May 23, 2015

Human vaginal microbiome

Vaginal Biofilm: Much Ado About Nothing, or a New Therapeutic Challenge? – Jack D. Sobel – Clinical Infectious Diseases

Human respiratory microbiome

Correlation between Either Cupriavidus or Porphyromonas and Primary Pulmonary Tuberculosis Found by Analysing the Microbiota in Patients’ Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid – Yuhua Zhou – PLOS ONE

Human gut microbiome

Temporal and technical variability of human gut metagenomes – Anita Y Voigt – Genome Biology

Gut metabolites and bacterial community networks during a pilot intervention study with flaxseeds in healthy adult men – Ilias Lagkouvardos – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

Fecal Microbiota in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Its Relation to Inflammation – Kaija-Leena Kolho – American Journal of Gastroenterology

The impact of ciprofloxacin and clindamycin administration on Gram-negative bacteria isolated from healthy volunteers and characterizing the resistance genes they harbour – Roderick M. Card – Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

Review: The Role of the Microbiome in Mental Health: A Psychoneuroimmunologic Perspective – Kelly Brogan – Alternative and Complementary Therapies

Review: Dysbiosis and Immune Dysregulation in Outer Space – Jorge L. Cervantes – International Reviews of Immunology

Models of microbiome research

Effects of two whole-grain barley varieties on caecal SCFA, gut microbiota and plasma inflammatory markers in rats consuming low- and high-fat diets – Yadong Zhong – British Journal of Nutrition

Animal microbiome

Dogs: Characterization of Microbial Dysbiosis and Metabolomic Changes in Dogs with Acute Diarrhea – BC Guard – PLOS ONE

Coral: Productivity links morphology, symbiont specificity and bleaching in the evolution of Caribbean octocoral symbioses – David M Baker – ISME Journal

Plant and soil microbiome

Quantitative assessment of the differential impacts of arbuscular and ectomycorrhiza on soil carbon cycling – Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia – New Phytologist

Soil pH and biome are both key determinants of soil archaeal community structure –
Binu M. Tripathi – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Solarization makes a great impact on the abundance and composition of microbial communities in soil – Kazunori Yokoe – Soil Science and Plant Nutrition

The relationship between successional vascular plant assemblages and associated microbial communities on coal mine spoil heaps – G. Woźniak – Community Ecology

Long-term soil transplant simulating climate change with latitude significantly alters microbial temporal turnover – Yuting Liang – ISME Journal

Differential acquisition of amino acid and peptide enantiomers within microbial community groups and its implications for carbon and nitrogen cycling in soil – R.C.I. Broughton – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Molecular mechanisms underlying the close association between soil Burkholderia and fungi – Nejc Stopnisek – ISME Journal

Water microbiome

Editorial: Computational eco‐systems biology in Tara Oceans: translating data into knowledge – Shinichi Sunagawa – Molecular Systems Biology

Editorial: The making of Tara Oceans: funding blue skies research for our Blue Planet – Eric Karsenti – Molecular Systems Biology

Cross-depth analysis of marine bacterial networks suggests downward propagation of temporal changes – Jacob A Cram – ISME Journal

Air microbiome

Characterization of active and total fungal communities in the atmosphere over the Amazon rainforest – A. M. Womack – Biogeosciences Discuss

Bioreactor microbiology

Palygorskite changes heavy metal bioavailability and microbial functional diversity in sewage sludge composting – Siying Liu – Environmental Technology

Evaluation of System Performance and Microbial Communities of a Bioaugmented Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor Treating Pharmaceutical Wastewater – Kok Kwang Ng – Water Research

Bioinformatics and Metagenomics

Read Mapping on de Bruijn graph – Antoine Limasset and Pierre Peterlongo – arXiv

NetCooperate: a network-based tool for inferring host-microbe and microbe-microbe cooperation – Roie Levy – BMC Bioinformatics

Consortium of the ‘bichlorophyllous’ cyanobacterium Prochlorothrix hollandica and chemoheterotrophic partner bacteria: culture and metagenome based description – Natalia Velichko – Environmental Microbiology Reports

A new approach for detecting fungal and oomycete plant pathogens in next generation sequencing metagenome data utilising electronic probes – Andres Espindola – International Journal of Data Mining and Bioinformatics

Stability of operational taxonomic units: an important but neglected property for analyzing microbial diversity – Yan He – Microbiome

Strong spurious transcription likely contributes to DNA insert bias in typical metagenomic clone libraries – Kathy N Lam – Microbiome

Metabolomics

Using community metabolomics as a new approach to discriminate marine microbial particulate organic matter in the western English Channel – Carole A. Llewellyn – Progress in Oceanography

Metabolic potential of fatty acid oxidation and anaerobic respiration by abundant members of Thaumarchaeota and Thermoplasmata in deep anoxic peat – Xueju Lin – ISME Journal

Phages, viruses, CRISPRs

Computational Detection of CRISPR/crRNA Targets – Ambarish Biswas – CRISPR Methods in Molecular Biology

Creation and Analysis of a Virome: Using CRISPR Spacers – Michelle Davison – CRISPR Methods in Molecular Biology

More microbes

Not open access, alas. van Leeuwenhoek microscopes—where are they now? – Lesley A. Robertson – FEMS Microbiology Letters

Microbes in the news

Headline from 2030: Is your space commute making you sick? Microbiomes undergo weird changes in space – Alexandra Ossola – Popular Science

Leaf bacteria fertilize trees, researchers claim – Elizabeth Pennisi – Science

The bugs within us – Hordes of bacteria live inside animals, affecting their health, food choices and mating – Roberta Kwok – Student Science

