#NatureMicroPicks

Diverse bat organoids provide pathophysiological models for zoonotic viruses Bats are important reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens, but suitable model systems for comprehensively exploring host-pathogen interactions and assessing spillover risks remain limited. To address this g...

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🦇 ex vivo models for bat viruses!

Bat organoids as new models to study zoonotic viruses.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Cryptic infection of a giant virus in a unicellular green alga Latency is a common strategy in a wide range of viral lineages, but its prevalence in giant viruses remains unknown. In this work, we describe a 617–kilo–base pairs integrated giant viral element in t...

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Giant virus! 🧬

An exploration detailing a 0.6 mega base-pair DNA virus in green algae.

#MicroSky 🦠

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Commensalism and pathogenesis of Candida albicans at the mucosal interface - Nature Reviews Microbiology In this Review, Hube and colleagues overview the commensal and pathogenic lifestyles of Candida albicans, focusing on how the fungus transitions between these two states, the fungal and host factors i...

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🍄 Candida - Commensal or Pathogen?

Take a deep dive into the interplay of the fungus, the host and the microbiome on the dualism of commensal and pathogenic life of C. albicans.

#MicroSky #Fungi

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mobile integrons encode phage defense systems Integrons are bacterial genetic elements that capture, stockpile, and modulate the expression of genes encoded in integron cassettes. Mobile integrons (MIs) are borne on plasmids, acting as a vehicle ...

#NatureMicroPicks

Microbial integrons in focus 🦠🧬

Two studies showing microbial integrons encoding phage defense systems

#MicroSky

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Bioremediation of complex organic pollutants by engineered Vibrio natriegens - Nature A synthetic biology approach was used to engineer Vibrio natriegens into a strain capable of bioremediating complex organic pollutants in saline wastewater and soils, thereby addressing notable threat...

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Bioremediation with bacteria 🦠🧪♻️

Vibrio natriegens engineered to bioremediate complex organic pollutants in saline wastewater and soils, enhancing its DNA uptake and integration capabilities through synthetic biology.

#MicroSky #BioEngineering

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Gut microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids and their role in human health and disease - Nature Reviews Microbiology The human intestinal microbiota ferments dietary fibre to short-chain fatty acids, which make an important contribution to host health. In this Review, Mukhopadhya and Louis discuss the luminal microb...

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Why SCFAs are all the rage? 🦠⚕️🧪

A comprehensive review of microbiota-derived SCFA and their role in human health and disease.

#MicroSky #MicrobiomeSky @natrevmicro.nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Suppression of HIV-1 transcription and latency reversal via ectopic expression of the viral antisense transcript AST HIV-1 encodes an antisense transcript that establishes and maintains viral latency and that can be exploited as a curative agent.

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Antisense therapy for HIV? ⚕️

The study identifies an HIV-1 antisense transcript (AST) that enforces viral latency by promoting histone modifications and hindering reactivation in CD4+ T cells, with potential curative implications.

#MicroSky

www.science.org/doi/full/10....

An engineered gut bacterium protects against dietary methylmercury exposure in pregnant mice Yu and Chandra et al. engineered a commensal gut microbe, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, to detoxify methylmercury (MeHg). The engineered bacterium reduces MeHg in the intestinal lumen, limits its accu...

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Methylmercury detoxification by therapeutic bacteria! 🦠🔧🧬⚕️

Engineered bacteria decrease the toxic accumulation of methylmercury in maternal and fetal mice organs.

Published in @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social

#MicroSky #GeneticEngineering

www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

An interplay between human genetics and intratumoral microbiota in the progression of colorectal cancer Yu et al. demonstrate that patients carrying the rs2355016 A allele have lower expression levels of KCNJ11. This decrease raises Gal-GalNAc levels on the surface of CRC cells, aiding the binding of th...

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Genetics influences cancer microbiota! 🦠🦀

Colorectal cancer patients carrying a specific gene allele show increased abundance of Fusobacterium, which accelerates cancer progression

Published in @cp-cellhostmicrobe.bsky.social

#MicroSky #CancerSky

www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Fasting-induced ketogenesis sensitizes bacteria to antibiotic treatment Fasting metabolism is a motivational response to acute infections. Cui et al. demonstrate that fasting-induced ketogenesis enhances antibiotic treatment for mouse sepsis caused by gram-negative bacter...

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Beneficial fasting? 🍽️

A mouse study reveals how fasting can potentiate antibiotic response. 🦠🐀💊

Published in @cp-cellmetabolism.bsky.social

#MicroSky #AMR

www.cell.com/cell-metabol...

Brief antibiotic use drives human gut bacteria towards low-cost resistance - Nature Brief ciprofloxacin exposure in humans drives antibiotic resistance evolution in gut bacteria through selective sweeps, particularly involving DNA gyrase mutations, which persist long after exposure a...

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AMR evolution in human gut! 🦠💊🧪

A human study highlighting the gut as a potential hotspot for evolution of antimicrobial resistance

Published in @nature.com

#MicroSky #MicrobiomeSky

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A symbiotic filamentous gut fungus ameliorates MASH via a secondary metabolite–CerS6–ceramide axis The gut microbiota is known to be associated with a variety of human metabolic diseases, including metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis (MASH). Fungi are increasingly recognized as importa...

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Friendly fungus!

A fungal isolation chip helped identify a human gut symbiotic fungus Fusarium foetens, which produces metabolites that alleviate fatty liver disease in mice. 🍄🐀

Published in @science.org

#MicroSky #MicrobiomeSky

www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...

With so much cool microbiology happening all around us, the editors of Nature Microbiology have decided to highlight their weekly pick of interesting microbiology published in other journals as #NatureMicroPicks!

#MicroSky 🦠