June 25, 2021

This week, the microbial sciences community worldwide (virtually) united at the World Microbe Forum – meeting highlights you can find here #WorldMicrobeForum.

Today’s digest features studies on group B Streptococcus pathogenesis, dental microbiota and aGVHD Risk, a book about writing and publishing papers, and more. Also, check out a collection of FREE, ONLINE microbiome events. Happy Friday!


Read about the experiences of 338 early career researchers from 36 countries with their mentors in Mentorship in life sciences: voices of mentees by A. Murat Eren (Meren)!


General microbiome

Behind the paper: Describing and naming bacteria in the 21st century – Thomas Hitch – Nature blog

Hierarchical control of microbial community assembly – Sammy Pontrelli – bioRxiv

Resistome

*L-form switching confers antibiotic, phage and stress tolerance in pathogenic Escherichia coli – Aleksandra Petrovic Fabijan – bioRxiv

Gut microbiome

A newly identified protein from Akkermansia muciniphila stimulates GLP-1 secretion – Patrice D. Cani and Claude Knauf – Cell Metabolism

Enrichment of gut microbiome strains for cultivation-free genome sequencing using droplet microfluidics – Anna Pryszlak – arXiv

Dispersal strategies shape persistence and evolution of human gut bacteria – Falk Hildebrand – Cell Host & Microbe

Urinary microbiome

Review: Urinary Microbiome: Yin and Yang of the Urinary Tract – Virginia Perez-Carrasco – Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Vaginal microbiome

Cysteine dependence in Lactobacillus iners constitutes a novel therapeutic target to modify the vaginal microbiota – Seth M. Bloom – bioRxiv

*A type VII secretion system in Group B Streptococcus mediates cytotoxicity and virulence – Brady L Spencer – bioRxiv

Life History Recorded in the Vagino-cervical Microbiome Along with Multi-omics – Zhuye Jie – Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics

Predictive functional analysis reveals inferred features unique to cervicovaginal microbiota of African women with bacterial vaginosis and high-risk human papillomavirus infection – Harris Onywera – PlosOne

Effect of metronidazole on vaginal microbiota associated with asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis – Daniel Ruiz-Perez – Access Microbiology

Oral microbiome

*Dental Biofilm Microbiota Dysbiosis Is Associated With the Risk of Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation – Vitor Heidrich – Frontiers in Immunology

Fusobacterium nucleatum metabolically integrates commensals and pathogens in oral biofilms – Akito Sakanaka – bioRxiv

Animal microbiome

*Microbiomes attached to fresh perennial ryegrass are temporally resilient and adapt to changing ecological niches – Sharon A. Huws – Microbiome

Animal experiments

A standardized gnotobiotic mouse model harboring a minimal 15-member mouse gut microbiota recapitulates SOPF/SPF phenotypes – Marion Darnaud – bioRxiv

Bioinformatics

GUNC: detection of chimerism and contamination in prokaryotic genomes – Askarbek Orakov – BMC Genome Biology

metaMIC: reference-free Misassembly Identification and Correction of de novo metagenomic assemblies – Senying Lai – bioRxiv

Open challenges for microbial network construction and analysis – Karoline Faust – The ISME Journal 2021

STRipy: a graphical application for enhanced genotyping of pathogenic short tandem repeats in sequencing data – Andreas Halman – bioRxiv

Adapting macroecology to microbiology: using occupancy modelling to assess functional profiles across metagenomes – Angus S Hilts – bioRxiv


Webinars &c

Microbiome Virtual International Conference #MVIF – September 14

The International Conference on Group B Strep (ICGBS) – July 20-22

World Enterococcus Day – July 15 – Registration here

BiATA2021 Bioinformatics: from Algorithms to Applications – July 12–15 


LSfM Lecture Series & Workshops : “The Dark Side of Science: Misconduct in Biomedical Research” Dr. Elisabeth Bik – more info here – June 30

EMBARK Webinars – Kimberly Kline “Pathogenesis and persistence during Enterococcus faecalis biofilm-associated infection” and Sofia Forslund “High-throughput measurement of host and microbiota” – EMBARK project – June 30


Writing

Writing and Publishing Scientific Papers: A Primer for the Non-English Speaker – Gábor Lövei – OpenBook Publishers


Art

From Scientist to SciArtist – Eliza Wolfson


June 23, 2021

Happy Wednesday!