Report from the 1st Annual Translational Microbiome Conference: Moving from lab to clinic: Microbiome on the move – Taconic Insights

Recent Built Environment Microbiology papers – Elisabeth Bik – MicroBE.net

[hr]

May 20, 2015

Human wound microbiome

Biochemical Association of Metabolic Profile and Microbiome in Chronic Pressure Ulcer Wounds – Mary Cloud B. Ammons – PLOS ONE

Human gut microbiome

Development and Validation of a Biomarker for Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Human Subjects – Mark Pimentel – PLOS ONE

Editorial: Microbiota key to diet-associated risk of colon cancer – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Microbiome models

Antibiotics in Early Life Alter the Gut Microbiome and Increase Disease Incidence in a Spontaneous Mouse Model of Autoimmune Insulin-Dependent Diabetes – Sophie Candon – PLOS ONE

Changes in Gut Microbiota in Rats Fed a High Fat Diet Correlate with Obesity-Associated Metabolic Parameters – Virginie Lecomte – PLOS ONE

Gut Microbiota Dynamics during Dietary Shift in Eastern African Cichlid Fishes – Laura Baldo – PLOS ONE

Metaproteomics reveals major microbial players and their biodegradation functions in a large-scale aerobic composting plant – Dongming Liu – Microbial Biotechnology

Animal microbiome

The Fecal Microbiome in Cats with Diarrhea – Jan S. Suchodolski – PLOS ONE

Plant and soil microbiome

Effect of crop management and sample year on abundance of soil bacterial communities in organic and conventional cropping systems – C.H. Orr – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Water microbiome

Characterization of the relative importance of human- and infrastructure-associated bacteria in grey water: a case study – S.P. Keely – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Techniques

PCR-Based Multiple Species Cell Counting for In Vitro Mixed Culture – Ruijie Huang – PLOS ONE

Bioinformatics

FuncTree: Functional Analysis and Visualization for Large-Scale Omics Data – Takeru Uchiyama – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the news

Manipulating the Microbiome Produces Hope, but Uneven Results – Monica J. Smith – Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News

In America, is our food, in fact, too clean? – Kate Murphy – Herald Tribune

Study reveals intestinal bacteria succession during recovery from cholera in Bangladesh – Eureka Alert

Targeting Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria with CRISPR and Phages – Anna Azvolinsky – The Scientist

Marine Bacteria Can Control Chemistry of Sea Spray Ejected into Atmosphere – SciNews

[hr]

May 19, 2015

Two papers today on the microbiome of the Giant Panda – it’s not good at digesting bamboo!

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

Bacterial community structure associated with elective cesarean section versus vaginal delivery in Chinese newborns – Liu D, et al. – J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr

The microbiota at multiple body sites during pregnancy in a rural Tanzanian population and the effects of Moringa supplemented probiotic yogurt – Jordan E. Bisanz – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Review: Gut microbiome and immunity: possible role in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) – Paul N. Goldwater – Frontiers in Immunology

Human oral microbiome

Microbiome Profiles in Periodontitis in Relation to Host and Disease Characteristics
Bo-Young Hong – PLOS ONE

Review: The human saliva proteome: overview and emerging methods for characterization
Timothy J. Griffin – SPIE Proceedings

Human gut microbiome

Deviations in human gut microbiota: a novel diagnostic test for determining dysbiosis in patients with IBS or IBD – C. Casén – Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Schisandra chinensis fruit modulates the gut microbiota composition in association with metabolic markers in obese women : a randomized, double-blind placebo controlled study – Mi-young Song – Nutrition Research

Gut Microbial Succession Follows Acute Secretory Diarrhea in Humans – Lawrence A. David – mBio

Food Fight: Our gut microbes are no fans of junk food – Laura Beil – Science News

Human vaginal microbiome

Review: Antimicrobial and immune modulatory effects of lactic acid and short chain fatty acids produced by vaginal microbiota associated with eubiosis and bacterial vaginosis – Muriel Aldunate – Frontiers in Physiology

Microbiome models

Composition and function of the undernourished neonatal mouse intestinal microbiome – Geoffrey A. Preidis – The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry

Maternal microbiota regulate glucocorticoids levels and placental development in mice – Maha Al-Asmakh – Endocrine Abstracts

Different Dynamic Patterns of β-Lactams, Quinolones, Glycopeptides and Macrolides on Mouse Gut Microbial Diversity – Jia Yin – PLOS ONE

Relationships Between Diet-Related Changes in the Gut Microbiome and Cognitive Flexibility – K.R. Magnusson – Neuroscience

Physiological variability in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath and released from faeces due to nutrition- and somatic growth in a standardized caprine animal model – Sina Fischer – Journal of Breath Research

Animal microbiome

The Bamboo-Eating Giant Panda Harbors a Carnivore-Like Gut Microbiota, with Excessive Seasonal Variations – Zhengsheng Xue – mBio

The evolution of the gut microbiota in the giant and the red pandas – Ying Li – Scientific Reports

Patterns of Gut Bacterial Colonization in Three Primate Species – Erin A. McKenney – PLOS ONE

Skin bacteria provide early protection for newly metamorphosed southern leopard frogs (Rana sphenocephala) against the frog-killing fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis
Whitney M. Holden – Biological Conservation

Plant and Soil microbiome

Bacterial and Fungal Communities in a Degraded Ombrotrophic Peatland Undergoing Natural and Managed Re-Vegetation – David R. Elliott – PLOS ONE

