Microbiome digest, December 4, 2014

Human (gut and other) microbiome

Temporal variability is a personalized feature of the human microbiome – Gilberto E Flores – Genome Biology

The rest of the story: the microbiome and gastrointestinal infections – Jhansi L Leslie, Vincent B Young – Current Opinion in Microbiology

* Gut Microbiota Elicits a Protective Immune Response against Malaria Transmission – Bahtiyar Yilmaz – Cell

Pregnancy and birth

The infant airway microbiome in health and disease impacts later asthma development
Shu Mei Teo – BioRxiv

Animal models of microbiome research

Dietary Yeasts Reduce Inflammation in Central Nerve System via Microflora – Kazushiro Takata – Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology

Effects of dietary supplementation of modified zinc oxide on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profiles, fecal microbial shedding and fecal score in weanling pigs

Jin Ho Cho – Animal Science Journal

Bioinformatics

ITScan: a web-based analysis tool for Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) sequences – Milene Ferro – BMC Research Notes

Next generation sequencing reads comparison with an alignment-free distance – Emanuel Weitschek – BMC Research Notes

Microbes in the news

Go Ahead, Use the Restroom – Nicholas Bakalar – New York Times

Trusting your gut, and the importance of your microbiome: Words on Wellness – Daniel Neides – Cleveland.com

Microbiome component fights malaria – Bradley J. Fikes – UT San Diego

Gut Microbes May Play a Role in AS – Diana Swift – MedPageToday

Science, publishing, and career

Getting Credit for Data – Eric Martens and Jennifer Lin – PLOS Blogs

What do young scientists want? – Beryl Lieff Benderly – Science Careers

Why Don’t More Minority Students Seek Careers In STEM Fields? – David Orenstein – RedOrbit

Bik’s Picks

Revealed: 100 safety breaches at UK labs handling potentially deadly diseases – Ian Sample – The Guardian

Why DNA pioneer James Watson just sold his Nobel Prize for $4.1 million – Susannah Locke – Vox.com

The Corrupting Power of Cancer – Lauren Richardson – PLOS Blogs

Is The Food Babe A Fearmonger? Scientists Are Speaking Out – Maria Godoy – NPR The Salt

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Microbiome Digest, December 3, 2014

Pregnancy and birth

Treatment of genital mycoplasma in colonized pregnant women in late pregnancy is associated with a lower rate of premature labour and neonatal complications – M. Vouga – Clinical Microbiology and Infection

Animal models of microbiome research

Early Canine Plaque Biofilms: Characterization of Key Bacterial Interactions Involved in Initial Colonization of Enamel – Lucy J. Holcombe – PLOS ONE

(Rat study) Dietary iron depletion at weaning imprints low microbiome diversity and this is not recovered with oral nano Fe(III) – Dore I. A. Pereira – MicrobiologyOpen

Soil microbiome

* Biology of a widespread uncultivated archaeon that contributes to carbon fixation in the subsurface – Alexander J. Probst – Nature Communications

Metabolomics

Microbiota-dependent metabolite trimethylamine-N-oxide is associated with disease severity and survival of patients with chronic heart failure – M. Trøseid – Journal of Internal Medicine

An ontology for microbial phenotypes – Marcus C Chibucos – BMC Microbiology

A chemo-centric view of human health and disease – Miquel Duran-Frigola – Nature Communications

Microbial Ecology

* Evolutionary limits to cooperation in microbial communities – Nuno M. Oliveira – PNAS USA

Microbes in the news

Microbial Community Data Visualizations survey – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

* Microbiome: The bacterial tightrope – Katherine Bourzac – Nature

* Seth Bordenstein, Joël Doré, Paul Enck: a three-voice debate about gut microbiota research – Gut Microbiota Watch

Genes & cells: Gut microbes less diverse in humans: Great apes harbor more varied bacterial populations – Tina Hesman Saey – Science News

The nutritionists within: Firebugs depend on gut bacteria for vitamin supply – Phys.org

‘Friendly viruses’ as beneficial to gut health as ‘friendly bacteria’ – Medical News Today

Filth factor of public restrooms doesn’t live up to legends: study – Yahoo News

Fight off the flu with fermented foods – Katie Cavuto – Philly.com

* #BacteriaHysteria: These socks protect feet from bacteria – PhilStar

The Virus Detectives: Sifting Through Genes in Search of Answers on Ebola – Gina Kolata – NY Times

Science, publishing, and career

Harsh reality: Two reports highlight the plight of postdocs on both sides of the pond aiming for academia – Nature

* The automated lab: Start-up firms say robotics and software that autonomously record every detail of an experiment can transform the efficiency and reliability of research – Erika Check Hayden – Nature

* Essay Mills, not really plagiarism, but still disturbing:
Inside the Term Paper Plagiarism for Profit Industry – Joanna Evoniuk – GoLocalPDX

Bik’s Picks

Identification of the remains of King Richard III – Turi E. King – Nature Communications

People search for meaning when they approach a new decade in chronological age – Adam L. Alter – PNAS USA

Koalas Really Do Know Their Eucalyptus Leaves – Chris Pash – BusinessInsider

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Microbiome digest, December 2, 2014

General microbiome

Microbiome, holobiont and the net of life – Emiliano Salvucci – Critical Reviews in Microbiology

