April 14, 2015

Human oral microbiome

Bacteriophage and their potential roles in the human oral cavity – Anna Edlund – Journal of Oral Microbiology

A Potential Biofilm Metabolite Signature for Caries Activity – A Pilot Clinical Study
Zandona F – Metabolomics

Human gut microbiome

Functional Dynamics of the Gut Microbiome in Elderly People during Probiotic Consumption – Emiley A. Eloe-Fadrosh – mBio

Siblings of patients with Crohn’s disease exhibit a biologically relevant dysbiosis in mucosal microbial metacommunities – Charlotte Hedin – Gut

Effect of iron supplementation with or without vitamin E (VE) on gut microbiome (MB) in iron deficient (ID) infants and toddlers – Minghua Tang – The FASEB Journal

Molecular assessment of differences in the duodenal microbiome in subjects with irritable bowel syndrome – Evangelos Giamarellos-Bourboulis – Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology

Review: Viruses, Other Pathogenic Microorganisms and Esophageal Cancer – Xu W. – Gastrointestinal Tumors

Human genital tract microbiome

True love: Complementary seminovaginal microbiome in couples – Reet Mändar – Research in Microbiology

Metabolic Signatures of Bacterial Vaginosis – Sujatha Srinivasan – mBio

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Low birthweight, gestational age, need for surgical intervention and gram-negative bacteraemia predict intestinal failure following necrotising enterocolitis – Anders Elfvin – Acta Paediatrica

Animal models of microbiome research

Gut microbiota depletion from early adolescence in mice: Implications for brain and behaviour – Lieve Desbonnet – Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

Animal microbiome

Dog: Draft Genome Sequences of 26 Porphyromonas Strains Isolated from the Canine Oral Microbiome – David A. Coil – Genome Announcements

Ragworm: Polychaete burrows harbour distinct microbial communities in oil-contaminated coastal sediments – Joe D Taylor and Michael Cunliffe – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Just dropping by (Aphids): Do Bacterial Symbionts Govern Aphid’s Dropping Behavior? – Omer Lavy – Environmental Entomology

Review (corals): Nitrogen cycling in corals: the key to understanding holobiont functioning? – Nils Rädecker – Trends in Microbiology

Plant and soil microbiome

Below-ground abiotic and biotic heterogeneity shapes above-ground infection outcomes and spatial divergence in a host–parasite interaction – Ayco J. M. Tack – New Phytologist

A pyrosequencing insight into sprawling bacterial diversity and community dynamics in decaying deadwood logs of Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies – Björn Hoppe – Scientific Reports

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

Phylogenetic community ecology of soil biodiversity using mitochondrial metagenomics – Carmelo Andújar – Molecular Ecology

Soil treatment-induced differential gene expression in tomato: Relationships between defense gene expression and soil microbial community composition – Shawn T. Lucas – Applied Soil Ecology

Diversity and characterization of Cd-tolerant dark septate endophytes (DSEs) associated with the roots of Nepal alder (Alnus nepalensis) in a metal mine tailing of southwest China – Runbing Xu – Applied Soil Ecology

Plant traits related to nitrogen uptake influence plant-microbe competition – Delphine Moreau – Ecology

Soil microbial functionality in response to dairy sewage sludge and mineral fertilisers application under winter rape – K. Oszust – International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology

Water microbiome

Dynamic succession of groundwater functional microbial communities in response to emulsified vegetable oil amendment during sustained in situ U(VI) reduction – Ping Zhang – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Distribution of PAHs and the PAH-degrading bacteria in the deep-sea sediments of the high-latitude Arctic Ocean – C. Dong – Biogeosciences

Sulfate-reducing bacterial communities in the water column of the Gdansk Deep (Baltic Sea) – V. A. Korneeva – Microbiology

Bioreactor microbiology

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

Extremophile microbiome

Archaeal Viruses Multiply: Temporal Screening in a Solar Saltern – Nina S. Atanasova – Viruses

Review: 40 Years of archaeal virology: Expanding viral diversity – Jamie C. Snyder – Virology

Methane Yield Database: Online Infrastructure and Bioresource for Methane Yield Data and Related Metadata – Boštjan Murovec – Bioresource Technology

Call for papers: BIODESERT: Exploring and Exploiting the Microbial Resource of Hot and Cold Deserts – Hindawi BioMed Research International

Metagenomics and metabolomics

Reconstructing Rare Soil Microbial Genomes using in situ Enrichments and Metagenomics – Tom O. Delmont – Frontiers in Microbiology

Characterization and Detection of a Widely Distributed Gene Cluster That Predicts Anaerobic Choline Utilization by Human Gut Bacteria – Ana Martínez-del Campo – mBio

Metabolic Signatures of Bacterial Vaginosis – Sujatha Srinivasan – mBio

Review: Prokaryotic functional gene diversity in the sunlit ocean: Stumbling in the dark
Isabel Ferrera – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Techniques

Specific amplification of bacterial DNA by optimized so-called universal bacterial primers in samples rich of plant DNA – Samart Dorn-In – Journal of Microbiological Methods

More microbiology papers

Bacterial Raincoats: Interfacial self-assembly of a bacterial hydrophobin – Keith M. Bromley – PNAS USA

A New Synthesis for Dual Use Research of Concern – Michael J. Imperiale, Arturo Casadevall – PLOS Biology

Microbes in the news

Here’s Your New Science-Backed Reason to Eat More Cheese Your good bacteria love stinky fromage as much as you do – Mandy Oaklander – Time

Making a microbe subway map – Bethany Brookshire – Student Science

Video: Can gut bacteria help us live longer? – Simin Nikbin Meydani – Tufts University

Bacterial raincoat discovery paves way to better crop protection – Phys.org

CRISPR Shows How A Bacterial Cell Can Recognize Its Own DNA – Science 2.0

Spotlight on the Banfield labLonger DNA fragments reveal rare species diversity  – TANN – Archaeology News Network

Submission for the ASM Global Video Challenge 2015: Bacterial Friends Within You – YouTube

Spread of bacteria an issue in doctors’ white coat debate – Murray Feingold – Standard Speaker

Science, publishing, and career

How should journalists cover quacks like Dr. Oz or the Food Babe? – Julia Belluz – Vox

Great news: National hiring experiments reveal 2:1 faculty preference for women on STEM tenure track – Wendy M. Williams and Stephen J. Ceci – PNAS USA

Bik’s Picks

Four Corners Methane ‘Hot Spot’: NASA Joins Team Of Scientists Attempting To Pinpoint Source Of Gas – Avaneesh Pandey – International Business Times

Natural Selection May Help Account for Dutch Height Advantage – Carl Zimmer – New York Times

This Doughnut In Space Went Where No Breakfast Pastry Has Been Before – Cameron Keady – Huffington Post
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April 11, 2015

Another new paper on gorilla gut microbiome, reviews on role of microbes in obesity, and finding the microbial equivalent of cockroaches.

