February 17, 2016

Microbial biomarkers for diabetes, gut sialidases,  pathogens in stranded sea turtles, microbial biodeterioration of an ancient staircase, and how bacterial stay in shape.

Events

‘Microbiome-based Foods for Health and Sustainability’ workshop, 23 February, Brussels – APC Microbiome Institute

Call for Entries! ASM’s 2016 Agar Art Contest. Deadline: May 6.

Human oral microbiome

Intracerebral hemorrhage and deep microbleeds associated with cnm-positive Streptococcus mutans; a hospital cohort study – Shuichi Tonomura – Scientific Reports

Review: Oral Microbiome: Contributions to Local and Systemic Infections – Kerri T. Simpson – Current Oral Health Reports

Human gut microbiome

Sub-clinical detection of gut microbial biomarkers of obesity and type 2 diabetes – Moran Yassour – Genome Medicine

Postoperative changes in fecal bacterial communities and fermentation products in obese patients undergoing bilio-intestinal bypass – Vania Patrone – Frontiers in Microbiology

The Effects of Bowel Preparation on Microbiota-Related Metrics Differ in Health and in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and for the Mucosal and Luminal Microbiota Compartments – Rima M Shobar – Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology

Registered report: Fusobacterium nucleatum infection is prevalent in human colorectal carcinoma – John Repass – eLIFE

Review: Sialidases from gut bacteria: a mini-review – Nathalie Juge – Biochemical Society Transactions

Review: Akkermansia muciniphila and its role in regulating host functions – Muriel Derrien – Microbial Pathogenesis

Models of microbiome research

Probiotics modulated gut microbiota suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma growth in mice – Jun Li – PNAS

The bacterial microbiome of Dermacentor andersoni ticks influences pathogen susceptibility – Cory A Gall – ISME Journal

Have clay will lay: Chicken: Dietary supplementation with the clay mineral palygorskite affects performance and beneficially modulates caecal microbiota in laying pullets – S. Chalvatzi – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Bacterial agents in 248 ticks removed from people from 2002 to 2013 – Camille Aubry – Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases

Bacterial and viral pathogens detected in sea turtles stranded along the coast of Tuscany, Italy – G. Fichi – Veterinary Microbiology

Poor English (but US lab): Identification of Host-Specific Genetic Markers within 16S rDNA Intervening Sequences of 73 Genera of Fecal Bacteria – Zhenyu Shen – Omics’ Journal of Data Mining in Genomics & Proteomics

Editorial: Developmental biology: Females have a lot of guts – Justin Fear – Nature

The sexual identity of adult intestinal stem cells controls organ size and plasticity – Bruno Hudry – Nature

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Bacterial predator–prey dynamics in microscale patchy landscapes – Felix J. H. Hol – Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Variation in soil microbial communities associated with critically endangered Wollemi pine affects fungal, but not bacterial, assembly within seedling roots – J.L. Rigg – Pedobiologia

The Effects of Nitrogen Fertilizer on Soil Microbial Communities Under Conventional and Conservation Agricultural Managements in a Tropical Clay-Rich Ultisol – Miura, Toshiko – Soil Science

Cover Crop and Irrigation Effects on Soil Microbial Communities and Enzymes in Semiarid Agroecosystems of the Central Great Plains of North America – Francisco J. Calderón – Pedosphere

Effect of soil disinfection with chemical and biological methods on bacterial communities – Md Rokunuzzaman – Egyptian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences

Water and extremophile microbiome

Metagenomic insights into the uncultured diversity and physiology of microbes in four hypersaline soda lake brines – Charlotte D. Vavourakis – Frontiers in Microbiology

Characterization of bacterial communities in wetland mesocosms receiving pharmaceutical-enriched wastewater – Dongqing Zhang – Ecological Engineering

Microbial Community Profile and Water Quality in a Protected Area of the Caatinga Biome – Fabyano Alvares Cardoso Lopes – PLOS ONE

Thesis: Tightly-coupled sulfur-cycling microbial mats of the White Point hydrothermal vent field, CA: An analog for deep-sea vents – Priscilla J Miranda – California State University Long Beach

Thesis: The microbial diversity and function of Arctic supraglacial biomes – Stefanie Lutz – University of Leeds

Built environment microbiome

Biodeterioration Risk Threatens the 3100 Year Old Staircase of Hallstatt (Austria): Possible Involvement of Halophilic Microorganisms – Guadalupe Piñar – PLOS ONE

The Black Yeast Exophiala dermatitidis and Other Selected Opportunistic Human Fungal Pathogens Spread from Dishwashers to Kitchens – Jerneja Zupančič – PLOS ONE

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

IMP: a pipeline for reproducible integrated metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses – Shaman Narayanasamy – BioRxiv

Colib’read on galaxy: a tools suite dedicated to biological information extraction from raw NGS reads – Yvan Le Bras – GigaScience

Shannon: An Information-Optimal de NovoRNA-Seq Assembler – Sreeram Kannan – BioRxiv

RECKONER: Read Error Corrector Based on KMC – Maciej Długosz – ArXiv

A benchmark study on error-correction by read-pairing and tag-clustering in amplicon-based deep sequencing – Tian-Hao Zhang – BMC Genomics

More microbiology

HT: Liz Costello: Universal resilience patterns in complex networks – Jianxi Gao – Nature

Microbially assisted recording of the Earth’s magnetic field in sediment – Xiangyu Zhao – Nature Communications

High coverage metabolomics analysis reveals phage-specific alterations to Pseudomonas aeruginosa physiology during infection – Jeroen De Smet – The ISME Journal

Discovery of cahuitamycins as biofilm inhibitors derived from a convergent biosynthetic pathway – Sung Ryeol Park – Nature Communications

Review: Staying in Shape: the Impact of Cell Shape on Bacterial Survival in Diverse Environments – Desirée C. Yang – Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews

Microbes in the news

Oral bacteria linked to risk of stroke – Betty Coffman – University of Louisville

Opportunistic Fungal Pathogens in Dishwashers and Kitchens – Alex Alexiev – MicroBEnet

UVA: Bacteria Overgrowth Could Be Major Cause of Stunting in Children – University of Virginia Health System – NBC29

A new method to dramatically improve the sequencing of metagenomes – EurekAlert

What your gut bacteria can tell you about type 2 diabetes – MedicalXpress

New anti-biofilm compounds show promise against drug-resistant bacteria linked to hospital infections – Ian Demsky – University of Michigan

Crowdfunding project: How Insects and Bacteria Can Solve Murder Mysteries: estimate the time since death (TSD) at a crime scene – Experiment

Crowdfunding project: E pluribus unum: how honey bee bacteria coordinate behaviors – Irene Newton – Experiment

uBiome Named One of World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Healthcare by Fast Company – PR Web

MIT Spinout Synlogic Grabs $40M To Program Microbes Into Living Drugs – Luke Timmerman – Forbes

Science, publishing, and career

Biologists urged to hug a preprint: ASAPbio meeting discusses the ins and outs of posting work online before peer review – Ewen Callaway – Nature

Accelerating Science with Preprints – Peter Binfield – PeerJ Blog

XY Bias: How Male Biology Students See Their Female PeersIn three large classes, men overrated the abilities of male students above equally talented and outspoken women – Ed Yong – The Atlantic

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February 16, 2016

Today we’ll go to the extremes: Life in hydrogen sulfide rich environments, subsurface Archaea, subseafloor Fungi, and pit latrines.

