Innovation

Kirchhoff and colleagues discuss the discovery of novel antimicrobial peptides by systematic screening of complex peptide and protein libraries that have been derived from human bodily fluids and tissues, with a focus on the isolation of endogenous agents that affect HIV-1 infection.

Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) allows a visualization of the distribution of trace metals, metabolites, lipids, peptides and proteins in biological samples. Here, Watrous and Dorrestein describe the use of various IMS approaches in the analysis of microbial samples, from single cells to complex communities.

Genetic modification of mycobacteria is a difficult process. In this innovation, van Kessel and colleagues describe a new system of recombineering that facilitates the production of mutants in mycobacteria and mycobacteriophages.

The Ibis T5000 couples nucleic acid amplification to high-performance electrospray mass spectrometry and base-composition analysis and enables the identification and quantification of all known bacteria, all major groups of pathogenic fungi and the major families of viruses that cause disease in humans and animals. Here, Ecker and colleagues describe this new technology.

For the full potential of microbial genomics to be realized, a complete understanding of the metabolic capacities of microbial life is required. In this Innovation, the authors discuss new system-biology technologies that enable the identification of novel metabolites and their biochemical connections within metabolic networks.

The global spread of H5N1 avian influenza virus has raised concerns that H5N1 might adapt to the human host and cause the next human influenza pandemic. Novel glycan array technologies can rapidly assess the receptor specificity of influenza viruses, detecting changes that might signal human adaptation.

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has had a major impact on the clinical management of HIV-1 infection. However, the emergence of resistant variants requires that follow-up drug regimens be optimized to maximum therapeutic effect. This article focuses on bioinformatics approaches that can be used to support anti-HIV therapy.

This article outlines the recently developed reverse-genetics systems for Borna disease virus (BDV), which will provide a powerful tool for the investigation of thecis-acting signals and trans-acting factors that control BDV RNA replication and gene expression.

To date, most systems-biology research has focused on model organisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but large amounts of omics data are now beginning to accumulate for many medically relevant microorganisms. Elizabeth Winzeler discusses how systems-biology approaches could help in the search for new drugs and vaccines to treat malaria.