Pregnancy and birth

Infectious Causes of Necrotizing Enterocolitis – Sarah A. Coggins – Clinics in Perinatology

Human oral microbiome

Solving the etiology of dental caries – Aurea Simón-Soro, Alex Mira – Trends in Microbiology

Oral Microbiota in Crevices Around Dental Implants: Profiling of Oral Biofilm – Takuichi Sato – Interface Oral Health Science

Human respiratory microbiome

* Temporal profiling of the bacterial and fungal communities in ΔF508 adult cystic fibrosis sputum – Andrew Nelson – PeerJ Preprint

Human gut microbiome

* Comparative metabolomics in vegans and omnivores reveal constraints on diet-dependent gut microbiota metabolite production – Gary D Wu – Gut

Microbiome of death

* Initial insights into bacterial succession during human decomposition – Embriette R. Hyde – International Journal of Legal Medicine

Animal and other models of microbiome research

Natural killer T cells play a necessary role in modulating of immune-mediated liver injury by gut microbiota – Jianing Chen – Scientific Reports

Effect of stoned olive pomace on rumen microbial communities and polyunsaturated fatty acids biohydrogenation: an in vitro study – Grazia Pallara – BMC Veterinary Research

Successional changes in the chicken cecal microbiome during 42 days of growth are independent of organic acid feed additives – Brian B Oakley – BMC Veterinary Research

Animal microbiome

The role of host phylogeny varies in shaping microbial diversity in the hindguts of lower termites – Vera Tai – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Plant microbiome

Relocation, high-latitude warming and host genetic identity shape the foliar fungal microbiome of poplars – Miklós Bálint – Molecular Ecology

Soil and sediment microbiome

Distribution of sediment bacterial and archaeal communities in plateau freshwater lakes – Jingxu Zhang – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Effects of Phragmites invasion on soil microbial activity and structure in a brackish marsh – Keunyea Song – Plant and Soil

Water microbiome

* High temporal and spatial diversity in marine RNA viruses implies that they have an important role in mortality and structuring plankton communities – Julia A. Gustavsen – Frontiers in Microbiology

Impact of atmospheric deposition on the metabolism of coastal microbial communities

Sandra Martínez-García – Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

Assessment of Bacterial and Archaeal Community Structure in Swine Wastewater Treatment Processes – Marcio Luis Busi Da Silva – Microbial Ecology

Food microbiology

Evaluation of microbial diversity in the pilot-scale beer brewing process by culture-dependent and culture-independent method – Masayuki Takahashi- Journal of Applied Microbiology

Pre- and probiotics

Recent developments in prebiotics to selectively impact beneficial microbes and promote intestinal health – Robert A. Rastall , Glenn R. Gibson – Current Opinion in Biotechnology

* The domestication of the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus acidophilus – Matthew J. Bull – Scientific Reports

Microbes in the news

Mining industry could benefit from Wheatbelt discovery of salt and acid tolerant bacteria – Lucinda Jose – ABC Australia

Science, publishing, and career

The never-ending Ph.D. – By Adam Ruben – Science Careers

Clueless Reporter from the Mirror Bases Story on Withdrawn OMICS Publishing Group Article – Jeffrey Beall – ScholaryOA

The Next Enlightenment: Sharing Science With the World – Marietta DiChristina – Huffington Post

Bik’s Picks

Actor Alan Alda Challenges Scientists to Explain ‘What is Sleep?’ – Laura Geggel – LiveScience

Ability to consume alcohol may have shaped primate evolution – Sarah C. P. Williams – Science News

#Shirtgate inspires a Kickstarter for shirts covered in (science) ladies – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

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Microbiome Digest, December 1, 2014

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

Increased periodontal inflammation in women with preterm premature rupture of membranes – Pascale F. M. Stadelmann- Clinical Oral Investigations

Human respiratory microbiome

Host–microorganism interactions in lung diseases – Benjamin J. Marsland & Eva S. Gollwitzer – Nature Reviews Immunology

Animal and reactor models of microbiome research

Effects of nitrate addition to a diet on fermentation and microbial populations in the rumen of goats, with special reference to Selenomonas ruminantium having the ability to reduce nitrate and nitrite – Narito Asanuma – Animal Science Journal

Modulation of the faecal microbiome of healthy adult dogs by inclusion of potato fibre in the diet – Matthew R. Panasevich – British Journal of Nutrition

To pool or not to pool? Impact of the use of individual and pooled fecal samples for in vitro fermentation studies – Aguirre M – Journal of Microbiology Methods (Pubmed link, link to article broken as of today)

Soil and sediment microbiome

Shifts of tundra bacterial and archaeal communities along a permafrost thaw gradient in Alaska – Jie Deng – Molecular Ecology

Production of gaseous hydrocarbons by microbial communities of Lake Baikal bottom sediments – O. N. Pavlova – Microbiology

Viruses and phages

Editorial on “Virus Ecology and Disturbances: Impact of Environmental Disruption on the Viruses of Microorganisms” – Heather K. Allen and Stephen T. Abedon – Frontiers in Microbiology

Transcriptomics, Proteomics

Community-integrated omics links dominance of a microbial generalist to fine-tuned resource usage – Emilie E. L. Muller – Nature Communications

Bioinformatics

A review of software for analyzing molecular sequences – Haema Nilakanta – BMC Research Notes

