Category Archives: Built Environment Microbiology

October 17, 2016

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Fecal markers on child hands in Bangladesh, Clostridium difficile in pet dogs, intertidal microbes, and variability in household airborne bacteria.

Human skin microbiome

Occurrence of host-associated fecal markers on child hands, household soil, and drinking water in rural Bangladeshi households – Alexandria B. Boehm – Environmental Science & Technology Letters

Human respiratory microbiome

Data Mining of Lung Microbiota in Cystic Fibrosis Patients – Jianguo Li – PLOS ONE

Review: A future perspective on neurodegenerative diseases: Nasopharyngeal and gut microbiota – Fazlurrahman Khan – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Human urinary and reproductive tract

Methods only, no results (or: how to write two papers instead of one): Methodology for a vaginal and urinary microbiome study in women with mixed urinary incontinence – Yuko M. Komesu – International Urogynecology Journal

Human oral microbiome

Human oral microbiome and prospective risk for pancreatic cancer: a population-based nested case-control study – Xiaozhou Fan – Gut

Human gut microbiome

High-throughput sequencing identifies distinct fecal and mucosal gut microbiota correlating with different mucosal proteins – Li-na Dong – PeerJ Preprint

Prevotella and Klebsiella proportions in fecal microbial communities are potential characteristic parameters for patients with major depressive disorder – Ping Lin – Journal of Affective Disorders

Differential Changes in Gut Microbiota After Gastric Bypass and Sleeve Gastrectomy Bariatric Surgery Vary According to Diabetes Remission – Rinki Murphy – Obesity Surgery

Review: Antibiotics and the Intestinal Microbiome : Individual Responses, Resilience of the Ecosystem, and the Susceptibility to Infections – Sophie Thiemann – Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology

Animal experiments

Chronic Sleep Disruption Alters Gut Microbiota, Induces Systemic and Adipose Tissue Inflammation and Insulin Resistance in Mice – Valeriy A. Poroyko – Scientific Reports

The impact of orally administered phages on host immune response and surrounding microbial communities – Yingying Hong – Bacteriophage

Animal microbiome

More than 50% of Clostridium difficile Isolates from Pet Dogs in Flagstaff, USA, Carry Toxigenic Genotypes – Nathan E. Stone – PLOS ONE

Press: NAU Crew Finds Bacteria Clue by Scooping Pooch Poo – Arizona Public Media

Rumen microbiota for wild boreal cervids living in the same habitat – Kjartan Østbye – FEMS Microbiology Letters

Structure and culture of the gut microbiome of the Mormon cricket Anabrus simplex – Chad C Smith – bioRxiv Preprint

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Microbial legacies alter decomposition in response to simulated global change – Jennifer BH Martiny – ISME Journal
Water microbiome

Spatial and Halophytes Associated Microbial Communities in Intertidal Coastal Region of India – Doongar R. Chaudhary – International Journal of Phytoremediation

Built environment microbiome

High temporal variability in airborne bacterial diversity and abundance inside single-family residences – Joanne B. Emerson – Indoor Air

Microbes in the news

UMass microbiologist Kristen DeAngelis awarded $2.5 million grants to study how soil microbes contribute to global warming – Lucas Ropek

Bdellovibrio, the cannibalistic drug coming to humanity’s rescue – Mallory Locklear – Ars Technica

Nuclear Waste Repositories Safer With Bacteria – iTechPost

UA Museum hopes to display giant whale skeleton after bacteria clean up the bones for a couple of years – Dermot Cole – ADN

Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition Popular Vote Gallery

October 15, 2016

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Bacteria in wounds, Oxalobacter and kidney stones, harbor seals, sables, leeches, response to afforestation, subglacial lake, polluted river water.

Human skin and wound microbiome

Bacterial Contribution in Chronicity of Wounds – Kashif Rahim – Microbial Ecology

Human gut microbiome

The fecal microbiota as a biomarker for disease activity in Crohn’s disease – Danyta. I. Tedjo – Scientific Reports

Review: Fungi in the healthy human gastrointestinal tract – Heather E. Hallen-Adams – Virulence

Animal and other experiments

Anti-obese effects of two lactobacilli and two bifidobacteria on ICR mice fed on a high fat diet – Zhipeng Li – Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications

Skin microbiome promotes mast cell maturation by triggering stem cell factor (SCF) production in keratinocytes – Zhenping Wang – Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Diet-related gut bacterial dysbiosis correlates with impaired development, increased mortality and Nosema disease in the honeybee (Apis mellifera) – Patrick W. Maes – Molecular Ecology

Oxalobacter formigenes–Derived Bioactive Factors Stimulate Oxalate Transport by Intestinal Epithelial Cells – Donna Arvans – Journal of the American Society of Nephrology

Press: Factors secreted by gut bacteria may help combat kidney stones – Science Daily

Protein- and zinc-deficient diets modulate the murine microbiome and metabolic phenotype – Jordi Mayneris-Perxachs – The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Animal microbiome

Comparative analysis of the fecal bacterial community of five harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) – Daniela Numberger – MicrobiologyOpen