Events

NIOO Summer course: identifying terrestrial and freshwater nematodes – June 13-24, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Human respiratory microbiome

Concealed Carry: Hidden Staphylococcus aureus Carriage: Overrated or Underappreciated? – Alex van Belkum – mBio

Human gut microbiome

Review: Imbalance of Gastrointestinal Microbiota in the Pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori-Associated Diseases – Cong He – Helicobacter

Editorial: We are not alone: Understanding the Contributions of Intestinal Microbial Communities and the Congested Gut in Heart Failure – WH Wilson Tang – JACC Heart Failure

Research Highlight: Microbiota predicts side-effects of immunotherapy – Yvonne Bordon – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Models of microbiome research

Rats: Effects of neutrophils peptide-1 transgenic Chlorella ellipsoidea on the gut microbiota of male Sprague–Dawley rats, as revealed by high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing – Mingzhang Guo – World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Fish: Correlation between microbiota and growth in Mangrove Killifish (Kryptolebias marmoratus) and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) – Torunn Forberg – Scientific Reports

Rats: Diet-induced changes in maternal gut microbiota and metabolomic profiles influence programming of offspring obesity risk in rats – Heather A. Paul – Scientific Reports

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Beneficial Microbes Affect Endogenous Mechanisms Controlling Root Development
Eline H. Verbon – Trends in Plant Science

Water and extremophile microbiome

Mechanisms underlying adaptation to life in hydrogen sulfide rich environments – Joanna L. Kelley – Molecular Biology and Evolution

Deep Sequencing of Subseafloor Eukaryotic rRNA Reveals Active Fungi across Marine Subsurface Provinces – William Orsi – PLOS ONE

Succession of lignocellulolytic bacterial consortia bred anaerobically from lake sediment – Elisa Korenblum – Microbial Biotechnology

Genomic inference of the metabolism of cosmopolitan subsurface Archaea, Hadesarchaea – Brett J. Baker – Nature Microbiology

Built environment microbiome

Assessment of the influence of intrinsic environmental and geographical factors on the bacterial ecology of pit latrines – Belen Torondel – Microbial Biotechnology

Efficacy of dental unit waterlines disinfectants on a polymicrobial biofilm – Damien Costa – Water Research

Food microbiology

Warning: contains graphic images: Screening for Viral Pathogens in African Simian Bushmeat Seized at A French Airport – Sarah Temmam – Transboundary and Emerging Diseases

Next-generation sequencing analysis of lager brewing yeast strains reveals the evolutionary history of interspecies hybridization – Miki Okuno – DNA Research

Development of spoilage bacterial community and volatile compounds in chilled beef under vacuum or high oxygen atmospheres – Elina Jääskeläinen – International Journal of Food Microbiology

More microbiology

My favorite structureRibosomal small subunit domains radiate from a central core – Burak Gulen – Scientific Reports

Selection favors incompatible signaling in bacteria – Alfonso Pérez-Escudero – PNAS

Microbes in the news

Bacteria Can Convey Electrical Messages the Same Way Neurons Do – Diana Kwon – Scientific American

40 Trillion Bacteria on and in Us? Fewer Than We Thought – Nicholas Bakalar – New York Times

Scientists discover new microbes that thrive deep in the earth – Phys.org

Europe’s Richest Microbiome Biotech Acquires Irish Start-up To Accelerate – Labiotech

There are always bacteria lurking in dental equipment, suggests research – MedicalXpress

Genes, bugs and radiation: WHO backs new weapons in Zika fight – Ben Hirschler – Reuters

Gene Linked to Patients’ Response to Infectious Diseases – GenEngNews

Science, publishing, and career

Poisoning your lab mates? Simulating Scientific Sabotage, For Fun: With a card game, researchers make light of the “wacky aspects of scientific research.” – Tracy Vence – The Scientist

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February 15, 2016

Drosophila longevity, gut immunity in insects, metagenomics and beef production, secure computation, and mutualistic phages.

Pregnancy and birth

Research Highlight: Add the microbiota to your birth plan – Cláudio Nunes-Alves – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Review: Gut microbiome and Metabolic Syndrome – Mohsen Mazidi – Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews

Review: Role of microbes (probiotics and prebiotics) – D.M.A.E. Jonkers – Best Practice & Research Clinical Gastroenterology

Review: Intestinal Microbiota in Liver Disease – Tanvir R. Haque – Best Practice & Research Clinical Gastroenterology

Models of microbiome research

Folate Acts in E. coli to Accelerate C. elegans Aging Independently of Bacterial Biosynthesis – Bhupinder Virk – Cell Reports

Glucose modulates Drosophila longevity and immunity independent of the microbiota – Anthony Galenza – Biology Open

Bacterial successions in the gastrointestinal tract of broilers – Samir Ranjitkar – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Triclosan Exposure is Associated with Rapid Restructuring of the Microbiome in Adult Zebrafish – Christopher A Gaulke – BioRxiv

Research Highlight: How to extend your stay – Cláudio Nunes-Alves – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Review: Gut immunity in Lepidopteran insects – Kai Wu – Developmental & Comparative Immunology

Editorial: Bears Arouse Interest in Microbiota’s Role in Health – Kimberly A. Dill-McFarland – Trends in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Impact of long-term cropping of glyphosate-resistant transgenic soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] on soil microbiome – Letícia Carlos Babujia – Transgenic Research

Food microbiology

Use of metagenomic shotgun sequencing technology to detect foodborne pathogens within their microbiome in beef production chain – Xiang Yang – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Microbial dynamics in industrial Blue veined cheeses in different packaging
P. Duval – International Dairy Journal

Diversity of the microbiota involved in wine and organic apple cider submerged vinegar production as revealed by DHPLC analysis and next-generation sequencing – Janja Trček – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Built environment microbiome