Today’s digest includes a review on the microbial transformations of human bile acids as well as research articles focused on extremophiles including Arthrobacter, Acidithiobacillus, and Atribacteria. Also included are a wide variety of preprints on topics such as CRISPR-Cas, the vaginal microbiome, immunocompetence in pigs, the evaluation of RNAlater for preserving field samples for metaproteomics, and more!

Happy reading!

General microbiome

Preprint: CRISPR-Cas systems are widespread accessory elements across bacterial and archaeal plasmids – Pinilla-Redondo et al. – bioRxiv

Human respiratory microbiome

Indoor bacterial, fungal and viral species and functional genes in urban and rural schools in Shanxi Province, China–association with asthma, rhinitis and rhinoconjunctivitis in high school students – Fu et al. – Microbiome

Human vaginal microbiome

Preprint: Insight into the ecology of vaginal bacteria through integrative analyses of metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data – France et al. – bioRxiv

Human gut microbiome

Review: Microbial transformations of human bile acids – Guzior & Quinn – Microbiome

Preprint: Targeted high-resolution taxonomic identification of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis using human milk oligosaccharide metabolizing genes – Tso et al. – bioRxiv

An integrated gene catalog and over 10,000 metagenome-assembled genomes from the gastrointestinal microbiome of ruminants – Xie et al. – Microbiome

Animal experiments

Preprint: Leveraging host-genetics and gut microbiota to determine immunocompetence in pigs – Ramayo-Caldas et al. – bioRxiv

Joint contributions of the gut microbiota and host genetics to feed efficiency in chickens – Wen et al. – Microbiome

Animal microbiome

Holobiont nitrogen control and its potential for eutrophication resistance in an obligate photosymbiotic jellyfish – Röthig et al. – Microbiome

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Preprint: Microbial metabolism and adaptations in Atribacteria-dominated methane hydrate sediments – Glass et al. – bioRxiv

Preprint: Seed microbiota revealed by a large-scale meta-analysis including 50 plant species – Simonin et al. – bioRxiv

Preprint: The activity and functions of subarctic soil microbial communities vary across vegetation types – Viitamäki et al. – bioRxiv

Water and extremophile microbiome

Preprint: Revealing the full biosphere structure and versatile metabolic functions in the deepest ocean sediment of the Challenger Deep – Chen et al. – bioRxiv

Preprint: Mechanistic insights into the success of xenobiotic degraders resolved from metagenomes of microbial enrichment cultures – Li et al. – bioRxiv

Low shifts in salinity determined assembly processes and network stability of microeukaryotic plankton communities in a subtropical urban reservoir – Mo et al. – Microbiome

Linking genomic and physiological characteristics of psychrophilic Arthrobacter to metagenomic data to explain global environmental distribution – Shen et al. – Microbiome

Genomic adaptations enabling Acidithiobacillus distribution across wide-ranging hot spring temperatures and pHs – Sriaporn et al. – Microbiome

Built environment

Preprint: Metagenome-based comparisons of decay rates and host-specificity of fecal microbial communities for improved microbial source tracking – Suttner et al. – bioRxiv

Phages and viruses

Preprint: Expanding clinical phage microbiology: Simulating phage inhalation for respiratory tract infections – Porat et al. – bioRxiv

Techniques

Ultra-accurate microbial amplicon sequencing with synthetic long reads – Callahan et al. – Microbiome

Preprint: Evaluation of RNAlater as a field-compatible preservation method for metaproteomic analyses of bacteria-animal symbioses – Jensen et al. – bioRxiv

Preprint: Predicting microbiome compositions through deep learning – Michel-Mata et al. – bioRxiv

June 8, 2021

Human gut microbiome

Long-term dietary patterns are associated with pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory features of the gut microbiome – Bolte et al. Gut

Ginseng polysaccharides alter the gut microbiota and kynurenine/tryptophan ratio, potentiating the antitumour effect of antiprogrammed cell death 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 (anti-PD-1/PD-L1) immunotherapy – Huang et al. Gut

Human skin microbiome

Diurnal variation in the human skin microbiome affects accuracy of forensic microbiome matching – Wilkins et al. Microbiome.

