Exploring fluorinated heptose phosphate analogues as inhibitors of HldA and HldE, key enzymes in the biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide.

The growing threat of bacterial resistance to antibiotics has led to the rise of anti-virulence strategies as a promising approach. These strategies aim to disarm bacterial pathogens and improve their clearance by the host immune system. Lipopolysaccharide, a key virulence factor in Gram-negative bacteria, has been identified as a potential target for anti-virulence agents.

Genome-wide analysis of Brucella melitensis growth in spleen of infected mice allows rational selection of new vaccine candidates.

Live attenuated vaccines (LAVs) whose virulence would be controlled at the tissue level could be a crucial tool to effectively fight intracellular bacterial pathogens, because they would optimize the induction of protective immune memory while avoiding the long-term persistence of vaccine strains in the host. Rational development of these new LAVs implies developing an exhaustive map of the bacterial virulence genes according to the host organs implicated. We report here the use of transposon sequencing to compare the bacterial genes involved in the multiplication of Brucella melitensis, a major causative agent of brucellosis, in the lungs and spleens of C57BL/6 infected mice.

Getting to the point: unipolar growth of Hyphomicrobiales.

The governing principles and suites of genes for lateral elongation or incorporation of new cell wall material along the length of a rod-shaped cell are well described. In contrast, relatively little is known about unipolar elongation or incorporation of peptidoglycan at one end of the rod. Recent work in three related model systems of unipolar growth (Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Brucella abortus, and Sinorhizobium meliloti) has clearly established that unipolar growth in the Hyphomicrobiales order relies on a set of genes distinct from the canonical elongasome.

Post-transcriptional control of the essential enzyme MurF by a small regulatory RNA in Brucella abortus.

Brucella abortus is a facultative, intracellular, zoonotic pathogen that resides inside macrophages during infection. This is a specialized niche where B. abortus encounters various stresses as it navigates through the macrophage.

When mitophagy dictates the outcome of cellular infection: the case of .

Mitochondria are at the basis of various cellular functions ranging from metabolism and redox homeostasis to inflammation and cell death regulation. Mitochondria therefore constitute an attractive target for invading pathogens to fulfil their infectious cycle. This involves the modulation to their advantage of mitochondrial metabolism and dynamics, including the controlled degradation of mitochondria through mitophagy.