Other papers

Animal Phylogeny and Its Evolutionary Implications – Casey W Dunn – Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics

Microbes in the news

Without genes pilfered from bacteria, ticks would drop dead of the Lyme disease they carry – Darryl Fears – Washington Post

Bik’s Picks

Ancient dental plaque: A ‘whey’ into our milk drinking past? – Science Daily

Does Intermittent Fasting Have Benefits? Science Suggests Yes – Charles Q. Choi – LiveScience

10 times science ruled in 2014 – Jacqui Devaney – Mashable

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Microbiome digest, November 28, 2014

Human gut microbiome

Effects of Surgical and Dietary Weight Loss Therapy for Obesity on Gut Microbiota Composition and Nutrient Absorption – Antje Damms-Machado – BioMed Research International

Collateral damage from oral ciprofloxacin versus nitrofurantoin in outpatients with urinary tract infections: a culture-free analysis of gut microbiota – Andrew J. Stewardson – Clinical Microbiology and Infection

Potential of fecal microbiota for early-stage detection of colorectal cancer – Georg Zeller – Molecular Systems Biology

Does the microbiota play a role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases? – Mairi H McLean – Gut

The gut microbiota and inflammatory bowel disease – Katsuyoshi Matsuoka and Takanori Kanai – Seminars in Immunopathology

Metagenomic analysis of the gastric microbiota cultivable from a patient 

with gastritis concomitant with Barrett’s esophagus – Andrés Julián Gutiérrez-Escobar – Rev Gastroenterol Peru

Gut microbiota in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus – Kristine H Allin – European Journal of Endocrinology

Gut brain axis: diet microbiota interactions and implications for modulation of anxiety and depression – Ruth Ann Luna, Jane A Foster

Behçet’s syndrome patients exhibit specific microbiome signature – Clarissa Consolandi – Autoimmunity Reviews

Animal microbiome

Complete genome sequence and comparative genome analysis of Klebsiella oxytoca HKOPL1 isolated from giant panda feces – Jingwei Jiang – BMC Research Notes

Few highly abundant operational taxonomic units dominate within rumen methanogenic archaeal species in New Zealand sheep and cattle – Henning Seedorf – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Chironomid Microbiome – Malka Halpern, Yigal Senderovich – Microbial Ecology

Plant microbiome

Understanding and engineering beneficial plant–microbe interactions: plant growth promotion in energy crops – Kerrie Farrar – Plant Biotechnology Journal

Soil and sludge microbiome

Global diversity and geography of soil fungi – Leho Tedersoo – Science

Effects of the Biocontrol Agent Aspergillus flavipes on the Soil Microflora and Soil Enzymes in the Rooting Zone of Pepper Plants Infected with Phytophthora capsici – Hui Wang – Journal of Phytopathology

Plant diversity predicts beta but not alpha diversity of soil microbes across grasslands worldwide – Suzanne M. Prober – Ecology Letters

Soil chemical properties affect the reaction of forest soil bacteria to drought and rewetting stress – Marcin Chodak – Annals of Microbiology

Cyanobacteria and algae of buried soils and their modern analogues – A. D. Temraleeva – Paleontological Journal

Diversity and efficiency of anthracene-degrading bacteria isolated from a denitrifying activated sludge system treating municipal wastewater – Spyridon Ntougias – International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation

Water microbiome

Profile of bacterial communities in South African mine-water samples using Illumina next-generation sequencing platform – Jitendra Keshri – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Temporal and Vertical Distribution of Bacterioplankton at the Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary – Xinxin Lu – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Identification of Microorganisms in Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Aquifer Samples by Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (CARD-FISH) – Schattenhofer Martha – Springer Protocols Handbooks

Food microbiology

Influence of pig rennet on proteolysis, organic acids content and microbiota of Pecorino di Farindola, a traditional Italian ewe’s raw milk cheese – Tofalo Rosanna – Food Chemistry

Bioinformatics

Alternative for USEARCH: VSEARCH: Open and free 64-bit multithreaded tool for processing metagenomic sequences, including searching, clustering, chimera detection, dereplication, sorting, masking and shuffling – Github

svaseq: removing batch effects and other unwanted noise from sequencing data – Jeffrey T. Leek – Nucleic Acids Research

Phages and viruses

Automated classification of tailed bacteriophages according to their neck organization – Anne Lopes – BMC Genomics

Metabolomics

Metabolic fate of neutral human milk oligosaccharides in exclusively breast-fed infants –
Viktoria Dotz – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mnfr.201400160/abstract

Transcriptomics

Transcriptome analysis reveals novel regulatory mechanisms in a genome-reduced bacterium – Pavel V. Mazin – Nucleic Acids Research

More microbiology

In vivo treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection with liposomal linolenic acid reduces colonization and ameliorates inflammation – Soracha Thamphiwatana – PNAS USA

Microbes in the news

How bacteria in your gut could be making you fat, allergic, or anxious – Susannah Locke – Vox

Interview with Dan Knights: UMN professor solves problems from ‘gut bugs’ to Rubik’s Cube – Richard Chin – Twin Cities

Artificial Sweeteners May Have Despicable Impacts on Gut Microbes – Sheena Faherty – Scientific American

The Human Microbiome, An Issue of Clinics in Laboratory Medicine – Google eBook

Science and art

It’s a microbial world – protozoa pancakes

Bik’s Picks

Detection of fraudulent addition of bovine whey in Ricotta cheese by iso-electric focusing
– Fabio Fuselli – Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture

DNA survives critical entry into Earth’s atmosphere – Science Daily

Bill Nye: ‘Science is true, whether or not you believe it’ – Brad Wheeler – The Globe and Mail

The Best Gifts of 2014 for Science Geeks – Smithsonian.com

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Microbiome digest, November 26

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! A big thanks to all my readers, and please share this blog with others. The more readers, the better.

