Current Issues in Molecular Biology, Volume 40, Issue 1

Exploiting the potential of bacteriophages for phage therapy is an exciting future prospect. However, in order to be successful, there is a pressing need for the manufacture of safe and efficacious phage drug products to treat patients. Scalable manu...

Over the last couple of decades there has been considerable progress in the identification and understanding of the mobile genetic elements that are exchanged between microbes in extremely acidic environments, and of the genes piggybacking on them. N...

Bacteriophages, or phages, are one of the most – if not the most – ubiquitous organisms on Earth. Interest in various practical applications of bacteriophages has been gaining momentum recently, with perhaps the most attention (and most regulatory ap...

DNA replication is a tightly regulated conserved process that ensures the faithful transmission of genetic material to define heritable phenotypic traits. Perturbations in this process result in genomic instability, mutagenesis, and diseases, includi...

The interaction between pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) and pathogen- associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) induces type I interferon (IFN) responses. IFNs stimulates hundreds of genes to exert its biological effects. OASs are the members of IFN...

Bacteriophages produce endolysins that target and cleave the hosts peptidoglycan to release their progeny at the end of the infection cycle. These proteins can be used for the eradication of pathogenic bacteria, but also for their detection. Endolysi...

Pharmacology can be differentiated into two key aspects, pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Pharmacodynamics describes a drug's impact on the body while pharmacokinetics describes the body's impact on a drug. Another way of understanding these te...

Lactobacillus is the bacterial genus that contains the highest number of characterized probiotics. Lactobacilli in general can utilize a great variety of carbohydrates. This characteristic is an essential trait for their survival in highly competitiv...

Acidophilic microorganisms can thrive in both natural and man-made environments. Natural acidic environments comprise hydrothermal sites on land or in the deep sea, cave systems, acid sulfate soils and acidic fens, as well as naturally exposed ore de...

Double-stranded (ds) DNA viruses of the family Lavidaviridae, commonly known as virophages, are a fascinating group of eukaryotic viruses that depend on a coinfecting giant dsDNA virus of the Mimiviridae for their propagation. Instead of replicating...