Hot off the presses! Aug 01 Nat Rev Microbiol

The Aug 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(8):545 (2009)
  
• Editorial: Darwin and microbiology
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):546 (2009)
  
• Parasitology: Transmission key to Leishmania vaccine
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):547 (2009)
  
• Innate immunity: DCs take one for the team
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):548 (2009)
  
• Biofilms: Candida Zaps the matrix
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):548 (2009)
  
• In brief: Bacterial physiology, HIV, Bacterial genetics
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):548 (2009)
  
• Bacterial physiology: Opportunity Nocs
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):549 (2009)
  
• Parasitology: Plasmodium protein portal
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):550 (2009)
  
• Microbial genetics: Predicting the future
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):550 (2009)
  
• Testing the water: marine metagenomics
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):552 (2009)
  
• In the News
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):553 (2009)
  
• Staphylococcus epidermidis — the 'accidental' pathogen
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):555-567 (2009)
  Although nosocomial infections by Staphylococcus epidermidis have gained much attention, this skin-colonizing bacterium has apparently evolved not to cause disease, but to maintain the commonly benign relationship with its host. Accordingly, S. epidermidis does not produce aggressive virulence determinants. Rather, factors that normally sustain the commensal lifestyle of S. epidermidis seem to give rise to additional benefits during infection. Furthermore, we are beginning to comprehend the roles of S. epidermidis in balancing the epithelial microflora and serving as a reservoir of resistance genes. In this Review, I discuss the molecular basis of the commensal and infectious lifestyles of S. epidermidis.
• Electron transfer in syntrophic communities of anaerobic bacteria and archaea
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):568-577 (2009)
  Interspecies electron transfer is a key process in methanogenic and sulphate-reducing environments. Bacteria and archaea that live in syntrophic communities take advantage of the metabolic abilities of their syntrophic partner to overcome energy barriers and break down compounds that they cannot digest by themselves. Here, we review the transfer of hydrogen and formate between bacteria and archaea that helps to sustain growth in syntrophic methanogenic communities. We also describe the process of reverse electron transfer, which is a key requirement in obligately syntrophic interactions. Anaerobic methane oxidation coupled to sulphate reduction is also carried out by syntrophic communities of bacteria and archaea but, as we discuss, the exact mechanism of this syntrophic interaction is not yet understood.
• Bacterial gene amplification: implications for the evolution of antibiotic resistance
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):578-588 (2009)
  Recent data suggest that, in response to the presence of antibiotics, gene duplication and amplification (GDA) constitutes an important adaptive mechanism in bacteria. For example, resistance to sulphonamide, trimethoprim and -lactams can be conferred by increased gene dosage through GDA of antibiotic hydrolytic enzymes, target enzymes or efflux pumps. Furthermore, most types of antibiotic resistance mechanism are deleterious in the absence of antibiotics, and these fitness costs can be ameliorated by increased gene dosage of limiting functions. In this Review, we highlight the dynamic properties of gene amplifications and describe how they can facilitate adaptive evolution in response to toxic drugs.
• Adapting the machine: adaptor proteins for Hsp100/Clp and AAA+ proteases
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):589-599 (2009)
  Members of the AAA+ protein superfamily contribute to many diverse aspects of protein homeostasis in prokaryotic cells. As a fundamental component of numerous proteolytic machines in bacteria, AAA+ proteins play a crucial part not only in general protein quality control but also in the regulation of developmental programmes, through the controlled turnover of key proteins such as transcription factors. To manage these many, varied tasks, Hsp100/Clp and AAA+ proteases use specific adaptor proteins to enhance or expand the substrate recognition abilities of their cognate protease. Here, we review our current knowledge of the modulation of bacterial AAA+ proteases by these cellular arbitrators.
• Unravelling ancient microbial history with community proteogenomics and lipid geochemistry
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):601-609 (2009)
  Our window into the Earth's ancient microbial past is narrow and obscured by missing data. However, we can glean information about ancient microbial ecosystems using fossil lipids (biomarkers) that are extracted from billion-year-old sedimentary rocks. In this Opinion article, we describe how environmental genomics and related methodologies will give molecular fossil research a boost, by increasing our knowledge about how evolutionary innovations in microorganisms have changed the surface of planet Earth.
• Communicable disease among displaced Afghans: refuge without shelter
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):609-614 (2009)
  More than 23 years of warfare in Afghanistan has caused over 6 million Afghans to seek asylum in approximately 70 different countries, with most Afghan refugees settling in the developing countries of Pakistan and Iran. In a developing host country, poor sanitation and nutrition, overcrowding and inaccessibility to health care facilities act synergistically to influence morbidity and mortality from infectious disease in the refugee population. In this Science and Society article we discuss the prevalence of transmissible infection, modes of transmission, associated risk factors, and the state of health and health care in the displaced Afghan population.
• Correspondence: Reasons to include viruses in the tree of life
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):615 (2009)
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• Correspondence: Six comments on the ten reasons for the demotion of viruses
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):615 (2009)
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• Correspondence: Ten good reasons not to exclude giruses from the evolutionary picture
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):615 (2009)
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• Correspondence: Viral genomes are part of the phylogenetic tree of life
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):615 (2009)
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• Correspondence: Compelling reasons why viruses are relevant for the origin of cells
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):615 (2009)
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• Correspondence: There is no such thing as a tree of life (and of course viruses are out!)
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):615 (2009)
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• Correspondence: Yet viruses cannot be included in the tree of life
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(8):615 (2009)
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