PLoS Pathogens

Nitrofurantoin is considered a first-line antimicrobial agent by the AUA/CUA/SUFU Guideline and Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) Guideline for the treatment of acute uncomplicated simple cystitis in women. Nitrofurantoin has good oral bioavailability, high concentration in urine, and low serum and tissue concentrations. These characteristics result in minimal collateral damage to the …

Honeybees of the species Apis mellifera are important pollinators of crops and wild plants. Paenibacillus larvae , a spore-forming bacterium, is a problematic pathogen that causes American foulbrood (AFB) in honeybee larvae worldwide. In many countries, AFB is a notifiable disease, requiring the destruction of diseased colonies, resulting in economic loss that impacts beekeeping and agriculture. …

Systemic type I interferon (IFN-I) and pro-inflammatory cytokine responses are critical for limiting mosquito-borne RNA virus viral replication and disease, yet mechanisms initiating these responses and their linkage to viral tropism for lymphoid tissues are poorly understood. Here, we reveal that virus-cell interactions and specific host signaling pathways in lymphoid tissues are determinants of…

The pELF-type linear plasmid is a critical mobile genetic element responsible for the dissemination of various antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes, most notably vancomycin resistance in Enterococcus faecium , which is a leading cause of hospital outbreaks worldwide. Despite their crucial role in the expansion of AMR, the molecular mechanisms underlying the conjugative transfer of these linear pl…

ABSTRACT Larvae of many insects develop immersed in decomposing substrates densely populated with microbes, yet how they detect and respond to pathogenic threats during early life remains poorly understood. Here, we show that Drosophila melanogaster larvae exhibit a previously unrecognized rapid escape behavior triggered by food contaminated with metabolically active Erwinia carotovora carotovora…

Influenza viruses belong to the Orthomyxoviridae family, they are categorized into four types: A, B, C, and D. Influenza B viruses co-circulate annually with influenza A strains during seasonal flu epidemics in humans, causing severe disease. The segmented RNA encapsidated by multiple copies of the nucleoprotein (NP) and attached to the heterotrimeric polymerase forms the central replicative unit…

Abstract Transferrin binding protein B (TbpB), an iron acquisition protein, has long been recognized as a promising vaccine candidate targeting the pathogenic Neisseria species, including Neisseria meningitidis , the cause of meningococcal disease, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae , the cause of gonorrhea. A challenge to the development of this protein as a vaccine immunogen is the extent of antigenic v…

Abstract Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) remains a significant health burden in sub-Saharan Africa, with serological diagnosis relying heavily on parasite variant surface glycoproteins (VSGs). In this study, we present evidence that LiTat 1.3 (a key VSG in the diagnosis of T. b. gambiense infections) displays a homotrimeric architecture in solution instead of the archetypal homodimeric struct…

Enhancing the insecticidal efficacy of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins by suppressing the immune responses of target insects can simultaneously augment the effectiveness of Bt-based products and address the growing issue of resistance. Our previous studies found that the inhibition of calcineurin (CaN) activity can enhance the toxicity of Cry1Ac, a Bt toxin, against Helicoverpa armigera, and t…

Since conventional antibiotics frequently fail to effectively treat infections caused by encapsulated bacteria, phage therapy has gained attention as a potential treatment approach. However, the understanding of phages that can specifically infect encapsulated bacteria-particularly myophages-remains limited, especially regarding their structures with multi-states, and infection and contraction me…

Leptospira interrogans is a causative agent of leptospirosis, a potentially life-threatening zoonotic disease. A major symptom of severe leptospirosis is acute kidney failure; this is characterized by the detachment of renal proximal tubule epithelial cells (RPTECs) from the basement membrane, which can lead to chronic kidney disease. The kidneys possess an intrinsic ability to self-repair follow…

The Mediterranean population of tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV-ES) is characterized by a high genetic uniformity, distinguishing it from its Asian counterparts. ToLCNDV-ES is thought to have a monophyletic origin, likely resulting from a single recombination event, prior to its spread throughout the Mediterranean region. Following its first detection in southeastern France in 2020, ToL…

Translation of key viral replicative proteins in coronaviruses requires a programmed -1 ribosomal frameshifting (-1 PRF) event controlled by the viral frameshift-stimulatory element (FSE). Although previous studies have analyzed host factor dependencies of coronaviruses, how host cellular factors alter -1 PRF efficiency and affect viral replication remains poorly understood. Here, using RNA pull-…

Abstract Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) targeting conserved regions of the betacoronavirus spike are important for pan-betacoronavirus protection and pandemic preparedness. Here, we report on the isolation of a human monoclonal antibody, CC65.1, from a SARS-CoV-2 convalescent donor that targets the conserved S2 stem helix region. CC65.1 neutralizes various sarbecoviruses, including SARS-…

Chronic hepatitis B virus infection persists as a global health crisis, driving life-threatening liver pathologies such as hepatocellular carcinoma. Central to HBV's resilience is the covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), a viral minichromosome that orchestrates viral transcription and sustains infection. Dissecting cccDNA-driven transcription remains a formidable challenge due to the dense ov…

A persistent evolutionary arms race exists between enteroviruses and their hosts, in which viruses employ multiple strategies to antagonize host antiviral defenses and sustain efficient replication. However, how host restriction factors are broadly targeted by enteroviruses during this process, as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms, remain poorly understood. Here, we identify Ring Finger…

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a strictly fatal and highly contagious prion disease of wild and farmed cervids currently expanding in North America. Prion diseases are caused by conversion of the cellular prion protein to its pathological isoform PrP Sc . Vaccination is considered a promising strategy to contain CWD, even though prion diseases do not show classical immune responses. For CWD con…