July 25, 2020

Good morning and happy Saturday y’all! Today’s digest is brief, but covers some fascinating papers including: small RNAs regulating gut microbe metabolism; epigenetics linking the early-life airway microbiota with allergic rhinitis; and the impact of gut microbial composition on vagal innervation. I’ve also included a non-microbiome pick discussing how to spot and resolve common statistical mistakes in research manuscripts. The authors of the article hope this will help improve robustness of scientific research. Happy reading!

Gut Microbiome
A high-resolution transcriptome map identifies small RNA regulation of metabolism in the gut microbe Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. Ryan, D. et al. Nature Communications.

Depicting SARS-CoV-2 faecal viral activity in association with gut microbiota composition in patients with COVID-19. Zuo, T. et al. Gut.

High microbiota reactivity of adult human intestinal IgA requires somatic mutations. Kabbert, J. et al. Journal of Experimental Medicine.

A unified catalog of 204,938 reference genomes from the human gut microbiome. Almeida, A. et al. Nature Biotechnology.

Airway Microbiome
Epigenetic landscape links upper airway microbiota in infancy with allergic rhinitis at 6 years of age. Morin, A. et al. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Early-Life Microbiome
Butyrate producing colonic Clostridiales metabolise human milk oligosaccharides and cross feed on mucin via conserved pathways. Pichler, M.J. et al. Nature Communications.

Animal Experiments
Bile acids drive the newborn’s gut microbiota maturation. van Best, N. et al. Nature Communications.

Gut microbiota composition modulates inflammation and structure of the vagal afferent pathway. Kim, J.S. et al. Physiology & Behavior.

TNFα regulates intestinal organoids from mice with both defined and conventional microbiota. Sun, L. et al. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules.

Water Microbiome
Nutrient and microbial water quality of the upper Ganga River, India: identification of pollution sources. Bowed, M.J. et al. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.

Plant, Root, and Soil Microbiome
Global warming shifts the composition of the abundant bacterial phyllosphere microbiota as indicated by a cultivation-dependent and -independent study of the grassland phyllosphere of a long-term warming field experiment. Aydogan, E.L. FEMS Microbiology and Ecology.

Non-Microbiome Pick
Science Forum: Ten common statistical mistakes to watch out for when writing or reviewing a manuscript. Makin, T.R. and Orban de Xivry, JJ. eLife.

July 23, 2020

In today’s digest – duodenal microbiota linked to stunting in children, differential effects of germfree and antibiotic treated mouse models on social behavior, microbial metabolite receptor GPBAR and its interaction with bile acids, review article on engineering microbes to treat diseases and many more…happy reading!

General microbiome

The Microbiota-Gut-Immune-Glia (MGIG) Axis in Major Depression – Leszek Rudzki – Molecular Neurobiology

Engineering the gut microbiota to treat chronic diseases – Noura S. Dosoky – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Human microbiome

Acute and chronic improvement in postprandial glucose metabolism by a diet resembling the traditional Mediterranean dietary pattern: Can SCFAs play a role? – Marilena Vitale – Clinical Nutrition

Linking the duodenal microbiota to stunting in a cohort of undernourished Bangladeshi children with enteropathy – Robert Y. Chen – New England Journal of Medicine

Enterobacterales Infection after Intestinal Dominance in Hospitalized Patients – Krishna Rao – mSphere

Differences in the gut Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio across age groups in healthy Ukrainian population – Alexander Vaiserman – BMC Microbiology

Preprint- Association of gut microbiota with cerebral cortex and cerebrovascular abnormality in human mild traumatic brain injury – Lijun Bai – BioRxiv

Real-world study in infants fed an infant formula with two human milk oligosaccharides – Enriqueta Román – Nutricion Hospitalaria

Animal experiments

Gut microbiome composition differences among breeds impact feed efficiency in swine – Matteo Bergamaschi – Microbiome