Air dispersed essential oils combined with standard sanitization procedures for environmental microbiota control in nosocomial hospitalization rooms – Fabrizio Gelmini – Complementary Therapies in Medicine

Waste and extremophile microbiology

Anaerobic digestion of biowaste under extreme ammonia concentration: Identification of key microbial phylotypes – Simon Poirier – Bioresource Technology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Privacy-Preserving Microbiome Analysis Using Secure Computation – Justin Wagner – Bioinformatics

Phages and viruses

OpinionThe Significance of Mutualistic Phages for Bacterial Ecology and Evolution – Nancy Obeng – Trends in Microbiology

Techniques

Unique sequence characteristics account for good DGGE separation of almost full-length 18S rDNAs – Zhiqing Huang – World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Microbes in the news

New appreciation for human microbiome leads to greater understanding of human health – University of Oklahoma – EurekAlert

From Huts to Cities: How Changes in Dwellings Have Impacted Microbe Exposure for the Human Immune System – New York University Langone

Researchers outline progress in turning bacteria into mini construction workers – The Construction Index

Can we outrun Zika? Walk this street in Colombia and you’ll see how tough it is – Andrew Joseph – STATnews

Cranberries help urinary tract infections, but not as juice – Yvette Brazier – Medical News Today

Biofilm Formation Hampers Removal of Dangerous Bacteria from Hospital Surfaces – Medical Research

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February 13, 2016

Fungal communities of bark beetles, microbiome in rhinosinusitis, deep-sea chemolithoautotrophic communities, talking walls (microbes in houses), and, for Valentine’s Day: cocoa bean fermentation. 

Jobs and events

Postdoc opportunity, University of Notre Dame: 20,000 longitudinal gut microbiome samples from wild baboons

Pregnancy and birth

ReviewPrevention of Necrotizing Enterocolitis Through Manipulation of the Intestinal Microbiota of the Premature Infant – Kannikar Vongbhavit – Clinical Therapeutics

Human oral microbiome

Analysis of bacterial community profiles of endodontically infected primary teeth using pyrosequencing – Kwan Hee Yun – International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry

Human respiratory microbiome

Composition and dynamics of the respiratory tract microbiome in intubated patients – Brendan J. Kelly – Microbiome Journal

Metagenomic Sequencing of the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Upper Bronchial Tract Microbiome Reveals Functional Changes Associated with Disease Severity – Simon J. S. Cameron- PLOS ONE

The bacterial microbiome in chronic rhinosinusitis: Richness, diversity, postoperative changes, and patient outcomes – Edward John Cleland – American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy

Review: Microbiome of the paranasal sinuses: Update and literature review – Jivianne T. Lee – American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy

Editorial: The microbiome of the sinuses and its relevance in health and disease – Simon A. Carney

Human reproductive tract microbiome

Molecular detection of intrauterine microbial colonization in women with endometriosis – Khaleque N. Khan – European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology

ReviewThe Basics of Bacteriuria: Strategies of Microbes for Persistence in Urine – Deepak S. Ipe – Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Review: The Human Microbiome during Bacterial Vaginosis – Andrew B. Onderdonk – Clinical Microbiology Reviews

Human gut microbiome

Allergy associations with the adult fecal microbiota: Analysis of the American Gut Project – Xing Hua – EBioMedicine

An Integrated Metabolomic and Microbiome Analysis Identified Specific Gut Microbiota Associated with Fecal Cholesterol and Coprostanol in Clostridium difficile Infection – Vijay C. Antharam – PLOS ONE

Review: The Role of Probiotics on the Microbiota: Effect on Obesity – Esther Nova – Nutrition in Clinical Practice

Editorial: Policing of gut microbiota by the adaptive immune system – Laurent Dollé – BMC Medicine

Review: Fostering of advanced mutualism with gut microbiota by Immunoglobulin A – Duncan B. Sutherland – Immunological Reviews

Perspective: The Second Brain: Is the Gut Microbiota a Link Between Obesity and Central Nervous System Disorders? – Javier Ochoa-Repáraz – Current Obesity Reports

Review: Butyrate, Neuroepigenetics and the Gut Microbiome: Can a High Fiber Diet Improve Brain Health? – Megan W. Bourassa – Neuroscience Letters

Gut passage

Colonic response to laxative ingestion as assessed by MRI differs in constipated irritable bowel syndrome compared to functional constipation – C. Lam – Neurogastroenterology & Motility

How do primates affect seed germination? A meta-analysis of gut passage effects on neotropical plants – Lisieux F. Fuzessy – Oikos

Models of microbiome research

Drosophila: Effects of co-occurring Wolbachia and Spiroplasma endosymbionts on the Drosophila immune response against insect pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria – Upasana Shokal – BMC Microbiology

Rats: Diet-induced changes in maternal gut microbiota and metabolomic profiles influence programming of offspring obesity risk in rats – Heather A. Paul – Scientific Reports

Thesis, mice: The effects of nicotine on the gut microbiome and the serum metabolite profile of mice – Ridwan Amin Mahbub – University of Georgia

Contains several cases of image duplication (might be error): Dietary Fiber Intake Regulates Intestinal Microflora and Inhibits Ovalbumin-Induced Allergic Airway Inflammation in a Mouse Model – Zhiyu Zhang – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Metabarcoding of fungal communities associated with bark beetles – Kirsten E. Miller – Ecology and Evolution

Deep 16S rRNA gene sequencing of anterior foregut microbiota from the blue-green sharpshooter (Graphocephala atropunctata) – E. E. Rogers – Journal of Applied Entomology

A bacterial filter protects and structures the gut microbiome of an insect – Michele Caroline Lanan – The ISME Journal

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Isolation and Identification of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria from Cucumber Rhizosphere and Their Effect on Plant Growth Promotion and Disease Suppression – Shaikhul Islam – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial biomass and soil organic carbon accumulation on a former lakebed near Novosibirsk, Russia – Mikhail. V. Yakutin – Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science

A cost-effective and efficient strategy for Illumina sequencing of fungal communities: A case study of beech endophytes identified elevation as main explanatory factor for diversity and community composition – A.B. Siddique – Fungal Ecology

Primer: Networking in the Plant Microbiome – Marcel G. A. van der Heijden – PLOS Biology

Thesis: Next generation sequencing on soil samples from Etosha National Park: Diversity studies of an anthrax reservoir – Valseth, Karoline

Water and extremophile microbiome

Coupled RNA-SIP and metatranscriptomics of active chemolithoautotrophic communities at a deep-sea hydrothermal vent – Caroline S Fortunato – The ISME Journal

