Diverse bacterial pattern recognition receptors sense the core phage proteome - Nature

Systematic analysis of prokaryotic STAND NTPases — relatives of animal and plant immune receptors — uncovers diverse antiviral sensors that detect most of the core structural and replic...

nature.com

Technische/r Assistent:in im Bereich Molekulare Mikrobiologie (w/m/d)

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Nonantibiotic-driven evolution reveals rare but predictable routes to broad antibiotic resistance | mBio

Many medications not typically prescribed to treat infectious diseases have potent antimicrobial activity at physiological concentrations. This anti-bacterial activity raises concern that long-term administration of such nonantibiotics might unintentionally select for multidrug resistance, including resistance to antibiotics. Using Escherichia coli, we show that in most cases, these nonantibiotics do not broadly select for resistance to antibiotics in vitro. However, we identified five nonantibiotics that repeatedly selected for resistance to multiple antibiotics through a shared mechanism of action—upregulation of the multidrug efflux pump AcrAB-TolC. These findings highlight that while the overall risk is low, certain nonantibiotics may still contribute to the emergence of multidrug resistance. Identifying these high-risk drugs can help guide safer prescribing practices and inform strategies to limit the spread of antibiotic resistance.

journals.asm.org

Cyclic di-AMP signaling and regulation in Staphylococcus aureus | mSphere

Bacteria are continuously exposed to diverse environmental changes and stresses. They are especially susceptible to such stimuli and therefore rely on efficient regulatory systems to sense and adapt r...

journals.asm.org

A c-di-AMP-controlled glutamine synthesis pathway promotes persistence of Staphylococcus aureus thymidine-dependent small colony variants in the lung

Children with cystic fibrosis (CF) commonly harbor Staphylococcus aureus thymidine-dependent small-colony variants (TD-SCVs), which are associated with reduced lung function and increased respiratory ...

biorxiv.org

The Legionella pneumophila effector SidL is an adenylyltransferase that modifies the glycolytic intermediate 3-phosphoglycerate

Black et al. identify the L. pneumophila effector SidL as an adenylyltransferase that targets host glycolysis. SidL covalently modifies the glycolytic intermediate 3-phosphoglycerate (3PG) with AMP, g...

cell.com

The evolution of a Na+-sensitive Vibrio cholerae mutant unmasks the moonlighting aminopeptidase PepA as a regulator of nhaB Na+/H+ antiporter gene expression | Journal of Bacteriology

The emergence and spread of multi-resistant bacteria are a major problem for humans and animals. Therefore, the identification of novel targets for the development of novel antibiotics to combat patho...

journals.asm.org

RNA quality control enables antibiotic tolerance

Nishimoto et al. experimentally evolve bacteria during infection, revealing a ribosomal “crash and reboot” strategy as a mechanism of antibiotic tolerance. Mutations in the RNA degradosome allow RNA t...

cell.com

The Master Regulator <fc>Spo0A</fc> Integrates <fc>DNA</fc> Sequence and Shape to Regulate the Sporulation Kinase Gene <fi>kinA</fi> in <fi>Bacillus subtilis</fi>

During starvation, progressive Spo0A~P accumulation is decoded by three Spo0A~P-binding sites and intrinsic DNA bending within the kinA promoter. Together, these features fine-tune kinA transcription...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

A c-di-AMP receptor mediates epithelial adhesion of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum - Nature Communications

Researchers identified a c-di-AMP receptor that reversibly controls gene expression and host cell adhesion in Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, revealing how this bacterial signal molecule regulates inte...

nature.com

Three metabolic pathways replenishing the one-carbon pool collectively support growth and virulence of Listeria monocytogenes

doi.org

Pathway remodeling and adaptive evolution enable efficient co-utilization of glucose and xylose in Escherichia coli | mBio

The inability of industrial microbes to co-utilize glucose and xylose severely limits lignocellulosic biomass valorization in bioproduction. Here, we combined pathway separation and adaptive laborator...

journals.asm.org

A safeguarding factor monitors septal pore stability to secure compartmentalization during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis - Communications Biology

Identification of CprV during bacterial sporulation reveals insight into how developing cells monitor compartmental integrity during cellular remodelling and differentiation.