Opposing effects of antibiotics and germ-free status on neuropeptide systems involved in social behaviour and pain regulation – Katerina V. A. Johnson – BMC Neuroscience

Local Necrotic Cells Trigger Systemic Immune Activation via Gut Microbiome Dysbiosis in Drosophila – Hina Kosakamoto – Cell Reports

Peanut skin extract ameliorates the symptoms of type 2 diabetes mellitus in mice by alleviating inflammation and maintaining gut microbiota homeostasis – Lan Xiang – Aging

Preprint- Community composition and development of the post-weaning piglet gut microbiome – D. Gaio – BioRxiv

Gut microbiota regulate tumor metastasis via circRNA/miRNA networks – Zhuxian Zhua – Gut Microbes

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and Campylobacter infection induce diarrhea in piglets: Microbial dysbiosis and intestinal disorder – Gang Yang – Animal Nutrition

Plant, root and soil microbiome

Populations of the Parasitic Plant Phelipanche ramosa Influence Their Seed Microbiota – Sarah Huet – Frontiers in Plant Science

Domestication-driven changes in plant traits associated with changes in the assembly of the rhizosphere microbiota in tetraploid wheat – Aymé Spor – Scientific Reports

Water microbiome

Preprint- Time series metagenomic sampling of the Thermopyles, Greece, geothermal springs reveals stable microbial communities dominated by novel sulfur-oxidizing chemoautotrophs – A. Meziti – BioRxiv

Preprint- Evaluation of the microbial community structure of potable water samples from occupied and unoccupied buildings using16S rRNA amplicon sequencing – Kimothy L. Smith – BioRxiv

Phages and Viruses

Preprint- Targeting of Mammalian Glycans Enhances Phage Predation in the Gastrointestinal Tract – Sabrina I. Green – BioRxiv

Techniques
Structural basis of GPBAR activation and bile acid recognition – Fan Yang – Nature

Microbes in News

Machine learning analysis reveals less diverse microbiome in children with type 1 diabetes – Healio

July 15, 2020

There are several notable entries in today’s digest. Registration is open for the European Learning Laboratory for the Life Sciences’ “Introducing Your Microbiome” virtual training course. The course is for European secondary school science teachers and is 5 weeks long. The 3rd Microbiome Movement will also be held this year, both virtually and in-person. Links are in the Events section.  

Today I’ve highlighted a bioinformatics paper on variant calling for cpn60 barcode sequencing and an early life paper on pre-term infant stem cell proliferation upregulated by microbial metabolites. While putting this digest together, I learned algae turns snow different colors! This is so cool to me that I’ve highlighted that paper as well. Finally, the News section includes an article for Smithsonian Magazine by Rob Dunn on quarantine’s effects on our microbial passengers.  

Happy reading!

Events

3rd Microbiome Movement – Animal Health & Nutrition Summit, taking place in North Carolina as well as digitally October 19-21, 2020.

European Learning Laboratory for the Life Sciences’ “Introducing Your Microbiome” November 2-December 7, 2020. Applications are due October 15 and the course is free.

Pregnancy and early life

Gut microbiota maturation during early human life induces enterocyte proliferation via microbial metabolites – Michael W. Dougherty – BMC Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Perspective: Gut microbiome, big data and machine learning to promote precision medicine for cancer – Giovanni Cammarota – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Microbiome of death

Characterizing the postmortem human bone microbiome from surface-decomposed remains – Alexandra L. Emmons – PloS One

Animal experiments

Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation products (SCFP) stabilize the ruminal microbiota of lactating dairy cows during periods of a depressed rumen pH – Hein M. Tun – BMC Veterinary Research

Animal microbiome

A Shift Pattern of Bacterial Communities Across the Life Stages of the Citrus Red Mite, Panonychus citri – Zhen-yu Zhang – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Nitrogen enrichment stimulates wetland plant responses whereas salt amendments alter sediment microbial communities and biogeochemical responses – Mary Donato – PloS One

