Biology of Infection

From digital archive to functional virion: the reconstitution and biological rebooting of bacteriophage PRR1

Over time, numerous legacy bacterial isolates and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) have been systematically lost as physical strain collections have been passed down across academic generations. This ongoing attrition has significantly restricted the ability of contemporary scienti...

Virulence on the move: toxin plasmids drive diversity and disease in Clostridium perfringens

Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive anaerobe responsible for a wide spectrum of diseases in humans and animals, driven by an expanding arsenal of toxins. Notably, many of these virulence factors are encoded on mobile genetic elements, particularly conjugative plasmids, pos...

The missing element: incorporating mobile genetic elements into risk-based assessment of environmental AMR

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a natural and ancient bacterial defence strategy that has been heavily manipulated by human use of antibiotics. While our understanding of AMR in the environment (microbial habitats outside of human or animal hosts) is rapidly developing, there r...

Arp2/3 complex-dependent actin remodeling is required for efficient RSV uncoating in A549 cells

ABSTRACT Productive human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cell entry requires coordinated interactions between viral proteins and host-cell factors at the plasma membrane-actin cortex interface. Branched actin networks remodel this interface, but their precise contribution to t...

‘No, it is a virus, your body will fight it.’ The value of diagnostic testing for managing respiratory viruses in primary care: an observational study from a post-COVID pilot programme

Introduction International studies suggest that advancing diagnostic technologies have the potential to reduce uncertainty and improve management of acute respiratory infections. Aim This study aimed to observe the impact that laboratory-based polymerase chain reaction testing fo...