🦠 Category

microbiology

652 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.

🦠 microbiology

Co-Circulation of Multiple Kolmioviridae Lineages Through Vertebrate Evolution

This study expands the known diversity of Kolmioviridae by identifying eight novel lineages in diverse vertebrates and demonstrates through comprehensive phylogenetic analysis that multiple distinct kolmiovirus lineages have co-circulated throughout vertebrate evolution for hundreds of millions of years, with the specific association between hepatitis deltavirus and hepatitis B virus being a recent development.

Lim, L., Van Brussel, K., Melade, J., Boucher, M., Parrott, B. B., Whiteley, S. L., Mandojana, E., Rainwater, T. R., And (…)2026-06-06
🦠 microbiology

Detecting transcriptional responses and comparing the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cystic fibrosis isolates in a mung bean model

This study validates the mung bean model for comparing *Pseudomonas aeruginosa* virulence by characterizing its shared and distinct transcriptional responses during infection and demonstrating that clinical cystic fibrosis isolates from later infection stages exhibit higher virulence and distinct genomic profiles compared to early-stage isolates.

Franco Ortega, S., Herman, E., Kyrkou, I., Johansen, H. K., Moir, J. W. B., Mahon, C. S., Friman, V. P.2026-06-06
🦠 microbiology

NINJ1 mediates necrosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected human macrophages

This study identifies Ninj1 as a central effector of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-induced macrophage necrosis, revealing that the bacterial ESX-1 secretion system triggers NINJ1 oligomerization and plasma membrane rupture through a unique pathway independent of canonical regulated cell death mechanisms.

Saetra, R. S. R., Hansen, M., Kappelhoff, S., Bugge, M., Marstad, A., Ryan, L., Devant, P., Kagan, J. C., Freude, K. K. (…)2026-06-05
🦠 microbiology

Symbiosis through lysis: host-triggered prophage induction drives probiotic function in Lactiplantibacillus plantarum

This study reveals that the acidic environment of the *Drosophila* midgut triggers prophage-mediated lysis in the probiotic bacterium *Lactiplantibacillus plantarum*, enabling the release of symbiotic extracellular vesicles that are essential for supporting host growth under nutritional stress.

Zhu, C., Manuse, S., Perrier, Q., Venkatasubramaniyan, S., Akherraz, H., Lodej, N., Ramos, C. I., Zhang, M., Grangeasse (…)2026-06-05
🦠 microbiology

Immobilization in nanocellulose matrix reallocates cyanobacterial proteome resources from growth to bioproduction

This study demonstrates that immobilizing engineered *Synechocystis* sp. PCC 6803 within a cellulose nanofiber matrix via osmotic dehydration reconfigures the cyanobacterial proteome to shift resources from growth toward enhanced sucrose production by upregulating biosynthetic pathways and stress responses while downregulating ribosomal proteins.

Lupacchini, S., Sporre, E., Attallah, N. L., Arumughan, V., Kontturi, E., Brismar, H., Maloney, T., Hudson, E. P., Gucci (…)2026-06-05
🦠 microbiology

Interferon-gamma induced RNF213 targets nascent double membrane vesicles to inhibit coronavirus primary translation

This study identifies interferon-gamma-induced RNF213 as a key antiviral mediator that inhibits the primary translation of diverse human coronaviruses by targeting nascent double-membrane vesicles via its ATPase and ubiquitin ligase activities, although SARS-CoV-2 appears to evade this restriction.

Tartell, M. A., Tissawak, R., Voss, L., Lodha, M., Bianco, C., Iwamoto, M., Poston, D., Hatziioannou, T., Weisblum, Y. (…)2026-06-04
🦠 microbiology

Pseudomonas aeruginosa CRISPR-Cas primes a minimal proline-codon toxin to abort anti-CRISPR phages

This study reveals that *Pseudomonas aeruginosa* employs a unique CRISPR-Cas-regulated toxin system, CreTA, which utilizes a novel proline-codon toxin to abort anti-CRISPR phages by sensing Cas inactivation, thereby establishing a layered defense mechanism against multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.

Wang, R., Liu, C., Li, P., Xu, J., Liang, G., Wu, Y., Jiang, X., Zhao, R., Pinilla-Redondo, R., Le, S., luan, g., Li, M.2026-06-03
🦠 microbiology

Antimicrobial resistance as a signature of soil restoration across a 143-year chronosequence

This study demonstrates that antimicrobial resistance abundance increases with soil restoration age in a 143-year chronosequence, indicating that a mature, structurally complex resistome driven by biotic interactions and ancient intrinsic mechanisms is a hallmark of healthy, restored ecosystems rather than a marker of anthropogenic degradation.

Goodall, T. I., Busi, S. B., Griffiths, R. I., Read, D., Thorpe, A. C., Jones, B. A., Gweon, H. S., Pywell, R.2026-06-03
🦠 microbiology

Site-specialization of human oral Porphyromonas species

This study analyzes metagenomic data from healthy and periodontitis oral samples to reveal distinct site-specific distributions, ecotype differentiation, and varying metabolic specializations among *Porphyromonas* species, highlighting how genomic divergence and horizontal gene transfer shape their ecological roles in the human oral microbiome.

Torres-Morales, J., Dewhirst, F., Kauffman, K. M., Mark Welch, J., Borisy, G.2026-06-03
🦠 microbiology

Persistent Staphylococcus aureus in human musculoskeletal tissues despite targeted antibiotic therapy

Advanced imaging and metagenomics reveal that *Staphylococcus aureus* frequently persists in human musculoskeletal tissues despite antibiotic therapy and culture-negative results, with residual bacterial loads stabilizing after an initial reduction and long-term relapse driven by extracellular bacteria rather than true microbial clearance.

Morin, B., Tripathi, V., Woischnig, A.-K., Erdmann, J., Iizuka, A., Baumhoer, D., Rentsch, K., Sauteur, L., Bartoszek, E (…)2026-06-03