Bioavailable metal (loid) s and physicochemical features co-mediating microbial communities at combined metal (loid) pollution sites – Jiawen Wang – Chemosphere

Assessing the effects of tylosin fermentation dregs as soil amendment on macrolide antibiotic resistance genes and microbial communities: Incubation study – Bo Zhang – Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part B

Book: Phytobiomes: Current Insights and Future Vistas – Manoj Kumar Solanki – Springer

Early changes in bacterial communities in wound tissues of Pinus massoniana after inoculation with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus – Jinyan Liu – Nematology

Preprint: Unexpected diversity of CPR bacteria and nanoarchaea in the rare biosphere of rhizosphere-associated grassland soil – Alexa M. Nicolas – bioRxiv

Preprint: A Meta-analysis of the known Global Distribution and Host Range of the Ralstonia Species Complex – Tiffany Lowe-Power – bioRxiv

Water, air, and extremophile microbiome

Lipid Biomarker Record of the Serpentinite-Hosted Ecosystem of the Samail Ophiolite, Oman and Implications for the Search for Biosignatures on Mars – Sharon A Newman – Astrobiology

Metabolic acclimation of anammox consortia to decreased temperature – Tangran Huo – Environment International

Complete Genome Sequences of Two Marine Biofilm Isolates, Leisingera sp. nov. Strains 201A and 204H, Novel Representatives of the Roseobacter Group – Giselle S. Cavalcanti – Microbiology Resource Announcements

Microbial interspecific interaction and nitrogen metabolism pathway for the treatment of municipal wastewater by iron carbon based constructed wetland – Xiao Huang – Bioresource Technology

Biogeographical distribution of dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) bacteria in wetland ecosystems around the world – Huawei Pan – Journal of Soils and Sediments

Molecular diversity of the microbial community in coloured snow from the Fildes Peninsula (King George Island, Maritime Antarctica) – Wei Luo – Polar Biology

Novel arsenic hyper-resistant bacteria from an extreme environment, Crven Dol mine, Allchar, North Macedonia – Vladimir Bermanec – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Built environment

Ozone treatment in a wind tunnel for the reduction of airborne viruses in swine buildings – Jonathan M. Vyskocil – Aerosol Science and Technology

Food microbiology

Correlation between microbial communities and key flavors during post-fermentation of Pixian broad bean paste – Ping Liu – Food Research International

Additives affect the distribution of metabolic profile, microbial communities and antibiotic resistance genes in high-moisture sweet corn kernel silage – Zhe Wu – Bioresource Technology

Shifts in autochthonous microbial diversity and volatile metabolites during the fermentation of chili pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.) – Xinxing Xu – Food Chemistry

Proteomic characterization of extracellular vesicles produced by several wine yeast species – Ana Mencher – Microbioal Biotechnology

Book Chapter: Role of Microbes for Attaining Enhanced Food Crop Production – Pankaj Sharma – Microbial Biotechnology: Basic Research and Applications

Bioinformatics

Evaluation of variant calling for cpn60 barcode sequence-based microbiome profiling – Sarah J. Vancuren – PloS One

Techniques

Preprint: Visualization of giant virus particles using BONCAT labeling and STED microscopy – Monica Berjon-Otero – bioRxiv

Microbes in the News

Human Microbiome: 39 trillion microbes and bacteria that call us home – Mun-Keat Looi – Science Focus

What Quarantine is Doing to Your Body’s Wondrous World of Bacteria – Rob Dunn – Smithsonian Magazine

July 13, 2020

Greetings from Pittsburgh, PA!

Included is a wide range of microbial ecology articles focused on everything from the human microbiome to soil microbial fuel cells. I want to give a special highlight to the article about how the indoor microbial community changes in response to bed bug infestations. This study incorporates a few of my favorite disciplines including entomology, public health, the built environment, as well as microbiology. If you’re interested in learning more about bed bugs, I’ll also recommend one my favorite reads from a few years ago: Infested: How the bed bug infiltrated our bedrooms and took over the world by Brooke Borel.

