Hot off the presses! Oct 01 Nat Rev Microbiol

The Oct 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(10):685 (2009)
  
• Editorial: Climate change and mutualism
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):686 (2009)
  
• Bacterial secretion: Traffic jam closes the road
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):687 (2009)
  
• Innate immunity: Help from 'friendly' bacteria
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):688 (2009)
  
• In brief: Bacterial physiology, Phage biology, Biotechnology
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):688 (2009)
  
• Bacterial physiology: Another brick in the invisible wall?
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):688 (2009)
  
• Bacterial pathogenesis: On the move
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):689 (2009)
  
• Bacterial chromosomes: IPOD maps occupied territory
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):690 (2009)
  
• Innate immunity: A protective fungal spore coat
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):690 (2009)
  
• Of trees and networks
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):691 (2009)
  
• In the News
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):692 (2009)
  
• Cholera transmission: the host, pathogen and bacteriophage dynamic
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):693-702 (2009)
  Zimbabwe offers the most recent example of the tragedy that befalls a country and its people when cholera strikes. The 2008–2009 outbreak rapidly spread across every province and brought rates of mortality similar to those witnessed as a consequence of cholera infections a hundred years ago. In this Review we highlight the advances that will help to unravel how interactions between the host, the bacterial pathogen and the lytic bacteriophage might propel and quench cholera outbreaks in endemic settings and in emergent epidemic regions such as Zimbabwe.
• The structural biology of type IV secretion systems
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):703-714 (2009)
  Type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) are versatile secretion systems that are found in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and secrete a wide range of substrates, from single proteins to protein–protein and protein–DNA complexes. They usually consist of 12 components that are organized into ATP-powered, double-membrane-spanning complexes. The structures of single soluble components or domains have been solved, but an understanding of how these structures come together has only recently begun to emerge. This Review focuses on the structural advances that have been made over the past 10 years and how the corresponding structural insights have helped to elucidate many of the details of the mechanism of type IV secretion.
• Engineering for biofuels: exploiting innate microbial capacity or importing biosynthetic potential?
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):715-723 (2009)
  The ideal microorganism for biofuel production will possess high substrate utilization and processing capacities, fast and deregulated pathways for sugar transport, good tolerance to inhibitors and product, and high metabolic fluxes and will produce a single fermentation product. It is unclear whether such an organism will be engineered using a native, isolated strain or a recombinant, model organism as the starting point. The choice between engineering natural function and importing biosynthetic capacity is affected by current progress in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. This Review highlights some of the factors influencing the above decision, in light of current advances.
• Structural and mechanistic determinants of c-di-GMP signalling
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):724-735 (2009)
  Bis-(3'-5')-cyclic dimeric GMP (c-di-GMP) is a ubiquitous second messenger that regulates cell surface-associated traits in bacteria. Components of this regulatory network include GGDEF and EAL domain-containing proteins that determine the cellular concentrations of c-di-GMP by mediating its synthesis and degradation, respectively. Crystal structure analyses in combination with functional studies have revealed the catalytic mechanisms and regulatory principles involved. Downstream, c-di-GMP is recognized by PilZ domain-containing receptors that can undergo large-scale domain rearrangements on ligand binding. Here, we review recent data on the structure and functional properties of the protein families that are involved in c-di-GMP signalling and discuss the mechanistic implications.
• Leptospira: the dawn of the molecular genetics era for an emerging zoonotic pathogen
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):736-747 (2009)
  Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease that has emerged as an important cause of morbidity and mortality among impoverished populations. One hundred years after the discovery of the causative spirochaetal agent, little is understood about Leptospira spp. pathogenesis, which in turn has hampered the development of new intervention strategies to address this neglected disease. However, the recent availability of complete genome sequences for Leptospira spp. and the discovery of genetic tools for their transformation have led to important insights into the biology of these pathogens and their pathogenesis. We discuss the life cycle of the bacterium, the recent advances in our understanding and the implications for the future prevention of leptospirosis.
• Recombinational DNA repair in a cellular context: a search for the homology search
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):748-755 (2009)
  Double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) are the most detrimental lesion that can be sustained by the genetic complement, and their inaccurate mending can be just as damaging. According to the consensual view, precise DSB repair relies on homologous recombination. Here, we review studies on DNA repair, chromatin diffusion and chromosome confinement, which collectively imply that a genome-wide search for a homologous template, generally thought to be a pivotal stage in all homologous DSB repair pathways, is improbable. The implications of this assertion for the scope and constraints of DSB repair pathways and for the ability of diverse organisms to cope with DNA damage are discussed.
• Correspondence: Networking for BSL-3/4 laboratory scientist training
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):756 (2009)
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• Correspondence: Soil genomics
  Singh BK Campbell CD Sorenson SJ Zhou J - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):756 (2009)
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• Correspondence: To sequence or not to sequence the whole-soil metagenome?
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):756 (2009)
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• Correspondence: Advantages of the metagenomic approach for soil exploration: reply from Vogel et al.
  - Nat Rev Microbiol 7(10):756 (2009)
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