🦠 Category

microbiology

802 papers

Synergistic Antibiotic Activity and Integrated Genomic-Metabolomic Profiling of Patch - and Plaque -Derived Staphylococcus aureus in Mycosis Fungoides

This study reveals that *Staphylococcus aureus* isolates from advanced mycosis fungoides lesions exhibit distinct genomic and metabolomic adaptations linked to increased virulence and resistance compared to those from early lesions, while identifying synergistic antibiotic combinations as effective strategies to target these multidrug-resistant strains.

Straub, F. A., Serbin, L. K., Barkani, I. E. + 3 more2026-04-02🦠 microbiology

All-trans retinoic acid recalibrates macrophage transcriptional responses to drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis through strain-specific immunometabolic reprogramming

This study demonstrates that while all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) can recalibrate macrophage immunometabolic responses to drug-susceptible and multidrug-resistant *Mycobacterium tuberculosis* by promoting resolution signaling and preserving antimicrobial pathways, its efficacy is significantly attenuated in extensively drug-resistant strains due to unique immune evasion mechanisms and transcriptional refractoriness.

Roshan Singh, M., Kumar, R., Anand, S. + 8 more2026-04-02🦠 microbiology

The transcription factor Vca0578 (DsvR) mediated expression of ZapC is required to promote cell division during lytic transglycosylase insufficiency in Vibrio cholerae

This study reveals that in *Vibrio cholerae*, the transcription factor Vca0578 (DsvR) promotes cell division under lytic transglycosylase insufficiency or antibiotic stress by upregulating the expression of ZapC, a protein essential for maintaining cell envelope homeostasis and FtsZ-mediated division when cell wall remodeling is compromised.

BASU, U., Weaver, A. I., Lin, N. + 4 more2026-04-02🦠 microbiology

Fungicide drives de novo evolution of multidrug resistance in the plant growth promoting rhizobacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens

This study demonstrates that exposure to the fungicide Fubol Gold rapidly drives the de novo evolution of multidrug resistance in the beneficial soil bacterium *Pseudomonas fluorescens* via efflux pump overexpression, while combined warming stress accelerates population extinction despite not altering the resistance evolution trajectory.

Kelbrick, M., Hall, J. P., O'Brien, S.2026-04-02🦠 microbiology

Story about honest mistakes: The cyanobacterium Synechocystis has a promiscuous Entner-Doudoroff (ED) aldolase but no functional ED pathway.

This study corrects the long-standing misconception that the cyanobacterium *Synechocystis* possesses a functional Entner-Doudoroff pathway by demonstrating that while it lacks the essential EDD enzyme, it does contain a promiscuous EDA aldolase that likely serves roles in amino acid synthesis and catabolism rather than glycolysis.

Ojha, R. S., Theune, M., Fritsche, R. + 8 more2026-04-02🦠 microbiology

Exploring the virome of Gyropsylla spegazziniana, a major yerba mate pest

This study presents the first high-throughput RNA sequencing analysis of the yerba mate pest *Gyropsylla spegazziniana*, revealing a complex virome composed of five novel viruses from the Benyviridae, Picornaviridae, and Solemoviridae families and establishing a foundation for future research into their ecological roles and potential biocontrol applications.

Candia, Y. G., Nahirnak, V., Badaracco, A. + 3 more2026-04-02🦠 microbiology

Symbiotic Escherichia coli strains can better colonize host stinkbugs and outcompete natural symbiotic bacteria, but confer less fitness benefits

This study demonstrates that experimentally evolved *Escherichia coli* strains can rapidly acquire superior colonization abilities to outcompete native *Pantoea* symbionts in the stinkbug *Plautia stali*, yet fail to provide equivalent fitness benefits, thereby revealing a decoupling between infection success and mutualism that highlights the potential for "cheater-like" microbes to destabilize coevolved symbiotic partnerships.