Novel microbial assemblages inhabiting crustal fluids within mid-ocean ridge flank subsurface basalt – Sean P Jungbluth – The ISME Journal

Context dependency in biodiversity patterns of central German stream metacommunities – Jonathan D. Tonkin – Freshwater Biology

Microbial community composition in the marine sediments of Jeju Island: next-generation sequencing surveys – Heebok Choi – Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Effects of temperature stress and aquarium conditions on the red macroalga Delisea pulchra and its associated microbial community – Enrique Zozaya-Valdés – Frontiers in Microbiology

Using in situ bacterial communities to monitor contaminants in river sediments – Yuwei Xie – Environmental Pollution

DGGE: Effects of fullerene (C60), multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) and hydroxyl and carboxyl modified single wall carbon nanotubes on riverine microbial communities – J. R. Lawrence – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Built environment microbiome

Walls talk: Microbial biogeography of homes spanning urbanization – Jean F. Ruiz-Calderon – Science Advances

Microbial communities affecting albumen photography heritage: a methodological survey – Andrea Puškárová – Scientific Reports

Food microbiology

Characterization of microbiota in Plaisentif cheese by high-throughput sequencing
Alessandra Dalmasso – LWT-Food Science and Technology

Metagenomic analysis of viruses associated with field-grown and retail lettuce identifies human and animal viruses – Tiong Gim Aw – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Bacterial diversity of floor drain biofilms and drain waters in a Listeria monocytogenes contaminated food processing environment – Monika Dzieciol

Review: The cocoa bean fermentation process: from ecosystem analysis to starter culture development – L. De Vuyst – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Techniques

Oufti: an integrated software package for high-accuracy, high-throughput quantitative microscopy analysis – Ahmad Paintdakhi – Molecular Microbiology

Viruses and phages

PerspectiveA Virological Perspective on Cancer – Blossom Damania – PLOS Pathogens

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Fast search of thousands of short-read sequencing experiments – Brad Solomon – Nature Biotechnology

Open-Source Sequence Clustering Methods Improve the State Of the Art – Evguenia Kopylova

Editorial: Bacterial Speciation: Genetic Sweeps in Bacterial Species -Frederick M. Cohan – Current Biology

Microbes in the news

Walls talk – or at least hold many secrets a wall whisperer can reveal – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

Country microbes, city microbes—where you live can change how you get sick – Annalee Newitz – Ars Technica

Urbanization Leads to Change in Type of Bacteria in the Home – Lauran Neergaard – ABC News

Fun listRanking the Top 10 Best Bacteria on Earth – Ben Guarino – Inverse

Science, publishing and career

The Research Pirates of the Dark Web – Kaveh Waddell  – The Atlantic

Researcher illegally shares millions of science papers free online to spread knowledge – Science Alert

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February 12, 2016

Infant gut microbiota development and family foods, a paper on the “blood microbiome” that caused some discussion on Twitter, Penicillinum and pears, and community types in the human microbiome.

Jobs and events

Mothur and programming in R workshop, May 23-25, Detroit

Postdoctoral Research Assistant – Microbiome – University of Oxford – Department of Plant Sciences

Pregnancy and birth

Infant Gut Microbiota Development Is Driven by Transition to Family Foods Independent of Maternal Obesity – Martin Frederik Laursen – mSphere

Human gut

A Novel Microbiome Therapeutic Increases Gut Microbial Diversity and Prevents Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection – Sahil Khanna – The Journal of Infectious Diseases

Microbiome of blood

No carefully designed controls, no deposit of sequence reads, misleading Y-axis in Figure S1. I don’t endorse this study: Comprehensive description of blood microbiome from healthy donors assessed by 16S targeted metagenomic sequencing – Sandrine Païssé – Transfusion

Animal models

Rearing room affects the non-dominant chicken caecum microbiota, while diet affects the dominant microbiota – Jane Ludvigsen – Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Extremophiles and water microbiome

Artificial electron acceptors decouple archaeal methane oxidation from sulfate reduction – Silvan Scheller – Science

Perspective: A new diet for methane oxidizers – Amelia-Elena Rotaru – Science

The role of particle associated microbes in remineralization of fecal pellets in the upper mesopelagic of the Scotia Sea, Antarctica – Anna Belcher – Limnology and Oceanography

Growth dynamics of a laminated microbial mat in response to variable irradiance in an Antarctic lake – Ian Hawes – Freshwater Biology

Food microbiology

Profile of Penicillium species in the pear supply chain – I. Scholtz – Plant Pathology

More microbes

Survival games at the dinner table: regulation of Enterobacterial virulence through nutrient sensing and acquisition – Gaëlle Porcheron – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

On the Origins and Control of Community Types in the Human Microbiome – Travis E. Gibson – PLOS Computational Biology

Microbes in the news

Forget chocolates. Give your sweetheart mushrooms this Valentine’s Day, says Stanford scientist – Rosemary Mena-Werth – Stanford News

Infant gut microbiome development not driven by maternal weight – Stephen Feller – UPI

Solid foods take over shaping of gut microbiota by 9 months – Yvette Brazier – Medical News Today

Why we might need to kill Australia’s koalas: Chlamydia infection is running rampant through their population, and a controlled cull might be their best hope- Katie Silver – BBC

Researchers Believe That Socialization Helps Spread Beneficial Gut Bacteria – Shariqua Ahmed – DogoNews

Novel microbiome therapy appears to prevent recurrent C. difficile infection – Healio

AbbVie Launches IBD Collaboration with Synlogic – GenEngNews

Bik’s Picks

Thursday’s massive gravitational wave news was broken by a sheet cake (really) – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

Science and art

An Artist Asks: Whose Business Is Our DNA? – Short film on artwork by Heather Dewey-Hagborg who created masks of strangers based on genetic material left behind – The Atlantic

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February 11, 2016

Sulphate reducing bacteria impair memory in mice, gastric microbiota after partial gastrectomy, geomicrobiology of the earth’s deep subsurface, and a viral genome assembly pipeline.

