The TWiM team explore how Lactobacillus reuteri can rescue social deficits in three mouse models of autism spectrum disorder, and the role of Salmonella persisters in undermining host defenses during antibiotic treatment.

Michael and Vincent present Spotlights, brief reviews of classic papers in the Journal of Bacteriology, and explain how a single bacterial species can reverse autism-like social deficits in the offspring of obese mice.