December 8th (4pm GMT): eLife Google Hangout on the link between gut bacteria and arthritis, featuring Stephen Baker, Rajat Rohatgi, and Curtis Huttenhower.

Human gut microbiome

* Maternal Obesity Is Associated with Alterations in the Gut Microbiome in Toddlers
Jeffrey D. Galley – PLOS ONE

Animal gut microbiome

Prevalence and Characterization of Escherichia coli and Salmonella Strains Isolated from Stray Dog and Coyote Feces in a Major Leafy Greens Production Region at the United States-Mexico Border – Michele T. Jay-Russell – PLOS ONE

Plant microbiome

Effects of a Ciliate Protozoa Predator on Microbial Communities in Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea) Leaves – Taylor K. Paisie – PLOS ONE

A Novel Interaction between Plant-Beneficial Rhizobacteria and Roots: Colonization Induces Corn Resistance against the Root Herbivore Diabrotica speciosa – Franciele Santos – PLOS ONE

* Towards the unification of sequence-based classification and sequence-based identification of host-associated microorganisms – Joshua R. Herr – New Phytologist

Soil microbiome

Belowground biodiversity and ecosystem functioning – Richard D. Bardgett & Wim H. van der Putten – Nature

Printing soil: a single-step, high-throughput method to isolate micro-organisms and near-neighbour microbial consortia from a complex environmental sample – Bradley R. Ringeisen – Methods in Ecology and Evolution

Water microbiome

Integrating Bacterial and Viral Water Quality Assessment to Predict Swimming-Associated Illness at a Freshwater Beach: A Cohort Study – Jason W. Marion – PLOS ONE

Massive Regime Shifts and High Activity of Heterotrophic Bacteria in an Ice-Covered Lake – Mina Bižić-Ionescu – PLOS ONE

Metagenomics, microbial genomes

Transferred interbacterial antagonism genes augment eukaryotic innate immune function – Seemay Chou – Nature

Evolutionary Ecology of the Marine Roseobacter Clade – Haiwei Luo and Mary Ann Moran – Microbial and Molecular Biology Reviews

Microbes in the news

* This Forgotten Turkey Bacteria Could Lead to the Super-Antibiotic of the Future – Motherboard

* BacteriaHysteria – Turkeys raised with antibiotics could carry bacteria – 9News

Tech Dudes Take Credit For Female Scientist’s Work; Plan To “Hack” Vaginas So They Smell Like Peaches – Carolyn Cox

Bacteria central: how to stop your boxing gloves from stinking – MMA Kanvas

The Oral Microbiome: From Bad Bugs to Bad Biofilm Behaviors – NIH NIDCR

Are Human Breast Milk Microbiomes ‘neutral’? – Chinese Academy of Sciences

Vultures survive toxic diet with bacterial help – ABC.AU Science

Science, publishing, and career

* Open access is tiring out peer reviewers – Martijn Arns – Nature

* Publishing: The peer-review scam – Cat Ferguson, Adam Marcus& Ivan Oransky – Nature

* Academia gets social – Brian Owens – The Lancet

The outsourcing and commercialization of science – Is the lab CEO the future of academic research? – David R Smith – EMBO Reports

* No women alas this year: Five Stanford professors named fellows of American Association for the Advancement of Science – Stanford News

Bik’s Picks – some cool non-microbiome science articles for your Thanksgiving break

The First Myriapod Genome Sequence Reveals Conservative Arthropod Gene Content and Genome Organisation in the Centipede Strigamia maritima – Ariel D. Chipman – PLOS ONE

Identification of a Buried Cadaver Based on Finger Ridge Characteristics of a Hand Protected by a Latex Glove – Krzysztof Klemczak M.A. – Journal of Forensic Science

Polish ‘vampire’ burials weren’t just for outsiders – New Scientist

Satire: Investigator To Immediately Offer Job To Sender Of Unsolicited Email – The Allium

Recalculating: The Mind and the Map – Elizabeth Preston – The Atlantic

Science-Based Hacks For Making Your Thanksgiving Meal Perfect – Kevin Loria – BusinessInsider

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Microbiome digest, November 25, 2014

Human respiratory microbiome

Improved characterization of medically relevant fungi in the human respiratory tract using next-generation sequencing – Bittinger K – Genome Biology

Human gut microbiome

* Prolonged use of a proton pump inhibitor reduces microbial diversity: implications for Clostridium difficile susceptibility – Charlie T Seto – Microbiome

Intestinal dysbiosis in ankylosing spondylitis – Mary-Ellen Costello – Arthritis & Rheumatology

Systematic genomic analysis reveals the complementary aerobic and anaerobic respiration capacities of the human gut microbiota – Dmitry A. Ravcheev and Ines Thiele – Frontiers in Microbiology

