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 attempt to manipulate a microbiome in planta to study the ecological consequences under field conditions leaves plants and their microbes surprisingly unimpressed.
The helical rod structure and dynamic spring-like properties of the type 1 pilus are evolutionarily fine-tuned for functioning in host-pathogen interactions during urinary tract infection and gut colonization.
Population mutation rates are highly flexible and evolvable under extreme stress conditions, matching changes in selective pressure to avoid extinction of the entire population.
The helical bacterium Helicobacter pylori patterns cell wall synthesis using two distinct cytoskeletal proteins, CcmA and MreB, to achieve its characteristic shape.
The absence of oxygen prompts Staphylococcus aureus cells to rupture resulting in increased formation of biofilms, which are the etiological agents of recurrent infections.
A genome scale model of Brugia malayi metabolism illustrates a dynamic reliance on energy production pathways across its life cycle and identifies new drugs with experimentally supported anti-parasitic properties.
