{"title":"Cyanophages: Billions of Years of Coevolution with Cyanobacteria.","authors":"Qiong Li, Feng Yang, Cong-Zhao Zhou","doi":"10.1146/annurev-micro-042924-095145","DOIUrl":"10.1146/annurev-micro-042924-095145","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Prevalent in marine and freshwater ecosystems, cyanophages compose a class of double-stranded DNA viruses that specifically infect cyanobacteria. During billions of years of coevolution, cyanophages and cyanobacteria have significantly contributed to the biogeochemical cycling and genetic diversity of aquatic ecosystems. As natural predators of cyanobacteria, cyanophages hold promise as eco-friendly agents against harmful cyanobacterial blooms. Recent technical advances in omics and cryo-electron microscopy have revealed the remarkable diversity of cyanophages in genome sequence and tail morphology. In this review, we summarize the genomic and metagenomic data, phylogenetic analyses, and diverse three-dimensional structures of cyanophages, in addition to their interplays with hosts. We also discuss the in vivo assembly processes of cyanophages, the exploration of uncultured cyanophages and host pairing, and the synthetic engineering and potential applications of cyanophages.</p>","PeriodicalId":7946,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"639-661"},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145005794","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":"Cellular Olympics: Ultrafast Cellular Motility Across the Tree of Life.","authors":"Ray Chang, Manu Prakash","doi":"10.1146/annurev-micro-041020-021038","DOIUrl":"10.1146/annurev-micro-041020-021038","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Surprisingly, many single-celled organisms and specialized cell types can achieve speed and acceleration significantly faster than those of multicellular animals. These remarkable cellular machines must integrate energy storage and amplification in actuation, latches for triggered release, and energy dissipation without failure-all implemented in macromolecular assemblies inside a single cell. In this review, we first map the atlas of single cells across the tree of life that use ultrafast motility. We then quantitatively compare extreme acceleration, speed, area strain rate, volume expansion strain rate, and density change rate among single cells. Next, we generalize these ideas by placing various trigger, actuation, and dissipation mechanisms within a unified framework. We conclude with a detailed summary of the diverse functions enabled by ultrafast cellular motility, providing a comprehensive foundation for understanding extreme biophysics and its diverse role at the cellular scale.</p>","PeriodicalId":7946,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"405-426"},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144871035","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":"To Sporulate or Not to Sporulate: Developmental Checkpoints Monitoring <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> Sporulation.","authors":"Zachory M Park, Kumaran S Ramamurthi","doi":"10.1146/annurev-micro-041522-103140","DOIUrl":"10.1146/annurev-micro-041522-103140","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Developmental processes are carefully regulated programs that are present in multiple kingdoms of life and that generally result in cell differentiation and specialization. This regulation can be mediated in part by checkpoints that monitor the progression of development to ensure that earlier steps occur successfully before later steps are initiated. Bacterial endospore formation (i.e., sporulation) is a well-studied developmental program that transforms a progenitor cell into a dormant cell type in response to environmental stress and that serves as a model for the discussion of checkpoint mechanisms used to monitor development. This review focuses on the checkpoints monitoring bacterial sporulation, with an emphasis on the model gram-positive bacterium <i>Bacillus subtilis</i>, to highlight general strategies that may be broadly conserved among disparate developmental programs.</p>","PeriodicalId":7946,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"87-104"},"PeriodicalIF":12.2,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13417432/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144274035","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}
Endrews Delbaje, Patrícia Alves de Castro, Mônica T Pupo, Antonis Rokas, Gustavo H Goldman
{"title":"Gliotoxin Production and Self-Defense in Filamentous Fungi.","authors":"Endrews Delbaje, Patrícia Alves de Castro, Mônica T Pupo, Antonis Rokas, Gustavo H Goldman","doi":"10.1146/annurev-micro-040324-032342","DOIUrl":"10.1146/annurev-micro-040324-032342","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Gliotoxin (GT) is a sulfur-containing secondary metabolite that belongs to a class of naturally occurring 2,5-diketopiperazines produced by fungi. Although GT production has been observed only in a few species, GT is the most studied fungal secondary metabolite, and the GT biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) is broadly present in filamentous fungi. GT has a multitarget mechanism of action: It is fungicidal and bacteriostatic, it induces apoptosis in mammalian cells, and it modulates phagocytosis and neutrophil attraction. GT is important for <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> virulence and pathogenesis in humans and in animals and for <i>Trichoderma</i> spp. symbiotic and antagonistic behavior. GT is also toxic for producer and nonproducer organisms. Consequently, very sophisticated mechanisms of GT self-protection have evolved in producers; some of these protective mechanisms are also found in nonproducer organisms. This review discusses the distribution of the GT BGC among filamentous fungi and discusses GT biosynthesis, mechanisms of action and self-defense, and ecological properties.