Highlights: Inferring absolute species concentration in vaginal microbiome, transcriptomics of Arctic Tundra soils, successional traits of prokaryotic communities in Tundra soil, Modulation of plant microbial community by fungal endophyte Epichloë and many more.

General microbiome

Microbial community design: methods, applications, and opportunities –  A Eng – Current Opinion in Biotechnology

Human vaginal microbiome

Comparative genomics of human Lactobacillus crispatus isolates reveals genes for glycosylation and glycogen degradation: implications for in vivo dominance of the vaginal microbiota – Charlotte van der Veer – Microbiome

Complementing 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing with estimates of total bacterial load to infer absolute species concentrations in the vaginal microbiome – Florencia Tettamanti Boshier – bioRxiv

Human gut microbiome

Perturbation of the human gut microbiome by a non-antibiotic drug contributes to the resolution of autoimmune disease – Renuka R Nayak – bioRxiv

Gut microbiota from high-risk men who have sex with men drive immune activation in gnotobiotic mice and in vitro HIV infection – SX Li – PLoS Pathogens

Distinct gut microbiota profile in antiretroviral therapy-treated perinatally HIV-infected patients associated with cardiac and inflammatory biomarkers – L Sessa – AIDS

The relationship between gastric microbiota and gastric disease – S Zhang – Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology

The Gut Microbiome Says NO to microRNA-Mediated Gene Silencing – Z Wei – Biochemistry

Functional diversity and metabolic profile of microbial community of mine soils with different levels of chromium contamination – SK Pradhan – International Journal of Environmental Health Research

16S rRNA/rRNA Gene Ratios and Cell Activity Staining Reveal Consistent Patterns of Microbial Activity in Plant-Associated Soil – AW Bowsher – mSystems

Spatial segregation of the biological soil crust microbiome around its foundational cyanobacterium, Microcoleus vaginatus, and the formation of a nitrogen-fixing cyanosphere – E Couradeau – Microbiome

 

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

A long-term field experiment demonstrates the influence of tillage on the bacterial potential to produce soil structure-stabilizing agents such as exopolysaccharides and lipopolysaccharides – Barbara Cania – Environmental Microbiome

Heritable Epichloë symbiosis shapes fungal but not bacterial communities of plant leaves – Riitta Nissinen – Scientific Reports

Prokaryotic community shifts during soil formation on sands in the tundra zone – Alena Zhelezova – PLoS ONE

The epiphytic microbiota of sour rot-affected grapes differs minimally from that of healthy grapes, indicating causal organisms are already present on healthy berries – Megan E Hall – PLoS ONE

Transcriptomic responses to warming and cooling of an Arctic tundra soil microbiome – Morten Dencker Schostag – bioRxiv

Metatranscriptomic reconstruction reveals RNA viruses with the potential to shape carbon cycling in soil – Evan P. Starr – bioRxiv

Comparison of prokaryotic communities between the fields showing different disinfestation effects by anaerobic soil disinfestation – Chol Gyu Lee – bioRxiv

Long-term urea fertilization alters the composition and increases the abundance of soil ureolytic bacterial communities in an upland soil – R Sun – FEMS Microbial Ecology

Water and extremophile microbiome 

Diversity and shifts of the bacterial community associated with Baikal sponge mass mortalities – Sergei Belikov – PLoS ONE

Temporal covariation of epibacterial community and surface metabolome in the Mediterranean seaweed holobiont Taonia atomaria – B Paix – Environmental Microbiology

Monitoring Microbial Communities in the Marine Environment – Ger van den Engh – Cytometry Part A

Microbes in the news

Evidence for link between ‘leaky gut’ and autoantibody production in HIV-positive patients – Science Daily

Eden Project hosts bacteria filled art exhibition – The Packet