Author Archives: eliesbik

December 13, 2016

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Top 25 Microbiology Blog and Website List for Microbiologists – What a great list! But I’m a bit sad that I did not make it. But, lots of other great blogs luckily are listed here. Meantime, I will just carry the “I did not make it” badge.

Jobs

Lecturer in Oral Microbiology – University of Bristol

Human gut microbiome

Gut microbiome in children with enthesitis-related arthritis in a developing country and the effect of probiotic administration – A. Aggarwal – Clinical & Experimental Immunology

Review: Role of the Microbiota in Colorectal Cancer: Updates on Microbial Associations and Therapeutic Implications – Olivia I. Coleman – BioResearch

Paper Hopes To Link Diet, Gut Microbiome And Colorectal Cancer – Science2.0

Animal microbiome

Diet-induced changes of redox potential underlie compositional shifts in the rumen archaeal community  – Nir Friedman – Environmental Microbiology

Potential role of ectoparasites (Zeuxapta seriolae and Caligus lalandei) in the transmission of pathogenic bacteria in yellowtail kingfish Seriola lalandi, inferred from cultivable microbiota and molecular analyses – F A Sepúlveda – Journal of Fish Diseases

Microbe in the news

“Eight minutes of struggling arthropods set to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata” – Bacteria Help Pitcher Plants Trap Prey –  Elizabeth Preston – Discover Magazine

Orange ‘ooze’ in Beaver Brook a harmless bacteria, city officials say – Xander Landen – Sentinel Source

Why are we so passionate about the smiling poop emoji? – Samantha Selinger-Morris – ABC

Researcher rethinks lactic acid bacteria – Stevie Kenyon – Daily Cardinal

Video: The Microbiome and Outcomes After Allogeneic Transplant – Robert Jenq – Cancer Network

Digging Deep for New Bacteria – Scientists find a whole ecosystem in fracking water – Eric Betz – Discover

Your head or your gut? – Justin D. Glenn – Labnews

Make-up of equine gut bacteria altered by exercise, study shows – Horse Talk

Bacteria Beef Up New Tree of Life. The new tree of life includes previously unknown species throughout the bacterial branches – Jonathon Keats – Discover

Researchers’ findings offer clue on how to block biofilm shields of bacterial infections – Science Daily

Microbes on the market

 

Biofilm tech wins CTAQ award – Food Quality News

C3J Therapeutics Unveils Development of Two New Product Formulations of Lead Candidate C16G2 for Prevention of Dental Caries – Nasdaq

The Detox Me Action Kit by Silent Spring Institute – IndieGoGo

DNA Biohackers Are Giving The FDA A Headache With Glow-In-The-Dark Booze. A biohacker thought he could sell something cool without consequences. The FDA thought otherwise. – Stephanie M. Lee – Buzzfeed

Product News: Rainin Pos-D™ Pipettes Allow Environmental Microbiology Researchers to Investigate Biodegradation of Oil  – Select Science

December 12, 2016

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Review on human milk microbiome, oral microbiome changes in seasonal athletes, gut microbiome and bipolar disorder.

Jobs

Assistant Professor In Quantitative Ecology or Evolution of Microbes – UCLA – MicroBEnet

Pregnancy and early life

Effect of probiotics in prevention of atopic dermatitis is dependent on the intrinsic microbiota at early infancy – Ekaterina Avershina – Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

* Review: Got bacteria? The astounding, yet not-so-surprising, microbiome of human milk – Michelle K McGuire – Current Opinion in Biotechnology

Human respiratory microbiome

Review: Viral–bacterial co-infections in the respiratory tract – Lauren O Bakaletz – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Human oral microbiome

* I was wondering if testing same group of athletes participating in 2 different sports could not be confounded with seasonal effects of maybe different study loads during the different year. But no access to the paper, so can not see details. Elevated salivary IgA, decreased anxiety, and an altered oral microbiota are associated with active participation on an undergraduate athletic team – Ashley L. Lamb – Physiology & Behavior

Human gut microbiome

* The gut microbiome composition associates with bipolar disorder and illness severity – Simon J. Evans – Journal of Psychiatric Research

Letter of the Editor: A Microbiome Assessment of Medical Marijuana – George Thompson III – Clinical Microbiology and Infection

Review: Archaea: essential inhabitants of the human digestive microbiota – Vanessa Demonfort Nkamga – Human Microbiome Journal

Animal experiments

Application of a dynamic gastrointestinal in vitro model combined with a rat model to predict the digestive fate of barley dietary fibre and evaluate potential impact on hindgut fermentation – Cristina Teixeira – Bioactive Carbohydrates and Dietary Fibre

Animal microbiome

Characterization and identification of microbial communities in bovine necrotic vulvovaginitis – N.Y. Shpigel – The Veterinary Journal

Crab: Gut Microbiota and Metabolic Phenotype of Portunus Trituberculatus – Ting-Lan Zeng – Chinese Journal of Analytical Chemistry