* Bacteroides dorei dominates gut microbiome prior to autoimmunity in Finnish children at high risk for type 1 diabetes – Austin G. Davis-Richardson – Frontiers in Microbiology

* Children Living near a Sanitary Landfill Have Increased Breath Methane and Methanobrevibacter smithii in Their Intestinal Microbiota – Humberto Bezerra de Araujo Filho – Archaea

Gut microbiota and metabolic syndrome – Davide Festi – World Journal of Gastroenterology

Animal and other models of microbiome research

Simulating distal gut mucosal and luminal communities using packed-column biofilm reactors and an in vitro chemostat model – Julie A.K. McDonald – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Infant formula supplemented with low protein and high carbohydrate alters the intestinal microbiota in neonatal SD rats – Wenguang Fan – BMC Microbiology

Comparing the effects of acute alcohol consumption in germ-free and conventional mice: the role of the gut microbiota – Canesso MCC – BMC Microbiology

The presence of nitrate dramatically changed the predominant microbial community in perchlorate degrading cultures under saline conditions – Victor G Stepanov – BMC microbiology

Intestinal Epithelial Cell Toll-like Receptor 5 Regulates the Intestinal Microbiota to Prevent Low-Grade Inflammation and Metabolic Syndrome in Mice – Benoit Chassaing – Gastroenterology

Model systems to analyze the role of miRNAs and commensal microflora in bovine mucosal immune system development – Guanxiang Liang – Molecular Immunology

Animal microbiome

* Gorilla gorilla gorilla gut: a potential reservoir of pathogenic bacteria as revealed using culturomics and molecular tools – Fadi Bittar – Scientific Reports

* Influence of dietary feathers on the fecal microbiota in captive Arctic fox: Do dietary hair or feathers play a role in the evolution of carnivorous mammals? – Liang Zhang – Integrative Zoology

An Antimethanogenic Nutritional Intervention in Early Life of Ruminants Modifies Ruminal Colonization by Archaea – Leticia Abecia – Archaea

The microbiome of New World vultures – Michael Roggenbuck – Nature Communications

* Uncovering the Cultivable Microbial Diversity of Costa Rican Beetles and Its Ability to Break Down Plant Cell Wall Components – Gabriel Vargas-Asensio – PLOS ONE

The effect of anthropogenic arsenic contamination on the earthworm microbiome – Pass D. A – Environmental Microbiology

Plant microbiome

Brassica seed meal soil amendments transform the rhizosphere microbiome and improve apple production though resistance to pathogen re-infestation – Mark Mazzola – Phytopathology

Water microbiome

* Deciphering Diversity and Ecological Function From Marine Metagenomes – Holly M. Bik – The Biological Bulletin

Ciliate Diversity, Community Structure, and Novel Taxa in Lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica – Yuan Xu – The Biological Bulletin

Impact of ocean phytoplankton diversity on phosphate uptake – Michael W. Lomas – PNAS USA

Metagenomes of Microbial Communities in Arsenic-and Pathogen-Contaminated Well and Surface Water from Bangladesh – AC Layton – Genome Announcements

 

Comparisons of the composition and biogeographic distribution of the bacterial communities occupying South African thermal springs with those inhabiting deep subsurface fracture water – Cara Magnabosco – Frontiers in Microbiology

Soil microbiome

Fluazifop-P-butyl (herbicide) affects richness and structure of soil bacterial communities
Trabelsi Darine – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Prolonged irrigation with municipal wastewater promotes a persistent and active soil microbial community in a semiarid agroecosystem – F. García-Orenes – Agricultural Water Management

Long-term balanced fertilization increases the soil microbial functional diversity in a phosphorus-limited paddy soil – Jian-Qiang Su – Molecular Ecology

Different bulk and active bacterial communities in cryoconite from the margin and interior of the Greenland ice sheet – Marek Stibal – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Soil bacterial community structure remains stable over a five-year chronosequence of insect-induced tree mortality – Scott Ferrenberg – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metagenomics and genome organization

Rapid Core-Genome Alignment and Visualization for Thousands of Intraspecific Microbial Genomes – Treangen TJ – Genome Biology

Flexibility and Symmetry of Prokaryotic Genome Rearrangement Reveal Lineage-Associated Core-Gene-Defined Genome Organizational Frameworks – Yu Kang – mBio

Antibacterial gene transfer across the tree of life – Jason A Metcalf – eLife

Transcriptomics

Comparison of assembly algorithms for improving rate of metatranscriptomic functional annotation – Celaj A – Microbiome

Metabolomics

* Metabolomics reveals differential metabolic adjustments of normal and overweight subjects during overfeeding – Beatrice Morio – Metabolomics

Microbes in the news

* Healthy gut microbiota can prevent metabolic syndrome, researchers say – Science Daily

Microbiome Study Reveals Typically Pathogenic Bugs in Vulture Guts – GenomeWeb

The Excrement Experiment – Treating disease with fecal transplants – Emily Eakin – The New Yorker

Science and art

Maria Merian’s Butterflies: The Illustrated Story of How a 17th-Century Woman Forever Changed the Course of Science Through Art – Maria Popova – Brain Pickings

Bik’s Picks

Genome of the house fly, Musca domestica L., a global vector of diseases with adaptations to a septic environment – Jeffrey G Scott – Genome Biology