Response of soil, leaf endosphere and phyllosphere bacterial communities to elevated CO2 and soil temperature in a rice paddy – Gaidi Ren – Plant and Soil

Patterns in Species Persistence and Biomass Production in Soil Microcosms Recovering from a Disturbance Reject a Neutral Hypothesis for Bacterial Community Assembly
Fen-Guo Zhang – PLOS ONE

Time-dependent effect of graphene on the structure, abundance and function of the soil bacterial community – Wenjie Ren – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Patterns in Wetland Microbial Community Composition and Functional Gene Repertoire Associated with Methane Emissions – Shaomei He – mBio

Nano titania aided clustering and adhesion of beneficial bacteria to plant roots to enhance crop growth and stress management – G. M. Palmqvist – Scientific Reports

Review: Future challenges and perspectives for applying microbial biotechnology in sustainable agriculture based on a better understanding of plant-microbiome interactions – J. M. Barea – Journal of soil science and plant nutrition

Water microbiome

The influence of land-use, nutrients, and geography on microbial communities and fecal indicator abundance at Lake Michigan beaches – Danielle D. Cloutier – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Microbial responses to changes in flow status in temporary headwater streams: a cross-system comparison – Catherine M. Febria – Frontiers in Microbiology

Built environment microbiome

Distribution and population structure characteristics of microorganisms in urban sewage system – Yanchen Liu – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Extremophile microbiome

Microbial Community in High Arsenic Shallow Groundwater Aquifers in Hetao Basin of Inner Mongolia, China – Ping Li – PLOS ONE

Microbial diversity in engineered haloalkaline environments shaped by shared geochemical drivers observed in natural analogues – Talitha C. Santini – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Metagenomic characterization of biodiversity in the extremely arid desert soils of Kazakhstan – O. V. Kutovaya – Eurasian Soil Science

Archaeal Communities in a Heterogeneous Hypersaline-Alkaline Soil – Yendi E. Navarro-Noya – Archaea

Food microbiology

An Integrated Metagenomics/Metaproteomics Investigation of the Microbial Communities and Enzymes in Solid-state Fermentation of Pu-erh tea – Ming Zhao – Scientific Reports

Review: Foodomics in microbiological investigations – Yong-Jiang Xu – Current Opinion in Food Science

Metagenomics and Bioinformatics

Review: Metagenomics: Tools and Insights for Analyzing Next-Generation Sequencing Data Derived from Biodiversity Studies – Anastasis Oulas – Bioinformatics and Biology Insights

Toward accurate molecular identification of species in complex environmental samples: testing the performance of sequence filtering and clustering methods – Jullien M. Flynn – Ecology and Evolution

Divergence thresholds and divergent biodiversity estimates: can metabarcoding reliably describe zooplankton communities? – Emily A. Brown – Ecology and Evolution

Sharing is caring – Claudio Nunes-Alves – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Kitty Kickstarter: See the Microbes That Live in Your Cat – Becky Oskin – Live Science

Eden unveils The Human Microbiome this week – West Briton

Bodyguards for precious seeds—without chemical mace – Phys.org

Panda poop reveals they’re bad at digesting bamboo – Laura Geggel – CBS News

Giant Panda Microbiome Ill-Suited for Bamboo Diet, Study Finds – Genome Web

[hr]

May 16, 2015

Posting might be irregular in the coming days because of international travel, but I will try to keep you all updated as best as I can.

Human oral microbiome

Increased infection with key periodontal pathogens during gestational diabetes mellitus – Himabindu Gogeneni – Journal of Clinical Periodontology

Human respiratory microbiome

Airway microbiota and acute respiratory infection in children – Kohei Hasegawa – Expert Review of Clinical Immunology

Human gut microbiome

Microbiota—implications for immunity and transplantation – Jonathan S. Bromberg – Nature Reviews Nephrology

Poster: Association of classical microbiology and 16S rDNA metagenetic Aanalysis to evaluate the presence of Clostridium difficile ina a belgian nursing home (sic) – Rodriguez Diaz, Cristina – 5th International Human Microbiome Congres

Review: Probiotics, antibiotics and the immune responses to vaccines – Ira Praharaj – Philosophical Transactions B

Microbiome models

Exposure to soil, house dust, and decaying plants increases gut microbial diversity and decreases serum IgE levels in BALB/c mice – Dongrui Zhou – Environmental Microbiology

Water microbiome

Metagenomics reveals the high PAH-degradation potential of abundant uncultured bacteria from chronically-polluted subantarctic and temperate coastal marine environments – Claudia L. Loviso – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Plant root and soil microbiome

Early rhizosphere microbiome composition is related to the growth and Zn uptake of willows introduced to a former landfill – Terrence H. Bell – Environmental Microbiology

Not all are free-living: high-throughput DNA metabarcoding reveals a diverse community of protists parasitizing soil metazoa – S. Geisen – Molecular Ecology

Soil microbial communities vary as much over time as with chronic warming and nitrogen additions – Alexandra R. Contosta – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Soil ecotoxicity assessment of glyphosate use under field conditions: microbial activity and community structure of Eubacteria and ammonia oxidizing bacteria – María C. Zabaloy – Pest Management Science

Changes in soil aggregation and microbial community structure control carbon sequestration after afforestation of semiarid shrublands – N. Garcia-Francoa – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Air microbiome

Challenges and Opportunities of Airborne Metagenomics – Hayedeh Behzad – Genome Biology and Evolution

Food microbiology

Bacteriophages isolated from chicken meat and the horizontal transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes– Amira Shousha – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Techniques