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Arsenic-enrichment enhanced root exudates and altered rhizosphere microbial communities and activities in hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata – Suvendu Das – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Food microbiology

Impact of NaCl reduction on lactic acid bacteria during fermentation of Nocellara del Belice table olives – Paola Zinno – Food Microbiology

Impact of NaCl reduction on lactic acid bacteria during fermentation of Nocellara del Belice table olives – Paola Zinno – Food Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Bioinformatics strategies for taxonomy independent binning and visualization of sequences in shotgun metagenomics – Karel Sedlar – Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal

Microbes in the news

Predatory bacteria used to release bioplastics – Tim Sandle – Digital Journal

The Secret Soviet Virus That Helps Kill Bacteria. Antibiotic resistance is threatening to render antibiotics useless, but scientists may have found their answer in bacteria-eating viruses. – Trace Dominguez – Seeker

Bacteria found in close to two-thirds of NZ supermarket chicken – TV New Zealand

Science, publishing, and career

This would not be my headline choice: Trump says ‘nobody really knows’ if climate change is real – Juliet Eilperin – Washington Post

December 10, 2016

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Airway microbiota of infants with cystic fibrosis, an X-linked IBD risk gene in mice, Colorado flood impact, and metabolic profiling of men eating pasta and bread.

General microbiome

Review: Arguments Reinforcing the Three-Domain View of Diversified Cellular LifeArguments Reinforcing the Three-Domain View of Diversified Cellular Life – Arshan Nasir – Archaea

Opinion: Koch’s Postulates to Metagenome and NextGeneration Sequencing, But what is Next? – Santanu Chattopadhyay – Journal of Gastrointestinal Disorders and Liver Function

Human oral microbiome

Review: Gram-Positive Anaerobes in Periodontal Pathogenesis: New Kids on the Block? – A Mini Review – Journal of Bacteriology & Mycology:

Human respiratory microbiome

* Airway Microbiota in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid from Clinically Well Infants with Cystic Fibrosis – Theresa A. Laguna – PLOS ONE

The Microbiome and the Pathophysiology of Asthma – Ashley Sullivan – Respiratory Research

Human gut microbiome

Review: Intestinal Immunity and Gut Microbiota in Atherogenesis – Tomoya Yamashita – Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis

Review: Microbiome, Growth Retardation, and Metabolism: Are they related? – Daniel J. Hoffman – Annals of Human Biology

Animal experiments

Cosmc is an X-linked inflammatory bowel disease risk gene that spatially regulates gut microbiota and contributes to sex-specific risk – Matthew R. Kudelka – PNAS

Depletion of Gut Microbiota Protects against Renal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury – Diba Emal – Journal of the American Society of Nephrology

Probiotic Roles of Lactobacillus spp. in Swine: Insights from Gut Microbiota – Valerie Diane V. Valeriano – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Gut microbiota from metabolic disease-resistant, macrophage-specific RIP140 knockdown mice improves metabolic phenotype and gastrointestinal integrity – Yi-Wei Lin – Scientific Reports

Antimicrobial growth promoters modulate host responses in mice with a defined intestinal microbiota – Kirsty Brown – Scientific Reports

High Fibre Diet and Acetate Supplementation Change the Gut Microbiota and Prevent the Development of Hypertension and Heart Failure in DOCA-Salt Hypertensive Mice
Francine Z. Marques – Circulation

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Microbial remediation of aromatics-contaminated soil – Ying Xu – Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering

Plant pathogens but not antagonists change in soil fungal communities across a land abandonment gradient in a Mediterranean landscape – L. Bosso – Acta Oecologica

High taxonomic variability despite stable functional structure across microbial communities – Stilianos Louca – Nature Ecology & Evolution

Repeated glyphosate exposure induces shifts in nitrifying communities and metabolism of phenylpropanoids – Marco Allegrini – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Water microbiology

Regional variations in the diversity and predicted metabolic potential of benthic prokaryotes in coastal northern Zhejiang, East China Sea – Kai Wang – Scientific Reports

Influence of the Po River runoff on the bacterioplankton community along trophic and salinity gradients in the Northern Adriatic Sea – Ilaria Pizzetti – Marine Ecology

Dynamic metabolic exchange governs a marine algal-bacterial interaction – Einat Segev – eLIFE
Research highlight: When a relationship turns ugly – Andrea Du Toit – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Food microbiology and functional foods

Cultivable microbiome of fresh white button mushrooms – Werner Rossouw

A MeSH-based text mining method for identifying novel prebiotics – Shan, Guangy – Medicine

Waste and pollution microbiology

Effect of structural carbohydrates and lignin content on the anaerobic digestion of paper and paper board materials by anaerobic granular sludge – Jorge Gonzalez-Estrella – Biotechnology and Bioengineering

* Metagenomic profiling of historic Colorado Front Range flood impact on distribution of riverine antibiotic resistance genes – Emily Garner – Scientific Reports

Sequential bioleaching of copper from brake pads residues using encapsulated bacteria – François Vermeulen – Minerals Engineering

