Meta-analysis of a collection of gut microbiome studies, characterization of two dandelion viruses, evaluation of an inclusive Research Education Community for engaging undergraduates in scientific research.

General microbiome

Bacterial social interactions and the emergence of community-intrinsic properties – Jonas Stenløkke Madsen – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Pregnancy and early life

Pre-print: Hospitalized premature infants are colonized by related bacterial strains with distinct proteomic profiles – Christopher T Brown – bioRxiv

Human gut microbiome

Gut microbiota in early life and its influence on health and disease: A position paper by the Malaysian Working Group on Gastrointestinal Health – Yeong Yeh Lee – Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health

Animal experiments

Moving beyond microbiome-wide associations to causal microbe identification – Neeraj K Surana – Nature

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus causes increased condensed tannins concentrations in shoots but decreased in roots of Lotus japonicus L – Zakaria M Solaiman – Rhizosphere

Shifts in soil microbial community, soil enzymes and crop yield under peanut/maize intercropping with reduced nitrogen levels – Jun Chen – Applied Soil Ecology

Multifarious plant growth promotion by an entomopathogenic fungus Lecanicillium psalliotae – C M Senthil Kumar – Microbiological Research

Water and extremophile microbiome

Pre-print: Optogenetics reprogramming of planktonic cells for biofilm formation – Aiguo Xia – bioRxiv

Phages and viruses

Pre-print: Molecular Identification and Characterization of Two Rubber Dandelion Amalgaviruses – Humberto J Debat – bioRxiv

Internalization of a polysialic acid-binding Escherichia coli bacteriophage into eukaryotic neuroblastoma cells – Timo A Lehti – Nature Communications

Bioinformatics

Pre-print: Personalized modeling of the human gut microbiome reveals distinct bile acid deconjugation and biotransformation potential in healthy and IBD individuals – Almut Heinken – bioRxiv

Meta-analysis of gut microbiome studies identifies disease-specific and shared responses – Claire Duvallet – Nature Communications

Techniques

In vitro enteroid-derived three-dimensional tissue model of human small intestinal epithelium with innate immune responses – Ying Chen – PLOS ONE

More microbes

Galectin-3 impacts Cryptococcus neoformans infection through direct antifungal effects – Fausto Almeida – Nature Communications

Microbes in the news

Lemur study highlights role of diet in shaping gut microbiome – Erin Mckenney – Phys.Org

What Bacteria Can Tell Us About Human Evolution – Tara C Smith – Quanta Magazine

Duke launches new microbiome center, reflecting popularity of microbiome studies – Sean Cho – Duke Chronicle

Study shows first extensive and stable microbiome remodeling via B. infantis in infants – Weber Shandwick – EurekAlert

Air-eating bacteria found in Antarctica – Cosmos

The Microbes Making Themselves at Home on the Space Station – Marina Koren – The Atlantic

Microbes on the market

Breakthrough Evidence on Vomaris Bioelectric Technology’s Impact on Wound Biofilm Infection – PR Newswire

Precision Driven Health and Orion Health release Microbiome report – Voxy

Worldwide microbiome drugs market is likely to grow substantially by 2022 – Digital Journal

Science, career, and publishing

How to Keep Students in Science – Howard Hughes Medical Institute

An inclusive Research Education Community (iREC): Impact of the SEA-PHAGES program on research outcomes and student learning – David I Hanauer – PNAS

Pre-print: Assessing the Landscape of U.S. Postdoctoral Salaries – Rodoniki Athanasiadou – bioRxiv

Editorial: Great mentoring is key for the next generation of scientists – Nature

Amy’s non-microbiology picks

Organocalcium-mediated nucleophilic alkylation of benzene – Andrew S S Wilson – Science