The leaders of ten research universities/institutes pledge to report student and postdoc outcomes in biomedical research as the Coalition for Next Generation Life Science initiative, commensal fungi and their cell-wall mannans can functionally replace benefits of intestinal bacteria, a new cheese starter system with improved bacteriophage resistance and antimicrobial activity.

Events and jobs

Postdoctoral Fellow, Functional Microbiome – Claesen Group, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic (also looking for interested graduate students)

Human nearly-sterile sites

Microorganisms in the human placenta are associated with altered CpG methylation of immune and inflammation-related genes – Martha Scott Tomlinson – PLOS ONE

Human gut microbiome

Faecal microbiota transplantation for Clostridium difficile infection using a lyophilized inoculum from non-related donors: A case series involving 19 patients – Vigvári Szabolcs – Acta Microbiologica et Immunologica Hungarica

Animal experiments

Commensal Fungi Recapitulate the Protective Benefits of Intestinal Bacteria – Tony T Jiang – Cell Host & Microbe

• Preview: Through the Scope Darkly: The Gut Mycobiome Comes into Focus – Nydiaris Hernández-Santos – Cell Host & Microbe

CCL28-Deficient Mice Have Reduced IgA Antibody–Secreting Cells and an Altered Microbiota in the Colon – Kazuhiko Matsuo – The Journal of Immunology

Animal microbiome

Behavior of bacteriome symbionts during transovarial transmission and development of the Asian citrus psyllid – Hiroki Dan – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Root-derived carbon and nitrogen from beech and ash trees differentially fuel soil animal food webs of deciduous forests – Sarah L Zieger – PLOS ONE

Historical and recent land use affects ecosystem functions in subtropical grasslands in Brazil – Jan L G Leidinger – Ecosphere

Mechanisms of arsenic sequestration by Prosopis juliflora during phytostabilization of metalliferous mine tailings – Corin M Hammond

Transfer Mechanism, Uptake Kinetic Process and Bioavailability of P, Cu, Cd, Pb and Zn in Macrophyte Rhizosphere Using DGT – Shengrui Wang – Environmental Science & Technology

Food microbiology

A Multibacteriocin Cheese Starter System, Comprising Nisin and Lacticin 3147 in Lactococcus lactis, in Combination with Plantaricin from Lactobacillus plantarum – S Mills – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Bioinformatics

Colonic Butyrate-Producing Communities in Humans: an Overview Using Omics Data – Marius Vital – mSystems

Discovery of carbamate degrading enzymes by functional metagenomics – Lisa Ufarté – PLOS ONE

Science, career, and publishing

A new data effort to inform career choices in biomedicine – Rebecca Blank – Science

News Feature: The science that’s never been cited – Richard Van Noorden – Nature