Feed it some of your old protein gels: Isolation and Characterization of Acrylamidase from Arthrobacter sp. DBV1 and Its Ability to Biodegrade Acrylamide – Dattatray K. Bedade – Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology

Copper exposure to soil under single and repeated application: Selection for the microbial community tolerance and effects on the dissipation of antibiotics – Bei Liu – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Resistome

A diverse intrinsic antibiotic resistome from a cave bacterium – Andrew C. Pawlowski – Nature Communications

Million-Year-Old ‘Hero Bug’ Emerges From Cave – Michaeleen Doucleff – NPR

Metabolomics

* Metabolic Profiling Reveals Differences in Plasma Concentrations of Arabinose and Xylose after Consumption of Fiber-Rich Pasta and Wheat Bread with Differential Rates of Systemic Appearance of Exogenous Glucose in Healthy Men – Andre J Pantophlet – The Journal of Nutrition

Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 metabolises the human milk oligosaccharides lacto-N-tetraose and lacto-N-neo-tetraose through overlapping, yet distinct pathways – Kieran James – Scientific Reports

Viruses and phages

Towards quantitative viromics for both double-stranded and single-stranded DNA viruses – Simon Roux – PeerJ

Microbial ecology

Paradoxes in Leaky Microbial Trade – Yoav Kallus – bioRxiv

Microbes in the news

Video: Living together: the symbiosis of host-microbial interactionsVideo: Living together: the symbiosis of host-microbial interactions – Margaret McFall-Ngai – iBiology

Scientist Studies the Infant Resistome to Combat Superbugs – Infection Control Today

Diet, the gut microbiome, and colorectal cancer: are they linked? – EurekAlert

 

Microbes on the market

Medical Game-Changers Beckon. On #1 of the Top 10: Using the Microbiome to Prevent, Diagnose, and Treat Disease –  Casey McDonald

VC-backed Enterome hires Patel as chief medical officer and adds Garceau to board – PE Hub

Second Genome Announces Appointments in Human Resources, Finance to Support Corporate Growth – Yahoo.com

As school gardens spread, so do the teaching moments – Adrian Higgins – Washington Post

Twitter as a Tool for Teaching and Communicating Microbiology: The #microMOOCSEM Initiative – EHU

New evidence shows how bacterium in undercooked chicken causes GBS – EurekAlert

Science, publishing, and career

The Microbiology Effect: A Call for Education Research – Samantha L. Elliott – J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ.
The Necessity of Prerequisite Undergraduate Microbiology Courses for Pre-Allied Health Professionals – Andrea M. Rediske – J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ.
Supporting Microbiology in the Nursing Curriculum – Bethany Adamec – ASM

On the origin of nonequivalent states: how we can talk about preprints – Cameron Neylon – bioRxiv

Why a First Amendment win is good for science – Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky – STATNews

New book claiming cancer caused by pasteurized milk

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One of my Google alerts pointed me towards the press release of a new book that claims to have found the cure to cancer: the lack of lactic acid bacteria in milk. The book is written by a Dutch writer called Don Elsman and is titled: “Cancer, Cause and Prevention”. Although the press release and book title were in English, the book is actually written in Dutch – which is my first language.

Here is the link to the book’s website.

Here is a short summary – If you are a true scientist it s hard to read this without your eyes starting to bleed.

Cancer is caused by an overgrowth of Candida in our bodies. Candida invasion is inhibited by lactic acid bacteria that make a layer of acid. This is true because Candida does not grow at pH 4. Since pasteurizing destroys the lactic acid bacteria in milk we are all going to die of cancer. 

The press release appears to be full of false statements, persons claiming to be doctors, non-existing universities and fake PhDs. I especially did not like the “I have discovered the cure for cancer – buy my book and I will tell you all about it” vibe. I lost my sister last year to cancer, and I am pretty sure that it was not caused by Candida overgrowth or milk.

Which led me to a Twitter rant that I tried to summarize in this Storify.

Screen Shot 2016-12-09 at 11.33.56 PM.png

Storify: My rant about new book claiming cancer caused by pasteurized milk

 

 

December 9, 2016

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Human oral microbiome

Chapter Four – The Oral Microbiome in Health and Its Implication in Oral and Systemic Diseases – B. Sampaio-Maia – Advances in Applied Microbiology

Protocol: Methods to Study Antagonistic Activities Among Oral Bacteria – Fengxia Qi – Oral Biology

Protocol: The Oral Microbiota in Health and Disease: An Overview of Molecular Findings – José F. Siqueira Jr. – Oral Biology

Human skin microbiome

The protective effect of microbiota on S. aureus skin colonization depends on the integrity of the epithelial barrier – Marc Burian – Journal of Investigative Dermatology

Human respiratory microbiome (also Early Life)

Differences in the Nasopharyngeal Microbiome During Acute Respiratory Tract Infection With Human Rhinovirus and Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Infancy – Christian Rosas-Salazar – The Journal of Infectious Diseases

