Articles in 2021

In this Review, Larsson and Flach discuss the drivers of and bottlenecks for environmental evolution and transmission of antibiotic resistance, and they explore environmental surveillance strategies that could complement clinical surveillance systems.

In this Review, Huang and colleagues explore the emerging physical and mechanical properties of the Gram-negative outer membrane. They discuss recent studies that revealed key molecular factors and interactions that give rise to the spatial organization, limited diffusivity and stress-bearing capacity of the outer membrane.

This study shows that segmented filamentous bacteria provide early protection against Citrobacter rodentium via a microbially derived metabolite that primes host innate immunity.

The successful treatment of polymicrobial infections is difficult, in part owing to inter-species interactions, which can alter antibiotic susceptibility of the bacteria. This study, focusing on cystic fibrosis, shows that multi-drug resistant Stenotrophomonas maltophilia can provide protection against imipenem to sensitive Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Bacterial barcoding revealed host bottlenecks and bacterial factors that influence systemic spread of bacterial infections.

An experimental evolution study showed that the cost of plasmid carriage can be caused by genetic conflicts between the plasmid and bacterial host chromosome.

Whether there is overlap between the microbial communities in the gut and oral cavity has been debated. This study found that the salivary and stool microbiomes are highly distinct.

This study describes Mycobacterium leprae infection of western chimpanzees in Côte d’Ivoire and disease manifestation.

A newly identified phage defence system uses cyclic pyrimidines to induce abortive infection.

Two recent studies provide mechanistic evidence that members of the microbiota cooperate to confer colonization resistance against pathogens.

Global change, including climate change, urbanization and global travel and trade, has affected the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. In the Review, Baker, Metcalf and colleagues examine how global change affects infectious diseases, highlighting examples ranging from COVID-19 to Zika virus disease.

Lipid biomarkers provide insights into the nature and history of the Earth’s microbial life. In this Review, Summons et al. discuss how advances in molecular biology have helped elucidate lipid biomarker origins and afforded robust interpretations of fossil lipids, and explore key examples of how genomics-enabled advances in lipid biomarker science are illuminating the history of microbial life on the Earth.

The authors of this study designed a novel therapeutic class of antimicrobials in which they optimized drug binding and permeation of the drug through bacterial membrane transporters simultaneously.

This study finds that a tick symbiont modulates serotonin levels in the host and thus promotes blood feeding.

A study in preterm piglets shows that transplantation of faecal filtrate can prevent necrotizing enterocolitis.

This study shows that a system related to Tad pili mediates contact-dependent killing in predatory bacteria.

This month’s Genome Watch highlights the need for improved phenotypic approaches to complement the power of genomics.

This month’s Under the Lens discusses how recent advances in understanding the spatial integration of transcription and splicing sites have shed light on the mechanism that ensures monogenic antigen expression in trypanosomes.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has seen a notable global reduction in influenza cases of both influenza A and B viruses. In particular, the B/Yamagata lineage has not been isolated from April 2020 to August 2021, suggesting that this influenza lineage may have become extinct, which may provide opportunities for improving availability and effectiveness of influenza vaccines.