Events and jobs

In my last microbiome digest, I gave a special plug for the National Summer Undergraduate Research Project (NSURP). NSURP is a community-driven initiative to create rewarding remote summer research opportunities for BIPOC undergraduate students in the microbial sciences. They have already paired over 140 students with summer research opportunities, but they still need mentors for remaining student applicants. Please apply and share widely!

General microbiome

The beta-diversity of Siganus fuscescens-associated microbial communities from different habitats increases with body weight – Wu et al. – Frontiers in Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Metagenome-wide association analysis identifies microbial determinants of post-antibiotic ecological recovery in the gut – Chng et al. – Nature Ecology & Evolution

The gut microbiome during acute lifestyle transition – Devkota – Nature Medicine

Review: Challenges and emerging systems biology approaches to discover how the human gut microbiome impact host physiology – Wian and Ho – Biophysical Reviews

Animal experiments

The gut and feed residue microbiota changing during the rearing of Hermetia illucens larvae – Cifuentes et al. – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Animal microbiome

Effect of introduced parasites on the survival and microbiota of nestling cactus finches (Geospiza scandens) in the Galápagos Islands – Addesso et al. – Journal of Ornithology

Direct comparison of fecal and gut microbiota in the Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis) discourages fecal sampling as a proxy for resident gut community – Griffin et al. – Microbial Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Variable microbial communities in the non-hydrothermal sediments of the Mid-Okinawa trough – Cao et al. – Geomicrobiology Journal

Review: Microbial communities from arid environments on a global scale. A systematic review – Vásquez-Dean et al. – Biological Research

Unravelling metabolism and microbial community of a phytobed co-planted with Typha angustifolia and Ipomoea aquatica for biodegradation of doxylamine from wastewater – Xiong et al. – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Built environment

Bed bugs shape the indoor microbial community composition of infested homes – Kakumanu et al. – Science of the Total Environment

Effect of sono-thermal pre-treatment over methane production, specific activities and the microbial community of sludge anaerobic digesters – Neumann et al. – Waste and Biomass Valorization

Effects of anode materials on the performance and anode microbial community of soil microbial fuel cell – Yu et al. – Journal of Hazardous Material

Techniques

Review: Targeted microbiome depletion – Du Toit – Nature Reviews Microbiology

July 10, 2020

Today’s digest contains many exciting articles – gut microbiome in precision medicine for cancer, important review on patent protection in microbiome therapeutics, role of the gut microbiota in sympathetic neurons, interaction of pacemaker neurons with the gut microbiota, gut dysbiosis in lupus and many more….Enjoy reading and happy weekend!

General microbiome

Gut microbiome, big data and machine learning to promote precision medicine for cancer – Giovanni Cammarota – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Co-evolution and Co-speciation of Host-Gut Bacteria Systems – Mathieu Groussin – Cell Host and Microbe

Microbiome therapeutics and patent protection – Mark J. FitzGerald – Nature Biotechnology

Human microbiome

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation is Safe and Effective in Patients with Clostridioides difficile Infection and Cirrhosis – Yao-WenCheng – CLinial Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Association of Gut Microbiota-Dependent Metabolite Trimethylamine N-Oxide with First Ischemic Stroke – Taoping Sun – Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis

Dietary Strategies for Maintenance of Clinical Remission in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Are We There Yet? – Konstantinos Gkikas – Nutrients

The duodenal microbiome is altered in small intestinal bacterial overgrowth – Gabriela Leite – PlosOne

Faecal microbiota transplantation: A life-saving therapy challenged by commercial claims for exclusivity – Christian LodbergHvas – EClinical Medicine

Animal experiments

Microbiota modulate sympathetic neurons via a gut–brain circuit – Paul A. Muller – Nature

Prototypical pacemaker neurons interact with the resident microbiota – Alexander Klimovich – PNAS

Gut microbiota dysbiosis and altered tryptophan catabolism contribute to autoimmunity in lupus-susceptible mice – Seung-Chul Choi – Science Translational Medicine

