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Genomics of Natural Populations of Staphylococcus aureus
10.1146/annurev-micro-102215-095547 2016-09-08 Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen and an important cause of livestock infections. The first S. aureus genomes to be published, 15 years ago, provided the first view of genome structure and gene content. Since then, thousands of genomes from a wi... |
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(Per)chlorate in Biology on Earth and Beyond
10.1146/annurev-micro-102215-095406 2016-09-08 Respiration of perchlorate and chlorate [collectively, (per)chlorate] was only recognized in the last 20 years, yet substantial advances have been made in our understanding of the underlying metabolisms. Although it was once considered solely anthropogenic, p... |
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Autophagy Evasion and Endoplasmic Reticulum Subversion: The Yin and Yang of Legionella Intracellular Infection
10.1146/annurev-micro-102215-095557 2016-09-08 The gram-negative bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila creates a novel organelle inside of eukaryotic host cells that supports intracellular replication. The L. pneumophila–containing vacuole evades fusion with lysosomes and interacts intimately with the... |
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Gut Microbiota, Inflammation, and Colorectal Cancer
10.1146/annurev-micro-102215-095513 2016-09-08 Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States and fourth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. While cancer is largely considered to be a disease of genetic and environmental factors, increasing eviden... |
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Lessons from Digestive-Tract Symbioses Between Bacteria and Invertebrates
10.1146/annurev-micro-091014-104258 2016-09-08 In most animals, digestive tracts harbor the greatest number of bacteria in the animal that contribute to its health: by aiding in the digestion of nutrients, provisioning essential nutrients and protecting against colonization by pathogens. Invertebrates hav... |
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Riboswitch-Mediated Gene Regulation: Novel RNA Architectures Dictate Gene Expression Responses
10.1146/annurev-micro-091014-104306 2016-09-08 Riboswitches are RNA elements that act on the mRNA with which they are cotranscribed to modulate expression of that mRNA. These elements are widely found in bacteria, where they have a broad impact on gene expression. The defining feature of riboswitches is t... |
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Biological Diversity and Molecular Plasticity of FIC Domain Proteins
10.1146/annurev-micro-102215-095245 2016-09-08 The ubiquitous proteins with FIC (filamentation induced by cyclic AMP) domains use a conserved enzymatic machinery to modulate the activity of various target proteins by posttranslational modification, typically AMPylation. Following intensive study of the ge... |
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Insights into the Coral Microbiome: Underpinning the Health and Resilience of Reef Ecosystems
10.1146/annurev-micro-102215-095440 2016-09-08 Corals are fundamental ecosystem engineers, creating large, intricate reefs that support diverse and abundant marine life. At the core of a healthy coral animal is a dynamic relationship with microorganisms, including a mutually beneficial symbiosis with phot... |
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Staphylococcus aureus RNAIII and Its Regulon Link Quorum Sensing, Stress Responses, Metabolic Adaptation, and Regulation of Virulence Gene Expression
10.1146/annurev-micro-102215-095708 2016-09-08 Staphylococcus aureus RNAIII is one of the main intracellular effectors of the quorum-sensing system. It is a multifunctional RNA that encodes a small peptide, and its noncoding parts act as antisense RNAs to regulate the translation and/or the stability of m... |
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The Modern Synthesis in the Light of Microbial Genomics
10.1146/annurev-micro-102215-095456 2016-09-08 We review the theoretical implications of findings in genomics for evolutionary biology since the Modern Synthesis. We examine the ways in which microbial genomics has influenced our understanding of the last universal common ancestor, the tree of life, speci... |