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Pathogenesis of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis – Joanna C. Lim – Pediatric Surgery International

Human oral microbiome

Differentiation of salivary bacterial profiles of subjects with periodontitis and dental caries – Daniel Belstrøm – Journal of Oral Microbiology

Secretome of gingival epithelium in response to subgingival biofilms – N. Bostanci – Molecular Oral Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Perspective: Integrating host gene expression and the microbiome to explore disease pathogenesis – Allyson L Byrd and Julia A Segre – Genome Biology

Review: Recent Advances in Characterizing the Gastrointestinal Microbiome in Crohn’s Disease: A Systematic Review – Emily K Wright – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Review: Dietary effects on human gut microbiome diversity – Zhenjiang Xu and Rob Knight – British Journal of Nutrition

Review: Obesity and the gastrointestinal microbiota: a review of associations and mechanisms – Catherine Graham – Nutrition Reviews

Review: Gut Microbiome and Obesity: A Plausible Explanation for Obesity – Claudia Sanmiguel – Current Obesity Reports

Animal model microbiome

Distinct Commensals Induce Interleukin-1β via NLRP3 Inflammasome in Inflammatory Monocytes to Promote Intestinal Inflammation in Response to Injury – Sang-Uk Seo – Immunity
Animal microbiome

Gut microbiome composition and metabolomic profiles of wild western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) reflect host ecology – Andres Gomez – Molecular Ecology

Soil and plant root microbiome

Forest floor community metatranscriptomes identify fungal and bacterial responses to N deposition in two maple forests – Cedar N. Hesse – Frontiers in Microbiology

Parent materials have stronger effects than land use types on microbial biomass, activity and diversity in red soil in subtropical China – Huan Deng – Pedobiologia

Changes in soil microbial functional diversity and biochemical characteristics of tree peony with amendment of sewage sludge compost – Xiangdong Huang – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

16S rRNA study, not metagenomics: Cataloguing the bacterial diversity of the Sundarbans mangrove, India in the light of metagenomics – Pijush Basak – Genomics Data

Relationships among bulk soil physicochemical, biochemical, and microbiological parameters in an organic alfalfa-rice rotation system – Ana R. Lopes – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Soil microbial responses over 2 years following biochar addition to a north temperate forest – Genevieve L. Noyce – Biology and Fertility of Soils

Water microbiome

Temporal Dynamics of Active Prokaryotic Nitrifiers and Archaeal Communities from River to Sea – Mylène Hugoni – Microbial Ecology

Extremophile microbiome

Finding the microbial equivalent of cockroachesThe impact of gamma radiation on sediment microbial processes – Ashley R. Brown – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Built environment microbiome

Methods to Assess Human Occupancy and Occupant Activity in Hospital Patient Rooms – Sandra Dedesko – Building and Environment

Bioreactor microbiology

Bacterial communities in haloalkaliphilic sulfate-reducing bioreactors under different electron donors revealed by 16S rRNA MiSeq sequencing – Jiemin Zhou – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Microbial Ecology

Antimicrobial Resistance: The Major Contribution of Poor Governance and Corruption to This Growing Problem – Peter Collignon – PLOS ONE

Local–global overlap in diversity informs mechanisms of bacterial biogeography – Joshua A Livermore and Stuart E Jones – The ISME Journal

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Inference of Markovian Properties of Molecular Sequences from NGS Data and Applications to Comparative Genomics – Jie Ren – ArXiv

Techniques

Normalization of environmental metagenomic DNA enhances the discovery of under-represented microbial community members – J.-B. Ramond – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Estimating Protistan Diversity using High-throughput Sequencing – Sarah K. Hu – Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Connecting Indoor Microbiome Studies with Indoor Chemistry – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBE.net

Smart Sewers Will Reveal What’s in Cambridge Citizens’ Guts – Elie Dolgin – IEEE Spectrum

Microbes disprove long-held assumption that all organisms share a common vocabulary – Science Daily

Scientists study mystery of Lake Erie toxic bacteria – Detroit Free Press

Jessica Cofield puts degrees in microbiology to good use – Crystal Garrett – Sun Journal

MRSA Bacteria From Borrowed Makeup Brush Paralyzes 27-Year-Old Woman – Lecia Bushak – Medical Daily

Science, publishing, and career

Virginia student earns admission to all eight Ivy League schools, and others – T. Rees Shapiro – Washington Post

China’s medical research integrity questioned – The Lancet

The seven sins of peer review – Technologist

Bik’s Picks

Review: Innovations in Health Value and Functional Food Development of Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) – Brittany L. Graf – Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety

In Hawaii, Chickens Gone Wild – Kenneth Chang – New York Times

Komodo dragon named Smaug gets a leg up from a new prosthetic – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

[hr]

April 10, 2015

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Maternal fucosyltransferase 2 status affects the gut bifidobacterial communities of breastfed infants – Zachery T Lewis – Microbiome

The Infant Nasopharyngeal Microbiome Impacts Severity of Lower Respiratory Infection and Risk of Asthma Development – Shu Mei Teo – Cell Host & Microbe

Mid-trimester amniotic fluid pro-inflammatory biomarkers predict the risk of spontaneous preterm delivery in twins: a retrospective cohort study – S M Lee – Journal of Perinatology

Risk for Preterm and Very Preterm Delivery in Women Who Were Born Preterm – Boivin, Ariane – Obstetrics & Gynecology

Human oral microbiome

Clinical and microbiological effects of probiotic lozenges in the treatment of chronic periodontitis: a 1-year follow-up study – Merve Tekce – Journal of Clinical Periodontology

Review: Beyond microbial community composition: Functional activities of the oral microbiome in health and disease – Ana E. Duran-Pinedo, Jorge Frias-Lopez – Microbes and Infection

Human gut microbiome

A randomized controlled trial to test the effect of multispecies probiotics on cognitive reactivity to sad mood – Laura Steenbergen – Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

Fungi inhabiting the healthy human gastrointestinal tract: a diverse and dynamic community – Heather E. Hallen-Adams – Fungal Ecology

Changes in human gut microbiota influenced by probiotic fermented milk ingestion – Tatsuya Unno – Journal of Dairy Science

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Induces Remission in Patients with Active Ulcerative Colitis in a Randomized, Controlled Trial – Paul Moayyedi – Gastroenterology

Review: The Microbiota and Microbiome in Aging: Potential Implications in Health and Age-Related Diseases – Heidi J. Zapata – Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Review: Gastric cancer and the microbiome – Nivedita Arora – Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease

Review: The Role of Microbiota on the Gut Immunology – Yang Won Min – Clinical Therapeutics

Animal models of microbiome research

Editorial: Gut Microbiota: The Link to Your Second Brain – Vanessa Ridaura – Cell
Belongs to: Indigenous Bacteria from the Gut Microbiota Regulate Host Serotonin Biosynthesis – Jessica M. Yano – Cell

Inoculation of tannin-degrading bacteria into novel hosts increases performance on tannin-rich diets – Kevin D. Kohl – Environmental Microbiology

Crosstalk between Microbiota-Derived Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Intestinal Epithelial HIF Augments Tissue Barrier Function – Caleb J. Kelly – Cell Host & Microbe

Effect of a new recombinant Aeromonas hydrophila vaccine on the grass carp intestinal microbiota and correlations with immunological responses – Lei Liu – Fish & Shellfish Immunology

Colonization and induction of Th17 cells by segmented filamentous bacteria in the murine intestine – Adam M. Farkas – Journal of Immunological Methods

