Category Archives: Events and jobs

January 28, 2016

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Events

2016 Mo Bio Microbiome Awards: provides young, extraordinary scientists with funding and recognition to carry out scientific work in the field of Microbiome research – Deadline May 31, 2016

Live streaming now: Women in Science Summit 2016 #SciWomen16 hosted by the California Academy of Sciences

Human gut microbiome

Metagenomic Approach for Identification of the Pathogens Associated with Diarrhea in Stool Specimens – Yanjiao Zhou – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Review: Gut microbiota and allergic disease in children – Sarah L. Bridgman – Annals of the Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

Animal models of microbiome research

The microenvironment of injured murine gut elicits a local pro-restitutive microbiota – Ashfaqul Alam – Nature Microbiology

Editorial: Host response: Microbiota prime antiviral response – Julie K. Pfeiffer – Nature Microbiology

Editorial: Winning the Microbial Battle, but Not the War – Hiutung Chu – Cell

Animal microbiome

Apibacter mensalis sp. nov.: a rare member of the bumble bee gut microbiota – Jessy Praet – International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Diversity and Biogeography of Bathyal and Abyssal Seafloor Bacteria – Christina Bienhold – PLOS ONE

Built environment microbiome

Comparison of Two Culture Methods for Use in Assessing Microbial Contamination of Duodenoscopes – Michaela A. Gazdik – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Waste microbiology

Microwave and ultrasound pre-treatments influence microbial community structure and digester performance in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge – Maria Westerholm – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Effects of copper particles on a model septic system’s function and microbial community – Alicia A. Taylor – Water Research

Microbes in the news

Poop espionage: Stalin ‘used secret laboratory to analyse Mao’s excrement’– Steven Rosenberg – BBC

Science, publishing, and career

Peer-reviewing Frontiers – Michiel Dijkstra – Frontiers Blog

Faking it: In the face of routine rejection, many scientists must learn to cope with the insidious beast that is impostor syndrome – Chris Woolston – Nature

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January 27, 2016 – second edition

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A call from the White House, synergy between Mycoplasma and Gardnerella, urinary microbiome, sarcoidosis, and a hiking guide to microbes on the seafloor.

Events

The White House wants feedback from “All Microbiome-Science Champions” – give it – give it now – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet
and
Calling All Microbiome-Science Champions! – Jo Handelsman and Elizabeth Stulberg – The White House

General human microbiome

Review: Exploring and Understanding the Biochemical Diversity of the Human Microbiota – Nitzan Koppel – Cell Chemical Biology

Pregnancy and birth

The impact of freeze-drying infant fecal samples on measures of their bacterial community profiles and milk-derived oligosaccharide content – Zachery T. Lewis – PeerJ

The common vaginal commensal bacterium Ureaplasma parvum is associated with chorioamnionitis in extreme preterm labour – Ciara Cox – The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine

Human vaginal microbiome

Mycoplasma hominis and Gardnerella vaginalis display a significant synergistic relationship in bacterial vaginosis – C. Cox – European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases
Human oral microbiome

The yield and quality of cellular and bacterial DNA extracts from human oral rinse samples are variably affected by the cell lysis methodology – Mohsen Sohrabi – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Human skin microbiome

Note: 1 person per study group: Skin microbiota of first cousins affected by psoriasis and atopic dermatitis – Lorenzo Drago – Clinical and Molecular Allergy

Human urinary tract microbiome

Review: The human urinary microbiome and how it relates to urogynecology – Jenifer Schneeweiss – International Urogynecology Journal

Human gut microbiome

Metabolomics connects aberrant bioenergetic, transmethylation, and gut microbiota in sarcoidosis – Andreea Geamanu – Metabolomics

Review: Role of antibiotics for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease – Orna Nitzan – World Journal of Gastroenterology

Review: Gut microbiota imbalance and colorectal cancer – Johan Gagnière – World Journal of Gastroenterology

Animal models

In mice: A detrimental role of immunosuppressive drug, dexamethasone, during Clostridium difficile infection in association with a gastrointestinal microbial shift – Hyeun Bum Kim – Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Animal microbiome

Diversity of the gastric microbiota in Thoroughbred racehorses having gastric ulcer – Hee-Jin Dong – Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Long term repeated fire disturbance alters soil bacterial diversity but not the abundance in an Australian wet sclerophyll forest – Ju-pei Shen – Scientific Reports

