Highlights: Microbial colonization in infants, prokaryotes of oxygen depleted water in Bay of Bengal, biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, microbial communities across a range of saline soils, trait based approaches in wastewater treatment bioreactors to understand the changes in bacterial community composition. You can also read a handful of career based news in today’s non-microbe picks. 

General microbiome

Petroleum Microbiology Under Extreme Conditions – Oluwadara Oluwaseun Alegbeleye –Microbial Action on Hydrocarbons

Pregnancy and early life

Genome-resolved metagenomics of eukaryotic populations during early colonization of premature infants and in hospital rooms – Matthew R Olm – Microbiome

Review: Establishment of an ideal gut microbiota to boost healthy growth of neonates – Thi Thanh Binh Nguyen – Critical Reviews in Microbiology

Necrotizing Enterocolitis Pathophysiology: How Microbiome Data Alter Our Understanding – Christina S. Kim MD – Clinics in Perinatology

Human skin microbiome

Rapid discrimination of fungal strains isolated from human skin based on microbial volatile organic profiles – Joao Raul Belinato – Journal of Chromatography B

Human gut microbiome

A pilot study on clinicopathological features and intestinal microflora changes in colorectal cancer patients born over a nine-year period encompassing three years before and after the Great Chinese famine – Jiante Li – Cancer Epidemiology

Animal experiments 

Ameliorating gut microenvironment through staphylococcal nuclease-mediated intestinal NETs degradation for prevention of type 1 diabetes in NOD mice – Yixuan Liang – Life Sciences

Oral administration of antibiotics increased the potential mobility of bacterial resistance genes in the gut of the fish Piaractus mesopotamicus – Johan S. Sáenz – Microbiome

Animal microbiome 

Effects of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product on fecal characteristics, nutrient digestibility, fecal fermentative end-products, fecal microbial populations, immune function, and diet palatability in adult dogs – Ching-Yen Lin – Journal of Animal Science

Bacterial community analysis for investigating bacterial transfer from tonsils to the pig carcass – Anne Mette Jakobsen – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Spatial distribution of prokaryotic communities in hypersaline soils – Blanca Vera-Gargallo – Scientific Reports

Comparative Genomics, Siderophore Production, and Iron Scavenging Potential of Root Zone Soil Bacteria Isolated from ‘Concord’ Grape Vineyards – Ricky W. Lewis – Microbial Ecology

Dynamics of soil microbial communities following vegetation succession in a karst mountain ecosystem, Southwest China – Chang Zhao – Scientific Reports

Diversity and Functionality of Culturable Endophytic Bacterial Communities in Chickpea Plants – Clarisse Brígido – MDPI

Robust archaeal and bacterial communities inhabit shallow subsurface sediments of the Bonneville Salt Flats – Julia M. McGonigle – bioRxiv

Impact of intercropping on the coupling between soil microbial community structure, activity, and nutrient-use efficiencies – Tengxiang Lian – PeerJ

Alteration of Crop Rotation in Continuous Pinellia ternate Cropping Soils Profiled via ITS Amplicon Sequencing – Zhigui He – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Assessment of the Diversity of Fungal Community Composition Associated With Vachellia pachyceras and Its Rhizosphere Soil From Kuwait Desert – Majda K. Suleiman – Frontiers in Microbiology

Water and extremophile microbiome 

Prokaryotic Diversity in Oxygen Depleted Waters of the Bay of Bengal Inferred Using Culture-Dependent and -Independent Methods – Genevieve L. Fernandes – Indian Journal of Microbiology

Enrichment of anaerobic heterotrophic thermophiles from four Azorean hot springs revealed different community composition and genera abundances using recalcitrant substrates – Marcel Suleiman – Extremophiles 

Microbial Consortia and Biodegradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Marine Environments – J. Paniagua-Michel – Microbial Action on Hydrocarbons

Built environment 

Trait-based life-history strategies explain succession scenario for complex bacterial communities under varying disturbance – Ezequiel Santillan – bioRxiv

Non-Microbiology picks

To move research from quantity to quality, go beyond good intentions – Nature

How business-savvy scientists can find success in the risky start-up world – Nature

A disadvantaged background doesn’t have to be a barrier to success – Nature

Announcing the 2019 ScientistAtWork photo competition – Nature

Huge variations in US postdoc salaries point to undervalued workforce – Nature