Animal microbiome

Microbiota and probiotics in canine and feline welfare – Łukasz Grześkowiak – Anaerobe

Isolation and use of beneficial microbiota from the digestive tract of lions-paw scallop Nodipecten subnodosus and winged pearl oyster Pteria sterna in oyster aquaculture – Fernando Abasolo-Pacheco – Aquaculture Research

Perspective: Does the Arthropod Microbiota Impact the Establishment of Vector-Borne Diseases in Mammalian Hosts? – Constance A. M. Finney – PLOS Pathogens

Plant and plant root microbiome

Seagrass biofilm communities at a naturally CO2-rich vent – Christiane Hassenrück – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Preferential Association of Endophytic Bradyrhizobia with Different Rice Cultivars and Its Implications for Rice Endophyte Evolution – Pongdet Piromyou – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Niche partitioning in arbuscular mycorrhizal communities in temperate grasslands: a lesson from adjacent serpentine and nonserpentine habitats – Petr Kohout – Molecular Ecology

Soil microbiome

Microbial community dynamics during the early stages of plant polymer breakdown in paddy soil – Carl-Eric Wegner andWerner Liesack – Environmental Microbiology

Depth-related responses of soil microbial communities to experimental warming in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau – B. Zhang – European Journal of Soil Science

Red Soils Harbor Diverse Culturable Actinomycetes That Are Promising Sources of Novel Secondary Metabolites – Xiaoxuan Guo – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Water microbiome

Shifts in the meso- and bathypelagic archaea communities composition during recovery and short-term handling of decompressed deep-sea samples – Violetta La Cono –

Understanding diversity patterns in bacterioplankton communities from a sub-Antarctic peatland – María Victoria Quiroga – Environmental Microbiology Reports

The hidden seasonality of the rare biosphere in coastal marine bacterioplankton – Laura Alonso-Sáez- Environmental Microbiology

Bacterial community dynamics during polysaccharide degradation at contrasting sites in the Southern and Atlantic Oceans – Matthias Wietz – Environmental Microbiology

Extremophile microbiome

Nature special: Permafrost: overview articles and primary research from Nature papers, including role of microbes in permafrost soils

Metagenomic analysis of a high carbon dioxide subsurface microbial community populated by chemolithoautotrophs and bacteria and archaea from candidate phyla
Joanne B. Emerson – Environmental Microbiology

Food microbiology

Batch-to-batch uniformity of bacterial community succession and flavor formation in the fermentation of Zhenjiang aromatic vinegar – Zong-Min Wang – Food Microbiology

Microbial diversity and stability during primary cultivation and subcultivation processes of Tibetan kefir – Wei Gao – International Journal of Food Science & Technology

There is a serious problem with Figure 1: Tetragenococcus koreensis is part of the microbiota in a traditional Italian raw fermented sausage – C. Amadoro – Food Microbiology

Other  papers of interest

Development and utility of the FDA ‘GutProbe’ DNA microarray for identification, genotyping and metagenomic analysis of commercially available probiotics – J.N. Patro – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Increased Biodiversity in the Environment Improves the Humoral Response of Rats
Cinthia Pi – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the news

Bundle Of Joyful Microbes: Mom’s DNA Alters Baby’s Gut Bacteria – Michaeleen Doucleff – NPR Shots

Worms, germs lead to better immune function – Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150408145242.htm
What does the term microbiome mean? And where did it come from? A bit of a surprise .. – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

Leading expert on microbiome Rob Knight wins a 2015 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science – PR NewsWire

Congrats: You Are Officially a Superorganism – Max Lugavere – Huffington Post

Genetically-Engineered Bacteria Can Keep Mice From Getting Fat – Sarah Zhang – Gizmodo

Your microbiome may hold keys to cancer treatment – Alexandra Ossola – Popular Science

Cheese: The latest piece of the French paradox puzzle? – Niamh Michail – Food Navigator

#BacteriaHysteria #BacteriaArePlural: How much bacteria is in your kid’s lunchbox? You might be surprised (and grossed out) – Alex Perez – ABC 7online

Science, publishing, and career

Wanted: staff-scientist positions for postdocs – Kendall Powell – Nature

Book review: Speaking of science – Scientific Babel: How Science Was Done Before and After Global English – Lynn K. Nyhart – Science

Gender Disparity in Peer Review? – Andrew Harrison – Publons

Citations are not enough: Academic promotion panels must take into account a scholar’s presence in popular media – London School of Economics and Political Science

Bik’s Picks

Incredible imprinting – ‘are you my mummy?’ – Biodetectives

Sea Turtle Toddlers’ ‘Lost Years’ Spent Swimming, Not Drifting In Seaweed Matts – Rebekah Marcarelli – HNGN.com

New species of ‘terror bird’ discovered – Sid Perkins – Science

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April 9, 2015

Events and conferences

3rd Microbiome R&D and Business Collaboration Forum: USA – 10-11 September 2015, San Diego

Symposium ‘Women & Their Microbes’, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, May 8, 2015 in Micropia

Human gut microbiome

Associations between host gene expression, the mucosal microbiome, and clinical outcome in the pelvic pouch of patients with inflammatory bowel disease – Xochitl C Morgan – Genome Biology

Animal models of microbiome research

High-grain feeding causes strong shifts in ruminal epithelial bacterial community and expression of Toll-like receptor genes in goats – Jun-hua Liu – Frontiers in Microbiology

Site-specific programming of the host epithelial transcriptome by the gut microbiota – Felix Sommer – Genome Biology

Animal microbiome

Bats: Bacteria Isolated from Bats Inhibit the Growth of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the Causative Agent of White-Nose Syndrome – Joseph R. Hoyt – PLOS ONE

Plant microbiome

Interactions of Methylotrophs with Plants and Other Heterotrophic Bacteria – Hiroyuki Iguchi – Microorganisms

Soil and sediment microbiome

Effects of 100 years wastewater irrigation on resistance genes, class 1 integrons and IncP-1 plasmids in Mexican soil – Sven Jechalke – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial methane formation in deep aquifers of a coal-bearing sedimentary basin, Germany – Friederike Gründger – Frontiers in Microbiology

Farm management, not soil microbial diversity, controls nutrient loss from smallholder tropical agriculture – Stephen A. Wood – Frontiers in Microbiology

Water microbiome

Viruses and bacteria in floodplain lakes along a major Amazon tributary respond to distance to the Amazon River – Rafael M. Almeida – Frontiers in Microbiology

Extremophile microbiome

Permafrost thawing in organic Arctic soils accelerated by ground heat production – Jørgen Hollesen – Nature Climate Change
See also:
Bacteria warm up permafrost – Nature

Alternative lifestyle: The processes that allow life to thrive in deep-sea vents are happening all around us – Nick Higgs – New Scientist

Bacterial community structure across environmental gradients in permafrost thaw ponds: methanotroph-rich ecosystems – Sophie Crevecoeur – Frontiers in Microbiology

Influence of Martian regolith analogs on the activity and growth of methanogenic archaea, with special regard to long-term desiccation – Janosch Schirmack – Frontiers in Microbiology

Diversity and role of plasmids in adaptation of bacteria inhabiting the Lubin copper mine in Poland, an environment rich in heavy metals – Lukasz Dziewit – Frontiers in Microbiology