Cai, W., Moriyama, M., Nishide, Y. + 2 more2026-04-02🦠 microbiology

FAM134B isoform 2/RETREG1-2 defines a calnexin-TOLLIP-coupled ER-phagy pathway that restricts Ebola virus glycoprotein and is antagonized by VP40 through macro-autophagy

This study identifies the truncated FAM134B isoform 2 (RETR1-2) as a calnexin- and TOLLIP-dependent ER-phagy receptor that selectively degrades Ebola virus glycoprotein to restrict infection, while revealing a reciprocal arms race where the viral protein VP40 counteracts this defense by triggering RETR1-2's own degradation via macro-autophagy.

Zhang, J., Wang, T., Wen, J. + 3 more2026-04-02🦠 microbiology

Lactic acid bacterium Fructilactobacillus sanfranciscensis impairs fitness of yeast Maudiozyma humilis in synthetic wheat sourdough

This study reveals that the lactic acid bacterium *Fructilactobacillus sanfranciscensis* impairs the fitness of the yeast *Maudiozyma humilis* in synthetic wheat sourdough, challenging the long-held belief of a mutualistic glucose cross-feeding relationship and suggesting their interaction is instead neutral or competitive.

Wittwer, A. E., Segond, D., Serre, C. + 3 more2026-04-02🦠 microbiology

Enhanced carbon storage in dissolved organic matter in a future oligotrophic ocean

By integrating metagenomic data with Earth system modeling, this study reveals that intensified nutrient limitation in a future oligotrophic ocean will reduce microbial degradation of dissolved organic carbon, leading to a significant increase in the marine DOC reservoir that acts as a substantial negative feedback on centennial timescales.

Kurahashi-Nakamura, T., Dittmar, T., Martiny, A. C. + 1 more2026-04-02🦠 microbiology

Enabling the prediction of phage receptor specificity from genome data

By generating a large-scale dataset of 1,050 genetic screens linking 255 *Escherichia coli* phages to their host receptors, researchers developed machine learning models that accurately predict phage receptor specificity directly from genome sequences, enabling precise manipulation of phage-host interactions for therapeutic and engineering applications.

Moriniere, L., Noonan, A. J. C., Kazakov, A. + 11 more2026-04-02🦠 microbiology

Prolific S-layer shedding and associated proteins from the methanotroph Methylomicrobium album BG8

This study reveals that the methanotroph *Methylomicrobium album* BG8 uniquely constitutively sheds abundant S-layer units via a Type I secretion system to facilitate metal acquisition, a phenotype that is lost under low-pH adaptation due to genetic mutations and offers potential applications for the industrial secretion of bio-products.

Hermary, M. K., Rodriguez Gallo, M. C., Rieberger, R. + 5 more2026-04-01🦠 microbiology

Protective efficacy of mutant strains of Borrelia burgdorferi as potential reservoir host-targeted biologics against Lyme disease

This study demonstrates that non-infectious mutant strains of *Borrelia burgdorferi* and their derived lipoproteins can serve as effective biologics to elicit protective immunity in reservoir hosts, thereby blocking the acquisition of the pathogen by ticks and disrupting the enzootic transmission cycle of Lyme disease.

Kumaresan, V., Smith, T., Lumbreras, M. + 5 more2026-04-01🦠 microbiology

The Urinary Tract Commensal Peptoniphilus spp. Encodes a Novel 17β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase

This study identifies and characterizes novel NADPH-dependent 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases in the urinary tract commensals *Peptoniphilus obesi* and *Anaerococcus*, demonstrating their ability to interconvert androstenedione and testosterone and suggesting a previously unrecognized microbial mechanism for androgen availability in the genitourinary tract that may influence prostate cancer.

Binion, B., Ahmad, S., Wang, T. + 10 more2026-04-01🦠 microbiology

CRISPR Screens Reveal Epstein-Barr Virus-activated JunB as a Key Lymphoblastoid B cell Dependency Factor that Represses Cyclin Dependent Kinase Inhibitor P18INK4c

This study identifies EBV-activated JunB as a critical dependency factor in lymphoblastoid B cells that drives proliferation by repressing the cell cycle inhibitor p18INK4c via an LMP1-NF-κB signaling axis, highlighting JunB as a promising therapeutic target for EBV-associated lymphoproliferative disorders.

Burton, E., Liao, Y., Maestri, D. + 2 more2026-04-01🦠 microbiology