Animal microbiome

Host Species and Geography Differentiate Honeybee Gut Bacterial Communities by Changing the Relative Contribution of Community Assembly Processes – Ge et al. mBio

Animal experiments

Dysbiosis exacerbates colitis by promoting ubiquitination and accumulation of the innate immune adaptor STING in myeloid cells – Shmuel-Galia et al. Immunity

Water Microbiome

Low shifts in salinity determined assembly processes and network stability of microeukaryotic plankton communities in a subtropical urban reservoir – Mo et al. Microbiome

Phages and viruses

A catalog of tens of thousands of viruses from human metagenomes reveals hidden associations with chronic diseases – Tisza and Buck. PNAS. 

Bioinformatics

A Critique of Differential Abundance Analysis, and Advocacy for an Alternative – Quinn et al. arXiv preprint. 

June 6th, 2021

Hyvää Päivää from Helsinki, Finland ! Today’s digest contains a variety of interesting papers,in particular for people interested in viromes. The digest contains a really interesting preprint on the diversity of four new Antarctic sea ice bacteriophages, demonstrating their uniqueness and novelty compared to previoulsy characterized phages.

For people interested in bacterial microbiome, this digest contains a lot of very interesting pieces, in particular a very interesting review on the hopes and current limitation of Fecal Microbial Transplants in clinical settings.

Finally, today’s non-microbiology pick is a piece exploring the social impacts of naming diseases using strong-held but flawed names like German measles,

Have a great Weekend!


Human gut microbiome

Impact of the Gut Microbiota Balance on the Health–DiseaseRelationship: The Importance of Consuming Probioticsand Prebiotics – Olvera-Rosales et al. – Foods

Review: Fecal microbiota transplantationin human metabolic diseases:From a murky past to a bright future? – Hanssen et al. – Cell


Animal experiments

Short- and long-term effects of amoxicillin/clavulanic acid or doxycycline on the gastrointestinal microbiome of growing cats – Stavroulaki et al. – BioRxiv

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Preprint: Deep-rooted plant species recruit distinct bacterial communities in 3 m deep subsoil – Bak et al. – BioRxiV

Preprint: Single seed microbiota: assembly and transmission from parent plant to seedling Chesneau et al. – BioRxiV

Built environment

Reconstruction of metagenome-assembled genomes from aquaria – Ettinger et al. – BiorXiV


Phages and viruses

Viruses roam the wheat phyllosphere – Forero-Junco et al. – BioRxiV

Characteristics of genetically diverse Antarctic sea ice bacteriophages allow adaptation to changing environmental conditions – Demina et al. – BioRxiv

Bioinformatics

Preprint: PGfinder, a novel analysis pipeline for the consistent, reproducible and high-resolution structural analysis of bacterial peptidoglycans – Patel et al. – BioRxiV

Perspective: Computational Viromics: Applications of the Computational Biology in Viromics Studies – Lu and Peng – Virologica Sinica

Preprint: Detecting the hosts of bacteriophages using GCN-Based semi-supervised learning – Shang and Sun – ArxiV


My non-microbiology picks

Preprint: Naming of human diseases on the wrong side of history – Hu – BioRxiV

June 4, 2021

Greetings from Pittsburgh!

Today’s digest includes a review about the digestibility of adult dog diets, several articles about the human gut microbiome, an article about the spinach phyllosphere, and research about the effect of fertilizer and continuous garlic cultivation on the soil microbiome. It also includes topics such as microorganisms in ancient Siberian permafrost, the use of a probiotic consortium as an alternative to chemical remediation of oil spills, and much more!