Bacterial Diversity and Community Structure in Two Bornean Nepenthes Species with Differences in Nitrogen Acquisition Strategies – Wiebke Sickel – Microbial Ecology

Crop rotations alter bacterial and fungal diversity in paddy soils across East Asia – Yuji Jiang – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Emergence in mapping microbial diversity in tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) soil of Assam, North-East India: A novel approach – PN Bhattacharyya – European Journal of Biotechnology and Bioscience

High-Throughput Sequencing Analysis of the Endophytic Bacterial Diversity and Dynamics in Roots of the Halophyte Salicornia europaea – Shuai Zhao – Current Microbiology

Water and waste microbiome

Use of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–time of flight (MALDI–TOF) mass spectrometry for bacterial monitoring in routine analysis at a drinking water treatment plant – Laura Sala-Comorera – International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health

Extremophile microbiome

The Guaymas Basin hiking guide to hydrothermal mounds, chimneys and microbial mats: complex seafloor expressions of subsurface hydrothermal circulation – Andreas Teske – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Bayesian Nonparametric Ordination for the Analysis of Microbial Communities – Boyu Ren – ArXiv

Keemei: cloud-based validation of tabular bioinformatics file formats in Google Sheets – Jai Ram Rideout – PeerJ Preprint

Characterization of sequence-specific errors in various next-generation sequencing systems – Sunguk Shin – Molecular Biosystems

Stochastic neutral modelling of the Gut Microbiota’s relative species abundance from next generation sequencing data – Claudia Sala – BMC Bioinformatics

Protocol: “Deciphering Archaeal Communities” Omics Tools in the Study of Archaeal Communities – Lejla Pašić – Microbial Environmental Genomics (MEG)

Protocol: Reconstruction of Transformation Processes Catalyzed by the Soil Microbiome Using Metagenomic Approaches – Anne Schöler – Microbial Environmental Genomics (MEG)

Science, publishing, and career

Funding: What stops women getting more grants? – David McAllister – Nature

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January 25, 2016

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Today’s digest features biogeography of the human mouth, MALDI-TOF-MS, and microbes from ancient halite. OK, it is technically already Tuesday, but I was busy life tweeting from the Microbiome Symposium today at Stanford. The symposium featured many of the microbiome stars of our University – see my combined life tweets during the conference at Storify

Events

Gut microbiota in health and disease – from concept to evidence – March 17, 2016, Stockholm, Sweden. The symposium will be webcasted live at kva.se and will later be available as video-on-demand at kvatv.se.

Human oral microbiome

Biogeography of a human oral microbiome at the micron scale – Jessica L. Mark Welch – PNAS

Animal models of microbiome research

Experimental modulation of external microbiome affects nestmate recognition in harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) – Andy Dosmann – PeerJ

Review: Incorporating the gut microbiota into models of human and non-human primate ecology and evolution – Katherine R. Amato – American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Animal microbiome

Faecal contamination of echinoderms: first report of heavy Escherichia coli loading of sea urchins from a natural growing area – M. Bouchoucha – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Extremophile microbiome

Review: Buried Alive: Microbes from Ancient Halite – Salla T. Jaakkola – Trends in Microbiology

Food microbiology

Effect of X-ray treatments on Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella flexneri, Salmonella enterica and inherent microbiota on whole mangoes – B.S.M. Mahmoud – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Techniques

Advantage of MALDI-TOF-MS over biochemical-based phenotyping for microbial identification illustrated on industrial applications – S.K. Urwyler – Letters in Applied Microbiology

More microbiology

Fueling the Bio-economy: European Culture Collections and Microbiology Education and Training – André Antunes – Trends in Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Do probiotics cure asthma? Don’t believe the hype: Jonathan Eisen awards “prizes” to those who “oversell the microbiome” – Emma Bryce – Wired

The Forest In Your Mouth – Ed Yong – Phenomena National Geographic

Take your kids to the bugs on a Sunday afternoon – Micropia, the world’s only microbe zoo in Amsterdam – Mathias Grote – ASM Blog

IS-diagnostics Publishes Validation of PCR-Based Clinical Metagenomic MDx –  Madeleine Johnson – Genome Web

Bacteria Hysteria

Bacteria won’t wash, with the Brushield toothbrush cover – GizMag

Science, publishing, and career

#ResearchParasites and #ScienceColonialism – featuring Tweets from @DNLee5 & some discussion – Jonathan Eisen – Storify

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January 21, 2016

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Beards and MRSA in hospital workers, dysbiosis in Crohns Disease, non-absorbable antibiotics affect offspring in mice, bacterial sunscreens, and bacteria found in a sick-making building.

