Volume 351, Issue 1, February 2014

Ab initio DNA synthesis is a highly efficient DNA synthesis taking place in the absence of any added DNA. Incontrovertible evidence was obtained in the last decade.

Staphylococcus aureus MLST scheme gathers the most important pathogenic clones in only one clonal complex by eBURST and a new approach is necessary to discriminate them.

The unique ability of Acidomonas methanolica to grow on methanol medium might be due to acquisition of genes by horizontal gene transfer from phylogenetically diverse bacteria such as Actinobacteria.

Cryoconite holes are a vital habitat for understanding the process of evolution and ecological behavior of microbes. Sequences of antifreeze proteins of Arctic Cryoconite bacteria belong to the family IBP-1, which is widely spread throughout the polar organisms.

A hyper producing strain for protease production to degrade proteins in agro-food wastes, blood stains, or feathers among others.

We propose that the cellulose-degrading fungus Acremonium cellulolyticus nomen nudum is a new species, Talaromyces cellulolyticus, on the basis of morphology and molecular evidence.

The SAGA complex components Fgspt3 and Fgspt8 are essential genes in Fusarium graminearum.

This study demonstrates world wide distribution of prophages in the fish pathogen Flavobacterium psychrophilum, which has implications for the application of phage therapy in aquaculture.

Identification of proteins encoded by chromosome-9 (Chr-9) with outstanding oxygen (O-) content by determining the relative O-content of all of the proteins encoded by Chr-9 of Plasmodium falciparum 3D7.

Siderophores from the free-living diazotroph Azotobacter vinelandii are shown to support the growth of two green microalgae, Scenedesmus sp. BA032 and Neochloris oleoabundans as a source of nitrogen.

Plasmodium falciparum SSB interacts with PfPrex helicase and increases its helicase activity. Detailed domain mapping of PfSSB shows that N-terminal domain of PfSSB is involved in this interaction whereas C-terminal domain is regulating the PfPrex helicase activity.

The authors constructed a fusion sensor to investigate a signal perception mechanism of histidine kinase in cyanobacterium, Synechocystis. They characterized an essential histidine kinase, Hik2, as a chloride ion sensor.

The deficiency of sortase A affected the attachment of S. aureus to host cells. Thereby the activation of the NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways were attenuated and decreased the susceptibility to mastitis.

This article reports that a novel protein with a sterile alpha motif is required for asexual reproduction in Fusarium oxysporum which produces three kinds of unique asexual spores.