We’ve got a short digest for you all today. In particular, I’d recommend checking out Glowacki and Martens who’ve written a nice review of the polysaccharide utilization loci observed in bacterial members of the human microbiome (with a special emphasis on Bacteroides). Mhuireach, Wilson, and Johnson’s recent paper on the urban aerobiome is a nice contribution to growing recognition that we need to begin considering our environmental microbiome, not just those microbiota residing on or within us.

General microbiome
Do seasonal microbiome changes affect infection susceptibility, contributing to seasonal disease outbreaks? – Stencel 2020 – BioEssays

Human skin microbiome
Infant skin bacterial communities vary by skin site and infant age across populations in Mexico and the United States – Manus et al. 2020 – mSystems

Human vaginal microbiome
Identification of vaginal microbial communities associated with extreme cervical shortening in pregnant women – Di Paola et a. 2020 – Journal of Clinical Medicine

Dominance network analysis of the healthy human vaginal microbiome not dominated by Lactobacillus species – Li and Ma 2020 – Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal

Adaptive response to iterative passages of five Lactobacillus species in simulated vaginal fluid – Brandt and Barrangou 2020 – BMC Microbiology

Human gut microbiome
Gut microbiota and metabolic health among overweight and obese individuals – Kim et al. 2020 – Scientific Reports

Developmental differences in the intestinal microbiota of Chinese 1-year-old infants and 4-year-old children – Guo et al. 2020 – Scientific Reports

If you eat it, or secrete it, they will grow: the expanding list of nutrients utilized by human gut bacteria – Glowacki and Martens 2020 – Journal of Bacteriology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome
No apparent effect of invasive alien goldenrod on soil microbial communities or soil fauna feeding activity – Klimek et al. 2020 – Acta Oecologica

The role of secretion systems, effectors, and secondary metabolites of beneficial rhizobacteria in interactions with plants and microbes – Lucke, Correa, and Levy 2020 – Frontiers in Plant Science

Water and extremophile microbiome
Chemical profiling provides insights into the metabolic machinery of hydrocarbon-degrading deep-sea microbes – Moreno-Ulloa et al. 2020 – mSystems

Built environment
Urban aerobiomes are influenced by season, vegetation, and individual site characteristics – Mhuireach, Wilson, and Johnson 2020 – EcoHealth