Research Highlights in 2010

A new paper reports that theVibrio choleraetype VI secretion system can target both eukaryotic and bacterial cells.

Contact-dependent growth inhibition systems are widespread among Gram-negative bacteria, display distinct mechanisms of action and have roles in intraspecies competition.

A new paper inPLoS Pathogens on Streptococcus pneumoniaepneumolysin provides the first example of the involvement of the NLRP3 inflammasome in protection against a Gram-positive bacterium.

Pathogens utilize the sugar that is transported by a newly identified family of sugar transporters and, in some cases, induce the expression of these transporters.

A new paper reports that the emergence of a more virulent strain of A/H1N1 pandemic influenza can occur by spontaneous mutations and re-assortment with seasonal viruses.

A mutualistic relationship between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and a member of the most ancient clade of land plants promotes carbon uptake, growth and asexual reproduction in the plant.

Comet tail formation inRickettsiaspp. relies on the formin-like protein Sca2 to mediate actin nucleation.

Variation in the composition of the adult microbiota is shaped not only by environmental factors but also by host genetic components.

Proteins known to protect plants from pathogens also play a part in initiating the interaction of plants with symbionts.

Salmonella entericausurps a mechanism for homeostatic turnover of gastrointestinal epithelial cells in order to ensure host cell exit.

HSV-1 latency is maintained by a host cell signalling pathway activated by NGF.

A recent paper inMolecular Microbiology sheds new light on the involvement of MxiC in the regulation of secretion through the Shigella flexneritype III secretion system.

A new paper in theISME Journalprovides the first evidence for a role of a bacterial type III secretion system (T3SS) in an interaction between a bacterium and a fungus.

A new paper inPLoS Biology reveals the mechanism used by the apicomplexan parasite Theileria annulatato usurp the host cell mitotic apparatus.

Influenza buds by an ESCRT-independent mechanism that involves the matrix protein M2.

Two articles identify the metabolic niches of two pathogens that provide them with a growth advantage.

The identification and characterization of bacterial lipid rafts and their role in the signalling pathways that regulate biofilm formation inBacillus subtilis.

A screen for host factors involved in the formation of the dengue virus replication complex reveals links to localized fatty acid biosynthesis

Vibrio parahaemolyticusVPA0450 contributes to host cell death by interfering with phosphatidylinositol signalling.

The vitamin B₆-dependent glycosylation of flagella is required for full Helicobacter pylorimotility and virulence.