Reemergence of Lower-Airway Microbiota in Lung Transplant Patients with Cystic Fibrosis – Saad A. Syed – Annals of the American Thoracic Society

Editorial: Changes in the Cystic Fibrosis Airway Microbiome after Lung Transplant: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same – Shawn D. Aaron – Annals of the American Thoracic Society

Human gut microbiome

Blautia massiliensis sp. nov., isolated from a fresh human fecal sample and emended description of the genus Blautia – Guillaume A. Durand – Anaerobe

Review: Formation of propionate and butyrate by the human colonic microbiota – Petra Louis – Environmental Microbiology

Review: Exercise-induced stress behavior, gut-microbiota-brain axis and diet: a systematic review for athletes – Allison Clark – Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition

Animal experiments

Analysis of the intestinal microbial community and inferred functional capacities during the host response to Pneumocystis pneumonia – Derrick R. Samuelson – Experimental Lung Research

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

The prey’s scent – Volatile organic compound mediated interactions between soil bacteria and their protist predators – Kristin Schulz-Bohm – The ISME Journal

How miniature predators get their favorite soil bacteria. Sniffing out your dinner in the dark – Science Daily

Food microbiology

Dynamics of microbial community during the extremely long-term fermentation process of a traditional soy sauce – Yang Yang – Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

Water microbiology

Diversity and Abundance of the Denitrifying Microbiota in the Sediment of Eastern China Marginal Seas and the Impact of Environmental Factors – Minghong Gao – Microbial Ecology

Phages and viruses

Exploring the contribution of bacteriophages to antibiotic resistance – Itziar Lekunberri – Environmental Pollution

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

K-shuff: A Novel Algorithm for Characterizing Structural and Compositional Diversity in Gene Libraries – Kamlesh Jangid – PLOS ONE

More microbiology

17th Century Variola Virus Reveals the Recent History of Smallpox – Ana T. Duggan – Current Biology

A Mummy’s DNA May Help Solve The Mystery Of The Origins Of Smallpox – Nell Greenfieldboyce – NPR

Drug resistant pathogens and travel: No road map but a new initiative from Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease – Patricia Schlagenhauf – Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease

Microbes in the news

uBiome Joins Google, SpaceX, and Oculus as 2016 World Technology Award Finalist – PR Web

Paul Schreckenberger, microbiology lab director at Loyola, dies at 69 – Chicago Tribune

Antibacterial products may help bacteria beat antibiotics – Bob Holmes

Corticosteroid Success Linked to Differences in Bronchial Microbiome – Kenneth Bender – HCP live

Guest Post — The Emergent Microbiome: A Revolution for the Life Sciences — Part IX, The Microbiome and Immunotherapy II – David Puelo – JDSupra

Scientist Studies the Infant Resistome to Combat Superbugs – Infection Control Today

The Microbiome and Risk for HIV: Research in South Africa shows how the balance of bacteria in a woman’s vagina can raise or lower her risk for HIV – Columbia

December 8, 2016

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Bacteria in upper GI tract, visceral pain, stromatolites, polluted urban soils.

Pregnancy and early life

Deep sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA of the neonatal oral microbiome: a comparison of breast-fed and formula-fed infants – S. S. Al-Shehri – Scientific Reports

Cesarean birth is not associated with early childhood body mass index – L. G. Smithers – Pediatric Obesity

Human skin microbiome

Culture-Based Screening of Aerobic Microbiome in Diabetic Foot Subjects and Developing Non-healing Ulcers – Saba Noor – Frontiers in Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

* The active bacterial assemblages of the upper GI tract in individuals with and without Helicobacter infection – Christian Schulz – Gut

Elderly patients have an altered gut-brain axis regardless of the presence of cirrhosis – Jasmohan S. Bajaj – Scientific Reports

Review: HIV-associated changes in the enteric microbial community: potential role in loss of homeostasis and development of systemic inflammation – Gootenberg, David B – Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases

Review: A Perspective on Brain-Gut Communication: The American Gastroenterology Association and American Psychosomatic Society Joint Symposium on Brain-gut Interactions and the Intestinal Microenvironment – Aroniadis, Olga C. – Psychosomatic Medicine

Review: Mechanisms of Cross-talk between the Diet, the Intestinal Microbiome, and the Undernourished Host – Helene Velly – Gut Microbes

* Review: The Gut Microbiota as a Key Regulator of Visceral Pain – O’ Mahony, Siobhain M – Pain

Crystal ball : Microbiomes, metabolic errors and detection of performance enhancing drug abuse – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Animal and in vitro models

Masked trichothecene and zearalenone mycotoxins withstand digestion and absorption in the upper GI tract but are efficiently hydrolyzed by human gut microbiota in vitro – Silvia W. Gratz – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

Light/Dark Shifting Promotes Alcohol-Induced Colon Carcinogenesis: Possible Role of Intestinal Inflammatory Milieu and Microbiota – Faraz Bishehsari – International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Colonic luminal microbiota and bacterial metabolite composition in pregnant Huanjiang mini-pigs: effects of food composition at different times of pregnancy – Xiang-feng Kong – Scientific Reports

