Helicobacter pylori Infection Modulates Host Cell Metabolism through VacA-Dependent Inhibition of mTORC1.

Helicobacter pylori (Hp) vacuolating cytotoxin (VacA) is a bacterial exotoxin that enters host cells and induces mitochondrial dysfunction. However, the extent to which VacA-dependent mitochondrial perturbations affect overall cellular metabolism is poorly understood. We report that VacA perturbations in mitochondria are linked to alterations in cellular amino acid homeostasis, which results in the inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) and subsequent autophagy.

Patterns of gene flow define species of thermophilic Archaea.

Despite a growing appreciation of their vast diversity in nature, mechanisms of speciation are poorly understood in Bacteria and Archaea. Here we use high-throughput genome sequencing to identify ongoing speciation in the thermoacidophilic Archaeon Sulfolobus islandicus. Patterns of homologous gene flow among genomes of 12 strains from a single hot spring in Kamchatka, Russia, demonstrate higher levels of gene flow within than between two persistent, coexisting groups, demonstrating that these microorganisms fit the biological species concept.

Biogeography of the Sulfolobus islandicus pan-genome.

Variation in gene content has been hypothesized to be the primary mode of adaptive evolution in microorganisms; however, very little is known about the spatial and temporal distribution of variable genes. Through population-scale comparative genomics of 7 Sulfolobus islandicus genomes from 3 locations, we demonstrate the biogeographical structure of the pan-genome of this species, with no evidence of gene flow between geographically isolated populations. The evolutionary independence of each population allowed us to assess genome dynamics over very recent evolutionary time, beginning approximately 910,000 years ago.

Pliocene colonization and adaptive radiations in Australia and New Guinea (Sahul): multilocus systematics of the old endemic rodents (Muroidea: Murinae).

The old endemic rodents of Australia and New Guinea (Sahul) represent one or more large adaptive radiations including novel morphological adaptations to aquatic, arboreal, hopping, and arid ecologies. Four tribes recognized among the Sahulian old endemics (Hydromini, Conilurini, Anisomyini, and Uromyini) reflect distinct biogeographic and ecomorphological hypotheses about diversification within the Old Endemics. We present the first character-based phylogeny of the Sahulian Old Endemic rodents with broad sampling, nested within a broader phylogeny of the Murinae.