Microbiome Digest – Bik's Picks

A daily digest of scientific microbiome papers, by the MD team. Founded by Elisabeth Bik, microbiome and science integrity consultant. Twitter: @microbiomdigest

December 19, 2025

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Bugembe Allan

Animal microbiome

The innate immune IMD pathway is a key regulator of gut microbiome and metabolic homeostasis in the black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) – Premruethai Supungul – PLOS ONE

Human gut microbiome & nutrition

The evaluation of indoxyl sulfate in the general population in Kanegasaki Iwate: A cross-sectional study (KANEGASAKI study) – Mizuki Hisano – PLOS ONE

The relationship between dietary intake of B vitamins and Helicobacter pylori seropositivity – Yuexia Lu – PLOS ONE

Plant, soil & ecological microbiome

Zinc ion increases the effectiveness of phosphorus in agricultural soils through microbial solubilization – Lanxin Tang – PLOS ONE

Optimizing soil quality and rhizosphere ecology to enhance Annona squamosa yield and quality through water–fertilizer–mulching synergy – Weihua Wang – PLOS ONE

Concentration-dependent effects of fermented spent coffee grounds and contrasting effects of earthworms on growth and phytochemicals in medicinal plant Glechoma longituba – Bing-Nan Zhao – PLOS ONE

Animal experiments (model organisms)

The Drosophila G protein-coupled receptor, GulpR, is essential for lipid mobilization in response to nutrient limitation – Daniela Barraza – PLOS Genetics

High-protein diets reduce plasma pro-inflammatory cytokines following lipopolysaccharide challenge in Swiss Albino mice – Hellen W Kinyi – PLOS ONE

Clinical research & public health

Impact of an integrated intervention package during preconception, pregnancy, and early childhood on inflammation, IGF-1, IGFBP3 during first 6 months of life: Findings from the WINGS randomized controlled trial – Ranadip Chowdhury – PLOS Global Public Health

Lack of association between loneliness, social isolation and inflammation in people living with HIV aged ≥50 years – Jose-Ramon Blanco – PLOS ONE

Effect of obesity and exercise training on circulating lipids in American Indian adolescents – Charles F Hojjat – PLOS ONE

From mental health detention to health systems reform: Co-producing policy and practice recommendations with Black men and their communities – Elaine Craig – PLOS Mental Health

Microbial genetics & bacterial physiology

Whole-genome analysis of Lysinibacillus boronitolerans MSR1: A dairy-isolated multidrug-resistant and non-pathogenic strain – Md Shahedur Rahman – PLOS ONE

A metabolic atlas of the Klebsiella pneumoniae species complex reveals lineage-specific metabolism and intra-species cooperation – Ben Vezina – PLOS Biology

Clinical biomarkers & immunology

Blood RNA biomarkers and a point-of-care elastase assay for detecting host immune activation in suspected sepsis – John E Lafleur – PLOS ONE

Multi-omics analysis reveals diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for aging phenotypes in ulcerative colitis – Lei Guo – PLOS ONE

Oral health & microbiome

The impact of diet and oral hygiene on dental caries among Turkish children: A cross-sectional study – Ozge Yesildemir – PLOS ONE

Molecular biology & immunity

LIPL-1 and LIPL-2 are TCER-1-regulated lysosomal lipases with distinct roles in immunity and fertility – Laura Bahr – PLOS Genetics

December 05, 2025

Posted on December 4, 2025 by Svetlana Ugarcina Perovic

See you at MVIF next week!

