Guidelines and principles to use “holobionts”, microbiome and provoking autoimmunity in uveitis, bacteria in confiscated passerines, and ecology of the Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotic Group archaea.

General microbiome

Host Biology in Light of the Microbiome: Ten Principles of Holobionts and Hologenomes – Seth R. Bordenstein , Kevin R. Theis – PLOS Biology

Human eye microbiome

Uveitis (Eye): Microbiota-Dependent Activation of an Autoreactive T Cell Receptor Provokes Autoimmunity in an Immunologically Privileged Site – Reiko Horai – Immunity

• In uveitis, bacteria in gut may instruct immune cells to attack the eye – National Institute of Health
• Bacteria to Blame? T cells activated in the microbe-dense gut can spark an autoimmune eye disease, a study shows – Rina Shaikh-Lesko – The Scientist

Human gut microbiome

Review: Diagnostic and Prognostic Microbial Biomarkers in IBD – Marla Dubinsky – Gastroenterology

Letter to the editor: Can inflammatory bowel disease really be solved by the multiple -omics and meta-omics analyses? – Xiaofa Qin – Immunology Letters

Animal models

In vivo imaging and tracking of host–microbiota interactions via metabolic labeling of gut anaerobic bacteria – Naama Geva-Zatorsky – Nature Medicine

Associative patterns among anaerobic fungi, methanogenic archaea, and bacterial communities in response to changes in diet and age in the rumen of dairy cows – Sanjay Kumar – Frontiers in Microbiology

Diet- and Genetically-Induced Obesity Differentially Affect the Fecal Microbiome and Metabolome in Apc1638N Mice – Anna C. Pfalzer – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Detection of bacteria and fungi and assessment of the molecular aspects and resistance of E. coli isolated from confiscated passerines intended for reintroduction programs – Patricia Braconaro – Microbial Pathogenesis

Mining of luxS genes from rumen microbial consortia by metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches – Ines Ghali – Animal Science Journal

Isolation and identification of marine fish tumour (odontoma) associated bacteria – Ramalingam Vijayakumar – Journal of Coastal Life Medicine

A facultative endosymbiont in aphids can provide diverse ecological benefits – E. R. Heyworth andJ. Ferrari – Journal of Evolutionary Biology

Not sure why a study on RNAseq and 16S rRNA PCR on voles in France was published in PLOS NTD: A Comparison between Transcriptome Sequencing and 16S Metagenomics for Detection of Bacterial Pathogens in Wildlife – Maria Razzauti – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Plant, roots, and soil microbiome

Assembly of Active Bacterial and Fungal Communities Along a Natural Environmental Gradient – Rebecca C Mueller – Microbial Ecology

Effects of imidacloprid on soil microbial communities in different saline soils– Qingming Zhang – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Water microbiome

Microbial Communities Can Be Described by Metabolic Structure: A General Framework and Application to a Seasonally Variable, Depth-Stratified Microbial Community from the Coastal West Antarctic Peninsula – Jeff S. Bowman – PLOS ONE

Diazotrophic bacterial community variability in a subtropical deep reservoir is correlated with seasonal changes in nitrogen – Lina Wang – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Built environment microbiome

Assessment of contamination using an ATP bioluminescence assay on doorknobs in a university-affiliated hospital in Japan – Naoko Kajigaya – BMC Research Notes

Diversity and antibiotic resistance profiles of Pseudomonads from a hospital wastewater treatment plant – D.O. Santoro – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Cleanroom Maintenance Significantly Reduces Abundance but Not Diversity of Indoor Microbiomes – Alexander Mahnert – PLOS ONE

Archaea

Insights in the ecology and evolutionary history of the Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotic Group lineage – Mireia Fillol – ISME Journal

Metabolomics

Plasma metabolomic profiles enhance precision medicine for volunteers of normal health –
Lining Guo – PNAS

Techniques

Single-Molecule Real-Time Sequencing Combined with Optical Mapping Yields Completely Finished Fungal Genome – Luigi Faino – mBio

Microbes in the news

Bacteria’s secret weapon against pesticides and antibiotics revealed – Aarhus University – EurekAlert

Die, Bacteria! Engineered particles deliver targeted antibiotics – Helen Knight – Technology Review

Bacteria with synthetic DNA create protein never found in Nature – For when the usual four nucleotides can’t give you what you want – Alexandra Ossola – PopSci

Second Plague Case Traced to Yosemite National Park – Maggie Fox – NBC News

Science, publishing, and career

Increasing disparities between resource inputs and outcomes, as measured by certain health deliverables, in biomedical research – Anthony Bowena and Arturo Casadevall – PNAS
Return on Investment Slipping in Biomedical Research – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Science Week Australia: UNSW moves to strengthen women’s role in science – Marcus Strom – Sydney Morning Herald

Bik’s Picks

Stanford’s Angel of Grief Statue Has Arm Chopped Off By Vandals: The arm, made of fine Italian marble, is worth an estimated $20,000 – NBC Bay Area

Hummingbird tongues are way weirder than we thought – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

Can’t go to Mars? At least sign the card – Jillian Kestler-D’Amours – The Star

Flying Spiders Found—and They Can Steer in Mid-Air – Traci Watson – National Geographic

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