Active Microbial Communities Inhabit Sulphate-Methane Interphase in Deep Bedrock Fracture Fluids in Olkiluoto, Finland – Malin Bomberg – BioMed Research International

Food microbiology

Review: Recent trends in non-invasive in situ techniques to monitor bacterial colonies in solid (model) food – María M. Lobete – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioreactor and wastewater microbiome

Bacteriophages as indicators of human and animal faecal contamination in raw and treated wastewaters from Tunisia – M. Yahya – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Microbial Ecology

Taking advantage of quorum sensing – Cláudio Nunes-Alves – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Phylogenomics and systematics in Pseudomonas – Margarita Gomila – Frontiers in Microbiology

Kraken: ultrafast metagenomic sequence classification using exact alignments – Derrick E Wood and Steven L Salzberg (HT: Tomer Altman)

Metabolomics

Exometabolomics and MSI: deconstructing how cells interact to transform their small molecule environment – Leslie P Silva – Current Opinion in Biotechnology

 

Microbes in the news

Life below Antarctic ice survives on ancient forests – Catherine Brahic – New Scientist

Eden Project’s ‘Human Biome’ is a gross, musical microbe showcase – Katie Collins – Wired

Company provides easy access to microbiome data – Mark Niu – CCTV America

 

Gates Foundation Issues Call for Application for Round 15 of Grand Challenges Initiative  – Philanthropy News Digest

Changes in Lung Microbiota May Help Predict Cystic Fibrosis Pulmonary Exacerbations – Patricia Silva – Cystic Fibrosis News today

Body maps reveal the bacteria and chemicals lurking on skin – Meera Senthilingam – CNN

 

Gut Bacteria May Be Associated with Parkinson’s Phenotype – Neurology Advisor

Microbes Engineered to Prevent Obesity – Katherine Bourzac – Technology Review
Cornell Researchers Identify Gut Microbes that May Help Some People Remain Thin; Findings Could Result in Clinical Laboratory Tests to Analyze the Microbiomes of Individuals
– Dark Daily

Silver linings: a personal memoir about Hurricane Katrina and fungal volatiles
Joan W. Bennett – Frontiers in Microbiology

 

Sequencing the intestinal microbiome to target therapies: Vanni Bucci looking for probiotic cocktails – Bryan Goodchild and Ellie Castano – University of Massachusetts Medical School Communications

Bacteria inhibit bat-killing fungus, could combat white-nose syndrome – Tim Stephens – University of California Santa Cruz

Turtle phage therapy might help develop alternative to antibiotic treatments for humans, Queensland researchers say – Nance Haxton – ABC Australia

9 Types Of Bacteria You Didn’t Know You’re Sharing Your House With – Esther Inglis-Arkell

 

Science, publishing, and career

Chris Butler: Wants to snuggle up to bacteria – BMJ Observations

‘Plagiarism, fraud, and predatory publishing’ are polluting science, says bioethicist Arthur Caplan – Susan Perry – MinnPost

Bik’s Picks

Hair Regrowth Discovery Suggests Skin Cells Communicate Like Bacteria – Dina Fine Maron – Scientific American

Genome sequencing mountain gorillas reveals the genetic impact of inbreeding – Aylwyn Scally – The Conversation

Gem lover donates $13M for Smithsonian’s science education – Brett Zongker  – Washington Post

[hr]

April 8, 2015

Events

#UMassMedChat on the microbiome is Thursday at 11:30 a.m.- UMass Center for Microbiome Research to answer questions on gut health

Microbes in the City: Mapping the Urban Genome, Friday, June 19, 2015 – The New York Academy of Sciences

Human respiratory microbiome

Analysis of microbiota in stable patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – Estefania Aguirre – APMIS

Human gut microbiome

Site-specific programming of the host epithelial transcriptome by the gut microbiota – Felix Sommer – Genome Biology

Animal microbiome

Horses and pigs: Lactobacillus ruminis strains cluster according to their mammalian gut source – Michelle M O’ Donnell1 – BMC Microbiology

Turkeys: Rye Affects Bacterial Translocation, Intestinal Viscosity, Microbiota Composition and Bone Mineralization in Turkey Poults – Guillermo Tellez – PLOS ONE

Amphibians: Larval exposure to polychlorinated biphenyl 126 (PCB-126) causes persistent alteration of the amphibian gut microbiota – Kevin D. Kohl – Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Tsetse fly: Paternal transmission of a secondary symbiont during mating in the viviparous tsetse fly – Linda De Vooght – Molecular Biology and Evolution

Squid and Vibrio fisheri: Signaling between two interacting sensor kinases promotes biofilms and colonization by a bacterial symbiont – Allison N. Norsworthy and Karen L. Visick – Molecular Microbiology
Sponges: Phylogenetic diversity of sulphate-reducing Desulfovibrio associated with three South China Sea sponges – D. Zhang – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Plant root and soil microbiome

Plant diversity increases soil microbial activity and soil carbon storage – Markus Lange – Nature Communications

Phylogenetic relatedness determined between antibiotic resistance and 16S rRNA
genes in actinobacteria – Marketa Sagova-Mareckova – BMC Microbiology

Water microbiome

Functional Gene Composition, Diversity and Redundancy in Microbial Stream Biofilm Communities – Andrew Dopheide – PLOS ONE

Metabolomics

Distributing a metabolic pathway among a microbial consortium enhances production of natural products – Kang Zhou – Nature Biotechnology

Metabolite-sensing receptors ​GPR43 and ​GPR109A facilitate dietary fibre-induced gut homeostasis through regulation of the inflammasome – Laurence Macia – Nature Communications

Molecular Signatures of Nicotinoid-Pathogen Synergy in the Termite Gut – Ruchira Sen – PLOS ONE

Unique Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) Hive Component-Based Communities as Detected by a Hybrid of Phospholipid Fatty-Acid and Fatty-Acid Methyl Ester Analyses – Kirk J. Grubbs – PLOS ONE

Bioinformatics

A Robust ANOVA Approach to Estimating A Phylogeny from Multiple Genes – Ximing Xu – Molecular Biology and Evolution

More microbiology papers

Eighteenth-century genomes show that mixed infections were common at time of peak tuberculosis in Europe – Gemma L. Kay – Nature Communications

Microbes in the news

Beneficial bacteria – Ella Nonni – The Cornell Daily Sun

Mapping All The Chemicals And Tiny Bacteria Living On Our Skin – Adele Peters – FastCoExist

uBiome and HelloFlo are teaming up to explore how the vaginal microbiome changes during pregnancy and postpartum

Video: Gut Microbiome and Its Role in Allergy and Asthma – Christine Cole Johnson – JSPRQ.com

Colorado startup’s microbiome-modulating drug could improve metformin tolerability – Meghana Keshavan – MedCityNews

Race to stamp out animal plague begins – Ewen Callaway – Nature

Science, publishing, and career

The future of the postdoc: There is a growing number of postdocs and few places in academia for them to go. But change could be on the way – Kendall Powell – Nature

Opinion: Addressing systemic problems in the biomedical research enterprise – Bruce Alberts – PNAS USA

History: Women at the edge of science – Jennifer Rampling – Nature

Bik’s Picks

Efficacy of Commercial Weight-Loss Programs: An Updated Systematic Review
Kimberly A. Gudzune – Annals of Internal Medicine

Ecology: Recovering the potential of coral reefs – Nicholas K. Dulvy & Holly K. Kindsvater – Nature
Complex organic molecules discovered in infant star system: Hints that building blocks of chemistry of life are universal – Science Daily

[hr]

April 7, 2015

Lots of abstracts today that were published in the FASEB Journal. Although not clearly marked, these appear to be abstracts from an ASBMB meeting held in March 2015 in Boston, called “The Human Microbiome“. None of these have a link to a PDF.