General microbiome

Consensus Statement: STREAMS guidelines: standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated microbiome studies – Julia M. Kelliher – Nature Microbiology

Urinary microbiome

Urinary biochemical ecology reveals microbiome-metabolite interactions and metabolic markers of recurrent urinary tract infection – Michael L. Neugent – NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes

Vaginal microbiome

Microbial and seminal traces of sexual intercourse and forensic implications – Sarah Ahannach – Microbiome

Ambient temperature affects the composition of the vaginal microbiome, and temperature-sensitive vaginal microbes influence assisted reproductive technology outcomes – Zheng Liu – – Microbiome

Gut microbiome

HGMT: a database of human gut microbiota for tumors and immunotherapy response – Jinxin Liu – Genome Biology

Review: Circadian rhythms as a modulator of gut microbiota-tumor microenvironment crosstalk – Qinglong Xu – Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences

Dynamics of gut metabolome and microbiota maturation during early life – Anna-Katariina Aatsinki – iScience

Assembly of the infant gut microbiome and resistome are linked to bacterial strains in mother’s milk – Pamela Ferretti – Nature Communications

Animal microbiome

Core rumen microbes are functional generalists that sustain host metabolism and gut ecosystem function – Omar E. Tovar-Herrera – Nature Ecology & Evolution

Longitudinal changes in gut microbiota across reproductive states in wild baboons – Chelsea A. Southworth – bioRxiv

Probiotic effect of B. subtilis PS-216 in broiler chickens: modulation of weight, feed conversion, short chain fatty acids, microbiota and meat quality – Katarina Šimunović – Animal Microbiome

Animal experiments

The microbial metabolite imidazole propionate modulates hypothalamic activity and stress-induced behaviors – Gulistan Agirman – Cell Host & Microbe

Using gnotobiotic mice to decipher effects of gut microbiome repair in undernourished children on tuft and goblet cell function – Yi Wang – PNAS

Selection and transmission of the gut microbiome alone can shift mammalian behavior – Taichi A. Suzuki – Nature Communications

Postbiotics

Review: Postbiotics as microbial-derived therapeutics for wound healing disorders: from molecular mechanisms to future application – Miroslav Dinić – Home Cell Communication and Signaling

Phages and viruses

Unveiling the global urban virome through wastewater metagenomics – Nathalie Worp – Nature Communications

Soil, root and plant microbiome

Rare taxa modulate the emergence of dominants in microbial communities – Jianing Wang – mBio

Integrated effects of anaerobic soil disinfestation and beneficial microbes in strawberry production – Baker D. Aljawasim – PlosOne

Food microbiome

Exploring diversity and functional contribution of the microbiome of traditional Italian dry-cured hams – Giulia Longhi – Current Research in Microbial Sciences

Environmental microbiome

The Microflora Danica atlas of Danish environmental microbiomes – C. M. Singleton – Nature

Bioinformatics

TAGINE: Fast Taxonomy-based Feature Engineering for Microbiome Analysis – Shiri Baum – bioRxiv

Creating unity: linking 16S rRNA gene sequence information to the core taxonomy of genomes – Hilde Vinje – Environmental Microbiome

LorBin: efficient binning of long-read metagenomes by multiscale adaptive clustering and evaluation – Wei Xue – Nature Communications

December 04, 2025

Posted on December 4, 2025 by Bugembe Allan

Human & Clinical Microbiome

Modifiable risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease in Kuwait – Reem Alhasan – PLOS ONE

Host–Pathogen Interactions (Human-focused)

Pharmacokinetic profiles of Moutan Cortex after single and repeated administration in a colitis model – Jin-Hwa Kim – PLOS ONE

ceRNA regulatory network and immune-neurodegenerative mechanisms of peripheral CD4+ T cells in Parkinson’s disease – Lijun Guo – PLOS ONE

Safety profile of TNF-α inhibitors in pediatric patients – Yanmo Yang – PLOS ONE

Animal Microbiome

Gut bacteria induce heterologous immune priming in Rhodnius prolixus – Carissa A Gilliland – PLOS Pathogens

A reliable in vitro rumen culture system for screening anti-methanogenic compounds – Philip P Laric – PLOS ONE

High-Resolution Melting assays for discrimination of fungal pathogens causing Grapevine Trunk Diseases – Filipe Azevedo-Nogueira – PLOS ONE

Bimodal expression of Type III Secretion System 2 enables cooperative virulence in Salmonella Typhimurium – Milada Pospíšilová – PLOS Pathogens

Animal Experiments (disease models)

The female reproductive tract–gut axis in gastrointestinal parasitic infection – Olivia Shorthouse – PLOS Pathogens