Events

Third International Workshop on Biological Soil Crusts, September 26-30, 2016 – Moab, Utah, USA

Human gut microbiota

Gastric microbiota and predicted gene functions are altered after subtotal gastrectomy in patients with gastric cancer – Ching-Hung Tseng – Scientific Reports

Research highlight: Gut microbiota: Microbes offer engineering strategies to combat cancer – Susan E. Erdman – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Review: The Reciprocal Interactions between Polyphenols and Gut Microbiota and Effects on Bioaccessibility – Tugba Ozdal – MDPI Nutrients

Review: Learning from microbial strategies for polysaccharide degradation – Glyn R. Hemsworth – Biochemical Society Transactions

Book chapter: Interactions Between Wine Polyphenols and Gut Microbiota – Carolina Cueva – Wine Safety, Consumer Preference, and Human Health

Microbiome models

Mice: Sulfate-reducing bacteria impairs working memory in mice – Nathaniel L. Ritz – Physiology & Behavior

Rats: Whole Rye Consumption Improves Blood and Liver n-3 Fatty Acid Profile and Gut Microbiota Composition in Rats – Fayçal Ounnas – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Nematodes: Microbial communities in Globodera pallida females raised in potato monoculture soil – Caroline Eberlein – Phytopathology

Sponges: Distinctive features of the microbial diversity and the polyketide synthase genes spectrum in the community of the endemic Baikal sponge Swartschewskia papyracea – O. V. Kaluzhnaya – Russian Journal of Genetics

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Medicago truncatula Gaertn. as a model for understanding the mechanism of growth promotion by bacteria from rhizosphere and nodules of alfalfa – Anna Kisiel – Planta

Relationship between in vitro characterization and comparative efficacy of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria for improving cucumber salt tolerance – Sajid Mahmood Nadeem – Archives of Microbiology

Geomicrobiology and Metagenomics of Terrestrial Deep Subsurface Microbiomes
M. Itävaara – Advances in Applied Microbiology

Soil Nitrogen Status Modifies Rice Root Response to Nematode-Bacteria Interactions in the Rhizosphere – Yanhong Cheng – PLOS ONE

Water microbiome

Pollution-induced community tolerance for in situ assessment of recovery in river microbial communities following the ban of the herbicide diuron – Stéphane Pesce – Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

Built environment microbiology

Characterization of a drinking water distribution pipeline terminally colonized by Naegleria fowleri – Matthew J. Morgan – Environmental Science & Technology

Mitigation of biofilm formation on corrugated cardboard fresh produce packaging surfaces using a novel thiazolidinedione derivative integrated in acrylic emulsion polymers – Michael Brandwein – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioreactor microbiology

Anaerobic digestion of biowaste under extreme ammonia concentration: Identification of key microbial phylotypes – Simon Poirier – Bioresource Technology

Bioinformatics, viruses, metabolomics, and metagenomics

VirusTAP: Viral Genome-Targeted Assembly Pipeline – Akifumi Yamashita – Frontiers in Microbiology

The secondary metabolite bioinformatics portal: Computational tools to facilitate synthetic biology of secondary metabolite production – Tilmann Weber – Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology

Microbes in the news

Inhibiting age-related inflammation maintains healthy gut microbiota and extends lifespan – MedicalXpress

An Occupy Movement for the Symbiome – Marti Davidson Sichel – GenEngNews

Middletown High students make bacteria glow in mobile lab – Sylvia Carignan – Frederick News Post
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Electric-car battery materials could harm key soil bacteria – American Chemical Society

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February 10, 2016

Socioeconomic status and microbiota diversity, metagenome of a carnivorous plant, microbiota of homes of CF patients, and high-resolution phylogenetic microbial community profiling.

Events

ASM Microbe 2016, June 16-20, Boston MA. With opening keynote lecture by Bill Gates

SC2: Microbiome: Sorting out the hype from the hope – March 6-11 2016, San Francisco

Probiotics and Prebiotics – June 21-23, Budapest

Pregnancy and birth

Routine Use of Probiotics in Preterm Infants: Longitudinal Impact on the Microbiome and Metabolome – Abdulkadir B. – Neonatology

Human oral microbiome

Isolation of Propionibacterium acnes among the microbiota of primary endodontic infections with and without intraoral communication – Sadia Ambreen Niazi – Clinical Oral Investigations

Human gut microbiome

Deciphering bifidobacterial-mediated metabolic interactions and their impact on gut microbiota by a multi-omics approach – Francesca Turroni – The ISME Journal

Lower Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status Associated with Reduced Diversity of the Colonic Microbiota in Healthy Adults – Gregory E. Miller – PLOS ONE

The features of mucosa-associated microbiota in primary sclerosing cholangitis
J. Torres – Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Review: Physiological Role of Gut Microbiota for Maintaining Human Health – Andoh A. – Digestion

Editorial: You Are What You Feed Your Gut Microbiome – Joseph E. Scherger – Health Affairs

Review: Gastroenvironmental distress: metaphorical antecedents of the gut microbiome – Nitin K Ahuja – Medical Humanities

Review: Fostering of advanced mutualism with gut microbiota by Immunoglobulin A – Duncan B. Sutherland – Immunological Reviews

Models of microbiome research

Drosophila: Preventing Age-Related Decline of Gut Compartmentalization Limits Microbiota Dysbiosis and Extends Lifespan – Hongjie Li – Cell Host & Microbe

Editorial: Microbes without Borders: Decompartmentalization of the Aging Gut – Erin S. Keebaugh – Cell Host & Microbe

Mice (and humans): Intestinal REG3 Lectins Protect against Alcoholic Steatohepatitis by Reducing Mucosa-Associated Microbiota and Preventing Bacterial Translocation – Lirui Wang – Cell Host & Microbe

Editorial: Alcohol Lowers Your (Intestinal) Inhibitions – Namrata Iyer – Cell Host & Microbe

Mice: Daikenchuto (TU-100) shapes gut microbiota architecture and increases the production of ginsenoside metabolite compound K – Takumu Hasebe – Pharmacology Research & Perspectives

Editorial: Microbiota Control of Malaria Transmission – Miguel P. Soares – Trends in Parasitology

Animal microbiome

Beetles: Trophic and Non-Trophic Interactions in a Biodiversity Experiment Assessed by Next-Generation Sequencing – Julia Tiede – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

The Metagenome of Utricularia gibba’s Traps: Into the Microbial Input to a Carnivorous Plant – Luis David Alcaraz – PLOS ONE

Enhancement of drought stress tolerance in crops by plant growth promoting rhizobacteria – Sai Shiva Krishna Prasad Vurukonda – Microbiological Research

Actinobacteria from Arid and Desert Habitats: Diversity and Biological Activity
Fatemeh Mohammadipanah – Frontiers in Microbiology

Organic Fertilization in Traditional Mediterranean Grapevine Orchards Mediates Changes in Soil Microbial Community Structure and Enhances Soil Fertility – Fuensanta García-Orenes – Land Degradation & Development

Effects of plant functional group loss on soil biota and net ecosystem exchange: a plant removal experiment in the Mongolian grassland – Dima Chen – Journal of Ecology

Water microbiome

Plankton networks driving carbon export in the oligotrophic ocean – Lionel Guidi – Nature

