Bacterial physiology articles from across Nature Portfolio

Zhaonella formicivorans produces methanol, for a novel syntrophic interaction, without requiring methylated compounds as an input.

Recalcitrant infections are often caused by dormant bacteria, including persisters and viable but nonculturable cells. Here, the authors explore how composition and structure of protein aggregates affect dormancy and exit from this state.

Outer membrane protein TraT protects bacteria from secondary F plasmid conjugation. Here, the authors report cryo-EM structure of decameric cork-like TraT and its evolutionary history as a chromosomal gene that has been incorporated into multiple plasmid families.

The bacterium Bacillus subtilis undergoes asymmetric cell division during sporulation, producing a mother cell and a smaller forespore that differentiate metabolically. Here, the authors shed light into the intricate metabolic interactions between mother cell and forespore using genome-scale metabolic and expression models as well as experiments.

Degradation of the recalcitrant polysaccharide fucoidan, produced by marine brown algae, is carried out by some bacteria through unclear mechanisms. Here, the authors provide insights into fucoidan processing mechanisms by studying two alga-associated bacterial strains, using microscopy, multi-omic, biochemical and structural techniques.

This study shows that high-level resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus involves an alternative mode of cell division.

In this Journal Club, Francesca Ester Morreale revisits a paper reporting that arginine phosphorylation marks proteins for degradation in bacteria.

Lauren Davey describes the importance of the gut commensal bacteria Akkermansia muciniphila and her work in developing methods to explore its role in gut health.

This study shows that the distinct cellular organization across the depth of a biofilm is tightly regulated and has consequences for cell physiology and antibiotic tolerance.

This study describes Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus trimeric fibre proteins with diverse adhesive tips that enable the identification of a broad range of prey.