If you want a lighter read, I’ve also included a fun Smithsonian Magazine article about the use of bacteria in art restoration.

Happy Friday!

General microbiome

Review: An evolving view on biogeochemical cycling of iron – Kappler et al. – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Review: Beyond horizontal gene transfer: the role of plasmids in bacterial evolution – Rodríguez-Beltrán et al. – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Review: Cells within cells: Rickettsiales and the obligate intracellular bacterial lifestyle – Salje – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Reviews: Microbial volatile organic compounds in intra-kingdom and inter-kingdom interactions – Weisskopf et al. – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Human skin microbiome

Apple cider vinegar soaks do not alter the skin bacterial microbiome in atopic dermatitis – Luu et al. – PLOS One

Human gut microbiome

Metabolomic profiling identifies complex lipid species and amino acid analogues associated with response to weight loss interventions – Bihlmeyer et al. – PLOS One

Gut microbiome differences among Mexican Americans with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus – Kitten et al. – PLOS One

Enlightening the taxonomy darkness of human gut microbiomes with a cultured biobank – Liu et al. – Microbiome

Gut microbiota profiles of young South Indian children: Child sex-specific relations with growth – Shivakumar et al. – PLOS One

Animal experiments

Review: Soybean meal and poultry offal meal effects on digestibility of adult dogs diets – Vanelli et al. – PLOS One

Animal microbiome

A survey of mosquito-borne and insect-specific viruses in hospitals and livestock markets in western Kenya – Chiuya et al. – PLOS One

Microbiomes of clownfish and their symbiotic host anemone converge before their first physical contact – Émie et al. – Microbiome

Characterization of oral and cloacal microbial communities in cold-stunned Kemp’s ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) during the time course of rehabilitation – McNally et al. – PLOS One

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Influence of seasonal changes and salinity on spinach phyllosphere bacterial functional assemblage – Ibekwe et al. – PLOS One

Comparison of bacterial and archaeal communities in two fertilizer doses and soil compartments under continuous cultivation system of garlic – Zhou et al. – PLOS One

Water and extremophile microbiome

Meanders as a scaling motif for understanding of floodplain soil microbiome and biogeochemical potential at the watershed scale – Carnevali et al. – Microbiome

Urban wastewater bacterial communities assemble into seasonal steady states – LaMartina et al. – Microbiome

Genomic reconstruction of fossil and living microorganisms in ancient Siberian permafrost – Liang et al. – Microbiome

Genomic and immunogenic changes of Piscine novirhabdovirus (Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus) over its evolutionary history in the Laurentian Great Lakes – Niner et al. – PLOS One

Built environment

Multi-domain probiotic consortium as an alternative to chemical remediation of oil spills at coral reefs and adjacent sites – Silva et al. – Microbiome

Microbes in the news

Italian Art Restorers Used Bacteria to Clean Michelangelo Masterpieces – Davis-Marks – Smithsonian Magazine

May 29, 2021

General microbiome

Biogeochemical dynamics and microbial community development under sulfate- and iron-reducing conditions based on electron shuttle amendment – TM Flynn et al. – PLOS ONE

Human skin microbiome

Composition of cutaneous bacterial microbiome in seborrheic dermatitis patients: A cross-sectional study – MGH Sanders et al. – PLOS ONE

Human gut microbiome

Host specificity of the gut microbiome – EK Mallot & KR Amato – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Animal experiments

Influence of genetic background and dietary oleic acid on gut microbiota composition in Duroc and Iberian pigs – A López-Garcí et al. – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Compartmentalization of bacterial and fungal microbiomes in the gut of adult honeybees – M Callegari et al. – npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Saprotrophic fungal diversity predicts ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity along the timberline in the framework of island biogeography theory – T Yang et al. – ISME Communications

Soil microbial community responses to short-term nitrogen addition in China’s Horqin Sandy Land – N Yayi et al. – PLOS ONE

