Hualan Liu

TL;DR: A large-scale mutagenesis screen identifies mutant phenotypes for over 11,000 protein-coding genes in bacteria that had previously not been assigned a specific function, demonstrating the scalability of microbial genetics and its utility for improving gene annotations.

TL;DR: These beneficial effects were present in female and castrated male mice, but not in intact males, suggesting that the gut microbiota controls lupus nephritis in a sex hormone-dependent manner, and demonstrates essential mechanisms on how changes of the Gut microbiota regulate l upus-associated immune responses in mice.

TL;DR: A plasmid-based promoter system that provided regulated expression when lactose was added and a mutant of strain 13 with low β-glucuronidase activity are useful tools for studying gene regulation and protein expression in an important pathogenic bacterium.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors measured the growth of a barcoded transposon mutant library of the gut commensal Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron on 48 carbon sources, in the presence of 56 stress-inducing compounds, and during mono-colonization of gnotobiotic mice.

TL;DR: Results clarify which ions are likely causal factors that impact the microbial community at this field site and are not merely correlated with taxonomic shifts and can be applied to other environments, isolates, and conditions to systematically help identify selective pressures on microbial communities.