nature.com

The B. subtilis translesion polymerase Pol Y1 is not strongly recruited to sites of replication upon different types of DNA damage

Author summary Unrepaired DNA damage can stall the process of normal DNA replication, ultimately leading to cell death. One pathway for resolving this stall is translesion synthesis (TLS), in which sp...

dx.plos.org

phnE frameshift reversion frequency: beyond density effects to genomic prevalence | Journal of Bacteriology

Phosphonates are an important phosphorus reservoir in many environments, and their utilization by Escherichia coli depends on the phn operon. This study reexamines the unusually high frequencies of phnE revertants reported for laboratory K-12 strains. By controlling for phosphate contamination in selective media, we show that reversion frequencies are substantially lower than previously estimated and largely independent of cell density. We further find that restoration of phnE function does not confer a detectable fitness advantage under phosphate limitation. Consistent with this observation, genomic analyses reveal that loss of phn function is common among natural E. coli isolates. Together, these findings suggest that loss of phn function may represent an adaptive strategy in a substantial fraction of natural populations.

journals.asm.org

RelA-mediated (p)ppGpp accumulation links glucose starvation to peptidoglycan synthesis arrest and spherical morphogenesis via PBP2x and FtsX in Streptococcus suis | Journal of Bacteriology

Bacterial survival depends on adapting morphogenesis to nutrient availability, yet the molecular links between carbon starvation and cell division remain poorly defined. In the zoonotic pathogen Strep...

journals.asm.org

Trehalose metabolism and its impact on PrfA activity in Listeria monocytogenes | Journal of Bacteriology

Virulence factors determine the pathogenic potential of bacteria; however, constant expression of these factors is an energetic burden. In Listeria monocytogenes, virulence gene expression is induced by the virulence regulator PrfA, whose activity is repressed in the presence of readily metabolizable sugars. This study reveals that trehalose, unlike other phosphotransferase system (PTS)-imported sugars, supports listerial growth while barely affecting PrfA activity, highlighting an exception to the established model of sugar-dependent PrfA inhibition. Based on 13C-labeling experiments, we hypothesize that the metabolic flux rather than the sugar type alone influences PrfA activity. The proposed link between phosphoenolpyruvate availability and PrfA activity offers new insight into how nutrient sensing is linked to pathogenicity.

journals.asm.org

From hijackers to architects: the role of prophages in bacterial genome evolution | Journal of Bacteriology

Bacteriophages (phages) are one of the most important drivers of bacterial evolution, regulating physiology, genetic diversity, population dynamics, and coevolution through complex host-phage interact...

journals.asm.org

Bacteria sense virus-induced genome degradation via methylated mononucleotides

Phages often degrade the genome of their bacterial host to individual nucleotides. Here we describe Metis, a bacterial defense system that directly senses phage-mediated host genome degradation. Metis...

science.org

The genome sequence of Bacillus anthracis strain “Bundesheer” isolated from a postal sack in the US embassy Vienna in 2001 during the Amerithrax incident in the US | Microbiology Resource Announcement...

The Gram-positive spore-former Bacillus anthracis played the central role in the 2001 Amerithrax letter attacks in the United States (1). During that time, the Austrian Armed Forces were conducting an...

journals.asm.org

Sustained ppGpp production underpins months-long survival of a bacterium in growth arrest | mBio

The molecular basis for long-term survival of starved bacteria is not well understood. The bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris has a metabolism in which it survives in growth arrest for months, as lo...

journals.asm.org

Dynamic assembly of malate dehydrogenase–citrate synthase multienzyme complex in the mitochondria

The yeast mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase–citrate synthase metabolon is a dynamic multienzyme complex that continuously assembles and disassembles in response to respiratory activity, mitochondrial...

doi.org

sciencedirect.com

Differential signaling roles of the KinA-KinE sensor kinases in regulating Spo0A, the master regulator of Bacillus subtilis cell‑fate decisions

The Spo0A phosphorelay integrates inputs from five sensor kinases (KinA-KinE), with KinD and KinE less well characterized, to control developmental pr…

sciencedirect.com