Latest Articles
Research Article | Novel Systems Biology TechniquesFrom Sample to Multi-Omics Conclusions in under 48 HoursPolymicrobial infections are difficult to diagnose due to the challenge in comprehensively cultivating the microbes present. Omics methods, such as 16S rRNA sequencing, metagenomics, and metabolomics, can provide a more complete picture of a microbial community and its metabolite production, without the biases and selectivity of microbial culture. However, these advanced methods have not been applied to clinical or industrial...
Commentary | Applied and Environmental ScienceApplication of a Database-Independent Approach To Assess the Quality of Operational Taxonomic Unit Picking MethodsAssignment of 16S rRNA gene sequences to operational taxonomic units (OTUs) allows microbial ecologists to overcome the inconsistencies and biases within bacterial taxonomy and provides a strategy for clustering similar sequences that do not have representatives in a reference database.
Editor's Pick Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceProteomic Stable Isotope Probing Reveals Taxonomically Distinct Patterns in Amino Acid Assimilation by Coastal Marine BacterioplanktonAn estimated 50 gigatons of carbon is annually fixed within marine systems, of which heterotrophic microbial populations process nearly half. These communities vary in composition and activity across spatial and temporal scales, so understanding how these changes affect global processes requires the delineation of functional roles for individual members. In a step toward ascertaining these roles, we applied proteomic stable isotope...
Commentary | Applied and Environmental ScienceThe Built Environment Is a Microbial WastelandHumanity’s transition from the outdoor environment to the built environment (BE) has reduced our exposure to microbial diversity. The relative importance of factors that contribute to the composition of human-dominated BE microbial communities remains largely unknown.
Editor's Pick Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceGeography and Location Are the Primary Drivers of Office Microbiome CompositionOur study highlights several points that should impact the design of future studies of the microbiology of BEs. First, projects tracking changes in BE bacterial communities should focus sampling efforts on surveying different locations in offices and in different cities but not necessarily different materials or different offices in the same city. Next, disturbance due to repeated sampling, though detectable, is small compared to that...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyComprehensive Transcriptome Profiles of Streptococcus mutans UA159 Map Core Streptococcal Competence GenesS. mutans has the hard surfaces of the oral cavity as its natural habitat, where it depends on its ability to form biofilms in order to survive. The comprehensive identification of S. mutans regulons activated in response to peptide pheromones provides an important basis for understanding how...
Editor's Pick Perspective | Host-Microbe BiologyGetting the Hologenome Concept Right: an Eco-Evolutionary Framework for Hosts and Their MicrobiomesGiven the complexity of host-microbiota symbioses, scientists and philosophers are asking questions at new biological levels of hierarchical organization—what is a holobiont and hologenome? When should this vocabulary be applied? Are these concepts a null hypothesis for host-microbe systems or limited to a certain spectrum of symbiotic interactions such as host-microbial coevolution? Critical discourse is necessary in this nascent area...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyLocal Action with Global Impact: Highly Similar Infection Patterns of Human Viruses and BacteriophagesWhile host-virus interaction interfaces have been previously investigated, relatively little is known about the indirect interactions of pathogen and host proteins required for viral infection and host cell function. Therefore, we investigated the topological relationships of human and bacterial viruses and how they interact with their hosts. We focused on those host proteins that are directly targeted by viruses, those that are...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyCharacterization of the Δ7 Mutant of Cupriavidus metallidurans with Deletions of Seven Secondary Metal Uptake SystemsBacteria, including pathogenic strains, need to make use of the metal composition and speciation of their environment to fulfill the requirement of the cytoplasmic metal content and composition. This task is performed by the bacterial metal transportome, composed of uptake and efflux systems. Seven interacting secondary metal uptake systems are at the core of the metal transportome in C. metallidurans. This publication verifies...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyA Prophage-Encoded Small RNA Controls Metabolism and Cell Division in Escherichia colisRNAs are ubiquitous and versatile regulators of bacterial gene expression. A number of well-characterized examples in E. coli are highly conserved and present in the E. coli core genome. In contrast, the sRNA DicF (identified over 20 years ago but remaining poorly characterized) is encoded by a...