Specificity of assemblage, not fungal partner species, explains mycorrhizal partnerships of mycoheterotrophic Burmannia plants – Z Zhao et al. – The ISME Journal

Water and extremophile microbiome

Abundant and rare bacterial taxa structuring differently in sediment and water in thermokarst lakes in the Yellow River Source area, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau – Z Ren et al. – bioRxiv

Phages and viruses

Diversity, taxonomy and evolution of archaeal viruses of the class Caudoviricetes – Y Liu et al. – bioRxiv

Integrating Viral Metagenomics into an Ecological Framework – P Sommers et al. – Annual Review of Virology

Techniques

Spatial profiling of microbial communities by sequential FISH with error-robust encoding – Z Cao et al. – bioRxiv

May 28, 2021

Good morning from New Jersey! A broad selection of papers to share with you today—highlights include several new bioinformatics papers and an examination of the effect of storage method on the composition of microbiome samples:

General microbiome

A global metagenomic map of urban microbiomes and antimicrobial resistance, David Danko et al., Cell

Ecology and molecular targets of hypermutation in the global microbiome, Simon Roux et al., Nature Communications

Human oral microbiome

A cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) extract impairs the growth, virulence properties, and inflammatory potential of Fusobacterium nucleatum and improves oral epithelial barrier function, Amel Ben Lagha et al., PLOS ONE

Human skin microbiome

Composition of cutaneous bacterial microbiome in seborrheic dermatitis patients: A cross-sectional study, Martijn G.H. Sanders et al., PLOS ONE

Human gut microbiome

Gene-level metagenomic architectures across diseases yield high-resolution microbiome diagnostic indicators, Braden T. Tierney et al., Nature Communications

Altered faecal microbiome and metabolome in IgG4-related sclerosing cholangitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis, Qiaoyan Liu et al., Gut

Animal experiments

Gut microbiome variation modulates the effects of dietary fiber on host metabolism, Sofia M. Murga-Garrido et al., Microbiome

Real-time monitoring of ruminal microbiota reveals their roles in dairy goats during subacute ruminal acidosis, Xiaodong Chen et al., npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

Animal microbiome

The microbiome and mosquito vectorial capacity: rich potential for discovery and translation, Cintia Cansado-Utrilla et al., Microbiome

Bioinformatics

Preprint: A metabolomics pipeline enables mechanistic interrogation of the gut microbiome, Shuo Han et al., bioRxiv

Comparison study of differential abundance testing methods using two large Parkinson disease gut microbiome datasets derived from 16S amplicon sequencing, Zachary D. Wallen, BMC Bioinformatics

Reads Binning Improves the Assembly of Viral Genome Sequences From Metagenomic Samples, Kai Song, Frontiers in Microbiology

Techniques

Preprint: Standard Sample Storage Conditions Impact on Inferred Microbiome Composition and Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns, Casper Sahl Poulsen et al., bioRxiv

May 18, 2021

Review articles on exciting microbiome topics dominate today’s post. My personal favorite review is by Berthoud et al. on gut-brain communication with focus on understanding functions of the vagus nerve. Others include – rumen microbiome, gut microbiota in neuronal feeding circuits, gut-brain axis in gastrointestinal cancer and a beautiful snapshot illustrating summary of microbiota effects on host physiology. Happy reading!

General Microbiome

Gut microbiota as a transducer of dietary cues to regulate host circadian rhythms and metabolism – Hyoann Choi – Nature Reviews Gatsroenterology and Hepatology

SnapShot: Microbiota effects on host physiology – Jennifer H.Hill – Cell

Roles for the gut microbiota in regulating neuronal feeding circuits – Kristie B. Yu – Journal of Clinical Investigation

Gut-brain communication and obesity: understanding functions of the vagus nerve – Hans-Rudolf Berthoud – Journal of Clinical Investigation

Exploiting unique features of the gut-brain interface to combat gastrointestinal cancer – Alyssa Schledwitz – Journal of Clinical Investigation