Events

2nd Annual Microbiome Symposium – January 25, 2016 – Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

Pregnancy and birth

A necrotizing enterocolitis-associated gut microbiota is already present in the meconium: results of a prospective study – Fardou H. Heida – Clinical Infectious Diseases

Human oral microbiome

Salivary pathogen and serum antibody to assess the progression of chronic periodontitis: a 24-mo prospective multicenter cohort study – T. Morozumi – Journal of Periodontal Research

Human skin microbiome

Bacterial ecology of hospital workers’ facial hair: a cross-sectional study – E. Wakeam – Journal of hospital infection

Human respiratory microbiome

Correlation of the lung microbiota with metabolic profiles in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in HIV infection – Sushma K. Cribbs – Microbiome

Human gut microbiome

Changes in Colonic Bile Acid Composition following Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Are Sufficient to Control Clostridium difficile Germination and Growth – Alexa R. Weingarden – PLOS ONE

Reduced Abundance of Butyrate-Producing Bacteria Species in the Fecal Microbial Community in Crohn’s Disease – Takahashi K – Digestion

Detecting Microbial Dysbiosis Associated with Pediatric Crohn Disease Despite the High Variability of the Gut Microbiota – Feng Wang – Cell Reports

DNA fingerprinting approaches to trace Escherichia coli sharing between dogs and owners  – Z. Naziri – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Altered intestinal microbiota as a major driving force in alcoholic steatohepatitis – Herbert Tilg – Gut

Impact of Surotomycin on the Gut Microbiota of Healthy Volunteers in a Phase 1 Clinical Trial – Diane M. Citron – Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

Microbiome animal and bioreactor models

Administration of Non-Absorbable Antibiotics to Pregnant Mice to Perturb the Maternal Gut Microbiota Is Associated with Alterations in Offspring Behavior – Shiro Tochitani – PLOS ONE

Degradation of chondroitin sulfate by the gut microbiota of Chinese individuals –
Qingsen Shang – International Journal of Biological Macromolecules

Streptococcus pneumoniae colonization disrupts the microbial community within the upper respiratory tract of aging mice – Netusha Thevaranjan – Infection and Immunity

Assessing microbial competition in a hydrogen-based membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) using multidimensional modeling – Kelly J. Martin – Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Animal microbiome

Archaeal and Bacterial Communities Associated with the Surface Mucus of Caribbean Corals Differ in Their Degree of Host Specificity and Community Turnover Over Reefs – Pedro R. Frade – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Bacteria increase arid-land soil surface temperature through the production of sunscreens – Estelle Couradeau – Nature Communications

Historical and current climate drive spatial and temporal patterns in fungal endophyte diversity – Hannah Giauque – Fungal Ecology

Location, location, location: priority effects in wood decay communities may vary between sites – Jennifer Hiscox – Environmental Microbiology

Microbial Hub Taxa Link Host and Abiotic Factors to Plant Microbiome Variation – Matthew T. Agler – PLOS Biology

Effect of altitude and season on microbial activity, abundance and community structure in Alpine forest soils – José A. Siles – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Effects of manure and mineral fertilization strategies on soil antibiotic resistance gene levels and microbial community in a paddy–upland rotation system – Hui Lin – Environmental Pollution

Bacterial community compositions in sediment polluted by perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) using Illumina high-throughput sequencing – Yajun Sun – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Large amounts of easily decomposable carbon stored in subtropical forest subsoil is associated with r-strategy-dominated soil microbes – Yuping Chen – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Water, waste, and extremophile microbiome

Effects of anthropogenic heavy metal contamination on litter decomposition in streams – A meta-analysis – Verónica Ferreira – Environmental Pollution

Investigation of the microbial community in the Odisha hot spring cluster based on the cultivation independent approach – Archana Singh – Genomics Data