The relationship between gut microbiota and short chain fatty acids in the renal calcium oxalate stones disease – Yu Liu – Faseb Journal

Sodium Butyrate Alleviates Mouse Colitis by Regulating Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis – Xiujing Dou – Animals

Dietary sphinganine is selectively assimilated by members of the mammalian gut microbiome – Min-Ting Lee – Journal of Lipid Research

Commentary: Modulating microbiome metabolites in vivo – Chun-Jun Guo – Science

Plant, root and soil microbiome

Quantitative comparison between the rhizosphere effect of Arabidopsis thaliana and co-occurring plant species with a longer life history – Martinus Schneijderberg – ISME Journal

Water microbiome

Anthropogenic dissolved organic carbon and marine microbiomes – Maria Vila-Costa – ISME Journal

Functional foods

Effect of a functional fibre supplement on glycemic control when added to a year-long medically supervised weight management program in adults with type 2 diabetes – Raylene A. Reimer – European Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Prenatal exposure to the probiotic Lactococcus lactis decreases anxiety-like behavior and modulates cortical cytoarchitecture in a sex specific manner – Natalia Surzenko – PlosOne

Non microbiology picks

SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted via contact and via the air between ferrets – Mathilde Richard – Nature Communications

July 8, 2020

Good morning! Today’s digest includes a broad selection of interesting research. Particular highlights include a study in rats that found microbiota transplantation attenuated neuroinflammation, a human study on the dramatic microbiome effects of dietary glycans, and a new technique for using drones to collect dolphin microbiome samples.

Pregnancy and early life

History of breastfeeding but not mode of delivery shapes the gut microbiome in childhood, Camille C. Cioffi et al., PLOS ONE

Preprint: Gut microbiota and fecal short-chain fatty acids are not associated with bone mass in healthy Chinese children: a cross-sectional study, Fengyan Chen et al., Research Square

Impact of Long-Term and Low-Dose Antibiotic Prophylaxis on Gut Microbiota in Children, Yuko Akagawa et al., The Journal of Urology

Human gut microbiome

Microbiome and health implications for ethnic minorities after enforced lifestyle changes, David M. Keohane et al., Nature Medicine

Preprint: Metaproteomics reveals potential signatures of disease-specific alterations in the gut microbial proteolytic events in inflammatory bowel disease, Zhixiang Yan et al., Research Square

High-resolution temporal profiling of the human gut microbiome reveals consistent and cascading alterations in response to dietary glycans, Richard Creswell et al., Genome Medicine

Preprint: High-throughput cultivation of stable, diverse, fecal-derived microbial communities to model the intestinal microbiota, Andres Aranda-Diaz et al., bioRxiv

Preprint: pH-dependent spontaneous hydrolysis rather than gut bacterial metabolism reduces levels of the ADHD treatment, Methylphenidate, Julia Aresti et al., bioRxiv

Animal experiments

The gut microbiota attenuate neuroinflammation in manganese exposure by inhibiting cerebral NLRP3 inflammasome, Wang and Yang et al., Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy

Magnetic fields modulate metabolism and gut microbiome in correlation with Pgc‐1α expression: Follow‐up to an in vitro magnetic mitohormetic study, Yee Kit Tai et al., The FASEB Journal

Preprint: Multi-omics analysis of aspirin treatment response in mice provide molecular insights and targets linked to liver fibrosis regression, Adil Bhat et al., bioRxiv

Animal microbiome

Limited influence of the microbiome on the transcriptional profile of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, Josephine Hyde et al., Scientific Reports

The gut bacterial microbiota of sea turtles differs between geographically distinct populations, T. Franciscus Scheelings et al., Endangered Species Research

Bioinformatics

Sparse reduced-rank regression for integrating omics data, Hilafu, Safo and Haine, BMC Bioinformatics

Techniques

An ecological framework to understand the efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation, Yandong Xiao et al., Nature Communications

The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to sample the blow microbiome of small cetaceans, Cinzia Centelleghe et al., PLOS ONE

July 4, 2020

Greetings from Santiago, Chile! Today in this Digest, we have studies about the influence of alcohol use disorder on the microbiota, several papers about the influence of different compounds (from allicin to DAV132, a colon-targeted antibiotic adsorbent) on the microbiota. Today we have several papers about different models of plant- or soil- associated microbiomes, and a couple of papers from studies with SIV infection models. Have a nice weekend!