Built environment microbiome

Assessment of the Microbial Constituents of the Home Environment of Individuals with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and Their Association with Lower Airways Infections – Alya Heirali – PLOS ONE

Metabolomics

Microbial metabolomics in open microscale platforms – Layla J. Barkal – Nature Communications

More microbiology

Open for discussionBacterial sequences detected in 99 out of 99 serum samples from Ebola patients – Marina Manrique – bioRxiv

Ethanol Production by Selected Intestinal Microorganisms and Lactic Acid Bacteria Growing under Different Nutritional Conditions – Fouad M. F. Elshaghabee – Frontiers in Microbiology

Rapid radiation in bacteria leads to a division of labour – Wook Kim – Nature Communications

Total biosynthesis of opiates by stepwise fermentation using engineered Escherichia coli – Akira Nakagawa – Nature Communications

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

PhyloTags: High-resolution phylogenetic microbial community profiling – Esther Singer – The ISME Journal

Analysis of five complete genome sequences for members of the class Peribacteria in the recently recognized Peregrinibacteria bacterial phylum – Karthik Anantharaman – PeerJ

Microbes in the news

The Good, the Bad and the Microbiome – Rachel Reisig – University of Minnesota

Unraveling the Mysterious Function of the Microbiome – by Mike Orcutt – MIT Technology Review

Wound-healing intestinal bacteria: Like shrubs after a forest fire
Akkermansia + other anaerobic bacteria temporarily bloom – EurekAlert

San Diego Scientists Find Data Brewing In Local Fermentation Culture – David Wagner – KPBS

Bacteria Have Ability to ‘See,’ Eye-Opening Study Finds – Maggie Fox – NBC News

A gut feeling about bacteria: Men are from Mars, women are from Venus – and their gut bacteria is just as different. – The Senior

How Your Gut Affects Your Bones. The surprising new science of how intestinal bacteria control bone strength – Rana Samadfam – Scientific American

Scientists Discover New Bacteria Responsible For Lyme Disease – David Beasly – Huffington Post

OverhypedSci-Q: The Science Of Love: The role of the microbiome in romantic attraction

Science, publishing, and career

Improving the peer-review process and editorial quality: key errors escaping the review and editorial process in top scientific journals – Antoni Margalida – PeerJ

Does it take too long to publish research? – Kendall Powell – Nature

The history of publishing delays – Daniel Himmelstein

The sexual misconduct case that has rocked anthropology – Michael Balter – Science
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February 9, 2016

Human skin metagenome, gout patients, malaria and gut microbes, the secrets of the rhizosphere, and single-stranded DNA phages.

Events

2nd Annual Translational Microbiome Conference – April 20-21 2016, Boston MA

Pregnancy and birth

Longitudinal Prediction of the Infant Gut Microbiome with Dynamic Bayesian Networks – Michael J. McGeachie – Scientific Reports

Review: Gut microbiota and the pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm neonates – Nadim Cassir – Future Microbiology

Human skin microbiome

Resolving the Complexity of Human Skin Metagenomes Using Single-Molecule Sequencing – Yu-Chih Tsai – mBio

Human urinary tract microbiome

Male non-gonococcal urethritis: From microbiological etiologies to demographic and clinical features – Shin Ito – International Journal of Urology

Research highlight: Altered gut microbiota in CKD – Jessica K. Edwards – Nature Reviews Nephrology

Human respiratory microbiome

Review: Microbiome, biofilms, and pneumonia in the ICU – Massimiliano Pirrone – Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases

Human gut microbiome

Intestinal Microbiota Distinguish Gout Patients from Healthy Humans – Zhuang Guo – Scientific Reports

Effect of Proton Pump Inhibitors and Antibiotics on the Gut Microbiome of Hospitalised Older Persons – Caoilfhionn O’Donoghue – Journal of Infection

Editorial: A metabolic bridge between microbiota and humans – Kiyoshi Takeda – Nature Reviews Immunology

Review: The Gut Microbiome: Potential Innovations for the Understanding and Treatment of Psychopathology – Matilda E. Nowakowski – Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne

Review: Metabolic modeling with big data and the gut microbiome – Jaeyun Sung – Applied & Translational Genomics

Review: The influence of commensal bacteria on infection with enteric viruses – Stephanie M. Karst – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Review: One more role for the gut: microbiota and blood brain barrier – Laure Michel – Annals of Translational Medicine

Review: Expanding role of gut microbiota in lipid metabolism – Anatole Ghazalpour – Current Opinion in Lipidology

Models of microbiome research

MiceComposition of the gut microbiota modulates the severity of malaria – Nicolas F. Villarino – PNAS

Mice: Lambda Interferon Restructures the Nasal Microbiome and Increases Susceptibility to Staphylococcus aureus Superinfection – Paul J. Planet – mBio

Dogs: Longitudinal evaluation of the skin microbiome and association with microenvironment and treatment in canine atopic dermatitis – Charles W. Bradley – Journal of Investigative Dermatology

Goats: The effect of helminth infection on the microbial composition and structure of the caprine abomasal microbiome – Robert W. Li – Scientific Reports

More goats: Grain-rich diets altered the colonic fermentation and mucosa-associated bacterial communities and induced mucosal injuries in goats – Huimin Ye – Scientific Reports

Rats: The Colonic Microbiome and Epithelial Transcriptome Are Altered in Rats Fed a High-Protein Diet Compared with a Normal-Protein Diet – Chunlong Mu – The Journal of Nutrition

Rats: Resistant Starch Alters Gut Microbiome and Metabolomics Profiles Concurrent with Amelioration of Chronic Kidney Disease in Rats – Dorothy A. Kieffer – American Journal of Physiology – Renal Physiology
http://ajprenal.physiology.org/content/early/2016/02/01/ajprenal.00513.2015.abstract

Drosophila: From pathogens to microbiota: how Drosophila intestinal stem cells react to gut microbes – Alessandro Bonfini – Developmental & Comparative Immunology

Animal microbiome

Host plant determines the population size of an obligate symbiont Buchnera aphidicola in aphids – Yuan-Chen Zhang – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Altered Carbohydrates Allocation by Associated Bacteria-fungi Interactions in a Bark Beetle-microbe Symbiosis – Fangyuan Zhou – Scientific Reports

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Soil amendments yield persisting effects on the microbial communities—a 7-year study – Catherine L. Reardon – Applied Soil Ecology

Microbial genetic and enzymatic responses to an anthropogenic phosphorus gradient within a subtropical peatland – Elise Morrison – Geoderma

Salinity altered root distribution and increased diversity of bacterial communities in the rhizosphere soil of Jerusalem artichoke – Hui Yan – Scientific Reports

