Martin Kaltenpoth, Laura V. Flórez, Aurélien Vigneron, Philipp Dirksen, Tobias Engl
{"title":"Origin and function of beneficial bacterial symbioses in insects","authors":"Martin Kaltenpoth, Laura V. Flórez, Aurélien Vigneron, Philipp Dirksen, Tobias Engl","doi":"10.1038/s41579-025-01164-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-025-01164-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Beneficial bacterial symbionts are widespread in insects and affect the fitness of their hosts by contributing to nutrition, digestion, detoxification, communication or protection from abiotic stressors or natural enemies. Decades of research have formed our understanding of the identity, localization and functional benefits of insect symbionts, and the increasing availability of genome sequences spanning a diversity of pathogens and beneficial bacteria now enables comparative approaches of their metabolic features and their phylogenetic affiliations, shedding new light on the origin and function of beneficial symbioses in insects. In this Review, we explore the symbionts’ metabolic traits that can provide benefits to insect hosts and discuss the evolutionary paths to the formation of host-beneficial symbiotic associations. Phylogenetic analyses and molecular studies reveal that extracellular symbioses colonizing cuticular organs or the digestive tract evolved from a broad diversity of bacterial partners, whereas intracellular beneficial symbionts appear to be restricted to a limited number of lineages within the Gram-negative bacteria and probably originated from parasitic ancestors. To unravel the general principles underlying host–symbiont interactions and recapitulate the early evolutionary steps leading towards beneficial symbioses, future efforts should aim to establish more symbiotic systems that are amenable to genetic manipulation and experimental evolution.</p>","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"183 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":88.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143712975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
José R. Penadés, Kimberley D. Seed, John Chen, David Bikard, Eduardo P. C. Rocha
{"title":"Genetics, ecology and evolution of phage satellites","authors":"José R. Penadés, Kimberley D. Seed, John Chen, David Bikard, Eduardo P. C. Rocha","doi":"10.1038/s41579-025-01156-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-025-01156-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Phage satellites are defined as viruses that have a life cycle dependent on a helper virus. Thus, they are often considered as parasites of parasites, although recent work suggests it may be more accurate to consider them as symbionts that evolved along a parasitism–mutualism continuum. Over the past years, multiple studies have examined the fascinating life cycle of these elements, focusing on the characterization of the molecular mechanisms they use to hijack the helper phage machinery for their own packaging and transfer. As some phage satellites encode toxins and other virulence and resistance genes, the impact of these elements on bacterial virulence has also been extensively analysed. Recent studies suggest that satellites have unprecedented roles in the ecology and evolution of bacteria and their mobile genetic elements. In this Review, we explore the genetics and the life cycle of these elements, with special emphasis on the new mechanisms involved in their spread in nature. We discuss the unexpected impact of these elements on the evolution of other mobile genetic elements and their host bacteria, and examine their potential origins.</p>","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":88.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143712977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ursula Theuretzbacher, Ravindra P. Jumde, Alan Hennessy, Jennifer Cohn, Laura J. V. Piddock
{"title":"Global health perspectives on antibacterial drug discovery and the preclinical pipeline","authors":"Ursula Theuretzbacher, Ravindra P. Jumde, Alan Hennessy, Jennifer Cohn, Laura J. V. Piddock","doi":"10.1038/s41579-025-01167-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-025-01167-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Antibacterial resistance is a global challenge that requires a coordinated international response. The current clinical pipeline largely consists of derivatives of established antibiotic classes, whereas the discovery and preclinical pipeline is diverse and innovative including new direct-acting agents with no cross-resistance with existing antibiotics. These novel compounds target pathways such as lipoprotein synthesis, lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis and transport, outer membrane assembly, peptidoglycan biosynthesis, fatty acid biosynthesis and isoprenoid biosynthesis. If these agents can be developed into safe, effective and affordable drugs, they could address a broad range of infections worldwide, benefiting large patient populations without geographical limitations. However, strategies such as indirect-acting or pathogen-specific treatments are likely to benefit small patient groups, primarily in high-income countries that have advanced health-care systems and diagnostic infrastructure. Although encouraging, the discovery and preclinical pipeline remains insufficiently robust to offset the high attrition rates typical of early-stage drug innovation and to meet global health needs.</p>","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"99 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":88.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143712976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Galo A. Goig, Etthel M. Windels, Chloé Loiseau, Christoph Stritt, Loza Biru, Sonia Borrell, Daniela Brites, Sebastien Gagneux