Human and General Microbiome

Longitudinal gut microbiome changes in alcohol use disorder are influenced by abstinence and drinking quantity – Nancy Ames et al., Gut Microbes

Comparative evaluation of peptidome and microbiota in different types of saliva samples – Ce Zhu et al.,Annals of Translational Medicine

Preprint: Microbial control over host diet selection – Brian K Trevelline and Kevin D Kohl – BioRxiv

Functional Compounds and the Microbiome

Hemolysin BL from novel Bacillus toyonensis BV-17 induces antitumor activity both in vitro and in vivo – Jiajia Chen et al., Gut Microbes

Modeling the effect of DAV132, a novel colon-targeted adsorbent, on fecal concentrations of moxifloxacin and gut microbiota diversity in healthy volunteers – Jinju Guk et al.,Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Allicin-induced host-gut microbe interactions improves energy homeostasisChuanhai Zhang et al., – The FASEB Journal

Evidence of Microbiome-Drug Interactions between the Antimalarial Lumefantrine and Gut Microbiota in Mice – Matthew M. Ippolito et al., The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Contrasting effects of viscous and particulate fibers on colonic fermentation in vitro and in vivo, and their impact on intestinal water studied by MRI in a randomized trial – David Gunn et al., The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Animal Microbiome / Animal Models

A theoretic approach to the mode of gut microbiome translocation in SIV-infected Asian macaques – Wendy Li and Zhanshan (Sam) Ma – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Impact of Initial Feeding and Molting on Tachypleus tridentatus Gut Microbiota – Fengze Miao et al.,Current Microbiology 

Osmotic stress induces gut microbiota community shift in fish – Keng Po Lai et al.,Environmental Microbiology

The Gut-Eye Axis: Lessons Learned from Murine Models – Jason L. Floyd & Maria B. Grant – Ophthalmology and Therapy 

The colonic mucosa-associated microbiome in SIV infection: shift towards Bacteroidetes coincides with mucosal CD4+ T cell depletion and enterocyte damage – Kristina Allers et al., Scientific Reports  

Plant or Soil Microbiomes

Re-Analysis of 16S Amplicon Sequencing Data Reveals Soil Microbial Population Shifts in Rice Fields under Drought Condition – Seok-Won Jang et al,Rice 

Integrated network modeling approach defines key metabolic responses of soil microbiomes to perturbations – Ryan S. McClure et al., Scientific Reports 

Potential microbial bioindicators of phosphorus mining in a temperate deciduous forest – Laura M. Mason et al.,Journal of Applied Microbiology

Phylogenetic signals and predictability in plant-soil feedbacks – Elizabeth M. Wandrag et al.,New Phytologist

Genomics / Bioinformatics

The compact genome of Giardia muris reveals important steps in the evolution of intestinal protozoan parasites – Feifei Xu et al.,Microbial Genomics 

LEMMI: A continuous benchmarking platform for metagenomics classifiers – Mathieu Seppey et al.,Genome Research

Other papers

Preprint: Metagenome-assembled genomes from Monte Cristo Cave (Diamantina, Brazil) reveal prokaryotic lineages as functional models for life on Mars – Amanda G Bendia et al., BioRxiv 

Preprint: Exploring metal resistance genes and mechanisms in copper enriched metal ore metagenome – Esmaeil Forouzan Sr. et al., BioRxiv

SARS-CoV-2 Preprints

Preprint: Alpha-1 antitrypsin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection – Lukas Wettstein et al.,BioRxiv