Development of oligonucleotide microarrays for simultaneous multi-species identification of Phellinus tree-pathogenic fungi – Yuh Tzean – Microbial Biotechnology

Dilution reveals how viral lysis and grazing shape microbial communities – Jacob A. Cram – Limnology and Oceanography

Response of Soil Bacterial Community Structure to Land-use Conversion of Natural Forests in Maoershan National Forest Park, China – Fanjuan Meng – Molecular Soil Biology

Editorial: Unlocking the Secrets of the Rhizosphere – Susanne C. Brink – Trends in Plant Science

Spotlight: The soil-borne supremacy – Corné M.J. Pieterse – Trends in Plant Science

Water and pollution microbiome

Temporal and spatial changes of microbial community in an industrial effluent receiving area in Hangzhou Bay – Yan Zhang – Journal of Environmental Sciences

Built environment microbiome

Metagenomic Analysis Indicates Epsilonproteobacteria as a Potential Cause of Microbial Corrosion in Pipelines Injected with Bisulfite – Dongshan An – Frontiers in Microbiology

Viruses and phages

Viral metagenomics: are we missing the giants? – S Halary – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Single-Stranded DNA Phages: From Early Molecular Biology Tools to Recent Revolutions in Environmental Microbiology – Anna J. Székely – FEMS Microbiology Letters

Sequencing techniques

A comparison of rumen microbial profiles in dairy cows as retrieved by 454 Roche and Ion Torrent (PGM) sequencing platforms – Nagaraju Indugu – PeerJ

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Improved environmental genomes via integration of metagenomic and single-cell assemblies – Daniel R. Mende – Frontiers in Microbiology

PhyloPythiaS+: a self-training method for the rapid reconstruction of low-ranking taxonomic bins from metagenomes – Ivan Gregor- PeerJ

Estimating and comparing microbial diversity in the presence of sequencing errors – Chun-Huo Chiu – PeerJ

Metabolomics

Metabolic modeling with big data and the gut microbiome – Jaeyun Sung – Applied & Translational Genomics

More microbiology

Cyanobacteria use micro-optics to sense light direction – Nils Schuergers – eLIFE

Ultrasensitive Detection of Bacteria by Targeting Abundant Transcripts – Xinhui Wang – Scientific Reports

Microbes in the news

Pill measures gut gas – Swallowable tool may eventually help reveal digestive problems – Sarah Schwartz – Science News

Gut environment could reduce severity of malaria – EurekAlert

Great stockphoto: Hibernation Helpers: Gut microbes may help regulate the metabolic changes a bear experiences before and during hibernation, scientists show – Catherine Offord – The Scientist

The complex marketing of “probiotic” cosmetics – Éva Lagarde – Premium Beauty News

Plants trick bacteria into attacking too soon – Chris Samoray – Science News

Obstructive sleep apnea-induced hypertension linked to gut microbiome – Baylor College of Medicine

Includes Rob Knight. HT: Tomer Altman. Deepak Chopra Convenes 30+ of the World’s Preeminent Thought Leaders, Philosophers, Scientists, Musicians and Artists to Explore Consciousness at a 3-Day Symposium This Fall – PR Newswire

Researchers identify most dangerous strains of often-deadly bacteria – University of Maryland – EurekAlert

Science, publishing, and career

Harvard Medical School students decry lack of diversity – Melissa Baily – STATnews

I make an appearance here: Getting credit for peer review – Sandeep Ravindran – Science

Change the system to halt harassment – Joan Schmelz – Nature

Bik’s Picks

The peptidergic control circuit for sighing – Peng Li – Nature

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February 8, 2016

Plasmid-mediated salt tolerance in the gut microbiota, Tuft cells and immunity, microbes of the Cerrado, impact of sequencing technique on microbiota analysis, and a new microbiome tool on the cloud.

Events

Introducing Nephele, NIAID’s new cloud-based microbiome analysis tool. Webinar on March 7. See also under Bioinformatics below.

Human oral microbiome

Research highlight: FISHing in the oral microbiota – Naomi Attar – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Intestinal microbiota in inflammatory bowel disease and carcinogenesis: Implication for therapeutics – Steven D. Bruner – Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Evidence for plasmid mediated salt tolerance in the human gut microbiome and potential mechanisms – Eileen Broaders – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Oral versus intravenous iron replacement therapy distinctly alters the gut microbiota and metabolome in patients with IBD – Thomas Lee – Gut

Review: Novel Strategies for Applied Metagenomics – Moore-Connors, Jessica M. – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Research highlight: ntestinal microbiota in inflammatory bowel disease and carcinogenesis: Implication for therapeutics – Steven D. Bruner – Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Models of microbiome research

Tuft cells, taste-chemosensory cells, orchestrate parasite type 2 immunity in the gut – Michael R. Howitt – Science

Effects of dietary resistant starch content on metabolic status, milk composition, and microbial profiling in lactating sows and on offspring performance – H. Yan – Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition

Beneficial Effects of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation on Ulcerative Colitis in Mice – Zhihui Tian – Digestive Diseases and Sciences

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Soil bacterial communities associated with natural and commercial Cyclopia spp. – Anneke Postma – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Diversity and functional traits of culturable microbiome members, including cyanobacteria in the rice phyllosphere – Siddarthan Venkatachalam – Plant Biology

Microbial Diversity in Cerrado Biome (Neotropical Savanna) Soils – Alinne Pereira de Castro – PLOS ONE

Dissipation and effects of tricyclazole on soil microbial communities and rice growth as affected by amendment with alperujo compost – M. García-Jaramillo – Science of The Total Environment

Opinion: Plant microbiota affects seed transmission of phytopathogenic micro-organisms – Matthieu Barret – Molecular Plant Pathology

Built environment microbiome

Indoor microbial communities: Influence on asthma severity in atopic and nonatopic children – Karen C. Dannemiller – The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Antibiotics in drinking water in Shanghai and its contribution to antibiotic exposure of school children – Hexing Wang – Environmental Science & Technology

Pollution and waste microbiology

Characterisation of biofilm and planktonic bacterial and fungal communities transforming high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – Benjamin D Folwell – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Shift in antibiotic resistance gene profiles associated with nanosilver during wastewater treatment – Yanjun Ma – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Evaluating the Metal Tolerance Capacity of Microbial Communities Isolated from Alberta Oil Sands Process Water – Mathew L. Frankel- PLOS ONE

Nutrient and metal pollution of the eastern Gulf of Finland coastline: Sediments, macroalgae, microbiota – Yulia Gubelit – Science of the Total Environment

Impacts of pristine and transformed Ag and Cu engineered nanomaterials on surficial sediment microbial communities appear short-lived – Joe D Moore – Environmental Science & Technology

Food microbiology

Diversity and Stability of Lactic Acid Bacteria in Rye Sourdoughs of Four Bakeries with Different Propagation Parameters – Ene Viiard – PLOS ONE

Techniques

Comparing Apples and Oranges?: Next Generation Sequencing and Its Impact on Microbiome Analysis – Adam G. Clooney – PLOS ONE

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket: a cost-effective and powerful method to optimize primer choice for rRNA environmental community analyses using the Fluidigm Access Array – Shawn P. Brown – Molecular Ecology Resources

Probiotics

Probiotic and Functional Characterization of Bifidobacteria of Indian Human Origin – Nancy Awasti – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Bioinformatics

Nephele, microbiome analysis without boundaries. NIAID’s new tool offering cloud-based storage, file transfer, and analysis.