Museum specimens reveal loss of pollen host plants as key factor driving wild bee decline in The Netherlands – Jeroen Scheper – PNAS USA

* We don’t read about dinosaurs – Pat Schloss – Mothur blog

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Microbiome digest, November 24, 2014

General microbiome

Microbial sequencing to improve individual and population health – Sharon J Peacock and George M Weinstock – Genome Medicine

Human oral microbiome

Shifts in Campylobacter species abundance may reflect general microbial community shifts in periodontitis progression – Karsten Henne – Journal of Oral Microbiology

Human respiratory microbiome

Analysis of the bacterial community in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease sputum samples by denaturing gradient Gel electrophoresis and real-time PCR – Dachang Wu – BMC Pulmonary Medicine

Human gut microbiome

Microbiome and cancer – Naoko Ohtani – Seminars in Immunopathology

The Gut Microbiome and the Brain – Leo Galland – Journal of Medicinal Food

The ELDERMET biobank: Isolation and characterization of the intestinal microbiota from elderly Irish subjects – Lakshminarayanan, Bhuvaneswari

Animal models of microbiome

Hydrogen sulphide protects against NSAID-enteropathy through modulation of bile and the microbiota – Rory W Blackler – British Journal of Pharmacology

Plant microbiome

Towards a holistic understanding of the beneficial interactions across the Populus microbiome – Stéphane Hacquard – New Phytologist

Soil microbiome

Soil Fungal Communities Respond to Grassland Plant Community Richness and Soil Edaphics – Nicholas LeBlanc – Microbial Ecology

Impact of plant species evenness, dominant species identity and spatial arrangement on the structure and functioning of soil microbial communities in a model grassland – L. Massaccesi – Oecologia

Contrasting assembly processes in a bacterial metacommunity along a desiccation gradient – Angel Valverde – Frontiers in Microbiology

 

Water microbiome

Metatranscriptome of marine bacterioplankton during winter time in the North Sea assessed by total RNA sequencing – Anna Kopf – Marine Genomics

Integrated metagenomic and metaproteomic analyses of marine biofilm communities – Dagmar H. Leary – Biofouling: The Journal of Bioadhesion and Biofilm Research

 

Spatial Diversity of Bacterioplankton Communities in Surface Water of Northern South China Sea – Jialin Li – PLOS ONE

* High Genetic Diversity and Novelty in Eukaryotic Plankton Assemblages Inhabiting Saline Lakes in the Qaidam Basin – Jiali Wang – PLOS ONE

Effects of ocean acidification on the biogenic composition of the sea-surface microlayer: Results from a mesocosm study – Luisa Galgani – Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans

Other (Food, biotechnology)

Microbial Dynamics and Control in Shale Gas Production – Jason Gaspar – Environmental Science & Technology Letters

Dynamics and diversity of microbial community succession in traditional fermentation of Shanxi aged vinegar – Zhiqiang Nie – Food Microbiology

Resilience of Aggregated Microbial Communities Subjected to Drought—Small-Scale Studies – Amélie Barthès – Microbial Ecology

Microbial diversity in sugarcane ethanol production in a Brazilian distillery using a culture-independent method – Ohana Yonara Assis Costa – Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

 

Metagenomics and viromes

Evaluation of viral genome assembly and diversity estimation in deep metagenomes – Daniel Aguirre de Cárcer – BMC Genomics

Niche-dependent genetic diversity in Antarctic metaviromes – Olivier Zablocki – Bacteriophage

Metabolomics

The cross-talk between opportunistic fungi and the mammalian host via microbiota’s metabolism – Luigina Romani – Seminars in Immunopathology

The metabolomics of airway diseases, including COPD, asthma and cystic fibrosis – B. Fatemeh Nobakht M. Gh. – Biomarkers

 

Metabolomics as a tool for diagnosis and monitoring in coeliac disease – Danielle Ryan – Metabolomics

 

Transcriptomics

Single-cell transcriptomics for microbial eukaryotes – Martin Kolisko – Current Biology

Bioinformatic tools

The R package otu2ot for implementing the entropy decomposition of nucleotide variation in sequence data – Alban Ramette and Pier Luigi Buttigieg – Frontiers in Microbiology

Techniques

Introduction to Genetic, Genomic, and System Analyses for Communities – Jack A. Gilbert, Nicole M. Scott – Springer Protocols Handbooks 2014

Microbes in the news

It’s all around us: Three scientists on how the microbiome shapes our world – Plus: Why you shouldn’t give probiotics to your dog – Brooke Borel

Professor’s new book aims to advance microbiome research – Brian McNeill – Phys.org

Book: Metagenomics for Microbiology, 1st Edition – Izard and Rivera – Elsevier

Symbiota Maps Plant Microbiome to Boost Crop Yields – Martin LaMonica – Xconomy

History Lessons from Bacteria – Cindy Lu – Cell

 

Revolutionizing the interaction between plants and bacteria – Phys.org

Life’s extremists may be an untapped source of antibacterial drugs – David Salisbury – VanderBilt.edu

 

Science, publishing, career

Point of view: How postdocs benefit from building a union – Benjamin Cain

Bik’s Picks

The XKCD guid to the universe’s most bizarre physics – Randall Munroe – Wired.com

Physicists Solve Mystery of Scotch Whisky Rings – Rachel Nuwer – Scientific American

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Microbiome digest, November 21, 2014

