{"title":"Editorial overview: emerging avenues in antimicrobial research","authors":"Toni Gabaldón , Luiz Pedro Sório de Carvalho","doi":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102522","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102522","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10921,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in microbiology","volume":"81 ","pages":"Article 102522"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141906175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Matthew R James, Katherine E Doss, Robert A Cramer
{"title":"New developments in Aspergillus fumigatus and host reactive oxygen species responses","authors":"Matthew R James, Katherine E Doss, Robert A Cramer","doi":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102521","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102521","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><em>Aspergillus fumigatus</em> is a filamentous fungus abundant in the environment and the most common causative agent of a spectrum of human diseases collectively termed aspergillosis. Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is caused by deficiencies in innate immune function that result in the inability of the host to clear inhaled <em>Aspergillus</em> conidia that then germinate and form invasive hyphae. Myeloid cells, and their ability to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), are essential for conidia clearance from the host. To combat ROS, <em>A. fumigatus</em> employs an expansive antioxidant system, though how these canonical antioxidant mechanisms contribute to infection initiation and disease progression remain to be fully defined. Recent research has identified noncanonical pathways in the <em>A. fumigatus</em> ROS response and new host populations with ROS deficiencies that are at-risk for invasive aspergillosis. Here, we highlight recent developments in the understanding of ROS at the interface of the dynamic <em>A. fumigatus</em>–host interaction.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":10921,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in microbiology","volume":"80 ","pages":"Article 102521"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141855107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Phage small proteins play large roles in phage–bacterial interactions","authors":"Grace A Beggs , Bonnie L Bassler","doi":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102519","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102519","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Phages have wide influence on bacterial physiology, and likewise, bacterial processes impinge on phage biology. Key to these interactions are phage small proteins (<100 aa). Long underappreciated, recent work has revealed millions of phage small proteins, and increasingly, mechanisms by which they function to dictate phage and/or bacterial behavior and evolution. Here, we describe select phage small proteins that mediate phage–bacterial interactions by modulating phage lifestyle decision-making components or by altering host gene expression.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":10921,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in microbiology","volume":"80 ","pages":"Article 102519"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136952742400095X/pdfft?md5=6d844c860d56b858dad4083fd7e235f3&pid=1-s2.0-S136952742400095X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141757628","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial overview: There and back again: a phage’s tale","authors":"Julia Frunzke , Rob Lavigne","doi":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102518","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102518","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10921,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in microbiology","volume":"80 ","pages":"Article 102518"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141757627","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kelley A Gallagher , Natalia Tschowri , Richard G Brennan , Maria A Schumacher , Mark J Buttner
{"title":"How c-di-GMP controls progression through the Streptomyces life cycle","authors":"Kelley A Gallagher , Natalia Tschowri , Richard G Brennan , Maria A Schumacher , Mark J Buttner","doi":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102516","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102516","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Members of the antibiotic-producing bacterial genus <em>Streptomyces</em> undergo a complex developmental life cycle that culminates in the production of spores. Central to control of this cell differentiation process is signaling through the second messenger 3′, 5′-cyclic diguanylic acid (c-di-GMP). So far<em>,</em> three proteins that are directly controlled by c-di-GMP in <em>Streptomyces</em> have been functionally and structurally characterized: the key developmental regulators BldD and σ<sup>WhiG</sup>, and the glycogen-degrading enzyme GlgX. c-di-GMP signals through BldD and σ<sup>WhiG</sup>, respectively, to control the two most dramatic transitions of the <em>Streptomyces</em> life cycle, the formation of the reproductive aerial hyphae and their differentiation into spore chains. Later in development, c-di-GMP activates GlgX-mediated degradation of glycogen, releasing stored carbon for spore maturation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":10921,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in microbiology","volume":"80 ","pages":"Article 102516"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369527424000924/pdfft?md5=442a6b014b52e3deb82bc7b7cec49506&pid=1-s2.0-S1369527424000924-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141765712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kwang-Woo Jung , Seung-Heon Lee , Kyung-Tae Lee , Yong-Sun Bahn
{"title":"Sensing and responding to host-derived stress signals: lessons from fungal meningitis pathogen","authors":"Kwang-Woo Jung , Seung-Heon Lee , Kyung-Tae Lee , Yong-Sun Bahn","doi":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102514","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102514","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The sophisticated ability of living organisms to sense and respond to external stimuli is critical for survival. This is particularly true for fungal pathogens, where the capacity to adapt and proliferate within a host is essential. To this end, signaling pathways, whether evolutionarily conserved or unique, have been refined through interactions with the host. <em>Cryptococcus neoformans</em>, an opportunistic fungal pathogen, is responsible for over 190,000 cases and an estimated 147,000 annual deaths globally. Extensive research over the past decades has shed light on the signaling pathways underpinning the pathogenicity of <em>C. neoformans</em>, as well as the host’s responses during infection. In this context, we delineate the regulatory mechanisms employed by <em>C. neoformans</em> to detect and react to stresses derived from the host.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":10921,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in microbiology","volume":"80 ","pages":"Article 102514"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141636471","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial overview: Systems and synthetic biology of microbial cells and communities","authors":"Victor Sourjik , Kiran Raosaheb Patil","doi":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102517","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mib.2024.102517","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10921,"journal":{"name":"Current opinion in microbiology","volume":"80 ","pages":"Article 102517"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141726927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}