterial burden in vivo with a low risk of resistance development.