Comparison of the bacterial communities in feces from wild versus housed sables (Martes zibellina) by high-throughput sequence analysis of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene – Yu Guan – AMB Express

Host Matters: Medicinal Leech Digestive-Tract Symbionts and Their Pathogenic Potential – Jeremiah N. Marden – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Interkingdom Responses to Bacterial Quorum Sensing Signals Regulate Frequency and Rate of Nodulation in Legume–Rhizobia Symbiosis – Andrew G. Palmer – ChemBioChem

Development of Soil Bacterial Communities in Volcanic Ash Microcosms in a Range of Climates – Dorsaf Kerfahi – Microbial Ecology

Response of soil microbial community to afforestation with pure and mixed species – Anna Gunina – Plant and Soil

Experimental Climate Change Modifies Degradative Succession in Boreal Peatland Fungal Communities – Asma Asemaninejad – Microbial Ecology

The role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in grain production and nutrition of sorghum genotypes: Enhancing sustainability through plant-microbial partnership – Adam B. Cobb – Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal assemblages in biological crusts from a Neotropical savanna are not related to the dominant perennial Trachypogon – R.M. Hernández-Hernández – Science of the Total Environment

Review: Belowground nitrogen transfer from legumes to non-legumes under managed herbaceous cropping systems. A review – Malinda S. Thilakarathna – Agronomy for Sustainable Development

Water and extremophile microbiome

Virulence and biodegradation potential of dynamic microbial communities associated with decaying Cladophora in Great Lakes – Chan Lan Chun – Science of The Total Environment

A monotonically declining elevational pattern of bacterial diversity in freshwater lake sediments – Jin Zeng – Environmental Microbiology

Grazers structure the bacterial and algal diversity of aquatic metacommunities – Julia Birtel – Ecology

Changes of the bacterial abundance and communities in shallow ice cores from Dunde and Muztagata glaciers, Tibetan Plateau – Yong Chen – Frontiers in Microbiology

Physiological ecology of microorganisms in Subglacial Lake Whillans – Trista J. Vick-Majors – Frontiers in Microbiology

Built environment microbiome

Microorganisms in Confined Habitats: Microbial Monitoring and Control of Intensive Care Units, Operating Rooms, Cleanrooms and the International Space Station – Maximilian Mora – Frontiers in Microbiology

Waste and pollution microbiology

Environmental Drivers of Differences in Microbial Community Structure in Crude Oil Reservoirs across a Methanogenic Gradient – Jenna L. Shelton – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metagenomic Insights into Effects of Chemical Pollutants on Microbial Community Composition and Function in Estuarine Sediments Receiving Polluted River Water – Xiao-Ming Lu – Microbial Ecology

Response of Core Microbial Consortia to Chronic Hydrocarbon Contaminations in Coastal Sediment Habitats – Mathilde Jeanbille – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Bacterial human virulence genes across diverse habitats as assessed by in silico analysis of environmental metagenomes – Ditte A. Søborg – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Reflections on 1500 blog posts at #microbenet – David Coil – Microbe.net

Staff Pick: ‘I Contain Multitudes’ by Ed Yong – Publishers Weekly

Mapping the Subway’s Microbiome – Grégory Fléchet – CNRS News

Your child’s microbiome, and why its health matters – Jennifer Graham – Statesboro Herald

Enquiring About Tolerance (EAT) study: Second Genome, King’s College London study eczema, food allergies in infants – Healio

The ‘Swiss Agent’: Long-forgotten research unearths new mystery about Lyme disease – Charles Piller – STAT News

What radiation-resistant space fungus can do for drug discovery – Shayla Love – STAT News

3 New Vaccines Against ‘Black Death’ Plague Bacteria Show Promise – Rachael Rettner – Live Science

Scientists engineer ‘glow in the dark’ bacteria – to help spot the bugs that cause food poisoning – Lizzie Parry – The Sun

If you want to make bacteria glow, give it a virus – Ben Coxworth – New Atlas

How the Gut Microbiome May Help Us Prevent IBD – Science Blog

October 14, 2016

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The pubic hair microbiome, lung transplant virome, IBS microbiome signature, coprolites, antibacterial molecules for babies the Tasmanian Devil pouch, Archaea in Mars simulation, white pudding, functional mapping pipeline,

Human oral microbiome

Clinical, Immune, and Microbiome Traits of Gingivitis and Peri-implant Mucositis – G.P. Schincaglia – Journal of Dental Research

The microbial community shifts of subgingival plaque in patients with generalized aggressive periodontitis following non-surgical periodontal therapy: a pilot study – Jing Hang – Oncotarget

Review: The Autoimmunity-Oral Microbiome Connection – N Nikitakis – Oral Diseases

Human respiratory microbiome

The Perioperative Lung Transplant Virome: Torque Teno Viruses are Elevated in Donor Lungs and Show Divergent Dynamics In Primary Graft Dysfunction – A. A. Abbas – American Journal of Transplantation

Composition and immunological significance of the upper respiratory tract microbiota – L. Patrick Schenck – FEBS Letters