Course: Frontiers in Host-Microbe Interactions – August 2015

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

The FASEB Journal Abstracts:

Review: Normal flora and bacterial vaginosis in pregnancy: an overview – Mathys Jacobus Redelinghuys – Critical Reviews in Microbiology

Review: The Infant Gut Microbiome: Evidence for Obesity Risk and Dietary Intervention – Petya T. Koleva – Nutrients

Human skin microbiome

The diversity and host interactions of Propionibacterium acnes bacteriophages on human skin – Jared Liu – The ISME Journal

Human oral microbiome

The Repertoire of Archaea Cultivated from Severe Periodontitis – Hong T. T. Huynh – PLOS ONE

Review: Filifactor alocis – a new emerging periodontal pathogen – A. Wilson Aruni – Microbes and Infection

Human gut microbiome

The FASEB Journal Abstracts:

Autism spectrum disorders and intestinal microbiota – Maria De Angelis – Gut Microbes

Review: Impacts of Gut Bacteria on Human Health and Diseases – Yu-Jie Zhang – International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Animal models of microbiome research

The FASEB Journal Abstracts:

Leaky intestine and impaired microbiome in an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mouse model – Shaoping Wu – Physiological Reports

Metabolomic Modeling To Monitor Host Responsiveness to Gut Microbiota Manipulation in the BTBRT+tf/j Mouse – Matthias S. Klein – Journal of Proteome Research

Animal microbiome

The FASEB Journal Abstract: The Extraordinary Evolution of the Great Ape Microbiome
Howard Ochman

Pigs: How host gender affects the bacterial community in pig feces and its correlation to skatole production – Zhenjin Zhou – Annals of Microbiology

Pigs: Analysis of swine fecal microbiota at various growth stages – Jungman Kim – Archives of Microbiology

Fish / Review: Disinfection of teleost eggs: a review – Evelien De Swaef – Reviews in Aquaculture

Ticks: Concordance of bacterial communities of two tick species and blood of their shared rodent host – Evelyn C. Rynkiewicz – Molecular Ecology

Soil microbiome

Over 150 Years of Long-Term Fertilization Alters Spatial Scaling of Microbial Biodiversity – Yuting Liang – mBio

Analysis of Bacterial and Archaeal Communities along a High-Molecular-Weight Polyacrylamide Transportation Pipeline System in an Oil Field – Cai-Yun Li – International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Effects of Functionalized and Raw Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Soil Bacterial Community Composition – Dorsaf Kerfahi – PLOS ONE

Review: Effective role of indigenous microorganisms for sustainable environment – Baduru Lakshman Kumar and D. V. R. Sai Gopal – 3 Biotech

Water microbiome

Size-fractionated diversity of eukaryotic microbial communities in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific oxygen minimum zone – M.T. Duret – FEMS Microbial Ecology

Seawater mesocosm experiments in the Arctic uncover differential transfer of marine bacteria to aerosols – Camilla Fahlgren – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Book: Microbiology of the Everglades Ecosystem – CRC Press

Extremophile microbiome

Physiochemical control of bacterial and protist community composition and diversity in Antarctic sea ice – Anders Torstensson – Environmental Microbiology

Whole-Genome Shotgun Sequence of the Keratinolytic Bacterium Lysobacter sp. A03, Isolated from the Antarctic Environment – Jamile Queiroz Pereira – Genome Announcements

Food microbiome

Microbial Ecology of Watery Kimchi – Kyu Hang Kyung – Journal of Food Science

Bioreactor and biofilter microbiome

Characterization of the microbial community structure and nitrosamine-reducing isolates in drinking water biofilters – Wanfeng Wang – Science of the Total Environment

Metagenomics, Metabolomics, and Transcriptomics

The FASEB Journal Abstracts:

Proficiency testing for bacterial whole genome sequencing: an end-user survey of current capabilities, requirements and priorities – Jacob Moran-Gilad – BMC Infectious Diseases

Utilizing de Bruijn graph of metagenome assembly for metatranscriptome analysis – Yuzhen Ye, Haixu Tang – ArXiv

Single-cell genomics-based analysis of virus–host interactions in marine surface bacterioplankton – Jessica M Labonté – The ISME Journal

Applying meta-pathway analyses through metagenomics to identify the functional properties of the major bacterial communities of a single spontaneous cocoa bean fermentation process sample – Koen Illeghems – Food Microbiology

Size-fraction partitioning of community gene transcription and nitrogen metabolism in a marine oxygen minimum zone – Sangita Ganesh – The ISME Journal

Transcriptomic evidence for microbial sulfur cycling in the eastern tropical North Pacific oxygen minimum zone – Molly Carolan and J Michael Beman – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Progress and Challenges in Developing Metabolic Footprints from Diet in Human Gut Microbial Cometabolism – Linda C Duffy – Journal of Nutrition

Microbial Ecology

Bacterial adaptation to sublethal antibiotic gradients can change the ecological properties of multitrophic microbial communities – Ville-Petri Friman – Proceedings B

Local–global overlap in diversity informs mechanisms of bacterial biogeography – Joshua A Livermore – The ISME Journal

Techniques

Assessing the performance of the Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION – T. Laver – Biomolecular Detection and Quantification

Next-generation sequencing data analysis on cloud computing – Taesoo Kwon – Genes & Genomics

Microbes in the news

It’s a microbe’s world…we’re just living and dying in it – Margaret Leigh Sinrod – SciTechNow

May deadline: 2015 MO BIO Microbiome Awards – MoBIO

After cancer diagnosis, MIT student 3-D prints tumor, has microbiome analyzed – Nidhi Subbaraman – BetaBoston

Most of the text appears stolen from an article by Lita Proctor:  Human Microbiome: Quiz – Target Health

Video: Why Your Beard Is Disgusting – Discovery News

Episode 4 of The Microbiome Podcast: What’s hot in the microbiome field with Kristina Campbell – American Microbiome Institute

Solving the complex problem of recurrent C. diff with a simple solution: 
Physician scientists are using fecal transplants to break the deadly cycle of a killer infection – Bryan Goodchild and Ellie Castano – University of Massachusetts Medical School

Gut Bacteria May Influence Parkinson’s Risk, Phenotype – Pauline Anderson – Medscape

Summing up: Bassis et al.’s take on the influence of the URT on other human-associated biogeographies – Fiona Whelan – Human Microbiome Journal Club:

Under the microscope, strong-swimming swamp bacteria spontaneously organize into crystals – Phys.org

Science, publishing, and career

Female peers in small work groups enhance women’s motivation, verbal participation, and career aspirations in engineering – Nilanjana Dasgupta – PNAS USA

Bik’s Picks

How California can survive the drought — State is not in complete control – Danielle Venton – Nature

The Brontosaurus Is Back, Baby – Rich Juzwiak – Gawker

Endangered Tortoises Feasting on Invasive Plants – Richard Farrell – Discovery
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April 4, 2015

In this weekend edition, I found papers on iron supplements, phage and TM6 genomics, millipedes, ground squirrels, and coffee consumption. 