Animal microbiome

Temporal Metagenomic and Metabolomic Characterization of Fresh Perennial Ryegrass Degradation by Rumen Bacteria – Olga L. Mayorga – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Dominant mycorrhizal association of trees alters carbon and nutrient cycling by selecting for microbial groups with distinct enzyme function – Tanya E. Cheeke – New Phytologist

Diversity of bacteria and archaea in the rhizosphere of bioenergy crop Jatropha curcas – Garima Dubey – 3 Biotech

Clay-to-Carbon Ratio Controls the Effect of Herbicide Application on Soil Bacterial Richness and Diversity in a Loamy Field – H. M. L. I. Herath – Water, Air, & Soil Pollution

* Microorganisms isolated from polluted urban soils highly effectives in degrading recalcitrant pesticides – Liliana Rocío Botero-Botero

Review: The Interaction between Plants and Bacteria in the Remediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons: An Environmental Perspective – Panagiotis Gkorezis – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Microbes in the Anthropocene: spillover of agriculturally selected bacteria and their impact on natural ecosystems – Thomas Bell – Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Water and extremophile microbiome

* Participation of algal–bacterial community in the formation of modern stromatolites in Cock Soda Lake, Altai Region – O. S. Samylina – Paleontological Journal

Microbial mediated arsenic biotransformation in wetlands – Si-Yu Zhang – Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering

More microbiology

Antibiotic resistance in the wild: an eco-evolutionary perspective – Teppo Hiltunen – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B

Microbes in the news

New polymer £5 notes are three times cleaner and hold less bacteria, scientists have found
Less bacteria sticks to the new polymer notes as it is revealed the old paper notes were among the dirtiest in Europe – Jennifer Hale – The Sun

The Coolest Thing Bio350 Micronauts Learned in Fall 2016 – Mark O. Martin – Microbes Rule Blogspot

Glow-in-the-dark bugs bring art to life: Dr Siouxsie Wiles has teamed up with artists and schoolchildren for this weekend’s SciGlow exhibition at Auckland’s Silo Park – Jamie Morton – NZ Herald

Nearly 2 Million Pounds Of Chicken Recalled For Possible Bacteria – CBS

Magnetic purification of blood ‘pulls out’ the bacteria – Nanowerk

Microbes on the market

uBiome Announces SmartBiomeTM, a Novel Comprehensive Metagenomic Deep Sequencing Research Platform – PR Web

Synlogic CEO downplays ‘yuck factor’ of the microbiome – Big News Network

AGA and The Dannon Company Recognize Microbiome Leader Dr. Gary Wu – BusinessWire

Gut feelings: How the microbiome may affect mental illness and interact with treatment – MedicalXpress

December 7, 2016

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Microbiota of migratory birds, blue fungus living in snow, migrating from SSU rRNAs to metagenomics.

Jobs

Awesome job at awesome institute: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Microbiology – California Academy of Sciences

Human gut microbiome

Special issue of Trends in Food Science & Technology; several papers have appeared here before but worth checking out: Unravelling the role of the gut microbiome in energy balance and brain development and function: the European project MyNewGut

Review: Homeostasis of the Gut Barrier and Potential Biomarkers – Jerry M Wells – American Journal of Physiology, Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology

Review: Challenges in simulating the human gut for understanding the role of the microbiota in obesity – M. Aguirre – Beneficial Microbes

Animal models

Integrated Role of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Supplementation in Gut Microbiota, Immunity, and Metabolism of Infant Rhesus Monkeys – Xuan He – mSystems

Review: Dissecting the interplay between intestinal microbiota and host immunity in health and disease: Lessons learned from germfree and gnotobiotic animal models – Ulrike Fiebiger – European Journal of Microbiology and Immunology

Animal microbiome

* Changes in gut microbiota of migratory passerines during stopover after crossing an ecological barrier – William B. Lewis – The Auk

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

* Microbial Community Structure and Function of Soil following Ecosystem Conversion from Native Forests to Teak Plantation Forests – Vidya De Gannes – Frontiers in Microbiology

Drought tolerance of bioenergy grass Saccharum spontaneum L. enhanced by arbuscular mycorrhizae – P.P. Mirshad – Rhizosphere

Perspective: Microbiome selection could spur next-generation plant breeding strategies – Murali Gopal – Frontiers in Microbiology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Siderophore-based microbial adaptations to iron scarcity across the eastern Pacific Ocean – Rene M. Boiteau – PNAS

Phylogenetic diversity of microbial communities of the Posolsk Bank bottom sediments, Lake Baikal – S. M. Chernitsyna – Microbiology

Dampened copepod-mediated trophic cascades in a microzooplankton-dominated microbial food web: A mesocosm study – Bernadette Pree – Limnology and Oceanography