Human skin and hair microbiome

Individualization of pubic hair bacterial communities and the effects of storage time and temperature – Diana W. Williams – Forensic Science International: Genetics

Gram-positive anaerobe cocci (GPAC) are underrepresented in the microbiome of filaggrin-deficient human skin – Patrick L.J.M. Zeeuwen – The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Review: Microbiome in healthy skin, update for dermatologists – B. Dréno – Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology

Human reproductive tract microbiome

Challenging dogma: the endometrium has a microbiome with functional consequences! – Linda C. Giudice – American Journal of Obstetics & Gynecology

Human gut microbiome

Intestinal microbiota in adult patients with Short Bowel Syndrome: Preliminary results from a pilot study – Stefania Boccia – Clinical Nutrition

Identification of an Intestinal Microbiota Signature Associated With Severity of Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Julien Tap – Gastroenterology

The dual role of Escherichia coli in the course of ulcerative colitis – Magdalena Pilarczyk-Zurek – BMC Gastroenterology

Review: The gut microbiota and gastrointestinal surgery – Kristina Guyton – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Review: Dysbiosis in the ICU: Microbiome science coming to the bedside – Georgios D Kitsios – Journal of Critical Care

Review: Parasites, microbiota and metabolic disease – Sonakshi Bhattacharjee – Parasite Immunology

Review: Metabolite and Microbiome Interplay in Cancer Immunotherapy – Caroline H. Johnson – Cancer Research

Review: Human Coprolites as a Source for Paleomicrobiology – Sandra Appelt – Microbiology Spectrum

Animal models

Behavioural and Neurochemical Consequences of Chronic Gut Microbiota Depletion during Adulthood in the Rat – A.E. Hoban – Neuroscience

Changes in the rumen microbiome and metabolites reveal the effect of host genetics on hybrid crosses – Zhipeng Li – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Microbial community mapping in intestinal tract of broiler chicken – Yingping Xiao – Poultry Science

Animal microbiome

Comparative Assessment of Mediterranean Gorgonian-Associated Microbial Communities Reveals Conserved Core and Locally Variant Bacteria – Jeroen A. J. M. van de Water – Microbial Ecology

Cathelicidins in the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) – E. Peel – Scientific Reports

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Ecology of the forest microbiome: Highlights of temperate and boreal ecosystems – S. Uroz – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Forest plant community as a driver of soil biodiversity: experimental evidence from collembolan assemblages through large-scale and long-term removal of oak canopy trees Quercus petraea – Ludovic Henneron – Oikos

Microbiome and Exudates of the Root and Rhizosphere of Brachypodium distachyon, a Model for Wheat – Akitomo Kawasaki – PLOS ONE

Review: Recent Developments in Systems Biology and Metabolic Engineering of Plant–Microbe Interactions – Vishal Kumar – Frontiers in Plant Science

Water microbiome

Microbial eukaryote communities exhibit robust biogeographical patterns along a gradient of Patagonian and Antarctic lakes – M. Romina Schiaffino – Environmental Microbiology

Microbial community diversity and composition varies with habitat characteristics and biofilm function in macrophyte-rich streams – Peter S. Levi – Oikos

Phylotype Dynamics of Bacterial P Utilization Genes in Microbialites and Bacterioplankton of a Monomictic Endorheic Lake – Patricia M. Valdespino-Castillo – Microbial Ecology

Consistent responses of the microbial community structure to organic farming along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River – Wenhui Wang – Scientific Reports

Microbes in space

Survivability and Growth Kinetics of Methanogenic Archaea at various pHs and Pressures: Implications for Deep Subsurface Life on Mars – Navita Sinha – Planetary and Space Science

Food microbiology

The use of 16S rRNA gene metagenetic monitoring of refrigerated food products for understanding the kinetics of microbial subpopulations at different storage temperatures: The example of white pudding – Emilie Cauchie – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Microbial diversity in pitted sweet cherries (Prunus avium L.) as affected by high-hydrostatic pressure treatment – Julia Toledo del Árbol – Food Research International

Built environment microbiology

Bioaerosol assessment in the library of Istanbul University and fungal flora associated with paper deterioration – Duygu Göksay Kadaifciler – Aerobiologia

Techniques / Fungi

Accurate Estimation of Fungal Diversity and Abundance Through Improved Lineage-Specific Primers Optimized for Illumina Amplicon Sequencing – D. Lee Taylor – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Multi-omics integration accurately predicts cellular state in unexplored conditions for Escherichia coli – Minseung Kim – Nature Communications

FMAP: Functional Mapping and Analysis Pipeline for metagenomics and metatranscriptomics studies – Jiwoong Kim – BMC Bioinformatics

A critical evaluation of ecological indices for the comparative analysis of microbial communities based on molecular datasets – Rico Lucas – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Microbes in the news

Extremophiles found in a lake, and this is great news for biotech – Colm Gorey – Silicon Republic

‘I want my teeth back’: Kids infected with jaw-eating bacteria after dental treatment – Katie Mettler – Sacramento Bee

Microbiome biotech joins Peter Thiel’s Breakout Labs project – Fierce Biotech

Science, publishing, and career

Book:  Fungible Life: Experiment in the Asian City of Life – Aihwa Ong – Amazon

October 10, 2016

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A Mostly Male Microbiome meeting, host genetics and microbiota in IBD, dysbiosis in dogs and humans, airport door handles, and surfing the world for microbes. I’m back!