Human oral microbiome

Salivary Microbiota Reflects Changes in Gut Microbiota in Cirrhosis with Hepatic Encephalopathy – Jasmohan S Bajaj – Hepatology

The Peri-Implant and Periodontal Microbiota in Patients with and without Clinical Signs of Inflammation – Meike Luise Jakobi – Dental Journal

Almost completely plagiarized Review: Interspecies communication in oral biofilm: An ocean of information – Amit Parashar – Oral Science International

Human respiratory microbiome

Possible role of anaerobes in the pathogenesis of nontuberculous mycobacterial infection – Kei Yamasaki – Respirology

Human gut microbiome

Isn’t that Ironic: Iron fortification adversely affects the gut microbiome, increases pathogen abundance and induces intestinal inflammation in Kenyan infants – Tanja Jaeggi – Gut

Review: The gut microbiome in cardio-metabolic health – Tue H Hansen – Genome Medicine

Review: The role of the commensal microbiota in the regulation of tolerance to dietary allergens – Berni Canani – Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Review: The gut-brain axis: interactions between enteric microbiota, central and enteric nervous systems – Marilia Carabotti – Annals of Gastroenterology

Human urine microbiome

Review: “Sterile Urine” and the Presence of Bacteria – Alan J. Wolfe and Linda Brubaker – European Urology

Animal and other models of microbiome research

Lacking vitamin D receptor leads to intestinal dysbiosis – Dapeng Jin – The FASEB Journal

Evidence for a link between Gut Microbiota and Hypertension in the Dahl rat model – Blair Mell – Physiological Genomics

In vitro colonic metabolism of coffee and chlorogenic acid results in selective changes in human faecal microbiota growth – Charlotte E. Mills – British Journal of Nutrition

Ingestion of coffee polyphenols increases postprandial release of the active glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1(7–36)) amide in C57BL/6J mice – Yoshie Fujii – British Journal of Nutrition

 

Animal microbiome

Squirrels: Functional Analysis of Seasonally-Changing Gut Microbiotas in Hibernating Ground Squirrels – Hannah Carey – The FASEB Journal

Fish: Community assembly of a euryhaline fish microbiome during salinity acclimation
Victor T. Schmidt – Molecular Ecology

Aphids: Shifts in Buchnera aphidicola density in soybean aphids (Aphis glycines) feeding on virus-infected soybean – Bryan J. Cassone – Insect Molecular Biology

Millipedes: Litter-type specific microbial responses to the transformation of leaf litter into millipede feces – François-Xavier Joly – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Plant root and soil microbiome

Spatial soil heterogeneity has a greater effect on symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities and plant growth than genetic modification with Bacillus thuringiensis toxin genes – Tanya E. Cheeke – Molecular Ecology

Microbial community analysis of switchgrass planted and unplanted soil microcosms displaying PCB dechlorination – Yi Liang – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

A conserved arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal core-species community colonizes potato roots in the Andes– Carolina Senés-Guerrero and Arthur Schüßler – Fungal Diversity

Built environment microbiome

Influence of housing characteristics on bacterial and fungal communities in homes of asthmatic children – Karen C. Dannemiller – Indoor Air

Bioreactor microbiome

Characterisation of the complex microbial community associated with the ASTER™ thiocyanate biodegradation system – Robert J. Huddy – Minerals Engineering

A comprehensive study on algal-bacterial communities shift during thiocyanate degradation in a microalga-mediated process – Byung-Gon Ryu – Bioresource Technology

Metagenomics, genomes

TM6: Babela massiliensis, a representative of a widespread bacterial phylum with unusual adaptations to parasitism in amoebae – Isabelle Pagnier – Biology Direct

Small circular single stranded DNA viral genomes in unexplained cases of human encephalitis, diarrhea, and in untreated sewage – Tung Gia Phan – Virology

Previously unknown evolutionary groups dominate the ssDNA gokushoviruses in oxic and anoxic waters of a coastal marine environment – Jessica M. Labonté – Frontiers in Microbiology

Rapid Genome Assembly and Comparison Decode Intrastrain Variation in Human Alphaherpesviruses – Lance R. Parsons – mBio

Techniques

Effect of different heterotrophic plate count methods on the estimation of the composition of the culturable microbial community – Eva Theres Gensberger – PeerJ

Microbes in the news

World’s largest microbiome conference held in Luxembourg – University Du Luxembourg

Wash U. Study Finds Bacteria More Antibiotic Resistant – OzarksFirst

What did the bacteria say to the cigarette? “Don’t make me get aggressive” — study finds that smoke strengthens bad bugs – Dave Rice – SanDiegoReader

Urine Isn’t Free of Bacteria – HealthDay

Bad bacteria in your beer? Problem Solvers put taps to the test – Shellie Bailey-Shah – KATU.com

Is it time to bid farewell to your Beats? Your pricey designer headphones could be causing bacteria build-up, acne and even nasty skin infections – Erica Tempesta – Daily Mail UK

Science, publishing, and career

Gender pay inequality at UK Universities: It’s not just bad, it’s wrong – John Gill – Times Higher Education

Bik’s Picks

Yes, Mice Can Sing. And You Won’t Believe How Much They Sound Like Songbirds – Macrina Cooper-White – Huffington Post

Mars rover Curiosity spots strange, 2-tone veins on planet’s surface – Amina Khan – LA Times

Archaeologists uncover 330 year old “war camel” skeleton – David Demar – The American Register

April 3, 2015

Check out today’s #PLOSBuzzFeed on Twitter for some Friday fun.

Human general microbiome

Only 10 microbes are designated by the International Agency for Cancer Research (IACR) as carcinogenic to humans (Review): Cancer and the microbiota – Wendy S. Garrett – Science

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

Administration of a multistrain probiotic product (VSL#3) to women in the perinatal period differentially affects breast milk beneficial microbiota in relation to mode of delivery – Paola Mastromarino – Pharmacological Research

Conference abstract: Preterm Infant Gut Microbiome and Weight at 36 Weeks Corrected Gestational Age – Diana Taft – The FASEB Journal

Still in press: Should Infants Cry Over Spilled Milk? Fecal Glycomics as an Indicator of a Healthy Infant Gut Microbiome – Steven A Frese – Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition

Human respiratory microbiome

Conference abstract: Correlative Changes in Macrophage Polarization and Pulmonary Microbiota in Lung Transplant Recipients – E. Bernasconi – The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation

Harder to breathe (Review): The changing face of asthma and its relation with microbes – Chris S. Earl – Trends in Microbiology

Human gut microbiome / functional foods

Metabolic and physiologic effects from consuming a hunter-gatherer (Paleolithic)-type diet in type 2 diabetes – U Masharani – European Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial of Fecal Transplantation for Patients with Ulcerative Colitis – Noortje G. Rossen – Gastroenterology

