I 100% concur with Barak about our great Microbiome Digest, and we invite YOU to join us to create useful content for our community. Today’s Digest hopefully brings you much food for thought. I would draw your attention towards two papers about insecticide and antibiotic resistance. The first is about the mechanism for malaria transmitting mosquitoes to tolerate the common pesticide, pyrethroid. The second is on a potential genetic engineering approach to replacing antibiotic resistant plasmids with artificial ones. Of course, there are many more articles and news pieces to read from. Enjoy!

Jobs and Events

MICROBIOME CONNECT SKIN USA 2020 – Global Cosmetics News

Postdoc Computational and Statistical Analysis of Microbiome Data (0.8 – 1.0 FTE) – Universiteit Utrecht

Digest this! New exhibition explores the hidden world of microbes inside — and on — you! – Ottawa Citizen

Call for papers: Cancer Evolution and Metastasis – Genome Biology

General microbiology

Setting the agenda for social science research on the human microbiome – Beth Greenhough et al. – University of Nottingham

Exploring microbial worlds – Lei Tang – Nature Methods

Community-driven Metadata Standards for Agricultural Microbiome Research – JP. Dundore-Arias et al – Phytobiomes Journal

Antimicrobial/Insecticide resistance

Mobile resistome of human gut and pathogen drives anthropogenic bloom of antibiotic resistance – Kihyun Lee et al. – Microbiome

Structures of lipoprotein signal peptidase II from Staphylococcus aureus complexed with antibiotics globomycin and myxovirescin – Samir Olatunji et al. – Nature Communications

** A sensory appendage protein protects malaria vectors from pyrethroids – Victoria A. Ingham et al. – Nature

Press: Malaria-carrying mosquitoes get a leg up on insecticides – Flaminia Catteruccia – Nature

** Potentiation of curing by a broad-host-range self-transmissible vector for displacing resistance plasmids to tackle AMR – Alessandro Lazdins et al. – PLoS One

Promising antifungal activity of new oxadiazole against Candida krusei – Daniella Renata Faria et al. – PLoS One

Impact of multi-drug resistant bacteria on economic and clinical outcomes of healthcare-associated infections in adults: Systematic review and meta-analysis – Miquel Serra-Burriel et al. – PLoS One

Pregnancy and early life

The association between dietary patterns before and in early pregnancy and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM): Data from the Malaysian SECOST cohort – Heng Yaw Yong et al. – PLoS One

Nucleic Acid-Based Screening of Maternal Serum to Detect Viruses in Women with Labor or PROM – Ankit A. Shah et al. – Reproductive Sciences

Provision of Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements to Mothers During Pregnancy and 6 Months Postpartum and to Their Infants from 6 to 18 Months Promotes Infant Gut Microbiota Diversity at 18 Months of Age but Not Microbiota Maturation in a Rural Malawian Setting: Secondary Outcomes of a Randomized Trial – Arox W Kamng’ona et al. – The Journal of Nutrition

Human skin microbiome

Distribution of microbial communities and core microbiome in successive wound grades of diabetic foot ulcer individuals – Apoorva Jnana et al. – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Review: The skin microbiome as a clinical biomarker in atopic eczema: Promises, navigation, and pitfalls – Matthias Reiger et al. – The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Characterization and Analysis of the Skin Microbiota in Acne: Impact of Systemic Antibiotics – Seo-Yeon Park et al. – Journal of Clinical Medicine

Human gut microbiome

Review: Microbial Production of Bioactive Chemicals for Human Health – Xia Wu et al. – Current Opinion in Food Science

Gut microbiota compositional profile and serum metabolic phenotype in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma – Haijun Gong et al. – Experimental Eye Research

Inulin-type fructan intervention restricts the increase in gut microbiome–generated indole in patients with peritoneal dialysis: a randomized crossover study – Li Li et al. – The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Human reproductive microbiome

Review: The Reproductive Microbiome: An Emerging Driver of Sexual Selection, Sexual Conflict, Mating Systems, and Reproductive Isolation – Melissah Rowe et al. – Trends in Ecology & Evolution

Press: What we’re learning about the reproductive microbiome – Cell Press – Phys.org

Cancer microbiome

Assessment of peritoneal microbial features and tumor marker levels as potential diagnostic tools for ovarian cancer – Ruizhong Miao – PLoS One

Animal experiments

Acute oral methylmercury exposure perturbs the gut microbiome and alters gut-brain axis related metabolites in rats – Xiaoying Lin et al. – Ecotoxicology & Environmental Safety

Perfluorooctane sulfonate alters gut microbiota-host metabolic homeostasis in mice – Limin Zhang et al. – Toxicology

Fecal transplant prevents gut dysbiosis and anxiety-like behaviour after spinal cord injury in rats – Emma K. A. Schmidt et al. – PLoS One

Impact of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the mouse intestine on immune activation and Clostridioides difficile infection – James Keith et al. – Infection and Immunity