June 23, 2020

Human gut microbiome

US nativity and dietary acculturation impact the gut microbiome in a diverse US population – Peters et al. – The ISME Journal


GlycA, a novel marker for low grade inflammation, reflects gut microbiome diversity and is more accurate than high sensitive CRP in reflecting metabolomic profile – Mokkala et al. – Metabolomics

Animal experiments (mouse/rat experiments, chickens/pigs on different diets)

Black tea benefits short‐chain fatty acid producers but inhibits genus Lactobacillus in the gut of healthy Sprague–Dawley rats – Gao et al. – Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

Animal microbiome (for animals in the wild)

A role for gut microbiota in host niche differentiation – Greene et al. – The ISME Journal


Host-microbiota interaction helps to explain the bottom-up effects of climate change on a small rodent species – Li – The ISME Journal

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Recovery of fen peatland microbiomes and predicted functional profiles after rewetting – Emsens – The IMSE Journal
Water and extremophile microbiome (sea, rivers, lakes, glaciers, permafrost, high-salt)

Genomic and transcriptomic insights into methanogenesis potential of novel methanogens from mangrove sediments – Zhang et. al – Microbiome

Antibiotic resistance

Chlorine disinfection promotes the exchange of antibiotic resistance genes across bacterial genera by natural transformation – Jin et al. – The ISME Journal

Phages and viruses

Narnaviruses: novel players in fungal–bacterial symbioses – Espino-Vazquez – The ISME Journal

June 22, 2020

General microbiome
Impact of feeding and stirring regimes on the internal stratification of microbial communities in the fermenter of anaerobic digestion plants – Robert Heyera – Bioresource Technology

Human microbiome
REVIEW: Role of the Microbiome in Allergic Disease Development – Andrea C. Aguilera, – Pediatric Allergy and Immunology

Optimization and standardization of the culturomics technique for human microbiome exploration – Ami Diakite – Scientific Reports

Human skin microbiome
The microbiome of diabetic foot ulcers: a comparison of swab and tissue biopsy wound sampling techniques using 16S rRNA gene sequencing – J. Travis – BMC Microbiology

Human gut microbiome
Interpersonal Gut Microbiome Variation Drives Susceptibility and Resistance to Cholera Infection – Salma Alavi – Cell

EDITORIAL: Gut microbes effects on host metabolic alterations in health and disease – Suzana D. Savkovic – Gut Microbes

Revealing links between gut microbiome and its fungal community in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus among Emirati subjects: A pilot study – Mohammad Tahseen Al Bataineh – Scientific Reports

Alterations in the Gut Microbiome in the Progression of Cirrhosis to Hepatocellular Carcinoma – Yelena Lapidot – mSystems

Human respiratory microbiome
Taxonomic diversity of sputum microbiome in lung cancer patients and its relationship with chromosomal aberrations in blood lymphocytes – V. G. Druzhinin – Scientific Reports

Pregnancy and early life
Human milk microbiota development during lactation and its relation to maternal geographic location and gestational hypertensive status – Yi Wan – Gut Microbes

Maternal Microbiota, Cortisol Concentration, and Post-PartumWeight Recovery Are Dependent on Mode of Delivery – Marta Selma-Royo – Nutrients

Human ancient microbiome
Analysis of oral microbiome from fossil human remains revealed the significant differences in virulence factors of modern and ancient Tannerella forsythia – Anna Philips – BMC Genomics

Animal experiments
Zebrafish microbiome studies make waves – Keaton Stagaman – Lab Animal

Animal microbiome
An Insight into Diversity and Functionalities of Gut Microbiota in Insects – Shengchen Wang – Current Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome
Microbial assimilation dynamics differs but total mineralization from added root and shoot residues is similar in agricultural Alfisols – Yingde Xu – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Effects of increasing concentrations of unamended and gypsum modified bauxite residues on soil microbial community functions and structure – A mesocosm study – Camille Fourrier – Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

