Yuxuan Hu, Yanping Zhao, Yan Zhang, Weijun Chen, Haiqiang Zhang, Xin Jin
{"title":"Cell-free DNA: a promising biomarker in infectious diseases.","authors":"Yuxuan Hu, Yanping Zhao, Yan Zhang, Weijun Chen, Haiqiang Zhang, Xin Jin","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2024.06.005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2024.06.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Infectious diseases pose serious threats to public health worldwide. Conventional diagnostic methods for infectious diseases often exhibit low sensitivity, invasiveness, and long turnaround times. User-friendly point-of-care tests are urgently needed for early diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and prognostic prediction of infectious diseases. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA), a promising non-invasive biomarker widely used in oncology and pregnancy, has shown great potential in clinical applications for diagnosing infectious diseases. Here, we discuss the most recent cfDNA research on infectious diseases from both the pathogen and host perspectives. We also discuss the technical challenges in this field and propose solutions to overcome them. Additionally, we provide an outlook on the potential of cfDNA as a diagnostic, treatment, and prognostic marker for infectious diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141601808","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":"Addressing challenges associated with nitrification inhibitors","authors":"Yong Zhang, Diego Abalos, Xiaoli Cheng","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2024.06.004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2024.06.004","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Despite global yield benefits from the use of nitrification inhibitors (NIs), the uncertainties and limitations surrounding NIs warrant more attention. Understanding the impacts of NIs on the health of organisms, people, and ecosystems is also crucial. Here we present a global budget, current challenges, and future research priorities of NIs.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141576606","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":"Melanized root-associated fungi: key players in plant–soil systems","authors":"Tarquin Netherway, Mohammad Bahram","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2024.06.006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2024.06.006","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Melanized root-associated fungi are a group of fungi that produce melanized structures and form root associations, including different mycorrhizal and endophytic symbioses with plants. They are pervasive across terrestrial ecosystems and play an important role in the prevailing soil carbon (C) and nutrient cycling syndromes through direct and indirect mechanisms, where they may strongly modulate plant–microbe interactions and structure root and soil microbiomes. Furthermore, melanized root-associated fungi can confer on plants an enhanced ability to tolerate abiotic and biotic stressors such as drought, extreme temperatures, heavy metals, and pathogen attacks. We propose that melanized root-associated fungi are a cohesive and ecologically relevant grouping that can be an indicator of plant–soil system functioning, and considering them will advance research on plant–soil interactions.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141576626","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":"Subscription and Copyright Information","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/s0966-842x(24)00153-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/s0966-842x(24)00153-7","url":null,"abstract":"No Abstract","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141519278","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":"Advisory Board and Contents","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/s0966-842x(24)00150-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/s0966-842x(24)00150-1","url":null,"abstract":"No Abstract","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.9,"publicationDate":"2024-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141552915","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}
Trends in MicrobiologyPub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-05-21DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2024.04.012
Marlon H Cardoso, Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez, Nuno C Santos, Michael A Zasloff, Octávio L Franco
{"title":"Influence of antimicrobial peptides on the bacterial membrane curvature and vice versa.","authors":"Marlon H Cardoso, Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez, Nuno C Santos, Michael A Zasloff, Octávio L Franco","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2024.04.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tim.2024.04.012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many factors contribute to bacterial membrane stabilization, including steric effects between lipids, membrane spontaneous curvature, and the difference in the number of neighboring molecules. This forum provides an overview of the physicochemical properties associated with membrane curvature and how this parameter can be tuned to design more effective antimicrobial peptides.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"624-627"},"PeriodicalIF":14.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11537279/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141081634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in MicrobiologyPub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-05-07DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2024.04.013
Jichun Jia, Daohong Jiang, Jiatao Xie
