A bile acid-bound structure of toxin TcdB revealed the mechanism of inhibition and guided the design of a synthetic bile acid that alleviated Clostridioides difficile infection in mice.

Fermented foods are staples in diets worldwide and are known for their health benefits. Microorganisms are the key to fermented food production as they convert raw substrates into digestible, nutritio...

AbstractMotivation. Over the past years, substantial numbers of microbial species’ genomes have been deposited outside of conventional INSDC databases.Resu

Published in Critical reviews in biotechnology

Scientific Data - Recovery of 1,773 microbial genomes and 2,060 viral genomes from the Mars-analog Qaidam Basin desert

In this Review, Basler and colleagues examine the type VI secretion system (T6SS), focusing on the diversity of antibacterial T6SS effectors and the evolutionary forces that shape them. They explain h...

Once considered a bag of enzymes, bacterial cells do not simply hold their proteins in the bag but have evolved multiple protein secretion systems to release proteins outside for crucial functions. These secretion systems are often required for mediating intra- and inter-cellular interactions in diverse polymicrobial environments, virulence, and survival during pathogen-host interactions (1–3). Therefore, bacterial secretion systems have received tremendous attention and broad interest despite their non-essential role in survival in pure cultures. Among the known systems, most secrete proteins across the double membrane of Gram-negative bacteria through one- or two-step mechanisms (4). One-step systems (T1SS, T3SS, T4SS, T6SS, and T7SS) form trans-membrane tunnels that translocate substrates directly from the cytoplasm to the extracellular environment (5–9). Two-step systems (T2SS and T5SS) use Sec or Tat translocation systems to move effectors across the inner membrane to the periplasm before secretion across the outer membrane (10, 11). These systems secrete diverse effectors involved in stress mitigation, nutrient acquisition, host-microbe interactions, and modulation of polymicrobial communities (12–16).

In this work, Wilson et al., examined sharing of Salmonella between humans, animals and the environment using household samples from Malawi. They revealed an interconnected web of Salmonella circulati...

Abstract. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-hydrolyzing enzymes (PETases) are a recently discovered enzyme class capable of plastic degradation. PETases are

Once considered a bag of enzymes, bacterial cells do not simply hold their proteins in the bag but have evolved multiple protein secretion systems to release proteins outside for crucial functions. These secretion systems are often required for mediating intra- and inter-cellular interactions in diverse polymicrobial environments, virulence, and survival during pathogen-host interactions (1–3). Therefore, bacterial secretion systems have received tremendous attention and broad interest despite their non-essential role in survival in pure cultures. Among the known systems, most secrete proteins across the double membrane of Gram-negative bacteria through one- or two-step mechanisms (4). One-step systems (T1SS, T3SS, T4SS, T6SS, and T7SS) form trans-membrane tunnels that translocate substrates directly from the cytoplasm to the extracellular environment (5–9). Two-step systems (T2SS and T5SS) use Sec or Tat translocation systems to move effectors across the inner membrane to the periplasm before secretion across the outer membrane (10, 11). These systems secrete diverse effectors involved in stress mitigation, nutrient acquisition, host-microbe interactions, and modulation of polymicrobial communities (12–16).

Published in Bio Systems

Tiny 5 cm long bone allows insights into crucial period when Neanderthals disappeared and Homo sapiens replaced them