Events

I wish I could recommend this, but it has only 2 of the 27 invited speakers are women. This is so sad. See Jonathan Eisen’s blog post about this. Second Annual Human Microbiome Congress in San Diego / North American Microbiome Congress – 24/25 January 2017 – San Diego.

Human gut microbiome

Interplay of host genetics and gut microbiota underlying the onset and clinical presentation of inflammatory bowel disease – Floris Imhann – Gut

Effect of dietary interventions on the intestinal microbiota of Mongolian hosts – Jing Li – Science Bulletin

Animal models

Dog and human inflammatory bowel disease rely on overlapping yet distinct dysbiosis networks – Yoshiki Vázquez-Baeza – Nature Microbiology

Acute Infectious Gastroenteritis Potentiates a Crohn’s Disease Pathobiont to Fuel Ongoing Inflammation in the Post-Infectious Period – Cherrie L. Small – PLOS Pathogens

Press: Diarrhea-Causing Bacteria Promote Growth of Crohn’s-Linked Microbe in Mice – ET Healthworld

Neonatal androgen exposure causes persistent gut microbiota dysbiosis related to metabolic disease in adult female rats – Isabel Moreno-Indias – Endocrinology

Exposure to the Functional Bacterial Amyloid Protein Curli Enhances Alpha-Synuclein Aggregation in Aged Fischer 344 Rats and Caenorhabditis elegans – Shu G. Chen – Scientific Reports

Press: Gut microbiota may have role in neurodegenerative diseases: study – CTV News

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Review: Too much or not enough: Reflection on two contrasting perspectives on soil biodiversity – Philippe C. Baveye – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Built environment microbiology

Airport door handles and the global spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria: a cross sectional study – Frieder Schaumburg – Clinical Microbiology and Infection

Press: Are Airport Bathrooms Spreading Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Globally? – Alex Berezow – American Council on Science and Health

Food microbiology

Extensive Horizontal Gene Transfer in Cheese-Associated Bacteria – Kevin S. Bonham – bioRxiv

Does fingerprinting truly represent the diversity of wine yeasts? A case study with interdelta genotyping of S. cerevisiae strains – Walter P. Pfliegler – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Microbes in the news

This Surfer/PhD Student Is Scraping Bacteria off Surfers Around the World for Science – Dylan Heyden – The Inertia
Surfing the world for microbes – Erika Johnson, UC San Diego – University of California

Weethinking the role of bacteria in incontinence. Researchers look at the role of bacteria in incontinence – EurekAlert

The Unseen Cloud Makers From The Ocean – Jennifer – The Microbial Menagerie

Marine bacteria are the climate’s wild card – ScienceNordic

Researchers Hunt for a Link Between Microbiome and Autism – KQED

The natural wonder that holds the key to the origins of life – and warns of its destruction – Michael Slezak – The Guardian

Did his artificial hips put him at risk of infection when he saw the dentist? – David Lindley – Washington Post

Millions of craft paint units recalled over bacteria concerns – Morgan Maria Pawl – KDVR

Science, publishing, and career

Scientific Misconduct: The Elephant in the Lab. A Response to Parker et al. – Timothy D. Clark – Trends in Ecology & Evolution

Bik’s non-microbiology Picks

As DNA reveals its secrets, scientists are assembling a new picture of humanity – Carl Zimmer

September 23, 2016

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Microbial dysbiosis in familial Crohn’s Disease, probiotic treatment of captive Colorado Toads, microbiome forecasting in the ocean, a new r package for phylogenetic trees, and MacArthur winner Dianne Newman.

General microbiome

Classic Spotlight: 16S rRNA Redefines Microbiology – Igor B. Zhulin – Journal of Bacteriology

Human vaginal microbiome

Microbiome Composition and Function Drives Wound-Healing Impairment in the Female Genital Tract – Alexander S. Zevin – PLOS Pathogens

Human respiratory microbiome

Clinical implications of microbial biofilms in chronic rhinosinusitis and orbital cellulitis – Niranjan Nayak – BMC Ophthalmology

Human gut microbiome

Bacteriome and Mycobiome Interactions Underscore Microbial Dysbiosis in Familial Crohn’s Disease – G. Hoarau – mBio

Prebiotic Effects of Xylooligosaccharides on the Improvement of Microbiota Balance in Human Subjects – Shyh-Hsiang Lin – Gastroenterology Research and Practice

Metformin and the Gut Microbiome in Diabetes – Sridevi Devaraj – Clinical Chemistry

Classic Spotlight: Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Starch Utilization, and the Birth of the Microbiome Era – George A. O’Toole – Journal of Bacteriology

Review: The human microbiome and juvenile idiopathic arthritis – Anouk Verwoerd – Pediatric Rheumatology

