August 24, 2015

Microbiome of death

Soil fungal community shift evaluation as a potential cadaver decomposition indicator
Monica Chimutsa – Forensic Science International

Pregnancy and birth

Master Thesis – The Association of Necrotizing Enterocolitis with Integrons and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Gut Microbiota of Preterm Infants – Eva Lena F. Estensmo – Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Human respiratory microbiome

Regional Isolation Drives Bacterial Diversification within Cystic Fibrosis Lungs – Peter Jorth – Cell Host & Microbe

Quantitative analysis of pathogens in the lower respiratory tract of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – Huaying Wang – BMC Pulmonary Medicine

Animal microbiome

Evidence-based recommendations on storing and handling specimens for analyses of insect microbiota – Tobin J Hammer – Peer J

Path analyses of cross-sectional and longitudinal data suggest that variability in natural communities of blood-associated parasites is derived from host characteristics and not interspecific interactions – Carmit Cohen – Parasites & Vectors

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Available nitrogen is the key factor influencing soil microbial functional gene diversity in tropical rainforest – Jing Cong – BMC Microbiology

Disentangling the ‘brown world’ faecal-detritus interaction web: dung beetle effects on soil microbial properties – Eleanor M. Slade – Oikos

Taxon-specific responses of soil microbial communities to different soil priming effects induced by addition of plant residues and their biochars – Peng Su – Journal of Soils and Sediments

Research Highlight: Root recruiting – Mirella Bucci – Nature Chemical Biology

Water microbiome

Habitat and water quality variables as predictors of community composition in an Indonesian coral reef: a multi-taxon study in the Spermonde Archipelago – Ana Rita Moura Polónia – Science of the Total Environment

Waste water microbiology

Persistence of Ebola Virus in Sterilized Wastewater – Kyle Bibby – Environmental Science & Technology Letters

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

MetaObtainer: A Tool for Obtaining Specified Species from Metagenomic Reads of Next-generation Sequencing – Weihua Pan – Interdisciplinary Sciences: Computational Life Sciences

Minimum Information about a Biosynthetic Gene cluster – Marnix H Medema – Nature Chemical Biology

Viruses

A protein domain-based view of the virosphere-host relationship – Aare Abroi – Biochimie

Microbes in the news

Add Lots of Microbes to ‘Me, Myself, and I’ – David Salisbury – Futurity

The Microbiome Is Science’s Hot New Kid – Anand Veeravagu and Tessa Anderman – The Daily Beast

Science Briefs: Topography of spinach leaf shelters bacteria – John Bordsen – Charlotte Observer

Inside N.C. Science: Bugs – and mates – attracted by body odor – Sarah Council – Charlotte Observer

Universal flu vaccine comes closer, scientists say – Michelle Roberts – BBC News

Science, publishing, and career

Here’s what two college doctors say freshman need to know – LaTasha Seliby and Ranit Mishori – Washington Post

Women, minorities still underrepresented in medical specialties – Megan Brooks – Reuters

Bik’s Picks

Japanese Spacecraft Delivers Mice, Booze and More to ISS – Sarah Lewin – NBC News

Biologists Have Spotted the First Wolf Pack in California in 100 Years – Marissa Fessenden – Smithsonian

Get the Bunsen burner out: It’s time to concoct dinner – Nancy Szokan – Washington Post

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August 18, 2015

New paper from our lab about human microbiota during pregnancy, association between obesity and cervical microflora, Argentina soil metagenomes, proteomics library, and microbiology during mozzarella cheese making.

Events and conferences

ECCMID: 26th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases: April 2016, Istanbul, Turkey

General microbiome

Review: Fulfilling the Promise of Microbiomics to Revolutionize Medicine – Traci L Testerman – J Microbiol Exp

Review: Cross-kingdom similarities in microbiome functions – Rodrigo Mendes – ISME Journal

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

From our lab: Temporal and spatial variation of the human microbiota during pregnancy – Daniel B. DiGiulio – PNAS

Maternal group B Streptococcus and the infant gut microbiota – A. E. Cassidy-Bushrow – Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

The stool microbiota of insulin resistant women with recent gestational diabetes, a high risk group for type 2 diabetes – Marina Fugmann – Scientific Reports

Human reproductive tract microbiome

Relationship of Specific Bacteria in the Cervical and Vaginal Microbiotas With Cervicitis – Linda M. Gorgos – Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Changes in vaginal microbiota following antimicrobial and probiotic therapy – Jean M. Macklaim – Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease

Association between obesity and cervical microflora dominated by Lactobacillus iners in Korean women – Hea Young Oh – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes and bacterial vaginosis presence in cervical samples from Paraguayan indigenous – Pamela Mongelos – International Journal of Infectious Diseases

The most common isolated microorganisms and its clinical manifestation in hospitalised women suffering from urogenital diseases in Latvia – Anatolijs Naumčiks – International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology

Human respiratory microbiome

Conference abstract: Profiling of lung microbial communities in lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients – Yanhong Liu – Cancer Research

Human oral microbiome

Conference abstract: 16S rRNA saliva analysis unveils differences in the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma microbiome before and after surgical resection – Rafael E. Guerrero-Preston – Cancer Research

Human gut microbiome

Variable alterations of the microbiota, without metabolic or immunological change, following faecal microbiota transplantation in patients with chronic pouchitis – J. Landy – Scientific Reports

Review: Systematic Review of the Relation Between Intestinal Microbiota and Toll-Like Receptors in the Metabolic Syndrome: What Do We Know So Far? – José Pedro Portela-Cidade – GE Portuguese Journal of Gastroenterology

Review: Commensal Microbiome Promotes Resistance to Local and Systemic Infections – Nan Zhang – Chinese Medical Journal

Animal microbiome

High diversity of viable bacteria isolated from lymph nodes of slaughter pigs and its possible impacts for food safety – Evelyne Mann – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Geographic patterns in the bacterial microbiome of the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) – E. W. Welch – Symbiosis

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Using direct amplification and next-generation sequencing technology to explore foliar endophyte communities in experimentally inoculated western white pines – Lorinda S. Bullington – Fungal Ecology