{"title":"Ecology, global diversity and evolutionary mechanisms in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex","authors":"Galo A. Goig, Etthel M. Windels, Chloé Loiseau, Christoph Stritt, Loza Biru, Sonia Borrell, Daniela Brites, Sebastien Gagneux","doi":"10.1038/s41579-025-01159-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-025-01159-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>With the COVID-19 pandemic receding, tuberculosis (TB) is again the number one cause of human death to a single infectious agent. TB is caused by bacteria that belong to the <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> complex (MTBC). Recent advances in genome sequencing have provided new insights into the ecology and evolution of the MTBC. This includes the discovery of new phylogenetic lineages within the MTBC, a deeper understanding of the host tropism among the various animal-adapted lineages, enhanced knowledge on the evolutionary dynamics of antimicrobial resistance and transmission, as well as a better grasp of the within-host MTBC diversity. Moreover, advances in long-read sequencing are increasingly highlighting the relevance of structural genomic variation in the MTBC. These findings not only shed new light on the biology and epidemiology of TB, but also give rise to new questions and research avenues. The purpose of this Review is to summarize these new insights and discuss their implications for global TB control.</p>","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":88.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143695669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Skin-deep AMR hotspots in nursing homes","authors":"Agustina Taglialegna","doi":"10.1038/s41579-025-01172-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-025-01172-z","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, Proctor et al. demonstrate that the skin of residents in nursing homes serves as a reservoir for Candida auris, ESKAPE pathogens and their antimicrobial resistance genes.","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":88.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143677650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Iliyan D. Iliev, Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, Chun-Jun Guo
{"title":"Publisher Correction: Microbiota in inflammatory bowel disease: mechanisms of disease and therapeutic opportunities","authors":"Iliyan D. Iliev, Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, Chun-Jun Guo","doi":"10.1038/s41579-025-01175-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-025-01175-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Correction to: <i>Nature Reviews Microbiology</i> https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-025-01163-0, published online 10 March 2025.</p>","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":88.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143695670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A triple threat in colorectal cancer","authors":"Agustina Taglialegna","doi":"10.1038/s41579-025-01173-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-025-01173-y","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, Thakur et al. demonstrate the interconnected role of diet, host genetics and oncogenic microorganisms in colon carcinogenesis.","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"215 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":88.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143677651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Human microbiome acquisition and transmission","authors":"Vitor Heidrich, Mireia Valles-Colomer, Nicola Segata","doi":"10.1038/s41579-025-01166-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-025-01166-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>As humans, we host personal microbiomes intricately connected to our biology and health. Far from being isolated entities, our microbiomes are dynamically shaped by microbial exchange with the surroundings, in lifelong microbiome acquisition and transmission processes. In this Review, we explore recent studies on how our microbiomes are transmitted, beginning at birth and during interactions with other humans and the environment. We also describe the key methodological aspects of transmission inference, based on the uniqueness of the building blocks of the microbiome — single microbial strains. A better understanding of human microbiome transmission will have implications for studies of microbial host regulation, of microbiome-associated diseases, and for effective microbiome-targeting strategies. Besides exchanging strains with other humans, there is also preliminary evidence we acquire microorganisms from animals and food, and thus a complete understanding of microbiome acquisition and transmission can only be attained by adopting a One Health perspective.</p>","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":88.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143666089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bioplastic builders","authors":"Andrea Du Toit","doi":"10.1038/s41579-025-01171-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-025-01171-0","url":null,"abstract":"This study reports the biosynthesis and characterization of poly(ester amide)s in Escherichia coli.","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"89 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":88.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143666281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Decoding pathogen evolution to curb antimicrobial resistance","authors":"Vignesh Shetty, Ankur Mutreja","doi":"10.1038/s41579-025-01168-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-025-01168-9","url":null,"abstract":"This Genome Watch highlights how genomic lineage resolution is revolutionizing precision diagnostics by providing insights into pathogen evolution, transmission dynamics and the emergence of antimicrobial resistance.","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":88.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143635087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}