Animal experiments

A secreted bacterial peptidoglycan hydrolase enhances tolerance to enteric pathogens – Kavita J. Rangan – Science

Animal microbiome

Probiotic treatment restores protection against lethal fungal infection lost during amphibian captivity – Jordan G. Kueneman – Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Press: Probiotic treatment protects endangered Colorado toads from lethal fungal infection – University of Colorado Boulder

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Microbial nitrification in throughfall of a Japanese cedar associated with archaea from the tree canopy – Keiji Watanabe – Springer Plus

Spatial heterogeneity of physicochemical properties explains differences in microbial composition in arid soils from Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico – Silvia Pajares – PeerJ

Taxonomic resolution is a determinant of biodiversity effects in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities – Haishui Yang – Journal of Ecology

Water microbiome

Integrating biogeochemistry with multiomic sequence information in a model oxygen minimum zone – Stilianos Louca – PNAS

New model could point way to microbiome forecasting in the ocean – Science Daily

Built environment microbiome

Buzz Off! An Evaluation of Ultrasonic Acoustic Vibration for the Disruption of Marine Microorganisms on Sensor Housing Materials – Jonathan S. McQuillan – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

MetaMLST: multi-locus strain-level bacterial typing from metagenomic samples – Moreno Zolfo – Nucleic Acids Resarch

ggtree: an r package for visualization and annotation of phylogenetic trees with their covariates and other associated data – Guangchuang Yu – Methods in Ecology and Evolution

Techniques

This article is not about primer barcodes, but compares 16S rRNA V6 PCR/454 sequencing to V4 PCR/Illumina sequencing:
Choice of molecular barcode will affect species prevalence but not bacterial community composition – Karen Lebret – Marine Genomics

Webinar | Combating the “garbage-in-garbage-out” paradigm: The importance of library prep in next-gen sequencing workflows – Maura Costello – Science

Microbes in the news

Bacteria have sculpted the world we live in, and that’s why MacArthur winner Dianne Newman studies them – Deborah Netburn – LA Times

Book Review: “Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child from an Oversanitized World” provides suggestions for a microbially rich and healthy childhood – Anne Estes – Mostly Microbes

Professionally printed version of Gut Check:The Microbiome Game available for a limited time from MOBIO. See below for a chance to win a free copy! – Anne Estes – Mostly Microbes

New Research Collaboration Explores Microbiome of the Space Station – Astrobiology Magazine

Swarms of magnetic bacteria could be used to deliver drugs to tumors – Science Daily

How do antibiotic-resistant bacteria get into the environment? – Suzanne Young and Valerie Harwood – The Conversation

Using bacteria to clean up oil – Anmar Frangoul – CNBC

Penn: Plant-made Antimicrobial Peptide Targets Dental Plaque and Gum Tissues – Penn News

Bacteria Hysteria

Note: little science here other than a 1997 paper, but lots of promotion for a certain manufacturer of stainless steel coffee mugs. Proceed with caution:
You should be washing your coffee mug way more than you think – Melia Robinson – Business Insider

And this one quotes a study from 1994, which looked at plant-based, not plastic sponges that were deliberately inoculated with pathogens. Proceed with caution:
Loofahs Have More Bacteria Than You Think — In Fact, You Should Probably Throw Yours Out – Lily Feinn – Bustle

Science, publishing, and career

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan announce $3 billion effort aimed at curing disease – Shayla Love – STAT News

With some of my tweets!
A future without women – no female Future Prize nominees – Carla Bleiker – Deutsche Welle

September 22, 2016

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Jobs at Second Genome, endohyphal bacteria in fungi on tropical seeds and leaves, designing buildings to house our germs.

Jobs and events

Second Genome (San Francisco, CA) is hiring.

Southern California Microbiome Symposium – Connections to the Environment and Health – Sept 23, UC Irvine

Human gut microbiome

Review: Current Hypothesis for the Relationship between Dietary Rice Bran Intake, the Intestinal Microbiota and Colorectal Cancer Prevention – Winnie K. W. So – MDPI Nutrients

Animal models

Temporal Development of Gut Microbiota in Triclocarban Exposed Pregnant and Neonatal Rats – Rebekah C. Kennedy – Scientific Reports

Animal microbiome

Parasitic Infection by Pseudocapillaria tomentosa is Associated with a Longitudinal Restructuring of the Zebrafish Gut Microbiome – Christopher A Gaulke – bioRxiv

Biology, Pest Status, Microbiome and Control of Kudzu Bug (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Plataspidae): A New Invasive Pest in the U.S. – Anirudh Dhammi – International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

A Hardy Plant Facilitates Nitrogen Removal via Microbial Communities in Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands in Winter – Penghe Wang – Scientific Reports

Diversity, Specificity, and Phylogenetic Relationships of Endohyphal Bacteria in Fungi That Inhabit Tropical Seeds and Leaves – Justin P. Shaffer – Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

More microbiology

Nuclear pore-like structures in a compartmentalized bacterium – Evgeny Sagulenko – bioRxiv

Review: Molecular microbiology methods for environmental diagnosis – T. Bouchez – Environmental Chemistry Letters