Maize lines with different nitrogen use efficiency select bacterial communities with different β-glucosidase-encoding genes and glucosidase activity in the rhizosphere – Shamina I. Pathan – Biology and Fertility of Soils

Fire severity shapes plant colonization effects on bacterial community structure, microbial biomass, and soil enzyme activity in secondary succession of a burned forest – Joseph E. Knelman – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Diversity of hydrolases from hydrothermal vent sediments of the Levante Bay, Vulcano Island (Aeolian archipelago) identified by activity-based metagenomics and biochemical characterization of new esterases and an arabinopyranosidase – Antonio Placido – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Consistent responses of soil microbial communities to elevated nutrient inputs in grasslands across the globe – Jonathan W. Leff – PNAS

Soil Metagenomes from Different Pristine Environments of Northwest Argentina – Christina B. McCarthy – Genome Announcements

Relationships between the density and activity of microbial communities possessing arylsulfatase activity and soil sulfate dynamics during the decomposition of plant residues in soil – Séverine Piutti – European Journal of Soil Biology

Food microbiology

Microbial changes of natural milk cultures for mozzarella cheese during repeated propagation cycles – Angela Guidone – LWT – Food Science and Technology

No paper, just abstract, no pathogens appear to have been found: Culture-independent Pathogenic Bacterial Communities in Bottled Mineral Water – Hamdy A. Hassan – Renewable Energy & Sustainable Development

A diagnosis of the microbiological quality of dehydrated bee-pollen produced in Brazil – Adriane Alexandre Machado De-Melo – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

HipMer: An Extreme-Scale De Novo Genome Assembler – Evangelos Georganas

Functional metagenomic discovery of bacterial effectors in the human microbiome and isolation of commendamide, a GPCR G2A/132 agonist – Louis J. Cohen – PNAS

Proteomics and metabolomics

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory library of bacterial and archaeal proteomic biodiversity – Samuel H. Payne – Scientific Data

Monitoring microbial metabolites using an inductively coupled resonance circuit – Daniil Karnaushenko – Scientific Reports

Extremophiles

Biotechnological applications of extremophiles, extremozymes and extremolytes – Noura Raddadi – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Microbes in the news

Mothers facing C-sections look to vaginal ‘seeding’ to boost their babies’ health – Aimee Molloy – The Guardian

Bacterial community in pregnant women linked to preterm birth, study finds – Erin Digitale – Stanford Medicine
Stanford preterm birth study counters Detroit findings – Karen Bouffard – The Detroit News
Microbe Mix May Play Role In Preterm Birth Risk – Rob Stein – NPR

Biologist investigates how gene-swapping bacteria evade antibiotics – University of Texas at Dallas – EurekAlert

Methane and Climate Change: Arctic Bacteria Might Eat Methane? – Nature World News

How beneficial bacteria protect intestinal cells – Quinn Eastman – Emory News Center

Researchers Identify Metaproteomic Differences between Obese, Non-Obese Individuals – Adam Bonislawski – Genomeweb

How does Cincinnati Children’s Hospital use the microbiome to study lupus? A look inside with Diana Taft – Megan McGrath – DNA Genotek

Science, publishing, and career

A Scientific Look at Bad Science – Bourree Lam – The Atlantic

Bik’s Picks

Photos: Ancient Flowering Plant May Have Lived with Dinosaurs – Live Science

First-Ever Salamander in Amber Found in Caribbean – Richard Farrell – Discovery

Nasa awards $200,000 grant to a research project aimed at turning astronaut poo into food – Independent

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August 14, 2015

Two papers on detection of bacteria in blood, vaginal microbiome, a discussion on eukaryotes in the human gut, and fungal communities’ resistance and resilience to wild fires. And some extra non-microbial Bik’s Picks for the weekend!

Human blood / infection microbiome

Bacterial Landscape of Bloodstream Infections in Neutropenic Patients via High Throughput Sequencing – Peter Gyarmati – PLOS ONE

16S rRNA Gene Sequence-Based Identification of Bacteria in Automatically Incubated Blood Culture Materials from Tropical Sub-Saharan Africa – Hagen Frickmann – PLOS ONE

Human vaginal microbiome

A Study of the Vaginal Microbiome in Healthy Canadian Women Utilizing cpn60-Based Molecular Profiling Reveals Distinct Gardnerella Subgroup Community State Types – Arianne Y. K. Albert – PLOS ONE

Human gut microbiome

Are Human Intestinal Eukaryotes Beneficial or Commensals? – Julius Lukeš – PLOS Pathogens

Review: Role of the normal gut microbiota – Sai Manasa Jandhyala – World Journal of Gastroenterology

ReviewPaleolithic nutrition for metabolic syndrome: systematic review and meta-analysis – Eric W Manheimer – The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Animal models

In MiceAutophagy Protects against Colitis by the Maintenance of Normal Gut Microflora and Secretion of Mucus – Koichiro Tsuboi – Journal of Biological Chemistry

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities show low resistance and high resilience to wildfire disturbance – Xingjia Xiang – Plant and Soil

From lithotroph- to organotroph-dominant: directional shift of microbial community in sulphidic tailings during phytostabilization – Xiaofang Li – Scientific Reports

Water microbiome

A Dissolved Oxygen Threshold for Shifts in Bacterial Community Structure in a Seasonally Hypoxic Estuary – Rachel L. Spietz – PLOS ONE

Techniques

Collection media and delayed freezing effects on microbial composition of human stool – Roberto Flores – Microbiome

Bioinformatics

Sorting out viral dark matter – Denise Waldron – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Manifold Based Optimization for Single-Cell 3D Genome Reconstruction – Jonas Paulsen – PLOS Computational Biology

Other microbiology

Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Genome watch: Looking at Beijing’s skyline – Dorota Jamrozy & Teemu Kallonen – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Feeding My Curiosity – And My Microbes – Alanna Collen – uBiome

Crohn’s and Colitis video featuring Laboratory of Will DePaolo

Bik’s Picks – some extra for you for the weekend!