A simple method of normalization of DNA extraction for improving the quantitative detection of soil-borne plant pathogenic oomycetes by real-time PCR – M. Li – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Microbes in the news

The kittybiome Project – background and some plans – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

Science, publishing, and career

Why Medicine is Plagued with Fake Research – Chloe Della Costa – Business Cheat Sheet

Physics Paper on the Higgs Boson Has Record 5,154 Authors – Softpedia (link to actual pdf)

Bik’s Picks

Giant Squid Lore and Legends Date Back Centuries – Benjamin Radford – Discovery

Cocaine Use Could be Determined by a Fingerprint, New Study – Silvia Fernandez – Pierce Pioneer

New map shows most distinct causes of death by state – Marilyn Malara – UPI

[hr]

May 15, 2015

Human skin microbiome

Pilot Study on Novel Skin Care Method by Augmentation with Staphylococcus epidermidis, an Autologous Skin Microbe – A Blinded Randomized Clinical Trial – Yuichi Nodake – Journal of Dermatological Science

Human gut microbiome

Metagenome Sequencing of the Hadza Hunter-Gatherer Gut Microbiota – Simone Rampelli – Current Biology

Deviations in human gut microbiota: a novel diagnostic test for determining dysbiosis in patients with IBS or IBD – C. Casén – Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Intestinal Blautia is associated with reduced death from graft-versus-host disease – Robert R. Jenq – Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Pubmed link onlyThe coeliac stomach: gastritis in patients with coeliac disease – B. Lebwohl – Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics

DGGE: Schisandra chinensis fruit modulates the gut microbiota composition in association with metabolic markers in obese women : a randomized, double-blind placebo controlled study – Mi-young Song – Nutrition Research

Review: Gut microbes, immunity, and spondyloarthritis – Matthew L. Stoll – Clinical Immunology

Microbiome models

Relationships Between Diet-Related Changes in the Gut Microbiome And Cognitive Flexibility – K.R. Magnusson – Neuroscience

Animal microbiome

Aphids: Genetic characterisation of new host-specialised biotypes and novel associations with bacterial symbionts in the pea aphid complex – Jean Peccoud – Insect Conservation and Diversity

Review: The Multi-Tasking Gut Epithelium of Insects – Jia-Hsin Huang – Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Plant and soil microbiome

On small soil beetles: Phylogenetic community ecology of soil biodiversity using mitochondrial metagenomics – Carmelo Andújar – Molecular Ecology

Changes in soil nutrient content and bacterial community after 12 years of organic amendment application to a vineyard – M. E. Calleja-Cervantes – European Journal of Soil Science

Built Environment microbiology

Self-healing bio-concrete uses bacteria to repair itself – Anthony Cuthbertson – International Business Times

Bioreactor microbiology

Rare taxa have potential to make metabolic contributions in enhanced biological phosphorus removal ecosystems – Christopher E. Lawson – Environmental Microbiology

Bioinformatics

Toward accurate molecular identification of species in complex environmental samples: testing the performance of sequence filtering and clustering methods – Jullien M. Flynn -Ecology and Evolution

More microbiology

Editorial: Sifting out virulent bacteria – Naomi Attar – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Review: Dust Devil: The Life and Times of the Fungus That Causes Valley Fever – Eric R. G. Lewis – PLOS Pathogens

Microbes in the news

Decode your kitty’s microbiome – participate in some Cat-izen science – Alexandra Ossola –
Popular science

BacteriaHysteria

Faecal matter on plane tray tables, unwashed blankets… and 80 million bacteria on suitcases: The dirty secrets of air travel revealed – John Hutchinson – Daily Mail

Science, publishing, and career

“Reframing my track record undoubtedly helped. Here’s how I did it.” Accounting for career breaks – Emily Nicholson – Science

Bik’s Picks

Denver Zoo Penguins Go ‘Extinct’ For Endangered Species Day – CBS Denver

A Simple Hand-Grip Test Could Predict Your Risk For Heart Disease And Death – Anna Almendrala – Huffington Post

An astronaut’s surprisingly helpful guide to pooping in space – Elahe Izadi – Washington Post

[hr]

May 14, 2015

General microbiome

Yesterday’s Cell Host & Microbe issue contains a special on “The Host-Microbiota Balance”. Lots of great papers and editorials here! Several papers are listed below in their respective categories, or I already included them in previous posts.

Microbiota and Host Nutrition across Plant and Animal Kingdoms – Stéphane Hacquard – Cell Host & Microbe

Microbiota and Autoimmunity: Exploring New Avenues – Leonid A. Yurkovetskiy – Cell Host & Microbe

Pregnancy and birth

Dynamics and Stabilization of the Human Gut Microbiome during the First Year of Life – Fredrik Bäckhed – Cell Host & Microbe – with editorial: Birth of the Infant Gut Microbiome: Moms Deliver Twice! – Steven A. Frese, David A. Mills – Cell Host & Microbe

Restricted access: Bacterial communities in neonatal feces are similar to mothers’ placentae – Xu-Dong Dong – Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases & Medical Microbiology

Review: Antibiotics, Pediatric Dysbiosis, and Disease – Pajau Vangay – Cell Host & Microbe

Human oral microbiome

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Periodontal Pathogens in the Oral Cavity and Lungs of Cystic Fibrosis Patients: a Case-Control Study – Rocio Rivas Caldas – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Review: An Integrative View of Microbiome-Host Interactions in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases – Marta Wlodarska – Cell Host & Microbe

Review: Control of Brain Development, Function, and Behavior by the Microbiome – Timothy R. Sampson, Sarkis K. Mazmanian – Cell Host & Microbe

