In today’s digest, look for probiotic trials for renal insufficiency and metabolic syndrome, experimental dysbiosis in SIV-infected primates, bacterial and fungal network analyses in soils, and recombination in the human virome. Plus, bacteria in the popular press, hints for scientists using Twitter, the first stem cell therapies for Parkinson’s Disease, and more!

Human gut microbiome
Antigenic mimicry of ubiquitin by the gut bacterium Bacteroides fragilis: a potential link with autoimmune disease – Linda Stewart – Clinical and Experimental Immunology

Animal experiments
Experimental microbial dysbiosis does not promote disease progression in SIV-infected macaques – Alexandra M. Ortiz – Nature Medicine

Addition of dairy lipids and probiotic Lactobacillus fermentum in infant formula programs gut microbiota and entero-insular axis in adult minipigs – Marion Lemaire – Scientific Reports

Animal microbiome
Increased Numbers of Culturable Inhibitory Bacterial Taxa May Mitigate the Effects of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Australian Wet Tropics Frogs – Sara C. Bell – Frontiers in Microbiology

Characterization of the fecal microbiota of healthy horses – Holly L. Stewart – American Journal of Veterinary Research

Plant, root, and soil microbiome
Microbes follow Humboldt: temperature drives plant and soil microbial diversity patterns from the Amazon to the Andes – Andrew T. Nottingham – Ecology

Soil bacterial networks are less stable under drought than fungal networks – Franciska T. de Vries – Nature Communications

Contrasting distribution patterns between aquatic and terrestrial Phytophthora species along a climatic gradient are linked to functional traits – Miguel A. Redondo – The ISME Journal

Variations in microbial community and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) dissipation in different rhizospheric compartments between low- and high-DEHP accumulating cultivars of rice (Oryza sativa L.) – Xue-Xue Chen – Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

Water and extremophile microbiome
Evaluation of performance and microbial community successional patterns in an integrated OCO reactor under ZnO nanoparticle stress – Zhenghui Liu – RSC Advances

Screening of quorum quenching activity of the bacteria isolated from dairy industry waste activated sludge – J. Kaur – International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology

Food Microbiology
Identification of Mesophilic Spore-formers in Whey Powder using Shotgun Metagenomic Sequencing – Aoife J. McHugh – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Probiotics/Prebiotics
An open-label, randomized, placebo-controlled study on the effectiveness of a novel probiotics administration protocol (ProbiotiCKD) in patients with mild renal insufficiency (stage 3a of CKD) – Mariadelina Simeoni – European Journal of Nutrition

Probiotic and synbiotic supplementation could improve metabolic syndrome in prediabetic adults: A randomized controlled trial – Nazila Kassaian – Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews

Phages and viruses
Investigation of recombination-intense viral groups and their genes in the Earth’s virome – Jan P. Meier-Kolthoff – Scientific Reports

Microbes in the news
Hong Kong Subway Study Shows How Quickly Bacteria Travel Across a City – Gizmodo

Bacteria hysteria
Please Don’t Give Up Your Pet Over The Fear Of Dog-Lick Bacteria – Huffington Post

Science, publishing, and career
Scientists on Twitter: Preaching to the choir or singing from the rooftops? – Isabelle Côté – Facets

Alyson’s non-microbiology picks
‘Reprogrammed’ stem cells to be tested in people with Parkinson’s

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