We’ve Used Up Our Annual Supply of Earth’s Resources—And It’s Only August – Maddie Stone – Gizmodo

Drones could be stressing out wildlife, scientists suggest – Chelsea Harvey – Washington Post

Low-fat diets ‘better than cutting carbs’ for weight loss – James Gallagher – BBC News

Google’s Life Sciences division to build a miniature glucose tracker – Mona Lalwani – EnGadget

Why scientists got an alligator to inhale helium – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

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August 8, 2015

Lung and oral microbiomes in setting of HIV infection, cell biology of the plant–microbe interface, deep see prokaryotes, bacterial succession during grape fermentation, and correcting amplicon errors with Dada2.

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Is abnormal vaginal microflora a risk factor for intrauterine fetal growth restriction? – Natalija Vedmedovska – Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction

Multiple Opportunistic Pathogens, but Not Pre-existing Inflammation, May Be Associated with Necrotizing Enterocolitis – Steven T. Leach – Digestive Diseases and Sciences

Review: Nutrient availability, the microbiome and intestinal transport during pregnancy – Stuart Astbury – Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism

Human oral and lung microbiome

Multi-center Comparison of Lung and Oral Microbiomes of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected Individuals – James M. Beck – American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

Review: Microbial protection and virulence in periodontal tissue as a function of polymicrobial communities: symbiosis and dysbiosis – Frank A. Roberts and Richard P. Darveau – Periodontology 2000

Needs assessment for emerging oral microbiome knowledge in dental hygiene education – R. Constance Wiener – Journal of Epidemiological Research

Human reproductive microbiome

Is abnormal vaginal microflora a risk factor for intrauterine fetal growth restriction? – Natalija Vedmedovska – Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction

Human gut microbiome

Alterations of mucosal microbiota in the colon of patients with inflammatory bowel disease revealed by real time polymerase chain reaction amplification of 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid – Jayakanthan Kabeerdoss – Indian J Med Res

An In Vitro Method to Assess Soil Arsenic Metabolism by Human Gut Microbiota: Arsenic Speciation and Distribution – Naiyi Yin – Environmental Science & Technology

Review: Does a low FODMAP diet help IBS? – Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin

Microbiome models

Modulation of intestinal microbiota in mice by kefir administration – Dong-Hyeon Kim – Food Science and Biotechnology

High nutrient availability reduces the diversity and stability of the equine caecal microbiota – Naja C. K. Hansen – Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease

Impact of Dietary Fiber/Starch Ratio in Shaping Cecal Microbiota in Rabbits – YanLi Zhu – Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Electrical Retrieval of Living Microorganisms from Cryopreserved Marine Sponges Using a Potential-Controlled Electrode – Sumihiro Koyama – Marine Biotechnology

PhD Thesis: Reproduction, Sex Ratio and Bacterial Communities of the Coffee Berry Borer Hypothenemus Hampei F. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) – Mariño Cárdenas – Universidad de Puerto Rico

Effect of starch source (corn, oats or wheat) and concentration on fermentation by equine fecal microbiota in vitro – Brittany E. Harlow – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Role of peptidases of the intestinal microflora and prey in temperature adaptations of the digestive system in planktivorous and benthivorous fish – V. V. Kuz’mina – Fish Physiology and Biochemistry

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Environmental conditions rather than microbial inoculum composition determine the bacterial composition, microbial biomass and enzymatic activity of reconstructed soil microbial communities – Weibing Xun – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Editorial: Introduction to a Virtual Special Issue on cell biology at the plant–microbe interface – Ralph Panstruga and Hannah Kuhn – New Phytologist

Influence of 34-years of fertilization on bacterial communities in an intensively cultivated black soil in northeast China – Jing Zhou – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Functional and structural responses of methanogenic microbial communities in Uruguayan soils to intermittent drainage – Yang Ji – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Effects of pasture management on soil fertility and microbial communities in the semi-arid grasslands of Inner Mongolia – Jun Liu – Journal of Soils and Sediments

Antibiotic resistance differentiates Echinacea purpurea endophytic bacterial communities with respect to plant organs – Alessio Mengoni – Research in Microbiology

Effect of combined microbes on plant tolerance to Zn–Pb contaminations – Anna Ogar – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

From mesophilic to thermophilic digestion: the transitions of anaerobic bacterial, archaeal, and fungal community structures in sludge and manure samples – Weimin Sun – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Water microbiome

Metagenome-based diversity analyses suggest a significant contribution of non-cyanobacterial lineages to carbonate precipitation in modern microbialites – Aurélien Saghaï – Frontiers in Microbiology

Thesis: Geobiological interactions of archaeal populations in acidic and alkaline geothermal springs of Yellowstone National Park, WY, USA – Jacob Preston Beam – Montana State University

Global diversity and biogeography of deep-sea pelagic prokaryotes – Guillem Salazar – ISME Journal

Built environment microbiology

Halophilic microbial communities in deteriorated buildings – Justyna Adamiak – World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Food microbiology

Insights into the bacterial community and its temporal succession during the fermentation of wine grapes – Hailan Piao – Frontiers in Microbiology

Identification of key microorganisms involved in Douchi fermentation by statistical analysis and their use in an experimental fermentation – Chen Chen – Journal of Applied Microbiology

In vitro fermentation of lupin seeds (Lupinus albus) and broad beans (Vicia faba): dynamic modulation of the intestinal microbiota and metabolomic output – Patricia Gullón – Food & Function

Bioinformatics

DADA2: High resolution sample inference from amplicon data – Benjamin J Callahan

Transcriptomics

Molecular and chemical dialogues in bacteria-protozoa interactions – Chunxu Song – Scientific Reports

Techniques

Methods for Improving Human Gut Microbiome Data by Reducing Variability through Sample Processing and Storage of Stool – Monika A. Gorzelak – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the News

Prestigious Japanese university comes up with cheesecake … made with Gorilla bacteria! – RocketNews

Lambton College research project proves successful in eliminating bacteria in firefighting gear – Lambton College

Where the sausage gets made – Holly Ganz – MicroBEnet

Calgary diseases expert on the importance of studying our guts – The Globe and Mail

Bik’s Picks

Creepers’ peepers: Why animals’ pupils have different shapes – Nicholas St. Fleur – Seattle Times

Venomous frogs discovered during painful scientific mishap: Frogs head-butt enemies with their spines to inject toxic venom – CBC News

ISS Astronauts to Sample Leafy Greens Grown on Space Station – NDTV

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August 6, 2015

Obesity in Korean adolescents, banana rhizosphere, rare taxa and Deepwater Horizon spill, leaking septic tanks, and visualization of ‘omics data.