Review: Microbiota in Allergy and Asthma and the Emerging Relationship with the Gut Microbiome – Kei E. Fujimura – Cell Host & Microbe

EditorialPrevention: Tending the gut. Drugs, lifestyle changes and other measures might lower the risk of colorectal cancer — but the evidence is a long time coming. – Lauren Gravitz – Nature

Editorial: Microbiome: Microbial mystery. Gut bacteria have an important but elusive role in the formation of colorectal cancer. – Sarah DeWeerdt – Nature

Animal models

Editorial: Message in a Biota: Gut Microbes Signal to the Circadian Clock – Emily V. Marcinkevicius, Mimi M. Shirasu-Hiza – Cell Host & Microbe

Animal microbiome

Coprophilic dipteran community associated with horse dung in Malaysia – C.C. Heo – Halteres

Water microbiome

Bacteria in the injection water differently impacts the bacterial communities of production wells in high-temperature petroleum reservoirs – Hongyan Ren – Frontiers in Microbiology

Assessment of nitrogen and sulphur cycle bacteria and shrimp production in ponds treated with biological products – Thangapalam Jawahar Abraham – Journal of Coastal Life Medicine

 

More microbiology

Rapid Quantification of Mutant Fitness in Diverse Bacteria by Sequencing Randomly Bar-Coded Transposons – Kelly M. Wetmore – mBio

Microbes in the news

Maturation of the Infant Microbiome – Kerry Grens – The Scientist
Infant antibiotic use linked to adult diseases – Science Daily

Bacteria on shoes could help forensic teams catch suspects – Stefano Vanin – The Conversation
Forensic scientists could use bacteria to catch criminals – Brooks Hays – UPI

The microbiome and the midnight snack: How gut microbes influence the body’s clock – Matt Wood – ScienceLife

Bacteria the Newest Tool in Detecting Environmental Damage – University of Tennessee

Bacteria May Be Remaking Drugs in Sewage: Microbes that clean our water may also be piecing some pharmaceuticals back together – Brian Bienkowski – Scientific American

If Microbes Could Tweet… Small Things Considered – Daniel P. Haeusser

Microbiology: Fungus against the wall. Paul O’Maille – Nature

Science, publishing, and career

“It’s invigorating to be around that student energy the first time they learn about science,” Adjunct teaching: For love of the lecture – Kendall Powell – Nature

This scientific paper has 2,863 authors. How? – Danielle Wiener-Bronner – Fusion

Bik’s Picks

MIT And UC Berkeley Duking It Out Over CRISPR – Cas 9 – Clayton Browne – Value Walk

Survey: Almost half of all bee hives in the U.S. died in the past year – Mashable

Scientists have discovered the first fully warm-blooded fish – Chelsea Harvey – Washington Post
[hr]

May 13, 2015

General human microbiome

Commentary: Our unique microbial identity – Jack A Gilbert – Genome Biology

Human oral microbiome

Oral Microbiota Shift after 12-Week Supplementation with Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 and PTA 5289; A Randomized Control Trial – Nelly Romani Vestman – PLOS ONE

L-Arginine Destabilizes Oral Multi-Species Biofilm Communities Developed in Human Saliva – Ethan Kolderman – PLOS ONE

Human gut microbiome

Ecological and evolutionary adaptations shape the gut microbiome of BaAka African rainforest hunter-gatherers – Andres Gomez – BioRxiv

Gut Microbial Dysbiosis May Predict Diarrhea and Fatigue in Patients Undergoing Pelvic Cancer Radiotherapy: A Pilot Study – Aiping Wang – PLOS ONE

Animal models

Ability of the gut microbiota to produce PUFA-derived bacterial metabolites: Proof of concept in germ-free versus conventionalized mice – Céline Druart – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

Response of the Rumen Microbiota of Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) Fed Different Concentrations of Tannin Rich Plants – Zhipeng Li – PLOS ONE

Plant root and soil microbiome

Influence of Edaphic, Climatic, and Agronomic Factors on the Composition and Abundance of Nitrifying Microorganisms in the Rhizosphere of Commercial Olive Crops – Joan Caliz – PLOS ONE

CRISPRs

CRISPR Diversity in E. coli Isolates from Australian Animals, Humans and Environmental Waters – Maxim S. Sheludchenko – PLOS ONE

Metabolomics, proteomics

Catching the tip of the iceberg – Evaluation of sample preparation protocols for metaproteomic studies of the rumen microbiota – Simon Deusch and Jana Seifert – Proteomics

Other microbial science

Treating cancer with infection: A review on bacterial cancer therapy – Shirley Wong and Roderick A. Slavcev – Letters in Applied Microbiology

The spatial profiles and metabolic capabilities of microbial populations impact the growth of antibiotic-resistant mutants – Karishma S. Kaushik – Interface

Microbes in the news

Microbiome Fingerprints: Researchers identify people by the unique combinations of microbes found in and on their bodies – Kate Yandell – The Scientist

Gut bacteria help turn animals into fossils – David Shultz – Science Magazine

Microbiome, Immune Therapies, Biologics Showcased at DDW – Caroline Helwick – Medscape

Scientists at work: studying indoor microbial ecology means sampling in public restrooms – Erica Hartmann – The Conversation

The Link Between Obesity, the Microbiome, and Neurologic Function – Alan R. Jacobs – Medscape

Akron Man Found Pooping on Cars Revealed as Subject of Beard Study (fake, and will only flash for 10? sec, but fun)

Bik’s Picks

Over 40% of Honeybee Colonies Died in Year, USDA Says – Tennille Tracy – Wall Street Journal