* Antarctomyces pellizariae sp. nov., a new, endemic, blue, snow resident psychrophilic ascomycete fungus from Antarctica – Graciéle C. A. de Menezes – Extremophiles

Temporal variability of bacterial communities in cryoconite on an Alpine glacier – Andrea Franzetti – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Intraclade Heterogeneity in Nitrogen Utilization by Marine Prokaryotes Revealed Using Stable Isotope Probing Coupled with Tag Sequencing (Tag-SIP) – Michael Morando – Frontiers in Microbiology

Pollution microbiology

Effect of metal concentration on the microbial community in acid mine drainage of a polysulfide ore deposit – V. V. Kadnikov – Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics (viruses too)

MEGARes: an antimicrobial resistance database for high throughput sequencing – Steven M. Lakin – Nucleic Acids Research

Improvements to PATRIC, the all-bacterial Bioinformatics Database and Analysis Resource Center – Alice R. Wattam – Nucleic Acids Research

Alignment-free d2* oligonucleotide frequency dissimilarity measure improves prediction of hosts from metagenomically-derived viral sequences – Nathan A. Ahlgren – Nucleic Acids Research

*  Crystal Ball: Migrating SSU rRNA gene surveys to the metagenomics era – Josh D. Neufeld – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Techniques

DNA extraction from benthic Cyanobacteria: comparative assessment and optimization – V. Gaget – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Microbial ecology

Microbial Community Coalescence for Microbiome Engineering – Matthias C. Rillig – Frontiers in Microbiology

More microbiology

How to Define Pathogenicity, Health, and Disease? – Mauno Vihinen – Human Mutation-Variation, Informatics, and Disease

Crystal Ball: Accessories make the microbe – Lisa Y. Stein – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Validating Regulatory Predictions from Diverse Bacteria with Mutant Fitness Data – Shiori Sagawa – bioRxiv

Microbes in the news

With my former Stanford co-worker Fiona Strouts: New farmers’ market baker knows art, science of bread-making. Stanford fellow brings baking know-how to Portola Valley farmers’ market – Dave Boyce – Mountain View Voice

New Mechanism to Control Human Viral Infections Discovered – Sean Nealon – University of California Riverside

Uterine microbiota play a key role in implantation and pregnancy success in in vitro fertilization – EurekAlert (see digest October 12)

Understanding microbiome impact on pig health – National Hog Farmer

Syphilis is coming back – Juha Wahlstedt – Clinical Laboratory Blogspot

December 6, 2016

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Pooping in space, lichen symbiosis, snow algae on volcanoes, and metagenome-guided peptide and protein identification.

uBiome Blog

* From Lift-Off to Splash-Down: The Scoop on Pooping in Space – Julie Taylor – uBiome

General microbiome

Review: Getting at the “what” and the “how” in symbiosis – Irene L. G. Newton – Environmental Microbiology Reports

The Evolutionary Value of Helpful Microbes: A Response to Shapira – Allen Rodrigo – Trends in Ecology & Evolution

Animal microbiome

DNA extraction protocols may influence biodiversity detected in the intestinal microbiome: a case study from wild Prussian carp, Carassius gibelio – Elena N. Kashinskaya – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

* Fungal–algal association patterns in lichen symbiosis linked to macroclimate – Garima Singh – New Phytologist

The missing link in grassland restoration: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation increases plant diversity and accelerates succession – Liz Koziol – Journal of Applied Ecology

Dominant mycorrhizal association of trees alters carbon and nutrient cycling by selecting for microbial groups with distinct enzyme function – Tanya E. Cheeke – New Phytologists

Depth-dependent influence of different land-use systems on bacterial biogeography – Brent J. Seuradge – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Water and extremophile microbiome

* Primary productivity of snow algae communities on stratovolcanoes of the Pacific Northwest – T. L. Hamilton – Geobiology

Pollution microbiology

Microbial diversity in degraded and non-degraded petroleum samples and comparison across oil reservoirs at local and global scales – Isabel Natalia Sierra-Garcia – Extremophiles

Transformation of hexabromocyclododecane in contaminated soil in association with microbial diversity – Thao Thanh Le – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Proteomics

* A Graph-Centric Approach for Metagenome-Guided Peptide and Protein Identification in Metaproteomics -Haixu Tang – PLOS Computational Biology

Microbes in the news

Microbes: Our tiny, crucial allies – David R. Montgomery – The Conversation

Do C-sections alter a baby’s microbiome, hurting later health? – Sharon Begley – STAT news

Let there be light! Compact sterilizing pod uses UV light to kill bacteria – Dyllan Furness – Digital Trends

N.H.’s Oyster Bacteria Threat – Valley News

Doctor’s warning: a cat’s bacteria is worse than its bite. ER doctor says bites ‘almost like getting stabbed with a needle’ and infections can develop quickly — David Burke – CBC

Why Do Our Feet Smell Worse in the Winter? – Stephanie Pappas – Live Science

Science, publishing, and career

12 winners: 11 men, 1 woman. Tech Billionaires Award $25 Million in Breakthrough Prizes to Top Scientists – Robert Hackett -Fortune
$25 Million in Breakthrough Prizes Given in Science and Math -Dennis Overbye – New York Times

 

 

December 5, 2016

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Contraceptives and the vaginal microbiome, Ralstonia and CF outcome, Alzheimer’s, helminths in cats, the Mississippi River.