Events

BioMicroWorld 2015: International Conference on Environmental, Industrial and Applied Microbiology, 28-30 October 2015, Barcelona, Spain – Has a workshop called: “Modelling bacterial dynamics using the R software”

Human oral and gut microbiome

Oral and faecal microbiota in volunteers with hypertension in a double blind, randomised placebo controlled trial with probiotics and fermented bilberries – Jie Xu – Journal of Functional Foods

Obesity Alters the Microbial Community Profile in Korean Adolescents – Hae-Jin Hu – PLOS ONE

Microbiome models

Rescue of Fructose-Induced Metabolic Syndrome by Antibiotics or Faecal Transplantation in a Rat Model of Obesity – Blanda Di Luccia – PLOS ONE

Plants, roots, and soil microbiome

Manipulating the banana rhizosphere microbiome for biological control of Panama disease – Chao Xue – Scientific Reports

Review: Roots Shaping Their Microbiome: Global Hotspots for Microbial Activity – Barbara Reinhold-Hurek – Annual Review of Phytopathology

Effect of Agricultural Amendments on Cajanus cajan (Pigeon Pea) and Its Rhizospheric Microbial Communities – A Comparison between Chemical Fertilizers and Bioinoculants – Rashi Gupta – PLOS ONE

Effect of genetically modified rice producing resveratrol on the soil microbial communities – Soo-In Sohn – Journal of the Korean Society for Applied Biological Chemistry

Water microbiome

Diverse, rare microbial taxa responded to the Deepwater Horizon deep-sea hydrocarbon plume – Sara Kleindienst – The ISME Journal

Linking fecal bacteria in rivers to landscape, geochemical, and hydrologic factors and sources at the basin scale – Marc P. Verhougstraete – PNAS

Toolbox approaches using molecular markers and 16S rDNA amplicon datasets for the identification of fecal pollution in surface water – W. Ahmed – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Bioinformatics

Anvi’o: An advanced analysis and visualization platform for ‘omics data – A. Murat Eren – Peer J

InteMAP: Integrated metagenomic assembly pipeline for NGS short reads – Binbin Lai – BMC Bioinformatics

MiRKAT peeks at associations between the microbiome and disease – —JM Kocarnik – Fred Hutch

Fungi and microbiomes

Noisy neighbourhoods: quorum sensing in fungal polymicrobial infections – Emily F. Dixon – Cellular Microbiology

Metabarcoding analysis of home composts reveals distinctive fungal communities with a high number of unassigned sequences – Adrian Langarica-Fuentes – Microbiology

More microbes

Review: Next-generation sequencing for pathogen detection and identification – Kenneth G. Frey – Methods in Microbiology

Microbes in the news

University of Missouri hosts open house at DNA sequencing center – Megan Favignano – Columbia Tribune

Detective work traces bacteria in Michigan rivers back to leaky septic tanks – Rebecca Williams – Michigan Radio

Bacteria that may cause spotty liver disease in chickens identified – Farmers Weekly

Bik’s Picks

World’s first ant map launched in Hong Kong:geographic locations of nearly 15,000 types of ant – Business Insider

Seeds That Defied Romans, Pirates, and Nazis – Robert Krulwich – National Geographic

The dark side of the moon sails across Earth in new NASA video – Deborah Netburn – Los Angeles Times

 

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August 4, 2015

Diet-induced metabolic changes, rhythmicity of mouse gut microbiome, the microbiome of Lake Michigan, and chicken skin virome.

General microbiome

Antibiotics, microbiota and health: are there dangers hiding in plain sight? – A. Clinton White Jr – Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases

Short Course in the Microbiome: Meeting Dispatch – Kimberly Falana – Journal of Circulating Biomarkers

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Influence of Intrapartum Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Group B Streptococcus on Gut Microbiota in the First Month of Life – Corvaglia, Luigi – Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition

Human gut microbiome

Quantifying Diet-Induced Metabolic Changes of the Human Gut Microbiome – Saeed Shoaie – Cell Metabolism

Effect of daily intake of pomegranate juice on fecal microbiota and feces metabolites from healthy volunteers – Juana I. Mosele – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

Gut microbiota richness promotes its stability upon increased dietary fiber intake in healthy adults – Julien Tap – Environmental Microbiology

Review: The intestinal microbiome and health – Susan Tuddenham – Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases

Review: Trimethylamine N-Oxide From Gut Microbiota in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients: Focus on Diet – Cristiane Moraes – Journal of Renal Nutrition

Review: Gut permeability, its interaction with gut microflora and effects on metabolic health are mediated by the lymphatics system, liver and bile acid – Cuong D Tran – Future Medicine

Microbiome models

Rhythmicity of the intestinal microbiota is regulated by gender and the host circadian clock – Xue Liang – PNAS

Viability of gut microbes as a complementary earthworm biomarker of metal exposure – Shin Woong Kim – Ecological Indicators

Adaptation of the human aryl hydrocarbon receptor to sense microbiota-derived indoles – Troy D. Hubbard – Scientific Reports

Which games are growing bacterial populations playing? – Xiang-Yi Li – Interface

Animal microbiome

Chicken skin virome analyzed by high-throughput sequencing shows a composition highly different from human skin – Caroline Denesvre – Virus Genes

Variations in microbiota of culex (melanoconion) ocossa and culex (culex) declarator across periurban and rural environments – M Nelson Starkey – Honors Thesis – Andrews University

Plasmids from the gut microbiome of cabbage root fly larvae encode SaxA that catalyzes the conversion of the plant toxin 2-phenylethyl isothiocyanate – Cornelia U. Welte – Environmental Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Successional Trajectories of Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities over Consecutive Seasons
Shengjing Shi – mBio

Compositional differences in simulated root exudates elicit a limited functional and compositional response in soil microbial communities – Michael S. Strickland – Frontiers in Microbiology

Changes in soil microbial community functionality and structure in a metal-polluted site: The effect of digestate and fly ash applications – M. Garcia-Sánchez – Journal of Environmental Management

