Browse our latest Microbiology and Infectious Disease articles

As long suspected, poxviruses capture host genes through a reverse-transcription process now shown to be mediated by retrotransposons.

A new experimental system of horizontal gene transfer demonstrates that host retrotransposons facilitate the transfer of host genes into poxviruses.

Active selfish genetic elements in infected cells aid virus adaptation by catalyzing the transfer of host genes to virus genomes.

A horizontally shared type VI secretion system affects the interaction between vibrios and eukaryotic hosts.

The repair of oxidatively damaged proteins by the newly discovered activity in YjbI is important for the adaptation of Bacillus subtilis to oxidative environments.

Toll signaling modulates hemocyte differentiation into the megacyte lineage and their recruitment to the midgut greatly enhances mosquito immunity against Plasmodium.

Combined analyses of publicly available population-level variant data and detailed individual-level clinical data can be used to quantify the clinical impact of new SARS-CoV-2 variants in different settings.

The central immune modulator interferon-gamma downregulates the proto-oncogene c-Myc to shut down host cell metabolism and interfere with infection of epithelial cells by obligate intracellular pathogenic Chlamydia trachomatis.

The helical cell shape of Helicobacter pylori depends on the polymerizing cytoskeletal protein CcmA’s recruitment to the cell envelope by Csd5 and CcmA’s indirect stabilization of a periplasmic cell wall hydrolase via interactions with the transmembrane protein Csd7.

Host cell acid ceramidase activity contributes to the regulation of erythrocyte maturation and thereby affects the frequency of target cells for rodent Plasmodium yoelii parasites.