A bacterial tRNA gene set rapidly evolves, compensating the loss of one tRNA type by large duplication events that increase the gene copy number of a second, different tRNA type.
Structure-function analyses reveal the mechanistic underpinnings of inside-out transmembrane signaling that controls periplasmic proteolysis, and thereby biofilm formation, in bacteria and may be relevant in the context of other signaling proteins with similar control elements.
A combination of genetics, experimental evolution and mathematical modelling defines information necessary to predict the outcome of short-term adaptive evolution.
A new intricate reciprocity between microbiology and physics results in collective protection from desiccation through differential formation of stable microdroplets around bacterial aggregates on surfaces drying under moderate humidity.
A new multistep hierarchical cascade controls activation of an integrative and conjugative element in a small subpopulation of cells in its bacterial host, yielding proficient DNA transferring cells.
The feedback between hydrodynamic flow conditions and biofilm spatial architecture drives competition in P. aeruginosa biofilms, and can explain variation in biofilm production observed among bacteria in natural environments.