Metatranscriptome analysis reveals host-microbiome interactions in traps of carnivorous Genlisea species – Hieu X. Cao – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial composition alters the response of litter decomposition to environmental change – Kristin L. Matulich – Ecology

Plant community richness and microbial interactions structure bacterial communities in soil – Daniel C. Schlatter – Ecology

Plant diversity effects on soil microbial functions and enzymes are stronger than warming in a grassland experiment – Katja Steinauer – Ecology

Persistence of the dominant soil phylum Acidobacteria by trace gas scavenging – Chris Greening – PNAS

Review: Current overview on the study of bacteria in the rhizosphere by modern molecular techniques: a mini‒review – L. Lagos – Journal of soil science and plant nutrition

Review: Harnessing phytomicrobiome signaling for rhizosphere microbiome engineering – Liliana Quiza – Frontiers in Plant Science

Water microbiome

The quality of organic matter shapes the functional biogeography of bacterioplankton across boreal freshwater ecosystems – Clara Ruiz-González – Global Ecology and Biogeography

Dissimilatory Arsenate Reduction and In Situ Microbial Activities and Diversity in Arsenic-rich Groundwater of Chianan Plain, Southwestern Taiwan – Suvendu Das – Microbial Ecology

Freshwater ice as habitat: Partitioning of phytoplankton- and bacteria between ice and water in central European reservoirs – R.M.L. McKay – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Urban microbial ecology of a freshwater estuary of Lake Michigan – Jenny C. Fisher – Elementa

Review: Bacterial microcompartments: widespread prokaryotic organelles for isolation and optimization of metabolic pathways – Thomas A. Bobik – Molecular Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

SuRankCo: supervised ranking of contigs in de novo assemblies – Mathias Kuhring – BMC Bioinformatics

More microbe research

Species-wide whole genome sequencing reveals historical global spread and recent local persistence in Shigella flexneri – Thomas R Conno – eLIFE

The Cipher Code of Simple Sequence Repeats in “Vampire Pathogens” – Geng Zou – Scientific Reports

Analysis of IS6110 insertion sites provide a glimpse into genome evolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis – Tanmoy Roychowdhury – Scientific Reports

Protein synthesis by ribosomes with tethered subunits – Cédric Orelle – Nature

Long-term social dynamics drive loss of function in pathogenic bacteria – Sandra Breum Andersen – PNAS

New approaches to understanding the immune response to vaccination and infection
David Furman – Vaccine

Microbes in the news

Would You Wear a Face Mask Made From Bacteria? – Jenna Rosenstein – Allure

Times-Picayune asks – Did a moldy building kill 4 New Orleans Professors – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

How the bugs in your gut keep you healthy – Keri Wiginton – Chicago Tribune

Scientists successfully breed symbiotic bacteria in mosquitoes to control dengue fever – ZeeNews India

Weight-Loss Surgery Changes Gut Bacteria – Rachael Rettner – Live Science

Volcanic bacteria take minimalist approach to survival – Otago University

Science, publishing, and career

Achieving Speaker Gender Equity at the American Society for Microbiology General Meeting – Arturo Casadevall – mBio

Bik’s Picks

This one was striking: Lightning strike as a possible cause of mortality of Australian sea lions, Neophoca cinerea – Peter D. Shaughnessy – Marine Mammal Science

Chilly at Work? Office Formula Was Devised for Men – Pam Belluck – New York Times
Belongs to: Energy consumption in buildings and female thermal demand – Boris Kingma & Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt – Nature Climate Change

This Map Shows How New Yorkers View The Rest Of The United States. Finally, proof! – Carly Ledbetter – Huffington Post

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July 30, 2015

Correct vocabulary of microbiome research, microbiome during mosquito development, microbes on Granada’s Royal Chapel stone, and microbes in Atacama desert.

General microbiome

About the proper use of “16S”, “microbiome”, and “microbiota”, and why “microflora” is not correct. Note Elies: But “microbiota” is a plant too!
The vocabulary of microbiome research: a proposal – Julian R. Marchesi – Microbiome

Human oral microbiome

Host response mechanisms in periodontal diseases – Nora Silva – Journal of Applied Oral Science

Human respiratory microbiome

The airway microbiome in patients with severe asthma: Associations with disease features and severity – Yvonne J. Huang – The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Human gastric microbiome

The Evolution of Stomach Acidity and Its Relevance to the Human Microbiome – DeAnna E. Beasley – PLOS ONE

Microbiome models

Network analysis of temporal functionalities of the gut induced by perturbations in new-born piglets – Nirupama Benis – BMC Genomics

Animal microbiome

Developmental succession of the microbiome of Culex mosquitoes – Dagne Duguma – BMC Microbiology

Review: The Microbiome: The Trillions of Microorganisms That Maintain Health and Cause Disease in Humans and Companion Animals – A. Rodrigues Hoffmann – Veterinary Pathology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi affect plant community structure under various nutrient conditions and stabilize the community productivity – Gaowen Yang – Oikos

Complementarity in both plant and mycorrhizal fungal communities are not necessarily increased by diversity in the other – Cameron Wagg – Journal of Ecology

Diversity of endophytic and rhizoplane bacterial communities associated with exotic Spartina alterniflora and native mangrove using Illumina amplicon sequencing
Youwei Hong – Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Genetic analysis reveals diversity and genetic relationship among Trichoderma isolates from potting media, cultivated soil and uncultivated soil – Abdullah M. Al-Sadi – BMC Microbiology

Mineralogy: Geochemical evidence of microbial activity within ooids – Mara R. Diaz – Sedimentology

Phylogenetic Diversity of Diazotrophs along an Experimental Nutrient Gradient in Mangrove Sediments – Isabel C. Romero – Journal of Marine Science and Engineering

Inexplicable Arsenic: Human Dimensions of Soil, Water, Food and Microbial
Resources – Ramakrishnan B – Journal of Environmetnal and Analytical Toxicology

Water microbiome

Structure of the archaeal community in the Black Sea photic zone – A. Y. Merkel – Microbiology

Review: Bridging the gap between omics and earth system science to better understand how environmental change impacts marine microbes – Thomas Mock – Global Change Microbiology

Extremophiles

Bacterial Diversity in Microbial Mats and Sediments from the Atacama Desert – Maria Cecilia Rasuk – Microbial Ecology

