Hot off the presses! Jul 01 Nat Rev Microbiol

The Jul 01 issue of the Nat Rev Microbiol is now up on Pubget (About Nat Rev Microbiol): if you're at a subscribing institution, just click the link in the latest link at the home page. (Note you'll only be able to get all the PDFs in the issue if your institution subscribes to Pubget.)

Latest Articles Include:

• In this issue
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):477 (2009)
  
• Editorial: Safety from farm to fork
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):478 (2009)
  
• Bacterial pathogenesis: Taking iron from the fire
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):479 (2009)
  
• Parasitology: PADding up for differentiation
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):480 (2009)
  
• Antiviral immunity: TRIMming the response
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):480 (2009)
  
• Phage biology: Uncorking the phage capsid
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):480 (2009)
  
• In brief: Environmental microbiology, Microbial ecology, Fungal genomics
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):481 (2009)
  
• Bacterial pathogenesis: Disruptive influence
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):482 (2009)
  
• Bacterial physiology: Release the vesicles
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):482 (2009)
  
• Milk and two oligosaccharides
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):483 (2009)
  
• In the News
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):484 (2009)
  
• Prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein (Pup), proteasomes and pathogenesis
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):485-491 (2009)
  Proteasomes are ATP-dependent, multisubunit proteases that are found in all eukaryotes and archaea and some bacteria. In eukaryotes, the small protein ubiquitin is covalently attached in a post-translational manner to proteins that are targeted for proteasomal degradation. Despite the presence of proteasomes in many prokaryotes, ubiquitin or other post-translational protein modifiers were presumed to be absent from these organisms. Recently a prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein, Pup, was found to target proteins for proteolysis by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteasome. The discovery of this ubiquitin-like modifier opens up the possibility that other bacteria may also have small post-translational protein tagging systems, with the ability to affect cellular processes.
• Common strategies for antigenic variation by bacterial, fungal and protozoan pathogens
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):493-503 (2009)
  The complex relationships between infectious organisms and their hosts often reflect the continuing struggle of the pathogen to proliferate and spread to new hosts, and the need of the infected individual to control and potentially eradicate the infecting population. This has led, in the case of mammals and the pathogens that infect them, to an 'arms race', in which the highly adapted mammalian immune system has evolved to control the proliferation of infectious organisms and the pathogens have developed correspondingly complex genetic systems to evade this immune response. We review how bacterial, protozoan and fungal pathogens from distant evolutionary lineages have evolved surprisingly similar mechanisms of antigenic variation to avoid eradication by the host immune system and can therefore maintain persistent infections and ensure their transmission to new hosts.
• Epigenetic regulation in African trypanosomes: a new kid on the block
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):504-513 (2009)
  Epigenetic regulation is important in many facets of eukaryotic biology. Recent work has suggested that the basic mechanisms underlying epigenetic regulation extend to eukaryotic parasites. The identification of post-translational histone modifications and chromatin-modifying enzymes is beginning to reveal both common and novel functions for chromatin in these parasites. In this Review, we compare the role of epigenetics in African trypanosomes and humans in several biological processes. We discuss how the study of trypanosome chromatin might help us to better understand the evolution of epigenetic processes.
• The versatility and adaptation of bacteria from the genus Stenotrophomonas
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):514-525 (2009)
  The genus Stenotrophomonas comprises at least eight species. These bacteria are found throughout the environment, particularly in close association with plants. Strains of the most predominant species, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, have an extraordinary range of activities that include beneficial effects for plant growth and health, the breakdown of natural and man-made pollutants that are central to bioremediation and phytoremediation strategies and the production of biomolecules of economic value, as well as detrimental effects, such as multidrug resistance, in human pathogenic strains. Here, we discuss the versatility of the bacteria in the genus Stenotrophomonas and the insight that comparative genomic analysis of clinical and endophytic isolates of S. maltophilia has brought to our understanding of the adaptation of this genus to various niches.
• Clostridium difficile infection: new developments in epidemiology and pathogenesis
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):526-536 (2009)
  Clostridium difficile is now considered to be one of the most important causes of health care-associated infections. C. difficile infections are also emerging in the community and in animals used for food, and are no longer viewed simply as unpleasant complications that follow antibiotic therapy. Since 2001, the prevalence and severity of C. difficile infection has increased significantly, which has led to increased research interest and the discovery of new virulence factors, and has expanded and focused the development of new treatment and prevention regimens. This Review summarizes the recent epidemiological changes in C. difficile infection, our current knowledge of C. difficile virulence factors and the clinical outcomes of C. difficile infection.
• Myths and misconceptions: the origin and evolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(7):537-544 (2009)
  Much effort has been spent trying to work out the origin and history of tuberculosis. Understanding these concepts could have important consequences for the development of vaccines and therapies that are effective against all strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We discuss a series of misconceptions about the origin of both M. tuberculosis and the disease it causes that have arisen over the years, and identify a number of unanswered questions that could provide insight into both these areas.