Animal microbiome

Evolutionary signal in the gut microbiomes of 74 bird species from Equatorial Guinea – Darien C. Capunitan et al. – Molecular Ecology

Whole blood transcriptomic analysis of beef cattle at arrival identifies potential predictive molecules and mechanisms that indicate animals that naturally resist bovine respiratory disease – Matthew A. Scott et al. – PLoS One

Body-site specific microbiota reflect sex and age-class among wild spotted hyenas – Connie A Rojas et al. – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Plant, root and soil microbiome

Biochar mediates microbial communities and their metabolic characteristics under continuous monoculture – Hongmiao Wu et al. – Chemosphere

Functional Metagenomic Exploration Identifies Novel Prokaryotic Copper Resistance Genes from Soil Microbiome – Chao Xing et al. – Metallomics

** A Pathogen-Responsive Gene Cluster for Highly Modified Fatty Acids in Tomato – Ju Eun Jeon et al. – Cell

Effects of soil physicochemical properties on microbial communities in different ecological niches in coastal area – Tianyun Shao et al. – Applied Soil Ecology

Soil microbial community structure and function mainly respond to indirect effects in a multifactorial climate manipulation experiment – Evi Deltedesco et al. – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Long term effects of management practice intensification on soil microbial community structure and co-occurrence network in a non-timber plantation – Liang Xue et al. – Forest Ecology and Management

Soil microbial and macrofauna dynamics under different green manure termination methods – Carolyn B. Marshall & Derek H. Lynch – Applied Soil Ecology

Microbial abundance, composition, and function in nectar are shaped by flower visitor identity – Megan M Morris et al. – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Ecological clusters based on responses of soil microbial phylotypes to precipitation explain ecosystem functions – Ying Wu et al. – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Phylogenetic Analysis of Symbiotic Bacteria Associated with Two Vigna Species under Different Agro-Ecological Conditions in Venezuela – María Daniela Artigas Ramírez et al. – Microbes and Environments

Diversity and structure of bacterial community in rhizosphere of lima bean – Regina Maria Silva Sousa et al. – Applied Soil Ecology

Distinct factors drive the assembly of quinoa-associated microbiomes along elevation – Zhiquan Cai et al. – Plant and Soil

Influence of plant fraction, soil and plant species on the microbiota: a multi-kingdom comparison – Tkacz, A et al. – mBio

Spatial Variation in Soil Fungal Communities across Paddy Fields in Subtropical China – Pengfa Li et al. – mSystems

Water and extremophile microbiome

Impacts of antimony and arsenic co-contamination on the river sedimentary microbial community in an antimony-contaminated river – Rui Xu et al. – Science of the Total Environment

Interactions of PAH-degradation and nitrate-/sulfate-reducing assemblages in anaerobic sediment microbial community – Xunan Yang et al. – Journal Hazardous Materials

Influence of wastewater microbial community on the performance of miniaturized microbial fuel cell biosensor – Nan Xiao et al. – Bioresource Technology

Intra-host symbiont diversity in eastern Pacific cold seep tubeworms identified by the 16S-V6 region, but undetected by the 16S-V4 region – Corinna Breusing et al. – PLoS One

Phages and viruses

Biogeographic study of human gut-associated crAssphage suggests impacts from industrialization and recent expansion – Tanvi P. Honap et al. – PLoS One

Bioinformatics

Gclust: A Parallel Clustering Tool for Microbial Genomic Data – Ruilin Li et al. – Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics

Microbes in the news

Insomnia: When I took part in a sleep study – Yella Hewings-Martin – Medical News Today

How to Keep Your Baby’s Skin Healthy When It’s Cold Outside – Joane Amay – Ebony

Prebiotics, cosmeceuticals may improve skin condition – Ingrid Torjesen – Dermatology Times

Next frontier is to identify and use good bacteria to treat specific diseases – Namita Kohli – The Week

Five next-gen depression treatments that could revolutionize the field – Alexandra Pattillo – Inverse

Coeliac disease linked to bacteria exposure – Liam Mannix – The Sydney Morning Herald

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR MICROBIOME BETTER – Kim-Anh Lê Cao – Pursuit

Common foods can help ‘landscape’ the jungle of our gut microbiome – San Diego State University – Medical Xpress

Pioneering scientists create designer prebiotics to disrupt the microbiome health space – Nikki Hancocks – NutraIngredients

Applying knowledge of the human microbiome to pig health – The Pig Site

Your microbiome reveals more about your health than your genes do – Michael Le Page – New Scientist

UH joins new national consortium to advance microbiome research – University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Check out these awesomely creepy puppets of microbial creatures – Thom Dunn – BoingBoing

Microbes on the market

Bloom Science Granted Exclusive Option to License Microbiome-Based Technology for the Development of Novel Treatments for Multiple Neurological and Oncology Conditions – Bloom Science – PR Newswire

Mawi and CosmosID Collaborate to Enable More Precise Microbiome Analysis – Business Wire – Yahoo! Finance