Thesis: Microbial Ecology, Biogeochemistry, and Signatures of Life at Low Temperature in Arctic Thermokarst Lake Sediments and High Sierra Snow Fields – Matheus Carnevali, Paula B – University of Nevada, Reno

Waste and built environment microbiology

Temporal and Spatial Stability of Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria in Aquarium Biofilters – Samik Bagchi – PLOS ONE

Molecular Tools for Monitoring the Ecological Sustainability of a Stone Bio-Consolidation Treatment at the Royal Chapel, Granada – Fadwa Jroundi – PLOS ONE

Seasonal Variation on Microbial Community and Methane Production during Anaerobic Digestion of Cattle Manure in Brazil – Juliana Alves Resende – Microbial Ecology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

deFUME: Dynamic exploration of functional metagenomic sequencing data – Eric van der Helm – BMC Research Notes

Microbial Ecology

An Economic Framework of Microbial Trade – Joshua Tasoff – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the news

Kingdoms are so 20th century: The tree of life gets a makeover: Schoolroom kingdoms are taking a backseat to life’s supergroups – Susan Milius – Science News

Soil-Dwelling Fungus Rode Joplin Tornado to Unexpected Human Home – Jennifer Frazer – Scientific American

Agave extracts show ability to shift gut microbiota: Ingredion study – Stephen DANIELLS – Nutraingredients

Bacterial Find Sheds Light on Digestive Issues, Diabetes, Obesity – American Crystallographic Association

Water At Some Olympic Venues In Rio de Janeiro Reportedly Contain Virus Levels On Par With Raw Sewage – Brad Brooks and Jeny Barchfield – Huffington Post

LASA students developing bacteria to improve carbon monoxide detectors – Calily Bien – KXAN

Bik’s Picks

A tragic death leaves just four northern white rhinos living and little hope for the species – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

‘Once in a Blue Moon’ Happens on Friday — Why? – Geoff Gaherty – Discovery

How did you get that job: designing a parachute for NASA’s Mars rover – Elizabeth Lopatto – The Verge

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July 29, 2015

Pack hunting by soil amoeba, microbiota of meconium and uterus, transcriptomics of oral phages, no differences in antibiotic resistance gene content in organic or regular pigs, and effects of IBD associated microbes on mouse physiology.

General microbiome

Editorial: News Feature: Microbes on the mind – Helen H. Shen – PNAS

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

Note: just one sample was PCR positiveFirst-Pass Meconium Samples from Healthy Term Vaginally-Delivered Neonates: An Analysis of the Microbiota – Richard Hansen – PLOS ONE

Understanding the Biologic Therapies of Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Synbiotics: Exploring Current Evidence for Use in Premature Infants for the Prevention of Necrotizing Enterocolitis – Asmerom, Mussie – Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing

Human oral microbiome

Transcriptome analysis of bacteriophage communities in periodontal health and disease – Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez – BMC Genomics

Human respiratory microbiome

Paired analysis of the microbiota of surface mucus and whole-tissue specimens in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis – Raymond J.T. Kim – International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology

Human genital microbiome

Characterisation of the human uterine microbiome in non-pregnant women through deep sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene – Hans Verstaelen – PeerJ

Human skin microbiome

Review: Regulation of T cell immunity in atopic dermatitis by microbes: the Yin and Yang of cutaneous inflammation – Tilo Biedermann – Frontiers in Immunology

Human gut microbiome

Ruminococcal cellulosomes: molecular Lego to deconstruct microcrystalline cellulose in human gut – Gurvan Michel – Environmental Microbiology

Influence of galacto-oligosaccharide mixture (B-GOS) on gut microbiota, immune parameters and metabonomics in elderly persons – Jelena Vulevic – British Journal of Nutrition

Review: Microbiome influences on allergy in mice and humans – Benjamin J Marsland – Current Opinion in Immunology

Editorial: Gut microbiota: Microbiota and neuroimmune signalling—Metchnikoff to microglia – John F. Cryan & Timothy G. Dinan

Review: A Survey on the Developmental Intestinal Microbiota Research in China: the history, funding, and frontiers of gut bacteria – Hui Min Chen – Journal of Digestive Diseases

EditorialStool microbiome changes in VEGF-TKI-induced diarrhoea – Nature Reviews Urology

Models of microbiome research

Microorganisms linked to inflammatory bowel disease-associated dysbiosis differentially impact host physiology in gnotobiotic mice – Thomas W Hoffmann – ISME Journal

The Role of Curcumin in Modulating Colonic Microbiota During Colitis and Colon Cancer Prevention – Rita-Marie McFadden – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Intestinal microbiota of mice influences resistance to Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia
Stefanie Gauguet – Infection and Immunity

Oral Administration of P. gingivalis Induces Dysbiosis of Gut Microbiota and Impaired Barrier Function Leading to Dissemination of Enterobacteria to the Liver – Mayuka Nakajima – PLOS ONE

Fecal microbiota transplantation and bacterial consortium transplantation have comparable effects on the re-establishment of mucosal barrier function in mice with intestinal dysbiosis – Ming Li – Frontiers in Microbiology

Symbiotic maple saps minimize disruption of the mice intestinal microbiota after oral antibiotic administration – Riadh Hammami – International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition

Animal microbiome

Characterization of Antibiotic Resistance Gene Abundance and Microbiota Composition in Feces of Organic and Conventional Pigs from Four EU Countries – Lenka Gerzova – PLOS ONE

Symbiotic bacteria enable olive fly larvae to overcome host defences – Michael Ben-Yosef – Royal Society Open Science

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Not sure where to file this one under, but pretty cool: Pack hunting by a common soil amoeba on nematodes – Stefan Geisen – Environmental Microbiology

Anaerobic degradation pathway of the novel chiral insecticide Paichongding and its impact on bacterial communities in soils – Zhiqiang Cai – Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Exploiting topic modeling to boost metagenomic reads binning – Ruichang Zhang – BMC Bioinformatics

Metabolomics and Proteomics

Effects of Dietary Different Doses of Copper and High Fructose Feeding on Rat Fecal Metabolome – Xiaoli Wei – Journal of Proteome Research

Science, publishing, and career

Let’s Make Gender Diversity in Data Science a Priority Right from the Start – Francine D. Berman – PLOS Biology

Microbes in the news

What are ‘eye crusties’ made of? uBiome asking for participants to use their eye kit

Bacteria Hysteria

Germaphobes look away! Your gym bag might contain high levels of bacteria usually found in faeces – Irish Examiner

Bik’s Picks

A Skeleton, a Catholic Relic, and a Mystery About American Origins – Adrienne Lafrance – The Atlantic

The confounding case of the missing carbon – Michael Casey – CBS News

Washington Is Finally Getting What It Deserves As It Sinks Into The Sea – Kate Sheppard – Huffington Post

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July 28, 2015

A review of the human hand microbiome, microbiome and anxiety in mouse models, diabetes, bacteria in thrombolites, how plants recruits microbial symbionts, towards a standard in microbial genome annotation, and an article about the lab of Jill Banfield.

