The airways of people with cystic fibrosis (CF) are often co-infected by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a variety of other co-habiting microbes; the infections are polymicrobial. P. aeruginosa isolates fr...

Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 update removes all remaining methods to bypass Microsoft Account requirements during setup, enforcing online sign-in and blocking any possibility of creating local-only a...

Newly evolved Xanthomonas citri pv. malvacearum isolates triggers recent bacterial blight outbreaks in cotton. Here, the authors show that a recently evolved TALE, Tal7b, activates host susceptibility...

Starships form a recently discovered superfamily of giant transposons in Pezizomycotina fungi, implicated in mediating horizontal transfer of diverse cargo genes between fungal genomes. Their elusive nature has long obscured their significance, and their impact on genome evolution remains poorly understood. Here, we reveal a surprising abundance and diversity of Starships in the phytopathogenic fungus Verticillium dahliae. Remarkably, Starships dominate the plastic genomic compartments involved in host colonization, are enriched in virulence-associated genes, and exhibit genetic and epigenetic characteristics associated with adaptive genome evolution. We further uncover extensive horizontal transfer of Starships between Verticillium species and, strikingly, from distantly related Fusarium fungi. Finally, we demonstrate how Starship activity facilitated the de novo formation of a novel virulence gene. Our findings illuminate the profound influence of Starship dynamics on fungal genome evolution and the development of virulence. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

Three different studies in this issue use metagenomics to study the bacterial and viral dynamics of freshwater microbiomes, highlighting the ecological and environmental drivers of these ecosystems.

Omid Shenavar's Academic Resume Website

Helpful links coming soon: Register Here Hotel Information Information about Nashville Travel Information Symposium Location The weekend following the ISEMPH conference (7/12/25 – 7/13/25), we w...