Human Microbiome

Evaluation of saliva as a source of accurate whole‐genome and microbiome sequencing data – Anthony F. Herzig – Genetic Epidemiology

The effects of nondigestible fermentable carbohydrates on adults with overweight or obesity: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials – Bocheng Xu – Nutrition Reviews

Altered gut microbiota correlates with cognitive impairment in Chinese children with Down’s syndrome – Shimeng Ren – European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

A synthetic consortium of 100 gut commensals modulates the composition and function in a colon model of the microbiome of elderly subjects – Marta Perez – Gut Microbes

Animal Microbiome

The rumen microbiome: balancing food security and environmental impacts – Itzhak Mizrahi – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Components of the Gut Microbiome that Influence Bone Tissue‐Level Strength – Marysol Luna – Journal of Bone and Mineral Research

Characterization of growth phenotypes and gastrointestinal tract microbiota in sheep fed with caragana – Ke Zhang – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Techniques

‘GutFeel’: an in silico method for predicting gut health status based on the metabolic functional capabilities of the resident microbiome – Swadha Anand – Febs Letters

MiMeNet: Exploring microbiome-metabolome relationships using neural networks – Derek Reiman – Plos Computational Biology

Bacteria

Anatomy promotes neutral coexistence of strains in the human skin microbiome – Arolyn Conwill – BioRxiv

May 12, 2021

Good morning all! Today’s digest includes two articles discussing the role of the local tissue microbiome in cancer. In the first, Zhu et al. explore the relationship between the intratumor microbiome, immune cell infiltration, and patient survival in the context of melanoma. The second study by Wilkie et al. examines how lipopolysaccharide produced by the commensal breast microbiota impacts cancer growth.

Additionally, there is a paper by Radojević et al. in which the authors found an association between the fecal microbiota and immunogenicity of peripheral blood monocyte-derived dendritic cells in healthy donors; a study by Kim et al. showing that diet and microbiome derived amino acids impact gut enterocyte communication with the brain in Drosophila; and a paper by Tandon et al. investigating the impact of the reciprocal transplantation of water from the surface and bottom of lakes with different trophic states on microbial community composition and function.

Pregnancy and Early-Life
Metagenomic analysis of mother-infant gut microbiome reveals global distinct and shared microbial signatures. – Wang, S. et al., Gut Microbes.

Human Nearly-Sterile Sites
Intratumour microbiome associated with the infiltration of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and patient survival in cutaneous melanoma. – Zhu, G. et al., European Journal of Cancer Research.

Lipopolysaccharide from the commensal microbiota of the breast enhances cancer growth: role of S100A7 and TLR4. – Wilkie, T. et al., Molecular Oncology.

Human Gut Microbiome
Intestinal microbiota influences clinical outcome and side effects of early breast cancer treatment. – Terrisse, S. et al., Cell Death & Differentiation.

Fecal microbiota composition associates with the capacity of human peripheral blood monocytes to differentiate into immunogenic dendritic cells in vitro. – Radojević, D. et al., Gut Microbes.

Substrate‐driven differences in tryptophan catabolism by gut microbiota and Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor activation. – Huang, Z. et al., Molecular Nutrition & Food Research.

Human Oral Microbiome
The evolution and changing ecology of the African hominid oral microbiome. – Fellows Yates, J.A. et al., PNAS.

Animal Experiments
Response of the microbiome-gut-brain axis in Drosophila to amino acid deficit. – Kim, B. et al., Nature.

Coadaptation between host genome and microbiome under long-term xenobiotic-induced selection. – Wang, G-H. et al., Science Advances.

Predicted Metabolic Function of the Gut Microbiota of Drosophila melanogaster. – Ankrah, N.Y.D. et al., mSystems.

Animal Microbiome
The microbiome of deep-sea fish reveals new microbial species and a sparsity of antibiotic resistance genes. – Collins, F.W.J. et al., Gut Microbes.