Toxoplasma gondii disrupts intestinal microbiota and host metabolism in rats – Ji-Xin Zhao – PLOS NTDs

Sarcopenia modelling by portal vein ligation inducing hyperammonemia in rats – Maria Nadinskaia – PLOS ONE

Evogliptin prevents ceramide-induced pyroptosis via NLRP3/GSDM-D pathway – Razia Rashid Rahil – PLOS ONE

Mechanistic insight into the antidiabetic effects of Ficus hispida fruits – Nusaiba Jahan – PLOS ONE

Computational Microbiology & Modeling

Identification of dynamic models of microbial communities – Ana Paredes-Vázquez – PLOS Computational Biology

Accuracy of the Lotka–Volterra model fails in strongly coupled microbial systems – Michael P Mustri – PLOS Computational Biology

Plant, Soil & Ecological Microbiome

Distinct S-adenosylmethionine synthases link phosphatidylcholine to mitochondrial function – Athena L Munden – PLOS Biology

November 21, 2025

Posted on November 23, 2025 by Bugembe Allan

prepared by Bugembe Allan

Human gut microbiome

Effects of ascorbic acid on intestinal flora and metabolites of C57 mice exposed to formaldehyde in the digestive tract – Xin Ling – PLOS ONE

Consumption of non-sugar sweeteners by Brazilian adolescents and adults in 2017–2018: Socioeconomic distribution and food sources – Luisa Gazola Lage – PLOS ONE

The impact of day care attendance on antibiotic use among children aged 0–12 years: A population-based register study – Tapio Räsänen – PLOS ONE

Continuous Glucose Monitoring under standardised conditions regarding diet, exercise and stress in Healthy Young People (CGM-HYPE study) – Florian Kinny – PLOS Digital Health

Animal microbiome

Triadic relationships between pasture exposure, gastrointestinal parasites, and hindgut microbiomes in grazing lambs – Jack Jefferson – PLOS ONE

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis from raw milk of dairy cattle and ewes – Inamullah – PLOS ONE

Fate of Trypanosoma cruzi in bed bugs after oral ingestion or intrathoracic injection – Sanam Meraj – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Salmonella enterica exploits the auxin signaling pathway to overcome stomatal immunity – Brianna Fochs – PLOS Pathogens

Microbial Ecology

Bacterial immune systems as causes and consequences of microbiome structure – Rafael Custodio – PLOS Biology

Human respiratory microbiome

Non-canonical metatranscriptomic analysis of COVID-19 and Dengue reveals an expanded microbial and AMR landscape in COVID-19 mortality patients – Aanchal Yadav – PLOS Pathogens

Metagenomics & Bioinformatics

tvsfglasso: Time-varying scale-free graphical lasso for network estimation from time-series data – Markku Kuismin – PLOS Computational Biology

Quantifying microbial interactions based on compositional data with generalized Lotka-Volterra equations – Yue Huang – PLOS Computational Biology

Water microbiome

Diverse biophysical and molecular mechanisms drive phytoplankton sinking in response to starvation – Yanqi Wu – PLOS Biology

Phages & Viruses

ATG-3 limits Orsay virus infection in C. elegans and regulates collagen pathways – Gowri Kalugotla – PLOS Pathogens

Animal experiments

Antioxidant and antidiabetic effects of Angylocalyx oligophyllus leaves aqueous extract in pregnant diabetic rats – Christian Tenezogang Takoukam – PLOS ONE

November 5, 2025

Posted on November 5, 2025 by Svetlana Ugarcina Perovic

See you next week at MVIF!

