Robert P. Hirt

CAZyme Annotation of Five Parasitic Trichomonads Reveals a Conserved Repertoire of Host Glycan Targeting Proteins

The paper annotates CAZymes in five parasitic trichomonads, identifying 1,406 genes and revealing conserved mucin O-glycan-targeting and antibacterial CAZyme toolkits.

An enhancer-centric approach applied to human immune system epigenomes revealed the association of macrophage enhancers with cardiovascular disease

The paper identifies associations between macrophage enhancers and cardiovascular disease variants using epigenomic data from immune cells.

An evolutionarily conserved laterally acquired toolkit enables microbiota targeting by Trichomonas

This study identifies a conserved molecular toolkit in Trichomonas species acquired through lateral gene transfer, enabling interaction with microbiota and potentially influencing host inflammation.

Discovery of a distinct BAM complex in the Bacteroidetes

The paper identifies a distinct BAM complex in Bacteroidetes using structural biology and proteomics, revealing an expanded role compared to Proteobacteria.

A genetic locus in the gut microbe Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron encodes activities consistent with mucin-O-glycoprotein processing and plays a critical role in N-acetylgalactosamine metabolism

This study identifies a mucin-induced PUL in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron that processes mucin-O-glycoproteins and metabolizes N-acetylgalactosamine, highlighting its role in microbiota-gut homeostasis.