{"title":"Viruses shuttle between fungi and plants.","authors":"Jichun Jia, Daohong Jiang, Jiatao Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2024.04.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tim.2024.04.013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The intimate relationships between plants and fungi provide an opportunity for the shuttling of viruses. Dai et al. recently discovered that a virus undergoes cross-kingdom transmission, and naturally spreads to both plant and fungal populations. This finding expands our understanding of viral host range, evolution, transmission, and disease management.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"620-621"},"PeriodicalIF":14.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140892671","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}
Trends in MicrobiologyPub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2024-05-21DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2024.04.015
Mariano A Molina, Sneha Biswas, Virginia Núñez-Samudio, Iván Landires
{"title":"Targeting Megasphaera species to promote cervicovaginal health.","authors":"Mariano A Molina, Sneha Biswas, Virginia Núñez-Samudio, Iván Landires","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2024.04.015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tim.2024.04.015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Maintaining a healthy cervicovaginal microbiome (CVM) is vital for women's wellbeing; it is dependent primarily on Lactobacillus dominance. Microbiome imbalances, driven by Megasphaera species, contribute to infections and disease. Comprehensive research into Megasphaera biology and interventions is crucial for personalized women's healthcare, and additional efforts are required to mitigate the risks posed by cervicovaginal dysbiosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"628-630"},"PeriodicalIF":14.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141081740","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}
Trends in MicrobiologyPub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2023-12-26DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2023.12.001
Meijun Dong, Lars Peter Nielsen, Shan Yang, Lasse Hyldgaard Klausen, Meiying Xu
{"title":"Cable bacteria: widespread filamentous electroactive microorganisms protecting environments.","authors":"Meijun Dong, Lars Peter Nielsen, Shan Yang, Lasse Hyldgaard Klausen, Meiying Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2023.12.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tim.2023.12.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cable bacteria have been identified and detected worldwide since their discovery in marine sediments in Aarhus Bay, Denmark. Their activity can account for the majority of oxygen consumption and sulfide depletion in sediments, and they induce sulfate accumulation, pH excursions, and the generation of electric fields. In addition, they can affect the fluxes of other elements such as calcium, iron, manganese, nitrogen, and phosphorous. Recent developments in our understanding of the impact of cable bacteria on element cycling have revealed their positive contributions to mitigating environmental problems, such as recovering self-purification capacity, enhancing petroleum hydrocarbon degradation, alleviating phosphorus eutrophication, delaying euxinia, and reducing methane emission. We highlight recent research outcomes on their distribution, state-of-the-art findings on their physiological characteristics, and ecological contributions.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"697-706"},"PeriodicalIF":14.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139049381","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}
Trends in MicrobiologyPub Date : 2024-07-01Epub Date: 2023-12-21DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2023.11.016
Martina Ceconi, Kevin K Ariën, Peter Delputte
{"title":"Diagnosing arthropod-borne flaviviruses: non-structural protein 1 (NS1) as a biomarker.","authors":"Martina Ceconi, Kevin K Ariën, Peter Delputte","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2023.11.016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tim.2023.11.016","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In recent decades, the presence of flaviviruses of concern for human health in Europe has drastically increased,exacerbated by the effects of climate change - which has allowed the vectors of these viruses to expand into new territories. Co-circulation of West Nile virus (WNV), Usutu virus (USUV), and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) represents a threat to the European continent, and this is further complicated by the difficulty of obtaining an early and discriminating diagnosis of infection. Moreover, the possibility of introducing non-endemic pathogens, such as Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), further complicates accurate diagnosis. Current flavivirus diagnosis is based mainly on RT-PCR and detection of virus-specific antibodies. Yet, both techniques suffer from limitations, and the development of new assays that can provide an early, rapid, low-cost, and discriminating diagnosis of viral infection is warranted. In the pursuit of ideal diagnostic assays, flavivirus non-structural protein 1 (NS1) serves as an excellent target for developing diagnostic assays based on both the antigen itself and the antibodies produced against it. This review describes the potential of such NS1-based diagnostic methods, focusing on the application of flaviviruses that co-circulate in Europe.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"678-696"},"PeriodicalIF":14.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138886080","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}