Human gut microbiome

Associations Between Gut Microbiome and 24-Hour Blood Pressure Variability: A Cross-sectional Study Highlighting Sex Differences and Potential Therapeutic Targets – Preeti Dinesh Virwani – bioRxiv

Infant gut microbiota in multi-child families converges with adults without a sibling-specific signature – Eveliina Hanski – bioRxiv

Shaping the future of probiotics, live biotherapeutic products, and fecal microbiota transplantation: 30 scientific recommendations from the CHINAGUT Conference – Weihong Wang – iMeta

A widespread hydrogenase supports fermentative growth of gut bacteria in healthy people – Caitlin Welsh – Nature Miicrobiology

Long-read metagenomics for strain tracking after faecal microbiota transplant – Yu Fan – Nature Microbiology

Host transcriptional responses to gut microbiome variation arising from urbanism – Sabrina Arif – bioRxiv

Soft Drink Consumption and Depression Mediated by Gut Microbiome Alterations – Sharmili Edwin Thanarajah – JAMA Psychiatry

Oral microbiome

A high-quality genomic catalog of the human oral microbiome broadens its phylogeny and clinical insights – Jun Hyung Cha – Cell Host & Microbe

Urinary tract microbiome

Daily and Weekly Fluctuations in the Microbiome of the Urinary Tract of Postmenopausal Women with No History of Urinary Tract Infections – Jacob Hogins – bioRxiv

Animal experiments

Microbial succession at weaning is guided by microbial metabolism of host glycans – Jean-Bernard Lubin – Microbiome

Animal microbiome

Temporal establishment of the colon microbiota in Angus calves from birth to post-weaning – Michelle M. Stafford – PlosOne

Viruses and phages

Phage diversity mirrors bacterial strain diversity in the honey bee gut microbiota – Malick Ndiaye – Nature Communications

Plant, root and soil microbiome

Host species and geographic location shape microbial diversity and functional potential in the conifer needle microbiome – Robert M. Bowers – Microbiome

Soil bacterial, fungal, and protistan assembly processes across a 1300 km climate and land-use transect – Mingming Du – Catena

Drinking water microbiome

Microbial drinking water quality deterioration during distribution and household usage, determined together with citizen scientists – Paul W. J. J. van der Wielen – PlosOne

Bioinformatics

annoSnake: a Snakemake workflow for taxonomic and functional annotation of metagenomes and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) – Bastian Heimburger – bioRxiv

October 3, 2025

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Svetlana Ugarcina Perovic

See you at the MVIF 42!

Human gut microbiome

Micro-scale spatial metagenomics: revealing high-resolution spatial biogeography of gut microbiomes – Carlotta Pietroni – bioRxiv

Animal microbiome

Capturing global pet dog gut microbial diversity and hundreds of near-finished bacterial genomes by using long-read metagenomics in a Shanghai cohort – Anna Cuscó – bioRxiv

Genome-resolved metagenomics reveals microbiome diversity across 48 tick species – Li-Feng Du – Nature Microbiology

The selective culture and enrichment of major rumen bacteria on three distinct anaerobic culture media – Alice M. Buckner – Microbiology Spectrum

Animal experiments

The microbiota extends the reproductive lifespan by safeguarding the ovarian reserve – Sarah K. Munyoki – bioRxiv

Comment: From gut to gamete: how the microbiome influences fertility and preconception health – Sarah K. Munyoki – Microbiome

Review: Microbiome in heritage: how maternal microbiome transmission impacts next generation health – Clara Delaroque & Benoit Chassaing – Microbiome

Water microbiome

Metagenomics reveal allopatric speciation and higher connectivity among coastal vs. inland hypersaline lakes and solar salterns – Tomeu Viver – bioRxiv

Bioinformatics

microbetag: simplifying microbial network interpretation through annotation, enrichment tests, and metabolic complementarity analysis – Haris Zafeiropoulos – Genome Biology

A roadmap for equitable reuse of public microbiome data – Laura A. Hug – Nature Microbiology

Reference-guided assembly of metagenomes with MetaCompass – Tu Luan – Cell Reports Methods

September 23, 2025

Posted on September 23, 2025 by Nkiruka Efenji

General Microbiome

Specialty grand challenge: how can we use integrative approaches to understand microbial community dynamics? – Umer Zeeshan Ijaz- Frontiers in Systems Biology

Gut microbiome

Dietary fibre-adapted gut microbiome clears dietary fructose and reverses hepatic steatosis – Sunhee Jung – nature metabolism

