Today’s digest features an original research article showing administration of Bifidobacterium may ameliorate toxicity of a a checkpoint blockade antibody in mice and a review on the concept of enterotypes in the human gut microbiome.

Events and jobs

Explorations in Data Analyses for Metagenomic Advances in Microbial Ecology (EDAMAME) workshop at Kellogg Biological Station 24-30 June 2018.

Human respiratory microbiome

Disordered oropharyngeal microbial communities in H7N9 patients with or without secondary bacterial lung infection – Emerging microbes & infections – Hai-feng Lu

Human gut microbiome

Review: Gut microbiota in 2017: Contribution of gut microbiota–host cooperation to drug efficacy – Nathalie M. Delzenne – Nature reviews gastroenterology & hepatology

Editorial : Are diets the answers to colon ills? Food, irritable bowel syndrome and the microbiome – Quigley Eamonn M.M.

Exposure to environmental microbiota explains persistent abdominal pain and irritable bowel syndrome after a major flood – NurFadhilah Yusof – Gut Pathogens

*Perspective : Enterotypes in the landscape of gut microbial community composition – Paul I. Costea – Nature Microbiology

Animal experiments

Evaluation of Probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum CCM 7421 Administration with Alginite in Dogs – Viola Strompfová – Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins

* Bifidobacterium can mitigate intestinal immunopathology in the context of CTLA-4 blockade – Feng Wang – PNAS

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Biogeography and ecological diversity patterns of rare and abundant bacteria in oil-contaminated soils – Shuo Jiao – Molecular ecology

Water and extremophile microbiome 

Bacterial Diversity and Biogeochemistry of Two Marine Shallow-Water Hydrothermal Systems off Dominica (Lesser Antilles) – Petra Pop Ristova – Frontiers in Microbiology

Temporal Dynamics of the Microbial Community Composition with a Focus on Toxic Cyanobacteria and Toxin Presence during Harmful Algal Blooms in Two South German Lakes – Pia I. Scherer – Frontiers in Microbiology

Probiotics / prebiotics

Galactooligosaccharide supplementation provides protection against Citrobacter rodentium-induced colitis without limiting pathogen burden – Hatem Kittana – Microbiology

Bifidobacteria and Their Molecular Communication with the Immune System – Lorena Ruiz – Frontiers in Microbiology

Phages and viruses

Toward Understanding Phage:Host Interactions in the Rumen; Complete Genome Sequences of Lytic Phages Infecting Rumen Bacteria – Rosalind A. Gilbert – Frontiers in Microbiology

Resolution of habitat-associated ecogenomic signatures in bacteriophage genomes and application to microbial source tracking – Lesley A. Ogilvie – The ISME Journal

Pre-print: Temperate phages as self-replicating weapons in bacterial competition – Xiang-Yi Li – bioRxiv

*****************************
Microbes in the news

Researchers Create Bacteria-Killing Steel Nanospikes

Are phages our best bet against antibiotic-resistant bacteria?

Bacteria Art

Science and Art Join Forces to Challenge our Anthropocentric Worldviews

Loyola Biology Professor Will Display Art At ARC Gallery

Anitha’s non-microbiology picks

Scientists discover entirely new material that cannot be explained by classical physics

Smothered jet may explain weird light from neutron star crash

Study of beetle flagellum offers possible way to improve medical devices