Explore how linguistic bias subtly reinforces privilege in science by constraining scientific dissemination.

Paralogs, copies of a gene, form an important basis for novelty during evolution. Analysis of such gene duplications is important to understand the emergence of novel traits during evolution. DupyliCa...

AbstractMotivation. Over the past years, substantial numbers of microbial species’ genomes have been deposited outside of conventional INSDC databases.Resu

Florfenicol amine hijacks intrinsic resistance in Mycobacterium abscessus, highlighting that antimicrobial resistance mechanisms can be harnessed for antibiotic activation.

Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth and play central roles in shaping microbiomes and influencing ecosystem functions. Yet, most viral genes remain uncharacterized, comprising w...

From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...

Ranawat et al. show the cryo-EM structures of Asgard archaeal chromatin assemblies, revealing that the histone HHoB assembles into both compact closed and extended open hypernucleosomes. The closed co...

Nature Communications - It is commonly thought that bacterial species borders tend to be fuzzy, due to frequent exchange of DNA. Here, Diop et al. quantify the patterns of gene flow between core...

Abstract. The pervasive availability of publicly available microbial genomes has opened many new avenues for microbiology research, yet it also demands rob

Join us at the Keystone Symposia on Beyond Antibiotics: Emerging Strategies for Combating Bacterial Infection, May 2026, in Breckenridge, with field leaders!

Bacterial immune systems have evolved in response to diverse molecular "parasites", yet their ecological roles remain poorly understood. This Essay explores how interactions between mobile genetic ele...

Abstract. Since 2007, the SILVA database (https://www.arb-silva.de/) has served as a comprehensive resource providing quality-checked, aligned, and classif

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 17 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01259-7In this Review, Kocher, Krause and Spyrou explore how ancient pathogen genomics is providing new perspectives on the history and evolution of infectious agents. They show how ancient DNA has revealed the aetiology and unfolding of historic outbreaks, pathogen evolutionary timescales, patterns of dissemination and functional evolution, and discuss existing limitations and perspectives of the field.

CRISPR-Cas is a defense system of bacteria and archaea against phages. Parts of the foreign DNA, called spacers, are incorporated into the CRISPR array which constitutes the immune memory. The orientation of CRISPR arrays is crucial for analyzing and understanding the functionality of CRISPR systems …

Edit and visualize phylogenetic trees directly in your browser. PhyloWeaver lets you interactively rearrange tree topologies and export high-quality figures for publications and presentations.

Specific strains of Escherichia coli employ the polyketide synthase island to produce a metabolite called colibactin that is implicated in colorectal tumorigenesis via its genotoxic effect on human DN...

Bacteria have multiple mechanisms through which they sense changes in their environment and respond appropriately. In some instances, bacteria appear to retain an imprint of past events that can influence future behaviour, resembling a form of memory. This Perspective explores this concept of bacterial memory at the genetic, epigenetic, biochemical and ecological levels. We discuss how memory can prime bacteria to respond appropriately to recurring stimuli, providing fitness benefits in fluctuating environments. At the cellular level, there is evidence for memory storage mechanisms involving mutations, DNA methylation, or the inheritance of metabolites or proteins that provide a means of accessing past experiences. Complex bacterial communities can exhibit ecological memories of past environments, stored as microbiota population changes that persist or lag after acute environmental change. We review the emerging evidence supporting these concepts of microbial memory, outline some of the key molecular mechanisms, and identify research gaps and potential future applications.