Microbiome general

Rare biosphere exploration using high-throughput sequencing: research progress and perspectives – Aibin Zhan, Hugh J. MacIsaac – Conservation Genetics

Human oral microbiome

Polymicrobial synergy and dysbiosis in inflammatory disease – Richard J. Lamonta, George Hajishengallis – Trends in Molecular Medicine

Human skin microbiome

* Dialogue between skin microbiota and immunity – Yasmine Belkaid, Julia A. Segre – Science

Human respiratory microbiome

Asthma 2014: from monoclonals to the microbiome – Peter G Gibson, Paul S Foster – The Lancet Respiratory Medicine

Human gut microbiome

Development of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Suitable for Mainstream Medicine – Alexander Khoruts – Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology

The role of the gut and microbes in the pathogenesis of spondyloarthritis – Mark Asquith – Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology

From lifetime to evolution: timescales of human gut microbiota adaptation – Sara Quercia – Frontiers in Microbiology

Animal and other models of microbiome research

Development of aminoglycoside and β-lactamase resistance among intestinal microbiota of swine treated with lincomycin, chlortetracycline, and amoxicillin – Jian Sun – Frontiers in Microbiology

Model systems to analyze the role of miRNAs and commensal microflora in bovine mucosal immune system development – Guanxiang Liang – Molecular Immunology

Gut Microbial Colonization Orchestrates TLR2 Expression, Signaling and Epithelial Proliferation in the Small Intestinal Mucosa – Nives Hörmann – PLOS ONE

The effects of elevated CO2 concentration on competitive interaction between aceticlastic and syntrophic methanogenesis in a model microbial consortium – Souichiro Kato – Frontiers in Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Aerobic cloacal and pharyngeal bacterial flora in six species of free-living birds – J. Stenkat – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Plant microbiome

Expanding genomics of mycorrhizal symbiosis – Alan Kuo – Frontiers in Microbiology

Soil and sediment microbiome

* Impact of interspecific interactions on antimicrobial activity among soil bacteria – Olaf Tyc – Frontiers in Microbiology

* Application of ancient DNA to the reconstruction of past microbial assemblages and for the detection of toxic cyanobacteria in subtropical freshwater ecosystems – Gabriela Martínez de la Escalera – Molecular Ecology

Characterisation of the soil microbial community of cultivated and uncultivated vertisol in Australia under several management regimes – Karuna Shrestha – Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

Wastewater reuse in irrigation: A microbiological perspective on implications in soil fertility and human and environmental health – Cristina Becerra-Castro – Environment International

Kotuikan Formation assemblage: a diverse organic-walled microbiota in the Mesoproterozoic Anabar succession, northern Siberia – Natalya G. Vorob’eva – Precambrian Research

Water microbiome

Diurnal expression of SAR11 proteorhodopsin and 16S rRNA genes in coastal North Atlantic waters – Raphaël Lami, David L. Kirchman – Aquatic Microbial Ecology

Leaf-litter-associated fungi and bacteria along temporal and environmental gradients in boreal streams – Jenny Bergfur, Carina Sundberg – Aquatic Microbial Ecology

Seasonal variation in marine-snow-associated and ambient-water prokaryotic communities in the northern Adriatic Sea – Jana Vojvoda – Aquatic Microbial Ecology

Microbial eukaryote diversity in the marine oxygen minimum zone off northern Chile – Darren J. Parris – Frontiers in Microbiology

* Resolving the abundance and air-sea fluxes of airborne microorganisms in the North Atlantic Ocean – Eva Mayol – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial contributions to coupled arsenic and sulfur cycling in the acid-sulfide hot spring Champagne Pool, New Zealand – Katrin Hug – Frontiers in Microbiology

Food microbiology

* Unpasteurised commercial boza as a source of microbial diversity – Andrea Osimani – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Metabolomics

* Prediction and quantification of bioactive microbiota metabolites in the mouse gut
Gautham V. Sridharan – Nature Communications

An isotope-labeled chemical derivatization method for the quantitation of short-chain fatty acids in human feces by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry – Jun Han – Analytica Chimica Acta

Metagenomics / Bioinformatics

Key roles for freshwater Actinobacteria revealed by deep metagenomic sequencing – Rohit Ghai – Molecular Ecology

* BiomeNet: A Bayesian Model for Inference of Metabolic Divergence among Microbial Communities – Mahdi Shafiei – PLOS Computational Biology

Phylogeny and phylogeography of functional genes shared among seven terrestrial subsurface metagenomes reveal N-cycling and microbial evolutionary relationships – Maggie C. Y. Lau – Frontiers in Microbiology

Techniques

Microbial Contamination in Next Generation Sequencing: Implications for Sequence-Based Analysis of Clinical Samples – Michael J. Strong – PLOS Pathogens

Comparing High-throughput Platforms for Sequencing the V4 Region of SSU-rDNA in Environmental Microbial Eukaryotic Diversity Surveys – Frédéric Mahé – Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology

More microbiology papers

The Red Queen Model of Recombination Hotspots Evolution in the Light of Archaic and Modern Human Genomes – Yann Lesecque – PLOS Genetics

Association between Footwear Use and Neglected Tropical Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis – Sara Tomczyk – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Impact of wash cycle time, temperature and detergent formulation on the hygiene effectiveness of domestic laundering – M. Honisch – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Contaminated samples point the finger at the wrong suspects – Dalmeet Chawla – Imperial College London