Self-healing cementitious materials based on bacteria and nutrients immobilized respectively – Huaicheng Chen – Construction and Building Materials

Techniques

An Enteric Micromotor Can Selectively Position and Spontaneously Propel in the Gastrointestinal Tract – Jinxing Li – ACS Nano

Microbes in the news

Black Slime Is Coating World Monuments—And That May Be Good – Michelle Z. Donahue – National Geographic

Designing Buildings to House Our Favorite Germs – Melissa Pandika – Ozy

Very cool talks: Lake Arrowhead Microbial Genomes #LAMG16: Day 3 – David Coil – MicroBEnet

Prairies Yield Clues for Antibiotic Resistance – AgResearch Magazine

Genetically Engineered Bacteria Can Grow Food, Forks on Mars – Jacqueline Ronson – Inverse.com

CosmoCrops! – The 2016 winners of the Nordic Mini-Jamboree! – Copenhagen University iGEM
UW Medical Center takes action after finding bacteria in medical devices – Coral Garnick – BizJournals

Gut bacteria explain insects’ tolerance to a toxic diet – Science Daily

A field guide to dangerous bacteria – Tabletopwhale

Science, publishing, and career

The natural selection of bad science – Paul E. Smaldino – Royal Society Open Science

Press: The Inevitable Evolution of Bad Science – Ed Yong – The Atlantic

Salaries: Reality check: A feeling that good performance is not adequately rewarded is pervading the research world – Chris Woolston – Nature Careers

September 20, 2016

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A review of antibiotics’ effect on the human microbiome, the pig gut microbiome, microbiome of Green Design, expanding Unifrac, and GutCheck, the Microbiome Game.

General human microbiome

Review: Antibiotic use and microbiome function – Manuel Ferrer – Biochemical Pharmacology

Human respiratory microbiome

Taxa of the Nasal Microbiome Are Associated with Influenza-Specific IgA Response to Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine – Hannah M. Salk – PLOS ONE

Changes in the bacterial microbiome of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis after endoscopic sinus surgery – Ravi Jain – International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology

Human gut microbiome

Gastric microbiota in the functional dyspepsia patients treated with probiotic yogurt – Hirohiko Nakae – BMJ Open Gastroenterology

Animal microbiome

A reference gene catalogue of the pig gut microbiome – Liang Xiao – Nature Microbiology

Press: Gut Microbial Genes Profiled in Pigs From Diverse Breeds, Locations – Genome Web

The Prevalence of Canine Oral Protozoa and Their Association with Periodontal Disease – Niran Patel – The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology

Functional diversity of ant-associated bacterial communities – A. A. Dymova – Biology Bulletin

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Can inoculation with living soil standardize microbial communities in soilless potting substrates? – Petra Bukovská – Applied Soil Ecology

Effects of saline water irrigation and fertilization regimes on soil microbial metabolic activity – Li -Juan Chen – Journal of Soils and Sediments

More on the Centralia coal mine fire (see yesterday’s post): Diversity and mechanisms of arsenic resistance among soil bacteria impacted by the ongoing Centralia coal mine fire – Taylor K Dunivin – PeerJ Preprint

Water and extremophile microbiome

Metagenomics as a preliminary screen for antimicrobial bioprospecting – Soha Al-Amoudi – Gene

Built environment microbiome

The Microbiome of Green Design: Sustainable building practices may have unforeseen consequences for microbial communities and human health – Carolyn Beans – BioScience

More microbiology

Cat-Scratch Disease in the United States, 2005–2013 – Christina A. Nelson – Emerging Infectious Diseases

Press: Don’t Kiss That Kitty: Cat-Scratch Fever Is Making People Sicker – Erin Ross – NPR

Bioinformatics and proteomics

Strategies to improve usability and preserve accuracy in biological sequence databases – Johan Bengtsson-Palme – Proteomics

Expanding the UniFrac Toolbox – Ruth G. Wong – PLOS ONE

MetaStorm: A Public Resource for Customizable Metagenomics Annotation – Gustavo Arango-Argoty – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the news

Gut Check: The Microbiome Game – MoBio
Gut Check: The Microbiome Game now available for purchase – David Coil – MicroBEnet

Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria and the World’s Peril: The U.N. General Assembly is taking on a danger that threatens the health of our entire species – Laurie Garrett – Scientific American

Scientists uncover a clever ranking strategy bacteria use to fight off viruses – NewsWire Rockefeller

Oetzi Iceman Update: Bacteria Found In Mummy’s Stomach May Lead To Cancer Research – Janice Williams – International Business News

Stone Age mummy still revealing secrets, 25 years on – Simon Sturdee – Phys.org

Lake Arrowhead Microbial Genomics #LAMG16 Report: Day 1 – David Coil – MicroBEnet

September 17, 2016

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Metabolic interactions between a 4-species community, captive and wild red-crowned cranes, microbial life around a coal mine fire that’s been burning for over 50 years.