General microbiome and ecology

Review: Disentangling Interactions in the Microbiome: A Network Perspective – Mehdi Layeghifard – Trends in Microbiology

Book Chapter: Chapter 4 – The Human Microbiome – Jacquelyn S. Meisel – Genomic and Precision Medicine (Third Edition): Foundations, Translation, and Implementation – Chp

Pregnancy and early life

Maternal health and the placental microbiome – Elise Pelzer – Placenta

Human vaginal microbiome

* Effects of Combined Oral Contraceptives, Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate, and the Levonorgestrel-releasing Intrauterine System on the Vaginal Microbiome – J. Paul Brooks – Contraception

Review: Lactobacillus iners: Friend or Foe? – Mariya I. Petrova – Trends in Microbiology

Human skin microbiome

The protective effect of microbiota on S. aureus skin colonization depends on the integrity of the epithelial barrier – Marc Burian – Journal of Investigative Dermatology

Human respiratory microbiome

* Ralstonia mannitolilytica in cystic fibrosis: A new predictor of worse outcomes – I. Coman – Respiratory Medicine Case Reports

Staphylococcal species heterogeneity in the nasal microbiome following antibiotic prophylaxis revealed by tuf gene deep sequencing – Claire L. McMurray – Microbiome

Human oral microbiome (also: gut / viruses)

Transmission of viruses via our microbiomes – Melissa Ly – Microbiome

Review: Endodontic Microbiology and Pathobiology : Current State of Knowledge – Ashraf F. Fouad – Dental Clinics of North America

Human gut microbiome

Extending colonic mucosal microbiome analysis—assessment of colonic lavage as a proxy for endoscopic colonic biopsies – Euan Watt – Microbiome

Review: Crohn’s disease – Joana Torres – The Lancet

Review: The Microbiome in Neurogastroenterology – Geoffrey A. Preidis – Pediatric Neurogastroenterology

Review: The endocrine vitamin D system in the gut – Antonio Barbáchano – Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology

Microbes at nearly sterile sites

* Gram-negative bacterial molecules associate with Alzheimer disease pathology – Xinhua Zhan – Neurology

Press: Gram-negative bacteria may influence Alzheimer’s disease pathology – ScienceDaily

Animal and in vitro models

Modulation of a Circulating Uremic Solute via Rational Genetic Manipulation of the Gut Microbiota – A. Sloan Devlin – Cell Host & Microbe

Animal microbiome

* Helminth infections and gut microbiota – a feline perspective – Ana M. Duarte – Parasites & Vectors

Review: Defining the Core Microbiome in Corals’ Microbial Soup – Alejandra Hernandez-Agreda – Trends in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Bacterial consortia inoculation mitigates the water shortage and salt stress in an avocado (Persea americana Mill.) nursery – Patricio J. Barra – Applied Soil Ecology

Heavy Metal Pollution Structures Soil Bacterial Community Dynamics in SW Spain Polluted Salt Marshes – Jennifer Mesa – Water, Air, & Soil Pollution

The Cucurbita pepo seed microbiome: genotype-specific composition and implications for breeding – Eveline Adam – Plant and Soil

Tolerance of the forest soil microbiome to increasing mercury concentrations – Aline Frossard – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Repeated glyphosate exposure induces shifts in nitrifying communities and metabolism of phenylpropanoids – Marco Allegrini – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Seasonal induced changes in spinach rhizosphere microbial community structure with varying salinity and drought – A. Mark Ibekwe – Science of the Total Environment

Cross-compatibility evaluation of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria of coconut and cocoa on yield and rhizosphere properties of vegetable crops – T.H Khadeejath Rajeela – Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology

Effect of rhizobacterial consortia from undisturbed arid- and agro-ecosystems on wheat growth under differing conditions – N.G. Inostroza – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Differences among Soil-Inhabiting Microbial Communities in Poa annua Turf throughout the Growing Season – Lisa A. Beirn – Corp Science

Increasing the Size of the Microbial Biomass Altered Bacterial Community Structure which Enhances Plant Phosphorus Uptake – Pu Shen – PLOS ONE

Water and extremophile microbiome

* Microbial regime changes and indicators of eutrophication on the Mississippi River identified via a human-powered 2900 km transect – Michael W Henson – bioRxiv

Whole-Genome Enrichment Provides Deep Insights into Vibrio cholerae Metagenome from an African River – L. Vezzulli – Microbial Ecology

Identity, ecology and ecophysiology of planktic green algae dominating in ice‑covered lakes on James Ross Island (northeastern Antarctic Peninsula) – Linda Nedbalová

