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 demonstrates that endogenous A-to-I RNA editing in *Vibrio alginolyticus* recodes the quorum-sensing synthase CqsA by substituting tyrosine with cysteine, thereby modulating gene expression and enabling efficient type VI secretion system-mediated interbacterial killing.
This study demonstrates that the two cardiolipin synthases, ClsA and ClsB, in the gut commensal *Bacteroides fragilis* perform non-redundant functions that distinctively shape lipid composition, cell morphology, and stress resilience against membrane-disrupting agents without disrupting basal ion homeostasis.
This study reveals that viral lysis of catechin-degrading bacteria in methane-suppressed peat microcosms triggers a "viral shunt" that redistributes metabolic intermediates to diverse phenol-degrading taxa, thereby sustaining hydrogen consumption and methane suppression while highlighting the critical role of viruses in microbiome engineering strategies.
This study reveals that N-acetylcysteine's antibacterial activity against *Staphylococcus aureus* is strictly pH-dependent and driven by acidification rather than the molecule itself, while pH-neutral NAC still significantly alters bacterial metabolism without inhibiting growth.
This paper presents a structured evaluation workflow for selecting deep learning segmentation models in low- and ultralow-dose cryoEM, demonstrating that while high-performance metrics do not guarantee reliable quantitative results, YOLOv11 and SAM3 offer distinct advantages for membrane segmentation fidelity and ultralow-dose robustness, respectively.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.