Analysis of bacterial diversity in two oil blocks from two low-permeability reservoirs with high salinities – Meng Xiao – Scientific Reports

Occurrence of mycotoxins and yeasts and moulds identification in corn silages in tropical climate – B.F. Carvalho – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Food microbiology

Molecular diversity of bacteria in commercially available ‘‘Spirulina’’ food supplements – Elisabeth Vardaka – PeerJ

Ineffective hand washing and the contamination of carrots after using a field latrine – J M Monaghan – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Microbiological characterization using combined culture dependent and independent approaches of Casizolu pasta filata cheese – N.P. Mangia – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Microbial dynamics in mixed culture biofilms of bacteria surviving sanitation of conveyor belts in salmon-processing plants – S. Langsrud – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Built environment microbiology

Bacteria in a water-damaged building: associations of actinomycetes and non-tuberculous mycobacteria with respiratory health in occupants – J.-H. Park – Indoor Air

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Review: Application of multivariate statistical techniques in microbial ecology – O. Paliy – Molecular Ecology

More microbiology

Eighteenth century Yersinia pestis genomes reveal the long-term persistence of an historical plague focus – Kirsten I Bos – eLIFE

Review: Within-host evolution of bacterial pathogens – Xavier Didelot – Nature Reviews Microbiology

This is NOT novel and methods are missing essential steps: A novel method to assess the biodiversity of parasites using 18S rDNA Illumina sequencing; parasitome analysis method – Akina Hino – Parasitology International

Microbes in the news

Found: Desert Hot Spots Just For Microbes – Sarah Laskow – Atlas Obscura

Beards may be more hygienic and bacteria-resistant than shaven skin, study finds – Kate Ng – Independent
Beards may not be that gross, after all – Rachel Thompson – Mashable
Are beards good for your health? – BBC News Magazine

Bacteria or virus? New diagnostic tool could curb antibiotic overuse – Eric Boodman – STAT news

Getting to know the real you – how seriously should we take the health of our internal aliens? – LabNews UK

Probiotics come with bold health claims, but the science is shaky – Megan Scudellari – STAT news

Weekend binges just as bad for the gut as a regular junk food diet, study suggests – Dan Wheelahan – Medical Xpress

Can our gut microbiota contribute to the effect healthy foods have on us? – Gut Microbiota WorldWatch

Science, publishing, and career

Are results in top journals to be trusted? – SK – Economist

The best academic acknowledgements ever – Glen Wright – Times Higher Education
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January 20, 2016

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Virome of children with diarrhea, bacterial communities in black truffles, arsenic biogeochemistry in an acid vapor-formed spring, distribution of microbes in microenvironments, and retraction of a PLOS ONE air microbiome paper.

Jobs and events

New job openings at Whole Biome: develops therapeutics and diagnostics targeting human microbiome, casual culture, and artisanal coffee

Human oral microbiome

Exploration of Human Salivary Microbiomes—Insights into the Novel Characteristics of Microbial Community Structure in Caries and Caries-Free Subjects – Jianye Zhou – PLOS ONE

Human respiratory microbiome

COPD is characterized by increased detection of Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae and a deficiency of Bacillus species – Jodie L. Simpson – Respirology

Human gut microbiome

The fecal virome of South and Central American children with diarrhea includes small circular DNA viral genomes of unknown origin – Tung Gia Phan – Archives of Virology

Perspective: Gut microbiota and aging – Paul W. O’Toole – Science

Review: Studies on Modulation of Gut Microbiota by Wine Polyphenols: From Isolated Cultures to Omic Approaches – Montserrat Dueñas – MDPI Antioxidants

Animal models

Postnatal Hematopoiesis and Gut Microbiota in NOD Mice Deviate from C57BL/6 Mice – Dina Silke Malling Damlund – Journal of Diabetes Research

Bacterial profile and bone healing in rats receiving cancer therapeutic doses of bisphosphonates and corticosteroids: a pilot study – Z. Jabbour – International Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Interaction between dietary lipids and gut microbiota regulates hepatic cholesterol metabolism – Robert Caesar – Journal of Lipid Research

Gut Microbiota Regulates K/BxN Autoimmune Arthritis through Follicular Helper T but Not Th17 Cells – Katharine E. Block – The Journal of Immunology