Note: 16S is not the same as metagenomics: Vikodak – A Modular Framework for Inferring Functional Potential of Microbial Communities from 16S Metagenomic Datasets – Sunil Nagpal – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the news

Smart Science: Wolbachia Bacteria Might Stop Zika and Dengue Viruses – Judy Stone – Forbes

The science of treating depression during pregnancy – Josie Glausiusz – Quartz

GIANTmicrobes – When Teachers Throw Things – Anne Estes

Gut bacteria may influence alcoholics’ liver damage – Kathryn Doyle – Reuters
Scientists Seek Answers on Zika in Other Viruses – Carl Zimmer – New York Times

Bears’ Hibernation Linked To Unusual Changes In Their Gut Microbes – Samantha Mathewson – Nature World News

Bears hibernate ‘with bacterial help’ – Jonathan Webb – BBC News

The Tardigrade story a.k.a. Open Science Wins – Surya Saha – Storify

This Bacteria-Powered Microrobot Navigates via Electric Fields – Michael Byrne – Motherboard

Sainsbury’s Recall Camembert Cheese Products Over Food Poisoning Concerns – Natasha Hinde – The Huffington Post UK

EFSA update: Fully defining microbiota cause-and-effect: Yolanda Sanz provides update –
Will Chu – Nutraingredients

Satire: Trump Proposes Ban On All Microbiome Researchers “Until We Know What They Are Up To” “When I become president, we are going to make American poo great once again.” – The Allium

Bacteria Hysteria

What’s hiding in your handbag? Contact 6 tests purses for bacteria – Katrina Cravy – Fox

Bik’s Picks

Natural History Museums Are Teeming With Undiscovered Species – Ed Yong – The Atlantic

New species of tarantula found near Folsom Prison named for Johnny Cash – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

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February 6, 2016

Your Saturday morning Microbiome Digest.

Jobs and events

Postdoctoral Associate, Chicago, Illinois – Shedd Aquarium Microbiome Project

Human urinary tract microbiome

The Bladder Is Not Sterile: History and Current Discoveries on the Urinary Microbiome – Krystal Thomas-White – Current Bladder Dysfunction Reports

Human gut microbiome

American Gut: Researchers Launch Open-Access Gut Project – Nancy Averett – BioScience

Animal microbiome

Faecal virome of red foxes from peri-urban areas – Ivana Lojkić – Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Closely coupled evolutionary history of ecto- and endosymbionts from two distantly-related animal phyla – Judith Zimmermann – Molecular Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Impact of soil heat on reassembly of bacterial communities in the rhizosphere microbiome and plant disease suppression – Menno van der Voort – Ecology Letters

Extracellular DNA extraction is a fast, cheap and reliable alternative for multi-taxa surveys based on soil DNA – Lucie Zinger – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Water and extremophile microbiome

Metagenomic Analysis Reveals Symbiotic Relationship among Bacteria in Microcystis-Dominated Community – Meili Xie – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metagenomic Analysis of Virioplankton of the Subtropical Jiulong River Estuary, China – Lanlan Cai – MDPI Viruses

Hydrocarbon pollutants shape bacterial community assembly of harbor sediments – Marta Barbato – Marine Pollution Bulletin

Thesis: The Impact of Temperature, pH and Environmental Heterogeneity on Prokaryotic
Diversity in Yellowstone National Park Thermal Springs – Xiaoben Jiang – The University of New Mexico

Drinking water and waste microbiome

Archaeal community in a human-disturbed watershed in southeast China: diversity, distribution, and responses to environmental changes – Anyi Hu – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Comparison of Particle-Associated Bacteria from a Drinking Water Treatment Plant and Distribution Reservoirs with Different Water Sources – G. Liu – Scientific Reports

Biostimulation of metal-resistant microbial consortium to remove zinc from contaminated environments – Isis E. Mejias Carpio – Science of the Total Environment

Review: Biological Stability of Drinking Water: Controlling Factors, Methods, and Challenges – Emmanuelle I. Prest – Frontiers in Microbiology

Built environment microbiome / microbes in space

Growth of 48 built environment bacterial isolates on board the International Space Station (ISS) – David A Coil – PeerJ

The Last Possible Outposts for Life on Mars – Davila Alfonso F. – Astrobiology

Metagenomic analysis and functional characterization of the biogas microbiome using high throughput shotgun sequencing and a novel binning strategy – Stefano Campanaro – Biotechnology for Biofuels

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

TruSPAdes: barcode assembly of TruSeq synthetic long reads – Anton Bankevich – Nature Methods

Identifying contamination with advanced visualization and analysis practices: metagenomic approaches for eukaryotic genome assemblies – Tom O. Delmont – PeerJ

Thesis: A Case Study Tested Framework for Multivariate Analyses of Microbiomes: Software for Microbial Community Comparisons – Eric M. Spaulding – University of Montana – Missoula
Metabolomics

Twin metabolomics: The key to unlocking complex phenotypes in nutrition research – Rebecca Barron – Nutrition Research

Increasing metagenomic resolution of microbiome interactions through functional phylogenomics and bacterial sub-communities – Angélica Cibrián-Jaramillo – Frontiers in Genetics

Microbes in the news

Buffalo Wild Wings Hit By Norovirus Investigation Before Super Bowl Binge – Venessa Wong – BuzzFeed

Explainer: what is the gut microbiota and how does it affect mind and body? – Senaka Ranadheera – The Conversation

Not all statements are true: Microbial miracle workers – Jay Keche – Indiana Daily Student

Science, publishing, and career

Gaming Metrics conference (Feb 4-5, UC Davis) about science misconduct, fake journals, and citation games – Storify Day 1 by Jonathan Eisen
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