Today’s digest includes the spleen microbiome of wild mammals, the microbial phylogenetic diversity of natural clay, and the effects of non-nutritive sweeteners on the mouse gut microbiome. It also includes Nature’s picks for June’s best science images.

Pregnancy and early life

Maternal diet during pregnancy is related with the infant stool microbiome in a delivery mode-dependent manner – Sara N. Lundgren – Microbiome

Human skin microbiome

Skin commensal bacteria S. epidermidis promote survival of melanocytes bearing UVB‐induced DNA damage, while bacteria P. acnes inhibit survival of melanocytes by increasing apoptosis – Zhenping Wang – Photodermatology, Photoimmunology, and Photomedicine

Human gut microbiome

Review: Gut microbiota‐immune‐brain interactions in chemotherapy‐associated behavioral comorbidities – Kelley R. Jordan – Cancer

Involvement of T helper 17 cells in inflammatory arthritis depends on the host intestinal microbiota – Heather Evans‐Marin – Arthritis and Rheumatology

Analysis of the Gut Microbiome of Rural and Urban Healthy Indians Living in Sea Level and High Altitude Areas – Bhabatosh Das – Scientific Reports

Animal experiments

Non-nutritive sweeteners possess a bacteriostatic effect and alter gut microbiota in mice – Qiao-Ping Wang – PLoS One

Effects of naturally-produced lovastatin on feed digestibility, rumen fermentation, microbiota and methane emissions in goats over a 12-week treatment period – Su Chui Len Candyrine – PLoS One

Perinatal short-chain fructooligosaccharides program intestinal microbiota and improve enteroinsular axis function and inflammatory status in high-fat diet-fed adult pigs – Cindy Le Bourgot – FASEB

Bifidobacterium bifidum TMC3115 Can Characteristically Influence Glucose and Lipid Profile and Intestinal Microbiota in the Middle-Aged and Elderly – Ke Wang – Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins

Isoquercetin and inulin synergistically modulate the gut microbiome to prevent development of the metabolic syndrome in mice fed a high fat diet – Si Tan – Scientific Reports

Animal microbiome

The spleen microbiota of small wild mammals reveals distinct patterns with tick-borne bacteria – Yan Ge – PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Drosophila melanogaster establishes a species-specific mutualistic interaction with stable gut-colonizing bacteria – Inês S. Pais – PLoS Biology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Phylogenetic diversity and metabolic potential of microbiome of natural healing clay from Chamliyal (J&K) – Sakshi Sharma – Archives of Microbiology

Bioinformatics

Taxonomic and Functional Compositions Impacted by the Quality of Metatranscriptomic Assemblies – Maggie C. Y. Lau – Frontiers in Microbiology

Techniques

Development of outbred CD1 mouse colonies with distinct standardized gut microbiota profiles for use in complex microbiota targeted studies – Marcia L. Hart – Scientific Reports

Non-microbiology picks

Astronauts, atmospheres and axolotls — June’s best science images – Nature