</p>","PeriodicalId":7946,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"171-190"},"PeriodicalIF":12.2,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13185509/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144590294","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}
{"title":"Mechanisms and Control of Heme Transport and Incorporation into Cytochrome <i>c</i>.","authors":"Robert G Kranz, Molly C Sutherland","doi":"10.1146/annurev-micro-050624-031631","DOIUrl":"10.1146/annurev-micro-050624-031631","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cytochrome <i>c</i> (cyt <i>c</i>) is ubiquitous in nature, having evolved billions of years ago to function in respiration and photosynthesis. All <i>c</i>-type cytochromes require covalently attached heme, typically at a CXXCH motif. We highlight new studies from the past five years that address the structural and mechanistic bases for the three cyt <i>c</i> biogenesis pathways (Systems I-III). The solved structures of most of the proteins that comprise these systems provide insights into heme transport, the binding of heme, and the mechanism of apocytochrome <i>c</i> (apocyt <i>c</i>) interaction with the synthases. Detailed analyses of the active sites of each cyt <i>c</i> synthase have elucidated chemical mechanisms underlying cyt <i>c</i> biogenesis and their potential as novel antimicrobial targets. This potential is suggested from an evolutionary perspective, as bacteria use two pathways (Systems I and II) that are structurally and mechanistically distinct from the mitochondrial System III. Genomic analyses of bacteria's respiratory capacity, including their use of <i>c</i>-type cytochromes, reveal how the inhibition of cyt <i>c</i> biogenesis could attenuate growth.</p>","PeriodicalId":7946,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"23-43"},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144214659","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}
Marina Ferreira Maximo, Mayra Suelen da Silva Pinheiro, Hellen Bertoletti Barbieri, Stephanie Nemesio da Silva, Taicia Pacheco Fill
{"title":"Microbial Specialized Metabolites in Phytopathogen-Host Citrus Interactions.","authors":"Marina Ferreira Maximo, Mayra Suelen da Silva Pinheiro, Hellen Bertoletti Barbieri, Stephanie Nemesio da Silva, Taicia Pacheco Fill","doi":"10.1146/annurev-micro-051524-030837","DOIUrl":"10.1146/annurev-micro-051524-030837","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The world's citriculture has witnessed large-scale productivity decay due to microbial infections. The specialized metabolites produced during infection by pathogens are an important aspect of complex phytopathogen-host interactions and can be crucial for virulence and disease viability. In this review, we comprehensively explore microbial natural products produced during infection by the following citrus pathogens: <i>Penicillium digitatum</i>, <i>Penicillium italicum</i>, <i>Penicillium citrinum</i>, <i>Aspergillus flavus</i>, <i>Fusarium solani</i>, <i>Alternaria alternata</i>, <i>Alternaria citri</i>, <i>Pseudomonas syringae</i>, <i>Elsinoë fawcettii</i>, and <i>Elsinoë australis</i>. Additionally, we list the major microbial citrus diseases distributed worldwide and highlight the lack of consistent knowledge concerning the specialized metabolites that could play significant roles in some of the most important citrus diseases, such as Huanglongbing, citrus canker, citrus variegated chlorosis, citrus tristeza virus, citrus sudden death, sour rot, anthracnose, and citrus black spot.</p>","PeriodicalId":7946,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"45-68"},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144265099","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 Comparative Analysis: Molecular Mechanisms of Carbon Catabolite Repression in Bacteria.","authors":"Elisabeth Sonnleitner","doi":"10.1146/annurev-micro-050624-031622","DOIUrl":"10.1146/annurev-micro-050624-031622","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the environment, bacteria often encounter a mixture of different carbon sources (C-sources) that can potentially be used. However, their uptake and utilization are selective and controlled in a hierarchical order by a complex regulatory pathway named carbon catabolite repression (CCR). Currently, two major types of CCR mechanisms have been described: (<i>a</i>) In <i>Escherichia coli, Bacillota</i> (formerly <i>Firmicutes</i>) and <i>Vibrio</i>, CCR depends on the phosphorylation state of the components of the phosphoenolpyruvate-sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS) and their subsequent regulatory activity, and (<i>b</i>) in pseudomonads, transcripts under CCR control are repressed by the posttranscriptional regulators Hfq and Crc. The repressive effect is antagonized by Hfq- and Crc-titrating RNAs (e.g., CrcZ, CrcY, and CrcX) that are expressed in response to the preference for C-sources. In addition, the importance of CCR as a sensor linking carbon availability with the regulation of virulence, chemotaxis, quorum sensing, and antibiotic susceptibility is addressed in this article.</p>","PeriodicalId":7946,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of microbiology","volume":"79 1","pages":"241-262"},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145353329","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}