Correlation between gut microbiota composition and parasitic infection of pre-adolescence in Malaysia – Chun-Wie Chong – Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection

Fit to the bone (review): The intestinal microbiome and skeletal fitness: connecting bugs and bones – Julia F. Charles – Clinical Immunology

Poster abstract: Effect of Prebiotic Fiber Intake on Adiposity and Inflammation in Overweight and Obese Children: Assessing the Role of the Gut Microbiota – Alissa C. Nicolucci – Canadian Journal of Diabetes

Animal models of microbiome

Poster abstract: Parallel Improvement in Body Weight, Glycemia, and Intestinal Permeability but not Body Fat with Prebiotic- and Antibiotic-Induced Gut Microbiota Modification – Marc Bomhof – Canadian Journal of Diabetes

Animal microbiome

Drosophila: The Impact of Host Diet on Wolbachia Titer in Drosophila – Laura R. Serbus – PLOS Pathogens

Soil and compost microbiome

Soil plots in Burgundy (but no vineyards!): Mapping and determinism of soil microbial community distribution across an agricultural landscape – Florentin Constancias – MicrobiologyOpen

Molecular profile of microbiota of Finnish commercial compost suppressive against Pythium disease on cucumber plants – D. Yu – Applied Soil Ecology

Wildfire effects on the properties and microbial community structure of organic horizon soils in the New Jersey Pinelands – Robyn A. Mikita-Barbato – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Extremophile microbiome (see also “Microbes in the news” below)

Microbial dwarves in the mines: Use of Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria to Leach Rare Earth Elements from Monazite-Bearing Ore – Doyun Shin – Minerals

Food microbiology

This study smells: Microbiological spoilage and volatiles production of gutted European sea bass stored under air and commercial modified atmosphere package at 2oC – Foteini F. Parlapani – Food Microbiology

Viable cells differentiation improves microbial dynamics study of fermented milks – Davide Porcellato – International Dairy Journal

Wine electrophoresis? Inactivation of wine associated microbiota by continuous pulsed electric field treatments – Lucía González-Arenzana – Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies

Bioreactor microbiome

Characterization of the microbial community structure and nitrosamine-reducing isolates in drinking water biofilters – Wanfeng Wang – Science of the Total Environment

Bioinformatics

PhyloRelief: Explaining Diversity in Metagenomic Datasets by Phylogenetic-Based Feature Weighting – Davide Albanese – PLOS Computational Biology

One of the figures has the Giant Microbes in it! Personalized microbial network inference via co-regularized spectral clustering – Sultan Imangaliyev – Methods

Microbes in the news

“Life at the Limits” shows extremophiles aren’t just bacteria – AMNH exhibit includes live axolotls, nautiluses, and mantis shrimp – John Timmer – Ars Technica

uBiome’s Dental Campaign to Give Portion of Proceeds to Charitable Dental Organization
Partnering with Oral Health America’s Smiles Across America – PR Web

No Bonferroni correction but: Is The Microbiome Correlated with Income? The Answer Will Surprise You – Alexandra Carmichael – uBiome

Cross-posting this week’s contribution for MicroBE.netGently down the stream: the microbiome along a river’s course – Elisabeth Bik – MicroBE.net

Cleaning with Bleach May Lead to Childhood Infections
– Laura Geggel – Live Science

How the guts of poultry affect performance – Jake Davies – FWI

Cigarette Smoke Makes Superbugs More Aggressive – Heather Buschman – UC San Diego

The Plague Bacteria Found in Flea Samples Near Flagstaff – NAZ Today

Travelers Bringing Drug-Resistant Bacteria to U.S.: Strain of Shigella is easily transmitted and causes tough-to-treat diarrhea, CDC says – WebMD

France bans imports of Puglia vegetables as olive bacteria starts mini trade war – Nicole Winfield – US News

Science, publishing, and career

Hoax-detecting software spots fake papers – John Bohannon – Science

A career is like a love affair – Madeleine Jacobs – Science

Ten Simple Rules to Win a Nobel Prize – Richard J. Roberts – PLOS Computational Biology

Science and art

This is gorgeous: A Sprawling New Cut Paper Bacterium by Rogan Brownby – Christopher Jobson – Colossal

Bik’s Picks

All animal phyla in 35 photos – Melissa Hogenboom – BBC

Shelled Out: 5 Egg-Citing Facts – Laura Geggel – Live Science

My Real-Time Response To Learning What The Rock Eats Every Day – Mallory Ortberg

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April 2, 2015

Animal models of microbiome research

Dietary fat intake and age influence gut microbiota and colonic inflammation in C57BL/6J mice – Su Jeong Kim – The FASEB Journal

Maternal obesity alters gut microbial ecology in offspring of NOD mice – Meijun Zhu – The FASEB Journal

Metabolite-sensing receptors ​GPR43 and ​GPR109A facilitate dietary fibre-induced gut homeostasis through regulation of the inflammasome – Laurence Macia – Nature Communications

Animal microbiome

Cheetah (not microbiome but could not resist): Dietary Factors Associated with Faecal Consistency and Other Indicators of Gastrointestinal Health in the Captive Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) – Katherine M. Whitehouse-Tedd – PLOS ONE

Ants: Genome evolution in an ancient bacteria-ant symbiosis: parallel gene loss among Blochmannia spanning the origin of the ant tribe Camponotini – Laura E. Williams, Jennifer J. Wernegreen – PeerJ

Sponges: Functional gene-based discovery of phenazines from the actinobacteria associated with marine sponges in the South China Sea – Valliappan Karuppiah – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Editorial: Sponge symbionts and the marine P cycle – Albert S Colman – PNAS USA

Soil and plant root communities

Bacterial community of cushion plant Thylacospermum ceaspitosum on elevational gradient in the Himalayan cold desert – Klára Řeháková – Frontiers in Microbiology

Soil microbial functional diversity and biomass as affected by different thinning intensities in a Chinese fir plantation – Xin-Li Chen – Applied Soil Ecology

Impact of organic and conventional peach and apple production practices on soil microbial populations and plant nutrients – Ramesh R. Pokharel, Rick Zimmerman – Organic Agriculture

Impact of preferential methane flow through soil on microbial community composition
Julia Gebert, Mirjam Perner – European Journal of Soil Biology

Characterization of bacterial strains and their impact on plant growth promotion and yield of wheat and microbial populations of soil – Ashok Kumar – African Journal of Agricultural

Metabolomics

Gut Commensal Immunomodulatory Factors: Identification and Structure-Function Studies – Sungwhan Oh – The FASEB Journal

Review: Metagenomics for the discovery of novel biosurfactants of environmental interest from marine ecosystems – Stephen A Jackson – Current Opinion in Biotechnology

Techniques

Modification of a commercial DNA extraction kit for safe and rapid recovery of DNA and RNA simultaneously from soil, without the use of harmful solvents – E. Tournier

Other articles of interest

Dengue: Large-scale recoding of an arbovirus genome to rebalance its insect versus mammalian preference – Sam H. Shen – PNAS USA

Mitochondrial and plastid genome architecture: Reoccurring themes, but significant differences at the extremes – David Roy Smith and Patrick J. Keeling – PNAS USA