Pregnancy and early life

Associations between EBV and CMV Seropositivity, Early Exposures, and Gut Microbiota in a Prospective Birth Cohort: A 10-Year Follow-up – Claudia Carvalho-Queiroz – Frontiers in Pediatrics

Human oral microbiome

The Oral Microbiome of Children: Development, Disease, and Implications Beyond Oral Health – Andres Gomez – Microbial Ecology

Human gut microbiome

Gut microbiota, metabolome and immune signatures in patients with uncomplicated diverticular disease – Giovanni Barbara – Gut

Faecal Concentrations of Short-chain Fatty Acids and Selected Bacteria in Healthy and Celiac Children – Maša Primec – International Journal of Celiac Disease

Animal and in vitro experiments

Impact of Gluten-Friendly Bread on the Metabolism and Function of In Vitro Gut Microbiota in Healthy Human and Coeliac Subjects – Antonio Bevilacqua – PLOS ONE

Protocol: Intestinal Organoids as a Novel Tool to Study Microbes–Epithelium Interactions – Giulia Nigro – Methods in Molecular Biology

The Contribution of High-Order Metabolic Interactions to the Global Activity of a Four-Species Microbial Community – Xiaokan Guo – PLOS Computational Biology

Animal microbiome

Effects of captivity and artificial breeding on microbiota in feces of the red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) – Yuwei Xie – Scientific Reports

Compartmentalization of microbial communities that inhabit the hindguts of millipedes – James B. Nardi – Arthropod Structure & Development

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Seasonal and altitudinal changes of culturable bacterial and yeast diversity in Alpine forest soils – Luís França – Extremophiles

Niche filtering of bacteria in soil and rock habitats of the Colorado Plateau Desert, Utah, USA – Kevin Lee – Frontiers in Microbiology

The Centralia, PA, coal mine fire has been burning since 1962. Stochastic extremes but convergent recovery of bacterial and archaeal soil communities to an ongoing subterranean coal mine fire – Sang-Hoon Lee – PeerJ Preprint

Water and extremophile microbiome

Functional ecology of soil microbial communities along a glacier forefield in Tierra de Fuego (Chile) – Miguel Angel Fernández-Martínez – Frontiers in Microbiology

Riverine Bacterial Communities Reveal Environmental Disturbance Signatures within the Betaproteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia – John Paul Balmonte – Frontiers in Microbiology

Shifts in Microbial Community Structure and Activity in the Ultra-Oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean Sea Driven by the Deposition of Saharan Dust and European Aerosols – Cui Guo- Frontiers in Marine Science

Phylogenetic Characterization of Marine Benthic Archaea in Organic-Poor Sediments of the Eastern Equatorial Pacific Ocean (ODP Site 1225) – Antje Lauer – Microorganisms

Built environment microbiome

Occurrence and diversity of both bacterial and fungal communities in dental unit waterlines subjected to disinfectants – Damien Costa – Pathogens and Disease

Techniques

Stable Isotope Techniques for the Assessment of Host and Microbiota Response During Gastrointestinal Dysfunction – Butler, Ross N. – Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition

Microbes in the news

Get Your Children Good and Dirty – B. Brett Finlay and Marie-Claire Arrieta – Wall Street Journal

NASA Space Biology Fellowships to Study the Microbiome of the ISS as a Built Environment Research Announcement – SpaceRef

Intercontinental Plant Microbiome Research Earns UBiome Grant – Haverford.edu

Scientific research shows how corrugated stops bacteria – Packaging World

Bacterial Predators Surprise Scientists with Hidden Diversity – Jennifer Frazer – Scientific American

Bacteria Hysteria

Fear-mongering story sponsored by industry, performed by microbiology professor: Petri dishes you can wear: UA researchers study the bacteria on the bottoms of your shoes – Courtney Gallant – The Daily Wildcat

September 14, 2016

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Testing antibacterial and antismelly capacities of deodorant with a sniffer panel, uncovering trophic interactions by metagenomic sequencing of ladybugs’ gut contents.

Events

6th ASM Beneficial Microbes meeting, Days 3-4 – Tera Levin – Storify

Human armpit microbiome

Smelly armpits, bacteria, and a sniffer panel: Effective axillary malodour reduction by polyquaternium-16-containing deodorants – B. Traupe – International Journal of Cosmetic Science

Human gut microbiome

Review: Pathogenesis of acute graft-versus-host disease: from intestinal microbiota alterations to donor T cell activation – Robert Zeiser – British Journal of Haemotology

Review: Role of the gut microbiota in host appetite control: bacterial growth to animal feeding behaviour – Sergueï O. Fetissov – Nature Reviews Endocrinology

Animal microbiome

Ladybugs: Uncovering Trophic Interactions in Arthropod Predators through DNA Shotgun-Sequencing of Gut Contents – Débora P. Paula – PLOS ONE

Does adaptive radiation of a host lineage promote ecological diversity of its bacterial communities? A test using gut microbiota of Anolis lizards – Tiantian Ren – Molecular Ecology

Built Environment microbiome

Previously in preprint, now published: Microbial diversity of extreme habitats in human homes – Amy M. Savage – PeerJ