Michael G Hadfield, Marnie Freckelton, Brian T Nedved
{"title":"Marine Bacterial Biofilms: Shaping Surface Communities.","authors":"Michael G Hadfield, Marnie Freckelton, Brian T Nedved","doi":"10.1146/annurev-micro-051524-024455","DOIUrl":"10.1146/annurev-micro-051524-024455","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The assembly of marine benthic communities has become a focal point in marine ecology. We address how the bottom layers of benthic communities (i.e., the microbes inhabiting the basal biofilm) influence the complex accumulation of eukaryotes that grow on top of them. Specifically, we discuss (<i>a</i>) what organisms make up benthic biofilms, what brings about their attachment to surfaces, and how they vary in space and time; (<i>b</i>) what eukaryotic organisms are in marine benthic communities, how they vary in space and time, and the nature of microbial cues that bring about their recruitment to particular benthic sites; (<i>c</i>) the roles of bacterial-animal symbiosis in the composition of benthic communities; (<i>d</i>) what is happening to biofilms and their roles as habitat engineers in the rapidly changing world; and (<i>e</i>) how the geological history of bacteria and microbial mats on the ocean floor powerfully influenced the evolution of larval-bacterial interactions.</p>","PeriodicalId":7946,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"427-448"},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144881915","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}
Crista B Wadsworth, Maira Goytia, William M Shafer
{"title":"Commensal <i>Neisseria</i> and Antimicrobial-Resistant Gonorrhea.","authors":"Crista B Wadsworth, Maira Goytia, William M Shafer","doi":"10.1146/annurev-micro-022024-024306","DOIUrl":"10.1146/annurev-micro-022024-024306","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Alongside the crisis of antimicrobial-resistant gonorrhea is the threat of bystander selection on commensal <i>Neisseria</i>. As <i>Neisseria</i> species are permissive to gene flow across lineages, their evolutionary fates are irrevocably intertwined. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) within the genus occurs through transformation and exchange of plasmids through conjugation. Both mechanisms of HGT threaten the long-term efficacy of antimicrobial treatments, with resistance passed between commensals and pathogens multiple times (e.g., mosaic <i>penA</i> and <i>mtr</i> alleles). Here, we underscore the importance of commensal <i>Neisseria</i> as a bubbling cauldron of adaptive solutions for pathogenic <i>Neisseria</i>, review the mechanisms of resistance harbored by commensals and transferred to the gonococcus, and discuss the impact of contemporary selective pressures on the future evolutionary trajectory of the genus. Ultimately, we believe that predicting the future efficacy of antimicrobials for the treatment of gonorrhea will only be successful if the commensal <i>Neisseria</i> are also considered.</p>","PeriodicalId":7946,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of microbiology","volume":"79 1","pages":"215-240"},"PeriodicalIF":12.2,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13454647/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145353335","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}
{"title":"Apicomplexan Pore-Forming Toxins.","authors":"Vern B Carruthers","doi":"10.1146/annurev-micro-041222-025939","DOIUrl":"10.1146/annurev-micro-041222-025939","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) are released by one cell to directly inflict damage on another cell. Hosts use PFTs, including members of the membrane attack complex/perforin protein family, to fight infections and cancer, while bacteria and parasites deploy PFTs to promote infection. Apicomplexan parasites secrete perforin-like proteins as PFTs to egress from infected cells and traverse tissue barriers. Other protozoa, along with helminth parasites, utilize saposin-like PFTs prospectively for nutrient acquisition during infection. This review discusses seminal and more recent advances in understanding how parasite PFTs promote infection and describes how they are regulated and fulfill their roles without causing parasite self-harm. Although exciting progress has been made in defining mechanisms of pore formation by PFTs, many open questions remain to be addressed to gain additional key insights into these remarkable determinants of parasitic infections.</p>","PeriodicalId":7946,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"277-291"},"PeriodicalIF":9.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141873978","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}