Bioinformatics

A standardized, extensible framework for optimizing classification improves marker-gene taxonomic assignments – Nicholas A. Bokulich – PeerJ Preprint

Microbes in the news

I enjoyed reading this: Microbiome Blues in E – Michael Tanner – Clinical Correlations
“You haven’t been squeaky clean since you were bunking with a placenta. “

Drinking water microbiology — from measurement to management – David Coil – MicroBEnet

Movie Night at Bozeman Public Library, April 7th: Bugs with Benefits, an Intro to the Human Microbiome – Bozeman Daily

Do Antibiotics Raise Diabetes Risk via Gut Microbiota? – Liam Davenport – Medscape

About Genome Biology study: Longer DNA fragments reveal rare species diversity – Phys.org

Editorial about mBio study: Soil source for vine bacteria – Nature

Treating the Root Cause of IBS: Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth – Maura Henninger – Huffington Post

Origin Sciences Ltd: Newly-Published Data Shows the Effectiveness of OriCol™ for Sampling the Gut Microbiome – BusinessWire

Smart phone diagnosis? Biosensing platform quickly and accurately diagnoses disease and monitors treatment remotely – Science Daily

Science, publishing, and career

Peer review with Elizabeth Marincola (CEO of PLOS) – Royal Society

Fighting Plagiarism In Scientific Papers – Tommaso Dorigo – Science 2.0

Editor’s point of viewScience’s Big Scandal: Even legitimate publishers are faking peer review – Charles Seife – Slate

Stanford Graduate student charged with poisoning labmates’ drinks – Kylie Jue – Stanford Daily

Four simple tools to promote gender balance at conferences – Julie Pfeiffer – The Tree of Life

Bik’s Picks

The human sex ratio from conception to birth – Steven Hecht Orzack – PNAS USA

Failed synchronization of the womb’s clock with mother’s body clock critical in miscarriages – Science Daily

Watch the century’s fastest lunar eclipse Saturday – CBS News

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April 1, 2015

April 1st science

Want to live chemical free? Try Doctor Bacfarc’s Dark Matter Diet™! – Galileo’s Pendulum

Zoology: Here be dragons – Andrew J Hamilton – Nature

CERN researchers confirm existence of the Force, with scientist Ben Kenobi – Cian O’Luanaigh – CERN

Against April Fools’ in Science Journalism – Lee Billings – Scientific American

Human oral microbiome

Comparison of Oral Microbial Profiles between Children with Severe Early Childhood Caries and Caries-Free Children Using the Human Oral Microbe Identification Microarray – Chen Ma – PLOS ONE

Like pulling teeth: Microbiota at teeth and implants in partially edentulous patients. A 10-year retrospective study – Sigrun Eick – Clinical Oral Implants Research

Human respiratory microbiome

The daily dynamics of cystic fibrosis airway microbiota during clinical stability and at exacerbation – Lisa A Carmody – Microbiome

Human gut microbiome

Fate, activity, and impact of ingested bacteria within the human gut microbiota – Muriel Derrien, Johan E.T. van Hylckama Vlieg – Trends in Microbiology

Gut Microbiota and Tacrolimus Dosing in Kidney Transplantation – John R. Lee – PLOS ONE

Gut microbiota: Optimal sampling of the intestinal microbiota for research – R. Balfour Sartor – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Review: Towards a more comprehensive concept for prebiotics – Laure B. Bindels – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Antibiotic Exposure in Infancy and Risk of Being Overweight in the First 24 Months of Life – Antti Saari – Pediatrics

Animal microbiome

Bats: External Microbiota of Western United States Bats: Does It Matter Where You Are From? – Ara Kooser – BioRxiv

Aphids: Infection Dynamic of Symbiotic Bacteria in the Pea Aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum Gut and Host Immune Response at the Early Steps in the Infection Process – François Renoz – PLOS ONE

Plant microbiome

Presentation: Mining the Agave Microbiome for Adaptations to Arid Environments – Devin Coleman-Derr – JGI

Soil and plant root microbiome

Baseline Survey of Root-Associated Microbes of Taxus chinensis (Pilger) Rehd – Qian Zhang – PLOS ONE

Extremophile microbiome

Functional Characterization of Bacteria Isolated from Ancient Arctic Soil Exposes Diverse Resistance Mechanisms to Modern Antibiotics – Gabriel G. Perron – PLOS ONE

Built environment microbiome

Influence of a Non-Hospital Medical Care Facility on Antimicrobial Resistance in Wastewater – Mathias Bäumlisberger – PLOS ONE

Metagenomics

Staph in staff: Capturing the cloud of diversity reveals complexity and heterogeneity of MRSA carriage, infection and transmission – Gavin K. Paterson

Metabolomics

Marine sequestration of carbon in bacterial metabolites – Oliver J. Lechtenfeld – Nature Communications

Ecology

Not microbial, but of interest: Inferring species interactions in ecological communities: a comparison of methods at different levels of complexity – Francesco Carrara – Methods in Ecology and Evolution

Techniques

Insight into biases and sequencing errors for amplicon sequencing with the Illumina MiSeq platform – Melanie Schirmer – Nucleic Acids Research

Microbes in the news

Apparently, this is not a joke: #Kryptonia: Hiding in Plain Sight: Researchers using metagenomics and single-cell sequencing identify a potential new bacterial phylum – Kim Smuga-Otto – The Scientist

Can ‘ghosts’ cause bad air? Poor indoor air quality and ‘sightings’ – Science Daily

Cool Jobs: The Cave Microbiologist – Scientiflix

Bacteria are plural, Smithsonian. Found: The Bacteria That’s Making You Stink – Erin Blakemore – Smithsonian

Duke-UNC Collaboration Creating ‘Gut-on-a-Chip’ – Marla Vacek Broadfoot – Duke Translational Medicine Institute

Researchers Discover New Source Of Airborne Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria – Erin Schumaker – Huffington Post

Research proves that intestinal bacteria can be used to classify the effects of different diseases – Medical Xpress

VanillinAre Microbes the Taste-Makers of the Future? – Jeffrey Marlow – Wired.com

Your Microbiome “Tree” – Spectrum MIT
Microbiome Research: A New Frontier in Medicine – Elizabeth Dougherty – Spectrum MIT

Manipulative Microbiomes – Gut bacteria control tumor growth via the mammalian immune system – Jenny Rood – The Scientist

This might be April 1st joke, but realistic results: Scientists reveal the thousands of bacteria colonies growing on dirty coins and notes – Sarah Griffiths – Daily Mail

New ‘Intraterrestrial’ Virus Found in Ocean Depths – Patrick J Kiger – Discovery

Best date ever: Date syrup shows promise for fighting bacterial infections – Science Daily

Science, publishing, career

How Articles Get Noticed and Advance the Scientific Conversation – Victoria Costello – PLOS Blogs

A Biotic Game Design Project for Integrated Life Science and Engineering Education –
Nate J. Cira – PLOS Biology

Bik’s Picks

Getting away with murder: Global analysis of fungal morphology exposes mechanisms of host cell escape – Teresa R. O’Meara – Nature Communications

Monarch Larva Monitoring Project Helps Citizen Scientists Build Connections to Nature – Eva Lewandowski – PLOS Blogs

Rats see the pain in other rats’ faces – Virginia Morell – Science Mag

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