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Really proud of the @prideinmicro.bsky.social team, in particular @nicholasbio.bsky.social and @katie-barnes.bsky.social for putting this together for @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social for #Pride! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

By coupling natural variation in carbon stable isotope signatures with amino acid-specific analysis, Mertz et al. demonstrate the substantive contribution of the gut microbiome in improving diet quality through the production of essential amino acids that are absorbed by the host (deer mouse) and incorporated into muscle tissue.

I was trained as a pharmacist. After graduation, I worked as a lecturer at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where my research focused on the antimicrobial activity of natural compounds.

Phage therapy often fails when bacteria evolve resistance. We argue that phage selection should begin with receptors whose modification imposes predictable costs, turning resistance into reduced virulence, antibiotic resensitization, or other exploitable trade-offs. Receptor-constrained evolutionary traps offer a framework for designing phages that steer—not merely suppress—bacterial evolution effectively.

Mineral weathering (MWe) is a fundamental driver of nutrient release in nutrient-poor ecosystems, sustaining both nutrient cycling and plant growth. Among the strategies employed by MWe bacteria—acidification, chelation, and oxidoreduction reactions—acidification stands out as the most widespread but least understood at the ecological and genetic levels. This review synthesizes current knowledge on acidification-driven MWe bacteria, the factors determining their effectiveness, genetic determinants, and regulatory mechanisms revealed through interdisciplinary approaches (transcriptomics/proteomics, mineralogy, and geochemistry). We also highlight newly discovered genes and critically assess the limitations of current approaches, offering new perspectives on the mechanisms and evolution underlying bacterial contributions to MWe.

Microbial cell factories enable the sustainable production of fuels, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, yet their performance is often constrained by inefficient metabolic flux distribution, cofactor imbalance, and pathway-associated toxicity. Spatial engineering has emerged as an effective approach to address these limitations. It does so by controlling the organization of metabolic processes. This review summarizes recent advances in spatial engineering at three levels: natural organelle engineering, artificial compartmentalization, and intercellular coordination. We discuss how these strategies enhance pathway efficiency through enzyme colocalization, metabolic insulation, and division of labor. We also underscore current challenges regarding targeting efficiency and system integration. Future directions for advancing spatial design and metabolic coordination in microbial systems are outlined.

Rising anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hostility creates a crisis of exclusion in science. Queer and Trans microbiologists often navigate their careers in isolation, facing systemic barriers that limit their retention. To counter this, we established the Pride in Microbiology Network in 2023. Here, we share strategies for building safe, decentralized networks beyond institutional and geographic borders and argue that resilient scientific ecosystems depend on diversity, inclusion, and support structures that enable 2SLGBTQIA+ scientists to remain, connect, and lead.

Host-associated bacteria are found across the tree of life. In this opinion article, we propose that population genetics theory can be used to probe the conditions that form the path toward such symbioses. We illustrate how mutation-selection models generate insights into the maintenance of a symbiont under transmission between generations and from the environment. We outline how basic features of host population size and life history shape the fixation of a heritable symbiont in a host population, suggesting elevated fixation probabilities in long-lived hosts. Finally, whenever the fitness effects of the symbiont vary over time, reduced efficiency of selection increases the fixation of a deleterious symbiont. Our predictions of the properties of hosts, symbionts, and their ecological contexts that impact symbiont establishment frame expectations across systems.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels in Gram-negative bacteria are primarily controlled by LpxC, a deacetylase catalyzing the committed step of LPS synthesis. Studies of LPS regulation have long focused on controlling LpxC abundance. However, recent findings on the allosteric regulation of LpxC activity suggest a broader framework for LPS synthesis control.

Beyond maintaining endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis, ER-phagy (or reticulophagy) serves as a conserved antiviral defense across kingdoms. By targeting viral replication organelles and degrading viral components, it restricts infection, while viruses counteract or exploit this pathway. This dynamic interplay shapes infection outcomes and highlights ER-phagy as a promising target for antiviral intervention.