Microbiome approaches provide the key to biologically control postharvest pathogens and storability of fruits and vegetables – Peter Kusstatscher – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Variations of rhizospheric soil microbial communities in response to continuous Andrographis paniculata cropping practices – Junren Li – Botanical Studies

Seed Metabolism and Pathogen Resistance Enhancement in Pisum sativum During Colonization of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi: An Integrative Metabolomics-Proteomics Approach – Nima Ranjbar Sistani – Frontiers in Plant Science

Water microbiome
Differential Responses of a Coastal Prokaryotic Community to Phytoplanktonic Organic Matter Derived from Cellular Components and Exudates – Hiroaki Takebe – Microbes and Environments

Built environment
MINI-REVIEW: Microorganisms populating the water-related indoor biome – Monika Novak Babič – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Pre-print
Shotgun metagenomics reveals signicant gut microbiome features in different grades of acute pancreatitis – Shanshan Yu – Research Square

Characteristics of Esophagus Flora in Patients with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Central China – Shuixiang He – Research Square

Can root-associated fungi mediate the impact of abiotic conditions on the growth of a High Arctic herb? – Magdalena Wutkowska – bioRxiv

Microbes on the market
Finch Therapeutics Announces Positive Topline Results from Randomized Controlled Trial of CP101, an Oral Microbiome Drug, for the Prevention of Recurrent C. difficile Infection – Finch Therapeutics

Microbes in the news
Gut reaction: How the gut microbiome may influence the severity of COVID-19 – Shirin Moossavi – The Conversation

June 21, 2020

Hello from the Sonoran Desert! In today’s digest, you’ll find two very interesting reviews! Stagaman and collaborators come back on years of Zebra-fish gut microbiome research and explore the insights gleaned from this awesome model animal. On the other hand, François and Pybus review our understanding of avian viromes in both wild and domesticated bird populations, highlighting the current limitations and pitfalls in this research area.

But today’s digest also contains very interesting research papers! Gulino and collaborators are exploring viromes in New York city wastewater systems. This paper is particularly interesting as bacteriophages are typically left out from urban environments microbiomes studies, despite their abundance and importance in ecosystems.

Finally, today’s non-microbiology pick is a review that comes back on how information theory, developped by Claude Shannon in the late 40s, have been used in computational biology. This paper is particularly interesting for readers wanting to learn more about the basics of information theory and how it is applied today in bioinformatics.

Have a great Sunday!


Pregnancy and early life

Review: The microbiome in pediatric oncology – Rotz et al. – Cancer

Human respiratory microbiome

Metagenomic analysis of the lung microbiome in pulmonary tuberculosis – a pilot study – Hu et al. – Emerging Microbes & infections

Human vaginal microbiome

Taxonomic and Functional Differences in Cervical Microbiome Associated with Cervical Cancer Development –Nkufi Tange et al. – Scientific reports

Human gut microbiome

Preprint: The gut microbiome regulates memory function – Noble et al. – BioRxiV


Animal experiments (mouse/rat experiments, chickens/pigs on different diets)

review: Zebrafish microbiome studies make waves – Stagaman et al. – Lab Animal

Built environment (subways, indoor surfaces)

Revealing antimicrobial resistance in stormwater with MinION – Bialasek et al. – Chemosphere


Phages and viruses

Review: Towards an understanding of the avian virome –François et al. – Journal of general Virology

Initial Mapping of the New York City Wastewater Virome –Gulino et al. – mSystems

Bioinformatics

Higher order Markov models for metagenomic sequence classification – Burks et al. –Bioinformatics

Preprint: Combinatorial Algorithms for Strain Level Metagenomic Microbial Detection and Quantification –Zhu et al. –BioRxiV

Preprint: Ultra-rapid metagenotyping of the human gut microbiome – Shi et al. – BioRxiV


My non-microbiology pick

Review: Information Theory in Computational Biology: Where We Stand Today – Chanda et al. – Entropy