Techniques / Bioreactors

Quantitative high-throughput population dynamics in continuous-culture by automated microscopy – Jason Merritt – Scientific Reports

Microbes in the news

Genevieve Sullivan: Bacteria and Food Packaging – Darren Chow – Cornell Sun

Samantha VanWees: Bacteria, Light and Milk Processing – Isabelle Philippe – CornellSun

This should be Open Access, because it is just a list of links. But it is not unfortunately: Web Alert: Ecophysiology of anaerobes: An annotated selection of World Wide Web sites relevant to the topics in environmental microbiology – Lawrence P. Wackett

An arms race with a superbug: Study shows how pneumonia-causing bacteria invade the body – Phys.org

Coming together for microbiology: new network for scientists working in forensic medicine – Labnews UK

The possible link between bacteria and chronic disease? – Jason Tetro – PopSci

See paper in Advanced Materials featured yesterday: Delivering beneficial bacteria to the GI tract. Method that transports microbes through the stomach to the intestine may benefit human health – Anne Trafton – MIT News Office

Science, publishing, and career

Mansplaining: how not to talk to female Nasa astronauts – Laura Bates – The Guardian

 

 

September 12, 2016

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Individual response of gut microbiota to diet (in mice), appendicitis, adaptive evolution of goose with its microbiome, fungi in rubber plantations.

Events

Storify of days 1-2 of the 6th ASM Beneficial Microbes Meeting, Sept 9-12, Seattle, WA.

Pregnancy and birth

Urinary Microbiota Associated with Preterm Birth: Results from the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) Study – Nicholas J. Ollberding – PLOS ONE

Review: The role of the bacterial microbiota on reproductive and pregnancy health – Deborah B. Nelson – Anaerobe

Human skin microbiome

Skin microbiome prior to development of atopic dermatitis: early colonization with commensal staphylococci at 2 months is associated with a lower risk of atopic dermatitis at 1 year – Elizabeth A. Kennedy – Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Human respiratory microbiome (and Methods)

Note that 2 different amplification strategies were performed, so IMHO this is more reflection of primer differences than sequencing differences: Different next generation sequencing platforms produce different microbial profiles and diversity in cystic fibrosis sputum – Andrea Hahn – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Human gut microbiome

Evaluation of the microbiome in children’s appendicitis – Martin Salö – International Journal of Colorectal Disease

Review: Food: a new form of personalised (gut microbiome) medicine for chronic diseases? – Tess Pallister – Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine

Review: Linking the Microbiota, Chronic Disease, and the Immune System – Timothy W. Hand – Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism

Animal and bioreactor experiments

From the Sonnenburg lab @Stanford: Individualized Responses of Gut Microbiota to Dietary Intervention Modeled in Humanized Mice – Samuel A. Smits – mSystems

An In Vitro Approach to Study Effects of Prebiotics and Probiotics on the Faecal Microbiota and Selected Immune Parameters Relevant to the Elderly – Yue Liu – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Genome and metagenome analyses reveal adaptive evolution of the host and interaction with the gut microbiota in the goose – Guangliang Gao – Scientific Reports

Hold off on the orange oil: Characterization of Antibacterial Activities of Eastern Subterranean Termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, against Human Pathogens – Yuan Zeng – PLOS ONE

Use of MALDI-TOF MS and culturomics to identify mosquitoes and their midgut microbiota – Fatalmoudou Tandina – Parasites & Vectors

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Drought history affects grassland plant and microbial carbon turnover during and after a subsequent drought event – Lucia Fuchslueger – Journal of Ecology

Effect of organic matter enrichment on the fungal community in limestone cave sediments – ELS Marques – Genetics and Molecular Research

Contrasting elevational diversity patterns for soil bacteria between
two ecosystems divided by the treeline – Guixiang Li – Science China Life Sciences

Review: Diversity and ecology of soil fungal communities in rubber plantations – Jutamart Monkai – Fungal Biology Reviews

Illumina sequencing reveals a rhizosphere bacterial community associated with foxtail millet smut disease suppression – Yansha Han – Plant and Soil

Water and extremophile microbiome

Viruses-to-mobile genetic elements skew in the deep Atlantis II brine pool sediments – Mustafa Adel – Scientific Reports

Built environment microbiome

Review: The Microbiome of the Built Environment and Human Behavior: Implications for Emotional Health and Well-Being in Postmodern Western Societies – C.E. Stamper – International Review of Neurobiology

Microbes in the news

The Bacteria on Your Skin Are Safer Than These Two Chemicals the FDA Just Banned From Your Soap – Jill Richardson – Truth Digg

DNA in London Grave May Help Solve Mysteries of the Great Plague – Roff Smith – National Geographic

Bik’s Non-Microbiology Picks

This paper was discussed on Twitter this weekend because of a conflict of interest of one of the authors (Deepak Chopra) and the design and interpretation of the study:

Identification of Altered Metabolomic Profiles Following a Panchakarma-based Ayurvedic Intervention in Healthy Subjects: The Self-Directed Biological Transformation Initiative (SBTI) – Christine Tara Peterson – Scientific Reports