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

Prevalence of oral Candida in the first year of life – C. Stecksén-Blicks – Mycoses

Cross-colonization of infants with probiotic organisms in a neonatal unit – L. Hickey – Journal of Hospital Infection

Human oral microbiome

Periodontal microbiota and phospholipases: The Oral Infections and Vascular Disease Epidemiology Study (INVEST) – Adrien Boillot – Atherosclerosis

Review: Alterations of the oral microbiota and oral clinical findings in dry mouth – Y. Hayashi – Journal of Oral Biosciences

Human skin and eye microbiome

Review of Human Hand Microbiome Research – Sarah L. Edmonds-Wilson – Journal of Dermatological Research

Correspondence: Harnessing the microbiome in glaucoma and uveitis – Ankur Gupta – Medical Hypotheses

Human respiratory microbiome

High diversity of non-sporulating moulds in respiratory specimens of immunocompromised patients: should all the species be reported when diagnosing invasive aspergillosis? – Dea Garcia-Hermoso – Mycoses

 

Human gut microbiome

The oral and gut microbiomes are perturbed in rheumatoid arthritis and partly normalized after treatment – Xuan Zhang – Nature Medicine

A tough pill to swallow (perspective): Ready for Oral Fecal Microbiota Pill in Clinical Practice? – Timothy Nguyen – The Journal for Nurse Practitioners

Review: The human gut microbiota and virome: potential therapeutic implications – Emidio Scarpellini – Digestive and Liver Disease

Review: Intestinal Immunity and Gut Microbiota as Therapeutic Targets for Preventing Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases – Tomoya Yamashita – Circulation Journal

Microbiome models

Microbiota and host determinants of behavioural phenotype in maternally separated mice – G. De Palma – Nature Communications

Microbiota regulates type 1 diabetes – Michael P Burrows – PNAS

Gut microbiota facilitates dietary heme-induced epithelial hyperproliferation by opening the mucus barrier in colon – Noortje Ijssennagger – PNAS

Intestinal inhibition of Atg7 prevents tumour initiation through a microbiome-influenced immune response and suppresses tumour growth – Jonathan Lévy – Nature Cell Biology

Lactulose increases bacterial diversity and modulates the swine faecal microbiome as revealed by 454-pyrosequencing – Jong Pyo Chae – Animal Feed Science and Technology

Dynamic Metabonomic and Microbiological Response of Rats to Lincomycin Exposure: An Integrated Microbiology and Metabonomics Analysis – Manna Lin – RSC Advances

Green propolis modulates gut microbiota, reduces endotoxemia and expression of TLR4 pathway in mice fed a high-fat diet – Aline Rissetti Roquetto – Food Research International

Changes in the Swine Gut Microbiota in Response to Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Infection – Hyeon-Woo Koh – Microbes and Environments

Review: Interrelatedness Between Dysbiosis in the Gut Microbiota Due to Immunodeficiency and Disease Penetrance of Colitis – Avijit Ray – Immunology

Animal microbiome

Experimental studies of microbial populations and incidence of zoonotic pathogens in the faeces of red deer (Cervus elaphus) – Sebastian Gnat – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Yeast microbiota of natural cavities of manatees (Trichechus inunguis and T. manatus) in Brazil and its relevance for animal health and management in captivity – José J.C. Sidrim – Canadian Journal of Microbiology

An Efficient Strategy Developed for Next-Generation Sequencing of Endosymbiont Genomes Performed Using Crude DNA Isolated from Host Tissues: A Case Study of Blattabacterium cuenoti Inhabiting the Fat Bodies of Cockroaches – Yukihiro Kinjo – Microbes and Environments

Prokaryotic microbiota in the digestive cavity of the jellyfish Cotylorhiza tuberculata – Sara Cortés-Lara – Systematic and Applied Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Inner workings of thrombolites: spatial gradients of metabolic activity as revealed by metatranscriptome profiling – J. M. Mobberley – Scientific Reports

Changes in fungal community of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) needles along a latitudinal gradient in Sweden – Hanna Millberg – Fungal Ecology

Temporal dynamics of plant-soil feedback and root-associated fungal communities over 100 years of invasion by a non-native plant – Nicola J. Day – Journal of Ecology

Fungal colonization of the rooting system of the early land plant Asteroxylon mackiei from the 407-Myr-old Rhynie Chert (Scotland, UK) – Christine Strullu-Derrien – Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society

Alder trees enhance crop productivity and soil microbial biomass in tea plantations – P.E. Mortimer – Applied Soil Ecology

Perspective: Plant genotype, microbial recruitment and nutritional security – Jai S. Patel – Frontiers in Plant Science

I don’t always have symbionts, but when I do, I prefer alphaproteobacteria: Endemic Mimosa species from Mexico prefer alphaproteobacterial rhizobial symbionts – Cyril Bontemps – New Phytologist

Conference abstract: Changes in rhizosphere microbiome from halotolerant tomato are correlated with physiological and biochemical parameters of oxidative stress in plants – Radu Liviu Sumalan – Journal of Biotechnology

ReviewRoot associated bacteria – Friends or enemies? A review – Gabriela Mihalache – Memoirs of the Scientific Sections of the Romanian Academy

Analysing the effect of soil organic matter on bacterial communities using T-RFLP fingerprinting: different methods, different stories? – A. Blaud – Biology and Fertility of Soils

