The human microbiome before birth, the HIV lung microbiome, leprosy in squirrels, and ticklish rats. That latter story has nothing to do with microbiology, but we can all use some uplifting stories.

Events

Advancing Microbiome Research Symposium: Microbiome & Disease – November 17, 2016 – Chicago, IL, USA

HIV Microbiome Workshop 2016 – November 17-18, 2016 – Bethesda, MD, USA.

2nd Annual European Microbiome Congress – November 30-Dec 1, 2016 – London, UK

Microbiome Drug Development Summit Europe – Jan 24-26 January 2017. Paris, France

North American Microbiome Congress / Human Microbiome Conference January 24-25 2017, San Diego, CA

Pregnancy and early life

The Human Microbiome before Birth – Martin J. Blaser and Maria G. Dominguez-Bello

Human respiratory microbiome

The bronchial epithelial cell bacterial microbiome and host response – Marc A. Sze – BMC Pulmonary Medicine

Biofilms in ventilator-associated pneumonia – Laia Fernández-Barat – Future Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

An evaluation of the therapeutic potential of fecal microbiota transplantation to treat infectious and metabolic diseases – Albert K Groen – EMBO Molecular Medicine

Association of colorectal carcinogenesis pathway with life style and intestinal microbiome based on the genome and epigenome abnormalities – Nihon Shokakibyo Gakkai Zasshi

Perspective: The Liver at the Nexus of Host-Microbial Interactions – Andrew J. MacPharson – Cell Host & Microbe

Animal experiments

Expression of recombinant human lysozyme in transgenic chicken promotes the growth of Bifidobacterium in the intestine and improves postnatal growth of chicken – Hai Wang – AMB Express

Chronic Early-life Stress in Rat Pups Alters Basal Corticosterone, Intestinal Permeability, and Fecal Microbiota at Weaning: Influence of Sex – Nabila Moussaoui – J Neurogastroenterol Motil.

Animal microbiome (and infection)

Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacilli – Charlotte Avanzi – Science
Red squirrels in the British Isles are infected with leprosy bacteria – Phys.org
Leprosy Surprise: Medieval Scourge Is Lurking In British Squirrels – Michaeleen Doucleff – NPR

Bacterial Associations Across House Fly Life History: Evidence for Transstadial Carriage From Managed Manure – Klara Zurek – Journal of Insect Science

Built environment microbiology

Review: Constructed Wetlands Revisited: Microbial Diversity in the -omics Era. – Olga Sánchez – Microbial Ecology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Commentary: Insights into microbial ecosystems using a new computational approach – Thuy Do – Oral Diseases

Microbes in the news

Are we ready for consumer microbiome testing? – Juliet Preston – MedCityNews

Raining Cats and Dogs… and Bacteria? – Julie Taylor – uBiome

Scientists Try Bacteria to Halt Invading Cheatgrass in West – Keith Ridler – ABC News / Associated Press

Targeting pathogenic bacteria – using phage-derived proteins, proteins developed from the bacteria-invading viruses, for detection of pathogenic bacteria – Science Daily

Your flu risk may be linked to the year you were born – Jacqueline Howard – CNN

How ‘Psychobiotics’ Use Gut Bacteria To Treat Mental Illness. Targeting the gut could create a new class of psychiatric treatments – Carolyn Gregoire – The Huffington Post

Animal Science Professor Identifies Gut Microbiota Signatures of Healthy Aging – ScienceBlog

Quest to map Africa’s soil microbiome begins. Sub-Saharan project could one day help ecosystems to resist climate change and improve agriculture – Sarah Wild – Nature

Microbiome, Hidden Chemical Secrets, Being Accessed At Scripps Pier In San Diego – PR Newswrire

New Method Allows Scientists to Detect the Presence in Ham of the Parasite that Causes Toxoplasmosis – SciCasts

Bik’s non-microbiology Picks

Why are we ticklish? Scientists who tickled rats offer an intriguing answer – Karen Kaplan – LA Times
Neural correlates of ticklishness in the rat somatosensory cortex – S. Ishiyama – Science