Insect Microbiome
Compartmentalization of bacterial and fungal microbiomes in the gut of adult honeybees. – Callegari, M. et al., npj Biofilms Microbiomes.

Seasonal Dynamics of the Honey Bee Gut Microbiota in Colonies Under Subtropical Climate. – Castelli, L. et al., Microbial Ecology.

Plant, Root, and Soil Microbiome
Impact of cropping systems on the functional diversity of rhizosphere microbial communities associated with maize plant: a shotgun approach. – Fadiji, A.E. et al., Archive of Microbiology.

Water and Extremophile Microbiome
Meta-transcriptomic profiling of functional variation of freshwater microbial communities induced by an antidepressant sertraline hydrochloride. – Cui, H. et al., Science of the Total Environment.

Aquatic microbial community is partially functionally redundant: Insights from an in situ reciprocal transplant experiment. – Tandon, K. et al., Science of the Total Environment.

Towards enhancing coral heat tolerance: a “microbiome transplantation” treatment using inoculations of homogenized coral tissues. – Doering, T. et al., Microbiome.

Built Environment
The Bacterial Community Diversity of Bathroom Hot Tap Water Was Significantly Lower Than That of Cold Tap and Shower Water. – Zhang, C. et al., Frontiers in Microbiology.

Bioinformatics
A Protocol for Teaching Basic Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Analysis Skills to Undergraduate Students Using Bash and R. – Fondi, M. & Bacci, G., Bacterial Pangenomics.

Techniques
Microdroplet-based system for culturing of environmental microorganisms using FNAP-sort. – Saito, K. et al., Scientific Reports.

May 8th, 2021

Hyvää Päivää from Helsinki, Finland ! Today’s digest contains a variety of interesting papers, in particular in bioinformatics! I recommend anyone interesting in metagenomic read classification to take a look at the benchmark study by Arizmendi Cardenas and collaborators. They compared read-based taxonomic classification tools on their capacity to handle ancient DNA sequences, characterized by a higher mutation rate and shorter sequences.

This digest also contains a very good review on the current state of the art network analysis methods for exploring interaction in complex microbial communities.

Finally, today’s non-microbiology pick is a piece exploring the current challenges and limitations for the annotation of microbiome dataset with high-quality metadata.

Have a great Weekend!


Human gut microbiome

Systematic Review: The Gut Microbiome and Its Potential Clinical Application in Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Aldars-Garcia et al. – Microorganisms


Animal experiments

Millet-based supplement restored gut microbial diversity of acute malnourished pigs – Li et al. – PLOS One

A mixture of quebracho and chestnut tannins drives butyrate-producing bacteria populations shift in the gut microbiota of weaned piglets – Miragoli et al. – PLOS One

Animal microbiome

Dynamic changes occur in the DNA gut virome of female cynomolgus macaques during aging – Tan et al. – Microbiology Open

Virome Diversity among Mosquito Populations in a Sub-Urban Region of Marseille, France – Nebbak et al. – Viruses

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Preprint: Mapping the microbial diversity and natural resistome of north Antarctica soils – Marcoleta et al. – BioRXiv

Community dynamics in rhizosphere microorganisms at different development stages of wheat growing in confined isolation environments – Ma et al. – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Book chapter: Bioprospecting Extreme Ecosystems Before They Vanish: The (Poorly Studied) Microbiology of Tropical Glaciers – Yarzabal – Extreme environment (CRC press)

Investigating variability in microbial community composition in replicate environmental DNA samples down lake sediment cores – Pearman et al. – PLOS One


Bioinformatics

Preprint: Benchmarking metagenomics classifiers on ancient viral DNA: a simulation study – Arizmendi Cardenas et al. – BioRXiv

Review: Network analysis methods for studying microbial communities: A mini review – Matchado et al. – Computational and sctructural Biotechnology Journal

Improving metagenomic binning results with overlapped bins using assembly graphs – Mallawaarachchi et al. – Algorithms for molecular biology


My non-microbiology picks

Preprint: Current challenges in microbiome metadata collection – Rosenfeld et al. – BioRXiv