Hierarchical glycolytic pathways control the carbohydrate utilization regulator in human gut .

Human dietary choices control the gut microbiome. Industrialized populations consume abundant glucose and fructose, resulting in microbe-dependent intestinal disorders. Simple sugars inhibit the carbohydrate utilization regulator (Cur), a transcription factor in the prominent gut bacterial phylum, .

Chaperone Hsp70 helps Salmonella survive infection-relevant stress by reducing protein synthesis.

In all domains of life, Hsp70 chaperones preserve protein homeostasis by promoting protein folding and degradation and preventing protein aggregation. We now report that the Hsp70 from the bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium-termed DnaK-independently reduces protein synthesis in vitro and in S. Typhimurium facing cytoplasmic Mg2+ starvation, a condition encountered during infection.

Advancing the fitness of gut commensal bacteria.

Nutrient starvation of beneficial bacteria helps them colonize the human gut.

Advancing evolution: Bacteria break down gene silencer to express horizontally acquired genes.

Horizontal gene transfer advances bacterial evolution. To benefit from horizontally acquired genes, enteric bacteria must overcome silencing caused when the widespread heat-stable nucleoid structuring (H-NS) protein binds to AT-rich horizontally acquired genes. This ability had previously been ascribed to both anti-silencing proteins outcompeting H-NS for binding to AT-rich DNA and RNA polymerase initiating transcription from alternative promoters.