Repopulation of the gut microbiota after a screening colonoscopy – Yezaz A Ghouri – PLOS One

Leveraging the Role of Microbiome in Endometriosis: Novel Non-Invasive Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches – Eleni Andria Kalopedis – Frontiers in Immunology

Vaginal microbiome

Vaginal Lactobacillus crispatus in early pregnancy associates with favorable gestational outcomes in a Japanese maternal-neonatal microbiome cohort – Noriaki Oguri – Nature Communications

Animal microbiome

Bacterial assemblages on eggs reflect nesting strategies in wetland-associated birds – Wouter F. D. van Dongen – PLOS One

Whole-Genome Sequencing Uncovers Chromosomal and Plasmid-Borne Multidrug Resistance and Virulence Genes in Poultry-Associated Escherichia coli from Nigeria – Chika Ejikeugwu – bioRxiv

Virome

Duck Slurry as a Matrix for Avian Influenza Virus Surveillance and Genetic Characterization in Domestic Flocks – Clément Castille – bioRxiv

Bioinformatics

Investigating microbial population structure and function in the chicken caeca and large intestine over time using metagenomics – Banaz Star-Shirko – BMC research notes

Bioinformatics-based stereochemical elucidation of MM 46115: an unusual antiviral spirotetronate that inhibits clathrin-mediated endocytosis – Afifah Tasnim – bioRxiv

September 5, 2025

Posted on September 4, 2025 by Svetlana Ugarcina Perovic

See you next week at #GloMiNe2025!

Gut microbiome

Gut fungi are associated with human genetic variation and disease risk – Emily P. Van Syoc – Plos Biology

The resident gut microbiome modulates the effect of synbiotics on the immunogenicity after SARS-COV-2 vaccination in elderly and diabetes patients – Lin Zhang – npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

Subspecies of the human gut microbiota carry implicit information for in-depth microbiome research – Matija Tričković – Cell Host & Microbe

Impact of early life antibiotic and probiotic treatment on gut microbiome and resistome of very-low-birth-weight preterm infants – Raymond Kiu – Nature Communications

A defined microbial community reproduces attributes of fine flavour chocolate fermentation – David Gopaulchan – Nature Microbiology

Gut microbiome alterations precede graft rejection in kidney transplantation patients – Johannes Holle – American Journal of Transplantation

Adolescent girls at familial risk for depression with more advanced adrenarche have altered gut microbiota – A. Kolobaric – bioRxiv

Effects of a combined energy restriction and vigorous-intensity exercise intervention on the human gut microbiome: A randomised controlled trial – Russell G. Davies – The Journal of Physiology

Resistome

Variation and prognostic potential of the gut antibiotic resistome in the FINRISK 2002 cohort – Katariina Pärnänen – Nature Communications

Oral microbiome

Complementary Predictors for Asthma Attack Prediction in Children: Salivary Microbiome, Serum Inflammatory Mediators, and Past Attack History – Shahriyar Shahbazi Khamas – Allergy

Profiles of oral microbiota and metabolites in periodontitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia patients: a pilot study – Cong Zhu – Microbiology Spectrum

SANA-Biome: A Protocol for a Cross-Sectional Study on Oral Health, Diet, and the Oral Microbiome in Romania – Sterling L. Wright – Healthcare

Animal microbiome

Metagenomics reveals fibre fermentation and AMR pathways in red grouse (Lagopus scotica) microbiota – Anum Ali Ahmad – BMC Microbiology

Establishment of the early gut microbiota in vaginally delivered infants: the influence of maternal gut microbiota outweighs vaginal microbiota – Haishan Xie – Microbiology Spectrum

Integrative multi-omics analysis of dietary fibre-induced modulations in the composition and function of chicken caecal microbiota – Anum Ali Ahmad – bioRxiv

Vaginal microbiome

Degradation of Resistant α-1,4-glucan by Vaginal Gardnerella Species is Associated with Bacterial Vaginosis – Rosanne Hertzberger – Current Microbiology

Animal experiments

The microbiome is associated with obesity-related metabolome signature in the process of aging – Dana Binyamin – npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

