Search articles by title, topic or section.
Khabre desk
Recent reporting, analysis and explainers from the Microbiology desk.
science
A bioRxiv preprint reports that lipopolysaccharide supports several distinct functions in the cell envelope of two Gram-negative bacteria. Experiments suggest that its mechanical role alone cannot explain why it is essential for growth.
science
A bioRxiv preprint reports that three enzymes in Escherichia coli release polysaccharide cargo from the lipid carrier undecaprenyl. The findings connect carrier recycling to several bacterial cell-envelope pathways.
science
A bioRxiv preprint reports a pooled CRISPRi screen that measured 1,326 pairwise genetic interactions among 51 Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug-target genes. Follow-up experiments found drug synergies involving ATP synthase targets and reported that inhibiting Pks13 potentiated antitubercular agents.
science
A bioRxiv preprint describes TriComm, a three-strain microbial community maintained in continuous culture to study plasmid-mediated antimicrobial resistance. The authors report that resistance plasmids protected the community from collapse under antimicrobial treatment, with protection depending on plasmid transfer.
science
A bioRxiv preprint reports that ibuprofen increased ciprofloxacin tolerance in Campylobacter jejuni in a screen of 2,415 small molecules. The same study identified human-targeted drugs that inhibited the bacterium while sparing commensal microbes.
science
A bioRxiv preprint reports that tunicamycin, a compound produced by Streptomyces bacteria, induced unisexual reproduction in Cryptococcus fungi. The reported cycle included meiotic recombination and spore formation.
science
A bioRxiv preprint reports that the Pks12 enzyme helps generate a lipid that shapes the surface and arabinoglycan architecture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The researchers combined analysis of more than 50,000 bacterial isolates with validation in zebrafish and mouse models.
science
A bioRxiv preprint introduces ProFinder, a computational tool that ranks candidate constitutive promoters in bacterial genomes. The authors report generating candidates for 99.76% of 56,742 genomes spanning 149 phyla.
science
A bioRxiv preprint reports that MERS-CoV spike substitutions L507I and L507H reduced binding to soluble DPP4 while preserving entry into cells with high DPP4 levels. Polymorphisms at the same site found in patient virus sequences showed stronger resistance in the study’s VSV-based cell system.
science
A bioRxiv preprint reports that insertions and deletions in several classes of repeated DNA sequences can change antibiotic susceptibility in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Laboratory reconstruction identified a ppe53 repeat deletion that produced intermediate resistance to isoniazid, rifampicin and streptomycin.
science
A bioRxiv preprint maps bacterial host factors involved in infection by single-stranded RNA and DNA bacteriophages. The study identifies conserved requirements for F-pilus-dependent infection and links an E. coli capsule architecture to selective phage access.