Chicken Embryos With Dinosaur Snouts Created in Lab – Charles Q. Choi – Live Science

Bill Nye Wants Your Help to Build His ‘Revolutionary’ Solar Spacecraft – Nolan Feeney – Time
[hr]

May 12, 2015

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

Metagenomic Analysis of Milk of Healthy and Mastitis-Suffering Women – Esther Jiménez – Journal of Human Lactation

Human oral microbiome

AbstractChanges In The Oral Microbiome Of HIV-Infected Individuals May Alter Nitrogen Metabolism And The Enterosalivary Circulation Of Nitrate – Carl D. Koch – Am J Respir Crit Care Med

Human respiratory microbiome

Conference abstracts in Am J Respir Crit Care Med:

Human gut microbiome

Metabolism Links Bacterial Biofilms and Colon Carcinogenesis – Caroline H. Johnson – Cell Metabolism

Review: The gut microbiome: What do we know? – Francisco Guarner – Clinical Liver Disease

Review: A model for the role of gut bacteria in the development of autoimmunity for type 1 diabetes – Austin G. Davis-Richardson – Diabetologia

Functional foods

Review: A breakthrough in probiotics: Clostridium butyricum regulates gut homeostasis and anti-inflammatory response in inflammatory bowel disease – Takanori Kanai – Journal of Gastroenterology

Animal models of microbiome research

Phylum Level Change in the Cecal and Fecal Gut Communities of Rats Fed Diets Containing Different Fermentable Substrates Supports a Role for Nitrogen as a Factor Contributing to Community Structure – Martin Kalmokoff – Nutrients

Animal microbiome

Variation in koala microbiomes within and between individuals: effect of body region and captivity status – Niccoló Alfano – Scientific Reports

Plants and soil microbiome

Minimal genomes of mycoplasma-related endobacteria are plastic and contain host-derived genes for sustained life within Glomeromycota – Mizue Naito – PNAS

Transcriptome diversity among rice root types during asymbiosis and interaction with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi – Caroline Gutjahr – PNAS
Reintroduction of locally extinct vertebrates impacts arid soil fungal communities
Laurence J. Clarke – Molecular Ecology

Compartmentalized and contrasted response of ectomycorrhizal and soil fungal communities of Scots pine forests along elevation gradients in France and Spain
Ana Rincón – Environmental Microbiology

Impact of tropical lowland rainforest conversion into rubber and oil palm plantations on soil microbial communities – Valentyna Krashevska – Biology and Fertility of Soils

Masters Thesis: The establishment of apple orchards as temperate forest garden systems and their impact on indigenous bacterial and fungal population abundance in Southern Ontario, Canada – Paul Wartman – University of Guelph, Canada

Review: Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and sustainable agriculture: A review
Muhammad Arslan Ashraf – African Journal of Microbiology Research

Water microbiome

Organic and inorganic composition and microbiology of produced waters from Pennsylvania shale gas wells – Denise M. Akob – Applied Geochemistry

Perspective: Using dispersants after oil spills: impacts on the composition and activity of microbial communities – Sara Kleindienst – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Not sure if these are small enough (20-500 um) to be classified as microbes: Metagenetic tools for the census of marine meiofaunal biodiversity: An overview – Laura Carugati – Marine Genomics

Extremophile microbiome

Arsenic rich Himalayan hot spring metagenomics reveal genetically novel predator-prey genotypes – Naseer Sangwan – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Comparison of Archaeal and Bacterial Diversity in Methane Seep Carbonate Nodules and Host Sediments, Eel River Basin and Hydrate Ridge, USA – Olivia U. Mason – Microbial Ecology

Deep-sea hydrothermal vent bacteria related to human pathogenic Vibrio species – Nur A. Hasan – PNAS

Microbial communities of the Lemon Creek Glacier show subtle structural variation yet stable phylogenetic composition over space and time – Cody S. Sheik – Frontiers in Microbiology

Built environment microbiome

Forensic analysis of the microbiome of phones and shoes – Simon Lax – Microbiome

The Actinobacterial Colonization of Etruscan Paintings – Marta Diaz-Herraiz – Scientific Reports

Food microbiology

Molecular Analysis of Skin Bacterial Assemblages from Codfish and Pollock after Dry-Salted Fish Production – Natalia Pegoraro

Viruses and phages

Infection of phytoplankton by aerosolized marine viruses – Shlomit Sharoni – PNAS

Archaea

The two-domain tree of life is linked to a new root for the Archaea – Kasie Raymann – PNAS

Review: Archaeal Lineages within the Human Microbiome: Absent, Rare or Elusive?
Hans-Peter Horz – Life

Review: The interplay between nucleoid organization and transcription in archaeal genomes – Eveline Peeters – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Tax4Fun: predicting functional profiles from metagenomic 16S rRNA data – Kathrin P. Aßhauer – Bioinformatics

ProtPhylo: identification of protein–phenotype and protein–protein functional associations via phylogenetic profiling – Yiming Cheng – Nucleic Acids Research

IonGAP: integrative bacterial genome analysis for Ion Torrent sequence data – Adrian Baez-Ortega – Bioinformatics

Natural Bacterial Communities Serve as Quantitative Geochemical Biosensors – Mark B. Smith – mBio

Manuscript: Deeply sequenced metagenome and metatranscriptome of a biogas-producing microbial community from an agricultural production-scale biogas plant – Andreas Bremges

Review: The integration of sequencing and bioinformatics in metagenomics – Firouz Abbasian – Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology

Book Chapter: Protocols and Methods for the in Silico Reconstruction of the Origin and Evolution of Metabolic Pathways – Luana Presta – Briefs in Molecular Science 2015

Book Chapter: Molecular Screening of Azurin-Like Anticancer Bacteriocins from Human Gut Microflora Using Bioinformatics – Van Duy Nguyen – Advanced Computational Methods for Knowledge Engineering

Other microbial papers of interest

Bacterial Swarms Recruit Cargo Bacteria To Pave the Way in Toxic Environments – Alin Finkelshtein – mBio

Mosaic genome of endobacteria in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: Transkingdom gene transfer in an ancient mycoplasma-fungus association – Gloria Torres-Cortés – PNAS

Perspective: Resilience vs. historical contingency in microbial responses to environmental change – Christine V. Hawkes – Ecology Letters

A tortoise–hare pattern seen in adapting structured and unstructured populations suggests a rugged fitness landscape in bacteria – Joshua R. Nahum – PNAS

Microbes in the news
Can The Microbes You Leave Behind Be Used to Identify You? – Ed Yong – National Geographic

Forbidden Data: Wyoming wants to conceal the fact that many of its streams are contaminated by E. coli bacteria – Slate

UGSG looks at microbiology, chemistry of Pa. fracked wells – Bob Downing – Ohio.com

Chinese breast milk discovery strengthens case for probiotics in infant formula: Chr Hansen – By Mark Astley – Dairy Reporter

Researchers find metabolic link between bacterial ‘biofilms’, colon cancer – Medical Xpress

Accessing the Hidden Kingdom: Fungal ITS Reference Sequences – NCBI Insights
#BacteriaHysteria

Germ City: Bacteria thriving at the makeup counter: 30% of used makeup samples in stores contain bacteria – PIX11

Tests found bacteria on popular single-serve coffeemakers – Your Central Valley

Bik’s Picks

De novo synthesis of a sunscreen compound in vertebrates – Andrew R Osborn – eLIFE

Chemical messages in 170-year-old champagne bottles from the Baltic Sea: Revealing tastes from the past – Philippe Jeandet – PNAS

Unraveling ancient Egypt’s animal mummy mystery: Roughly a third of the animal mummies examined were completely empty – Michael E. Miller – Washington Post

[hr]

May 8, 2015

Human oral microbiome

Published in Gut but also oral: Human buccal epithelium acquires microbial hyporesponsiveness at birth, a role for secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor – Celia L Menckeberg – Gut

 

Human gut microbiome

Cholesterol gallstones and bile host diverse bacterial communities with potential to promote the formation of gallstones – Yuhong Peng – Microbial Pathogenesis

Development of an enhanced human gastrointestinal epithelial culture system to facilitate patient-based assays – Kelli L VanDussen – Gut

Gut microbiome and innate immune response patterns in IgE-associated eczema – Christina E West – Clinical & Experimental Allergy

Review: The gut microbiome in autoimmunity: Sex matters – Andres Gomez – Clinical Immunology

Review: Chemical communication in the gut: Effects of microbiota-generated metabolites on gastrointestinal bacterial pathogens – Stefanie L. Vogt – Anaerobe

Special issue of Clinical Liver Disease about “Liver and the Microbiome”. Reviews include:

Human genital microbiome

The vaginal and gastrointestinal microbiomes in gynecologic cancers: A review of applications in etiology, symptoms and treatment – Dana Chase – Gynecologic Oncology

Animal models of microbiome

Effects of dietary inulin on bacterial growth, short-chain fatty acid production and hepatic lipid metabolism in gnotobiotic mice – Karolin Weitkunat – The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry

Plant root and soil microbiome

Covariation of soil bacteria functional diversity and vegetation diversity along an altitudinal climatic gradient in the Western Carpathians – Beata Klimek – Pedobiologia

Changes in fungal communities along a boreal forest soil fertility gradient – Erica Sterkenburg – New Phytologist

Water microbiome

Editorial without citation to the original Nature paper: Deep-ocean microbe is closest living relative of complex cells – Mitch Leslie – Science

Parasites

Not all parasites are protective – Derek M. McKay – Parasite Immunology

Helminths and the microbiota: parts of the hygiene hypothesis – P. Loke – Parasite Immunology

Bioinformatics

Testing in Microbiome-Profiling Studies with MiRKAT, the Microbiome Regression-Based Kernel Association Test – Ni Zhao – AJHG

Sparse and Compositionally Robust Inference of Microbial Ecological Networks – Zachary D. Kurtz – PLOS Computational Biology

Demystifying computer science for molecular ecologists – Mahdi Belcaid and Robert J. Toonen

Techniques

TM7 detection in human microbiome: Are PCR primers and FISH probes specific enough? – Maria V. Sizova – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Microbes in the news

Man’s Best Germs: Does Your Dog Influence Your Health? – Heather Buschman – UC San Diego

Video: Can Poop Cure an Infection? – Anna Rothschild – Gross science

Science, publishing, and career

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to a Neuroscience Career – Marian Joels – Neuron

Recommendation letters: Give women an even chance – Marcia McNutt – Science

Bik’s Picks
Spiders Sprayed with Graphene Spin Super-Strong Silk – Renee Morad – Discovery

Mmm, I always have mixed feelings about papers using these types of animal models. “We made this mouse blind. And then we cured it!” Light in sight: A step towards a potential therapy for acquired blindness – Science Daily

Grocery lists may help shoppers stick to healthier diet, lower weight – Reuters

[hr]

 

 

May 6, 2015

Human oral microbiome

The Impact of Various Time Intervals on the Supragingival Plaque Dynamic Core Microbiome – Wen-xin Jiang – PLOS ONE