Water microbiome

Phospholipids fatty acids of drinking water reservoir sedimentary microbial community: Structure and function responses to hydrostatic pressure and other physico-chemical properties – Bei-bei Chai – Journal of Environmental Biology

Extremophiles

Review: Microbial communities and primary succession in high altitude mountain environments – Sonia Ciccazzo – Annals of Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

FastQFS – A tool for evaluating and filtering paired-end sequencing data generated from high throughput sequencing – Rahul Sharma – Mycological Progress

Toward a standard in structural genome annotation for prokaryotes – H. James Tripp – Standards in Genomic Sciences

Development of Novel Random Network Theory-Based Approaches to Identify Network Interactions among Nitrifying Bacteria – Cindy Shi – SciTech Connect

Microbial Ecology

Socially mediated induction and suppression of antibiosis during bacterial coexistence
Monica I. Abrudan – PNAS

Microbes in the news

About work in the lab of Jill BanfieldAt Tiny Scales, a Giant Burst on Tree of Life – Kevin Hartnett – Quanta Magazine

Swan song for antibiotics? Can phage therapy and gene editing fill the gap? – Nicholas Staropoli – Genetic Literacy Project

Metagenomic Study Finds Differences in Oral, Gut Microbiomes of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients – Genome Web

Your Burger Is Full of Living Things, Even If It’s Vegetarian – Maddie Stone – Gizmodo

Title incorrect, it’s a Yersinia, but different speciesA Species Of Bacteria That Causes Bubonic Plague And Other Disease In Salmon May Also Be Able To Treat Cancer – Lecia Bushak – Medical Daily

Bacteria in gut profiling secret to healthy weight – Peta Bee – The Australian

Bacteria to protect Appenzeller cheese from fakes – Anand Chandrasekhar – SwissInfo

Grandparents largely to blame for China’s spiking childhood obesity, Microbiota treatment sees dramatic results in obese children – RJ Whitehead – FoodNavigator

Bik’s Picks

Reception of odors and repellents in mosquitoes – Anandasankar Ray – Current Opinion in Neurobiology

570 Sea Turtle Hatchlings Are Released Into Atlantic Ocean – Getty Images

Everything you need to know about lactose intolerance – with maps! – New Scientist

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July 24, 2015

A review about small molecules produced by human microbiota, layers of microbial life in Dead Sea sediments, fungus making “hair ice”, exploring deep microbial life in the sea, and bacterial diversity at the North Pole.

Events

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

WAO Symposium on Food Allergy & the Microbiome – 5-6 December 2015, Miami, FL

Microbiome reviews

Small molecules from the human microbiota – Mohamed S. Donia, Michael A. Fischbach – Science

Editorial: Microbiota-induced T cells block allergic inflammation – Yvonne Bordon – Nature Reviews Immunology

Perspective: Promise and pragmatism in clinical microbiome research – Nadim J. Ajami – Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry

Review: The Role of Intestinal Microbiota in Graft versus Host Disease – no authors listed – Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry

Editorial: Protective role of gut microbial SCFAs – Ellen F. Carney – Nature Reviews Nephrology

Human oral microbiome

In vitro work: Low-dose irradiation affects the functional behavior of oral microbiota in the context of mucositis – Barbara WA Vanhoecke – Experimental Biology and Medicine

Human gut microbiome

Agave Inulin Supplementation Affects the Fecal Microbiota of Healthy Adults Participating in a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Trial – Hannah D Holscher – Journal of Nutrition

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Impact of paleoclimate on the distribution of microbial communities in the subsurface sediment of the Dead Sea – C. Thomas – Geobiology

Evidence for biological shaping of hair ice – D. Hofmann – Biogeosciences

Water and extremophile microbiome

Exploring deep microbial life in coal-bearing sediment down to ~2.5 km below the ocean floor – F. Inagaki – Science

Morphological and phylogenetic diversity of thermophilic cyanobacteria in Algerian hot springs – Samia Amarouche-Yala – Extremophiles

Bacterial diversity in snow on North Pole ice floes – Aviaja L. Hauptmann – Extremophiles

Identifying the sources of nitrate contamination of groundwater in an agricultural area (Haean basin, Korea) using isotope and microbial community analyses – Heejung Kim – Science of the Total Environment

Selection Maintains Low Genomic GC Content in Marine SAR11 Lineages – Haiwei Luo – Molecular Biology and Evolution

Built environment microbiome

Microbiological characterization of 3193 French dwellings of Elfe cohort children – S. Rocchi – Science of The Total Environment

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

For plant/animal assemblages, but might be of interest: cati: an R package using functional traits to detect and quantify multi-level community assembly processes – Adrien Taudiere – Ecography

Metabolomics and proteomics

Metaproteomics and metabolomics analyses of chronically petroleum-polluted sites reveal the importance of general anaerobic processes uncoupled with degradation – Rafael Bargiela – Proteomics

Microbes in the news

‘It’s like going to Pluto and seeing McDonald’s: ‘These microbes live more than 2 kilometers below the sea floor off the coast of Japan – Mitch Leslie – Science

It takes a village… to ward off dangerous infections? New microbiome research suggests so – MedicalXpress

Pathogenic microbiome bacteria change shape to adapt to nasopharyngeal environment – American Microbiome Institute

Rotting Fungus Creates Beautiful, Glistening ‘Hair Ice’ – Elizabeth Goldbaum – LiveScience

Not endorsing this one, full of errors and false claims: Discovery of Microbiome “Third Brain” Confirmed by Scientific Research in Japan – BusinessWire

Science, publishing, and career

New life for old bones: inventing ways to apply the DNA sequencing revolution to tissues ravaged by time. – Elizabeth Culotta – Science

Songwriting and science: Pitching songs, however, has taught me a few practical lessons about pitching papers and grant proposals: – C. Neal Stewart Jr. – Science

Bik’s Picks

Comparisons of life-history parameters between free-ranging and captive killer whale (Orcinus orca) populations for application toward species management – Todd R. Robeck – Journal of Mammalogy

Kiwi genome provides insights into evolution of a nocturnal lifestyle – Diana Le Duc – Genome Biology

A medical-toxicological view of tattooing – Peter Laux – The Lancet

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