Built environment microbiome

Analysis of dark crusts on the church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, using chemical, microscope and metabarcoding microbial identification techniques – Christine Gaylarde – International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation

Impact of wastewater treatment plant discharge on the contamination of river biofilms by pharmaceuticals and antibiotic resistance – Elodie Aubertheau – Science of the Total Environment

More microbiology

Human to human transmission of arthropod-borne pathogens – Byron E Martina – Current Opinion in Virology

Techniques

Methodological flaws introduce strong bias into molecular analysis of microbial populations – Niclas Krakat – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Microbes in the news

uBiome Awards Microbiome Impact Grant to Explore Effects of Heavy Drinking and Smoking on Oral Microbiome – PR Web

Missing Link in Malaria Evolution Discovered in Historical Specimens – Ben Andrew Henry – The Scientist

Book review: The Human Microbiome Handbook, Jason Tetro, Emma Allen-Vercoe (Eds.). DEStech Publications (March 2016)– Laura M. Cox – Anaerobe

Our ideas about bacteria evolution are wrong – scientists make new discovery – Sandra Hajda – Inquisitr

Bacteria Hysteria

Soap company uses bacteria-coated billboards to prove how dirty your stuff is – Mashable

Microbes and art: Vik Muniz, Ori Elisar, Mobis Artis, Micro-ritmos, and more

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Mobis Artis

Of microbes and machines: how art and science fuse in Bio-art – Sean Redmond and Darrin Sean Verhagen – The Conversation

“There is science in art – the alchemy of paint, the binary codes computing away in a camera, the expressive anatomy in portraiture and sculpture. There is art in science – the artistic precision of the scalpel, the cool aesthetics of the laboratory, and the intimate observations undertaken by scientists to discover new materials and microbes living unseen in the world.”

Morbis Artis: Diseases of the Arts – RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. November 2016 – February 2017

“Morbis Artis explores the radical conjunction between the biomolecular and the artistic, and the thin doorway between life and death housed within discourses of disease. What constitutes life, what counts as a sentient being, and who gets to determine what lives are saved, punished, exploited and destroyed? Composed of eleven separate but connected installation works, Morbis Artis explores the question of organic life through particular artistic lenses, each taking on the moniker of disease to represent and embody the issues that challenge bare life today.”

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Raspberri Pi art: Micro-ritmos
Bacteria sing: Biology Synth Micro-Ritmos. Micro-ritmos is a musical instrument that automatically generates songs based on biology – RaspberryPi – The MagPi Magazin

“Micro-ritmos is a biology musical instrument that automatically generates songs based on the movement of bacteria cells. Raspberry Pi is used to observe the patterns formed in a bacterial cell. Their movements are transformed into audio noises.With Micro-ritmos you can hear bacteria singing. (…) The team behind the Micro-ritmos is Mexican. They are Paloma López, Leslie Garcia and Emmanuel Anguiano. The team is called Interspecfics.”

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Installation uses Geobacter bacteria and Raspberry Pi to generate music

Pseudomonas in the shape of New Zealand
Scientists use bacteria to map out NZ – News.com.au

“Producing what looks like a satellite picture at first glance, the Victoria University of Wellington researchers grew green bacteria in the shape of New Zealand’s land mass and blue bacteria to resemble the surrounding ocean. The fascinating image appeared on international science journal Cell Chemical Biology’s front cover and drew attention to the need to engineer better antibiotics.”

Cell Chemical Biology Volume 23, Issue 11– November 2016

“The cover image is a map of New Zealand drawn with pyoverdine-producing P. aeruginosa cells in an ocean of indigoidine-synthesizing E. coli. Cover credit: artwork by Mark Calcott, based on a concept from David Ackerley.”

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Cell Chemical Biology Volume 23, Number 11 Issue Cover

On a different note, there is a hilarious website called “World Maps without New Zealand”

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“I wonder what that could be”

Vik Muniz

Visual artist Vik Muniz shows ‘continuous invention’, uses of ordinary objects in art – Columbia Chronicle

“During the last Lecture in Photography event of the semester, audience members were able to watch world-renowned visual artist Vik Muniz’s discuss his use of ordinary materials like sugar, chocolate, thread and bacteria to “draw” various subjects. (…) During the Nov. 16 event, Muniz, who has had work displayed in New York City, London and Hong Kong, talked about the meaning of art, his early career as an artist and the multiple series of work he has created.

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Vik Muniz’ bacteria portrait – Source: The Creators Project

Ori Elisar: Living Language

Teaching Bacteria to make Living, Evolving Typography – Clara Rodriguez Fernández – Labiotech

“Ori Elisar is an Israeli artist working on Biodesign. His globally-acclaimed project uses bacteria to create living typography that changes over time to represent the evolution of the Hebrew language. The Living Language project uses Paenibacillus vortex bacteria to create living typography. To represent the evolution of the Hebrew language, the artist makes bacteria grow from ancient paleo letter forms to the shapes of the modern alphabet. The experiments were carried out in the microbiology laboratory at Tel Aviv University.”

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