Dental and Microbiological Risk Factors for Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia in Non-Ventilated Older Patients – Victoria C. Ewan – PLOS ONE

Human gut microbiome

Unraveling the Influence of Gut Microbes on the Mind – M.J. Friedrich – JAMA

Gut Microbiota and Colorectal Cancer – Yu Y.-N. – Gastrointestinal Tumors

Gut Microbiota and Hepatocellular Carcinoma – Tao X – Gastrointestinal Tumors

Editorial: Gut microbiota and inflammation in chronic kidney disease patients – Denise Mafra – Clinical Kidney Journal

Animal models

Chronic Trichuris muris Infection in C57BL/6 Mice Causes Significant Changes in Host Microbiota and Metabolome: Effects Reversed by Pathogen Clearance – Ashley Houlden – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Bacterial Diversity Associated with Cinachyra cavernosa and Haliclona pigmentifera, Cohabiting Sponges in the Coral Reef Ecosystem of Gulf of Mannar, Southeast Coast of India – C. Jasmin – PLOS ONE

Plant microbiome

Shifts in Symbiotic Endophyte Communities of a Foundational Salt Marsh Grass following Oil Exposure from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill – Demetra Kandalepas – PLOS ONE

Endophytic and Epiphytic Microbes as “Sources” of Bioactive Agents – David J. Newman and Gordon M. Cragg – Frontiers in Chemistry

Review: Pivotal roles of phyllosphere microorganisms at the interface between plant functioning and atmospheric trace gas dynamics – Françoise Bringel – Frontiers in Microbiology

Soil and sediment microbiome

Metabolic Activity and Functional Diversity Changes in Sediment Prokaryotic Communities Organically Enriched with Mussel Biodeposits – Thomas Pollet – PLOS ONE

Impacts of dimethyl phthalate on the bacterial community and functions in black soils – Zhi-Gang Wang – Frontiers in Microbiology

Aquatic / Extremophile microbiome

Benthic microbial communities of coastal terrestrial and ice shelf Antarctic meltwater ponds – Stephen D. Archer – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial food web components, bulk metabolism, and single-cell physiology of piconeuston in surface microlayers of high-altitude lakes – Hugo Sarmento – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial communities of the Lemon Creek Glacier show subtle structural variation yet stable phylogenetic composition over space and time – Cody S. Sheik – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioreactor microbiome

Bacterial Pathogens and Community Composition in Advanced Sewage Treatment Systems Revealed by Metagenomics Analysis Based on High-Throughput Sequencing – Xin Lu – PLOS ONE

Metagenomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics

Expression of heterologous sigma factors enables functional screening of metagenomic and heterologous genomic libraries – Stefan M. Gaida – Nature Communications

TreeSeq, a Fast and Intuitive Tool for Analysis of Whole Genome and Metagenomic Sequence Data – Bastiaan Wintermans – PLOS ONE

Covariation is a poor measure of molecular coevolution – David Talavera – Molecular Biology and Evolution

Review: Data-driven integration of genome-scale regulatory and metabolic network models – Saheed Imam – Frontiers in Microbiology

Archaea

Complex archaea that bridge the gap between prokaryotes and eukaryotes – Anja Spang – Nature

More microbiology papers

The passenger-associated transport repeat promotes virulence factor secretion efficiency and delineates a distinct autotransporter subtype – Matthew Thomas Doyle – Molecular Microbiology

Microbes and art

Intestine-inspired 3D printed fashion will hold glowing bacteria – Chris Baraniuk – New Scientist

Microbes in the news

Who are the bioaerosols in your neighborhood? Find out by entering a chamber … – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

Exploring bacterial genes: New technique helps uncover useful functions in microbial genomes – University of Delaware

Newly discovered ‘missing link’ shows how humans could evolve from single-celled organisms: A new microbe found a mile and a half below the Atlantic Ocean  – Rachel Feltman – The Washington Post

Treating a bacterial infection with bacteria lowers chances of recurrence – Meryl Lin McKean – Fox4kc

Toxic Gut Bacteria: New Treatment Could Prevent Repeat Infections – Rachael Rettner – Live Science

Researchers produce jet fuel compounds from fungus – Science Daily

Molecular Homing Beacon Redirects Human Antibodies to Fight Pathogenic Bacteria – Heather Buschman – UC San Diego

Bacteria research opens way for new antibiotics: common building block, called the Passenger-associated Transport Repeat (PATR) present in many pathogens – University of Adelaide

Science, publishing, and career

‘Living figures’ make their debut: Published chart integrates data from outside scientists – Dalmeet Singh Chawla – Nature

The trouble with reference rot: Computer scientists are trying to shore up broken links in the scholarly literature – Jeffrey M. Perkel – Nature

The retirement debate: Stay at the bench, or make way for the next generationWhen and how to exit research has become a charged issue in science – Megan Scudellari – Nature

Pint-sized DNA sequencer impresses first users: Portable device offers on-the-spot data to fight disease, catalogue species and more – Erika Check Hayden – Nature

Bik’s Picks

Recovering Sea Lions at Marine Center Deliberately Injured By Chlorine, Police Say – Avianne Tan – ABC News

People with Depression and Bipolar Disorder Feel Sadness Differently – Tanya Lewis – Live Science

Feasting on fruits may leave you craving for more – Silvia Fernandez – Pierce Pioneer News

Trouble Falling Asleep? Doctor Says This Trick Will Put You to Sleep in One Minute – Zachary Stieber – The Epoch Times
[hr]