M. Vos

Macroevolutionary dynamics in micro-organisms: generalists give rise to specialists across biomes in the ubiquitous bacterial phylum Myxococcota.

The paper studies biome transitions in Myxococcota bacteria, finding that generalists facilitate transitions between specialists, supporting the jack-of-all-trades trade-off.

13C metabolite tracing reveals glutamine and acetate as critical in vivo fuels for CD8+ T cells

This study uses 13C-labeled metabolites to show CD8+ T cells switch from glutamine to acetate metabolism during infection.

Copper reduces the virulence of bacterial communities at environmentally relevant concentrations

This study shows that high copper concentrations reduce bacterial community virulence but also decrease diversity and productivity in wastewater influent communities.

Testing for the fitness benefits of natural transformation during community-embedded evolution

The paper tests if natural transformation provides fitness benefits in community-embedded evolution but finds no significant effect on fitness.

The effect of metal remediation on the virulence and antimicrobial resistance of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa

This study tests if liming reduces co-selection for antibiotic resistance and virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa in metal-contaminated environments, finding that liming reduces metal resistance selection but not antibiotic resistance or virulence.

Replenishing the malaria drug discovery pipeline: Screening and hit evaluation of the MMV Hit Generation Library 1 (HGL1) against asexual blood stage Plasmodium falciparum, using a nano luciferase reporter read-out

The paper screens a compound library against Plasmodium falciparum using a nanoluciferase assay, identifying 33 high-quality hits for antimalarial drug development.

Tunneling nanotubes provide a novel route for SARS-CoV-2 spreading between permissive cells and to non-permissive neuronal cells.

This study shows SARS-CoV-2 uses tunneling nanotubes to spread between permissive cells and infect non-permissive neuronal cells.

Bacterial colonisation dynamics of household plastics in a coastal environment

The paper tracks bacterial colonisation of household plastics in a coastal environment, finding rapid colonisation by diverse bacteria, including pathogens, regardless of polymer type.

The use of barcoded Asaia bacteria in mosquito in vivo screens for identification of systemic insecticides and inhibitors of malaria transmission

This paper develops a barcoding strategy using Asaia bacteria to screen for systemic insecticides and malaria transmission inhibitors in mosquitoes.

Copper selects for siderophore-mediated virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

This study shows that copper exposure increases pyoverdine production and virulence in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, linking metal stress to bacterial virulence.

Kin discrimination promotes horizontal gene transfer between unrelated strains in Bacillus subtilis

This study shows that kin discrimination in B. subtilis promotes horizontal gene transfer between distantly related strains by inducing competence in recipients through a stress response.

A new test suggests that balancing selection maintains hundreds of non-synonymous polymorphisms in the human genome

The paper introduces a new test to detect balancing selection in the human genome and finds over a thousand non-synonymous polymorphisms are maintained by it.

Istaroxime treatment ameliorates calcium dysregulation in a zebrafish model for Phospholamban R14del cardiomyopathy

The paper uses a zebrafish model to show that istaroxime improves calcium dysregulation and cardiac function in PLN R14del cardiomyopathy.

Does diversity beget diversity in microbiomes?

The paper investigates how microbial diversity influences further diversity in different biomes, finding that positive feedback is strongest in low-diversity environments but plateaus in high-diversity ones.

Revisiting Cryptococcus extracellular vesicles properties and their use as vaccine platforms

This paper characterizes the structural and compositional features of Cryptococcus extracellular vesicles and demonstrates their potential as vaccine candidates.

Zinc can counteract selection for ciprofloxacin resistance

The paper shows that zinc cations increase the minimal selective concentration for ciprofloxacin resistance in E. coli by up to 5-fold.

Using the Wax moth larva Galleria mellonella infection model to detect emerging bacterial pathogens

The paper uses the Galleria mellonella infection model to identify novel bacterial pathogens in coastal environments, revealing new strains with potential public health risks.