Evidence for an indigenous female mouse urobiome – Sidra Sohail – bioRxiv

Food microbiome

Microbiome profiling of Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses reveals cheese-specific biomarkers, psychobiotic potential, and bioprotective activities – Vincenzo Valentino – npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

Metabolomics

Microbes release lower-value metabolites at higher rates – Snorre Sulheim – bioRxiv

Soil microbiome

236 metagenome-assembled microbial genomes from rivers along a latitudinal gradient – Xiang Xiong – Scientific Data

Bioinformatics

StrainFacts accurately quantifies both endogenous and live biotherapeutic product strain abundances in simulated and clinical vaginal microbiota samples – Johnathan Shih – bioRxiv

Comparison of iSeq and Miseq in 16S rRNA sequencing-based human gut microbiome analysis – Yanling Wang – bioRxiv

Podcast

Biopolis – into the microbiome A young scientist is looking for answers in the human microbiome.

April 30, 2025

Posted on April 30, 2025 by Svetlana Ugarcina Perovic

See you next week at MVIF!

Skin microbiome

Large-scale skin metagenomics reveals extensive prevalence, coordination, and functional adaptation of skin microbiome dermotypes across body sites – Chengchen Li – bioRxiv

Oral microbiome

Toxic cultures: e-cigarettes and the oral microbial exposome – Michelle Lee-Scott Beverly – npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

Gut microbiome

The gut microbiota promotes pain in fibromyalgia – Weihua Cai – Neuron

Brief antibiotic use drives human gut bacteria towards low-cost resistance – Eitan Yaffe – Nature

Review: Implication of Gut Mycobiome and Virome in Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus: Uncovering the Hidden Players – Mona Kriti – Phenomics

Unravelling the causality between inflammatory bowel disease and polycystic ovary syndrome mediated by gut microbiota and blood metabolism: insights from two prospective cohort studies – Zhaoman Wan – Gut

Animal experiments

Enhanced propionate and butyrate metabolism in cecal microbiota contributes to cold-stress adaptation in sheep – Xindong Cheng – Microbiome

Animal microbiome

Social and environmental predictors of gut microbiome age in wild baboons – Mauna R Dasari – eLife

Effects of parental care on skin microbial community composition in poison frogs – Marie-Therese Fischer – eLife

Food microbiome

The effect of different milk pretreatment methods on microbiome community development during Herrgårds cheese production and ripening – Juan Antonio Rodríguez – bioRxiv

Bioinformatics

Assemblies of long-read metagenomes suffer from diverse errors – Florian Trigodet – bioRxiv

Enhanced semantic classification of microbiome sample origins using Large Language Models (LLMs) – Daniela Gaio – bioRxiv

April 22, 2025

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Feargal

General microbiome

[Editorial] A blueprint for contemporary studies of microbiomes – Bindels et al. Microbiome

[Perspective] Moving from genome-scale to community-scale metabolic models for the human gut microbiome – Quinn-Bohmann et al. Nature Microbiology

[Review] Clinical translation of microbiome research – Gilbert et al. Nature Medicine

Gut microbiome

Antibiotic-induced gut microbiome perturbation alters the immune responses to the rabies vaccine – Feng et al. Cell Host & Microbe

Animal models

Systems genetics uncovers associations among host amylase locus, gut microbiome, and metabolic traits in mice – Zhang et al. Microbiome

Initial gut microbiota composition is a determining factor in the promotion of colorectal cancer by oral iron supplementation: evidence from a murine model – Cuisiniere et al. Microbiome

Virome

The T-series bacteriophages are reductionist models that continue to shape the field – Barr. Nature Microbiology

Phollow reveals in situ phage transmission dynamics in the zebrafish gut microbiome at single-virion resolution – Ortiz de ora et al. Nature Microbiology

Bioinformatics

FGeneBERT: function-driven pre-trained gene language model for metagenomics – Duan et al. Briefings in Bioinformatics.

TaxSEA: rapid interpretation of microbiome alterations using taxon set enrichment analysis and public databases – Cong et al. Briefings in Bioinformatics.