Analyzing COPD Patients’ Sputum And Microbiota Composition Might Improve Treatment – Isaura Santos – Lung Disease News

Willy Burgdorfer, Who Found Bacteria That Cause Lyme Disease, Is Dead at 89 – William Yardley – The New York Times

Plants talk to each other using an internet of fungus – Nic Fleming – BBC

Bacteria on Russian ‘sex satellite’ survive reentry – Alec Luhn – The Guardian

Body’s bacteria may keep our brains healthy – Elizabeth Pennisi – Science Magazine

Hand dryers ‘splatter’ users with bacteria, scientists warn – Sarah Knapton – Telegraph UK

Unique sense of ‘touch’ gives a prolific bacterium its ability to infect anything – Morgan Kelly – Princeton

Science, publishing and career

Gates Foundation announces world’s strongest policy on open access research – Richard Van Noorden – Nature News Blog

Bogus Journal Accepts Profanity-Laced Anti-Spam Paper – Jeffrey Beal – Scholarly Open Access

* Sh*t My Reviewers Say – Collecting the finest real specimens of reviewer comments since 1456

Ten Simple Rules to Achieve Conference Speaker Gender Balance – Jennifer L. Martin – PLOS ONE

Bik’s Picks

Shedding light on skin color – Ann Gibbons – Science

Flashback Friday: Does garlic protect against vampires? An experimental study – Seriously Science – Discover Magazine

The Secret Life of Passwords – Ian Urbina – New York Times

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Microbiome digest, November 20, 2014

Human gut microbiome

* Altered Duodenal Microbiota Composition in Celiac Disease Patients Suffering From Persistent Symptoms on a Long-Term Gluten-Free Diet – Pirjo Wacklin – American

Friend and foe: factors influencing the movement of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori along the parasitism–mutualism continuum – Derek Lin and Britt Koskella – Evolutionary Applications

 

Investigation of pH and Temperature Profiles in the GI Tract of Fasted Human Subjects Using the Intellicap® System – Mirko Koziolek – Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Human vaginal microbiome

Vaginal Microbiota and Sexually Transmitted Infections That May Influence Transmission of Cell-Associated HIV – Richard A. Cone – Journal of Infectious Diseases

Animal models of microbiome research

The gut microbiota influences blood-brain barrier permeability in mice – Viorica Braniste – Science Translational Medicine

Association of Obesity with Serum Leptin, Adiponectin, and Serotonin and Gut Microflora in Beagle Dogs – H.-J. Park – Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine

Animal microbiome

Evaluation of five antibiotics on larval gut bacterial diversity of Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) – Xiao-Li Lin – Insect Science

Soil microbiome

Regional-scale patterns of soil microbes and nematodes across grasslands on the Mongolian plateau: relationships with climate, soil, and plants – Dima Chen – Ecography

Water microbiome

Using a “time machine” to test for local adaptation of aquatic microbes to temporal and spatial environmental variation – Jeremy W. Fox andLawrence D. Harder – Evolution

Role of microorganisms in oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) – Muriel Pacton and Georges E. Gorin – Geology Today

Microbiome of the built environment

Environmental contamination and hospital-acquired infection: factors that are easily overlooked – C. Beggs – Indoor Air

Bioinformatics

* rrnDB: improved tools for interpreting rRNA gene abundance in bacteria and archaea and a new foundation for future development – Steven F. Stoddard – Nucleic Acids Research

Microbes in the news

Shift in gut bacteria observed in fiber supplement study may offer good news for weight loss – Science Daily – November 18 2014

Altered microbiota linked to GI symptoms in celiac patients on strict diet – Healio.com

Interview with David Sela: Food scientist proposes way to improve health via breast milk – Cecilia Prado – Daily Collegian

* Mother’s Microbes Protect Baby’s Brain – Ruth Williams – The Scientist

Germophobes, spoiler alert: WSU presentation to suggest not all bacteria is bad – Marcia Ratcliff – Winona Daily News

How Gut Bacteria Can Lead to Weight Gain (video) – Melinda Beck – Wall Street Journal

Genes Revealed that May Impact the Colonization of Beneficial Bacteria – Sarah Plumridge – Northwestern.edu

Microbiome Move Over: the Gut Virome Makes Its Debut – Lara C. Pullen – Medscape

Virus Protects Mouse Gut – Tracy Vence – The Scientist

Upcoming events

2014-15: Bioinformatics: Discovering Patterns in Human Microbiome Data (HMD): March 16-18, 2015

Science and Art

If you are looking for Herpes virus pillows: Virus Cushions – Ohh Reindeer

3D printed giant germs help visually impaired see the world of microorganisms – Nanowerk

Doing science experiments on music: Cymatics: Science Vs. Music – Nigel Stanford – Vimeo.com

Bik’s Picks

Magic shoes: How to hear yourself instantly happy – Corrinne Burns – New Scientist

Out of India: Finding the origins of horses, rhinos – Science Daily

Here’s Why Cats Keep Rubbing Against Our Legs (And Why Catnip Makes Them Go Crazy) – Jacueline Howard – The Huffington Post

Here’s Why Dogs Kick Their Legs When You Rub Their ‘Sweet Spot” – Jacueline Howard – The Huffington Post

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