TWiM reveals high rates of co-transformation of plasmids in E. coli overturns the clonality myth, and bacterial membrane vesicles as a novel strategy for extrusion of the antimicrobial bismuth in H. pylori.

Petra Levin joins TWiM to tell three stories from her laboratory: how starvation induces shrinkage of the bacterial cytoplasm; plasticity of E. coli cell wall and how it influences antibiotic resistance across different environments; and induction of antibiotic resistance by Triclosan.

Foodie TWiM reveals that bacteria in human saliva are major components of Ecuadorian indigenous beers, and an unusual E. coli that produces atypical light cream-colored colonies in chromogenic agar.

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.