Editorial: Of Bugs and Drugs: How the Microbiome Controls Responsiveness to Antitumor Immunotherapy – Mandy L. Ford – American Journal of Transplantation

Animal microbiome

Most Low-Abundance “Background” Symbiodinium spp. Are Transitory and Have Minimal Functional Significance for Symbiotic Corals – Moo Joon Lee – Microbial Ecology

Isolation and assessment of gut bacteria from the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), for paratransgenesis research and application – Chinmay V. Tikhe – Insect Science

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Black truffle: Temporal changes of bacterial communities in the Tuber melanosporum ectomycorrhizosphere during ascocarp development – Aurélie Deveau – Mycorrhiza

Isolation of N2-fixing rhizobacteria from Lolium perenne and evaluating their plant growth promoting traits – Antonio Castellano-Hinojosa – Journal of Basic Microbiology

Host associations and beta diversity of fungal endophyte communities in New Guinea rainforest trees – J. B. Vincent – Molecular Ecology

Water, waste, and extremophile microbiome

Metagenome-scale analysis yields insights into the structure and function of microbial communities in a copper bioleaching heap – Xian Zhang – BMC Genetics

Microbial Community Structure and Arsenic Biogeochemistry in an Acid Vapor-Formed Spring in Tengchong Geothermal Area, China – Zhou Jiang – PLOS ONE

Phylogenetic conservation of freshwater lake habitat preference varies between abundant bacterioplankton phyla – Marian L. Schmidt – Environmental Microbiology

Food and cigarette microbiome

Characterization of Bacterial Communities in Selected Smokeless Tobacco Products Using 16S rDNA Analysis – Robert E. Tyx – PLOS ONE

More microbes

Divorcing strain classification from species names – David Baltrus

Distributions of Virus-Like Particles and Prokaryotes within Microenvironments – Lisa M. Dann – PLOS ONE

Parallel Mapping of Antibiotic Resistance Alleles in Escherichia coli –
Sophie J. Weiss – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the news

Satire: Dung Beetle A Bit Fed Up With Diet – The Allium

How Climate Change Endangers Microbes–And Why That’s Not a Good Thing – Aspen T. Reese – Scientific American

CDC issues guidance to help monitor pregnant women for Zika virus – Helen Branswell – STATnews

Microbes and art

These Close-Up Shots Of Kitchen Mold Are Oddly Appealing: Nikita Teryoshin, Max Slobodda / Küchendienst – FastCoDesign

Science, publishing, and career

Here are the 10 — yes, 10 — reasons PLOS ONE retracted this paper (“Metagenomic Human Repiratory Air in a Hospital Environment”) – Shannon Palus – Retraction Watch

Ten easy ways you can support diversity in academia in 2016 – Jacquelyn Gyll – The Contemplative Mammoth

Bik’s Picks

When chickens go wild. The feral chickens of Kauai provide a unique opportunity to study what happens when domesticated animals escape and evolve – Ewen Callaway – Nature
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January 19, 2016

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Microbiota manipulation during stem cell transplants, meh-crobial diversity in digestive tract of two sheep breeds, eukaryotes within pitcher plants,  South Atlantic Ocean, and soil affected by the 2011 Japan Tsunami.

Events

ISME16, Montreal, Canada, 21 – 26 August 2016. Registration and Submissions now open. The deadline for submitting your abstract is 18 March.

ASM Career Development Grants for Postdoctoral Women – up to 4 awards of $1,500 each. Deadline for Nominations: February 1, 2016.

Fellowships by L’Oréal USA For Women In Science. Deadline Feb 5, 2016. Program awards five women postdoctoral scientists annually with grants of $60,000 each, in any specialty.

Human oral microbiome

Salivary bacterial fingerprints of established oral disease revealed by the Human Oral Microbe Identification using Next Generation Sequencing (HOMINGS) technique – Daniel Belstrøm – Journal of Oral Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Sleep quality and the treatment of intestinal microbiota imbalance in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A pilot study – Melinda L. Jackson – Sleep Science

Fecal microbiota transplantation: A ‘How-To’ guide for nurses – Sharyn Leis – Collegian Journal

Review: Microbiota Manipulation With Prebiotics and Probiotics in Patients Undergoing Stem Cell Transplantation – Tessa M. Andermann – Current Hematologic Malignancy Reports

Review: Epigenetic Regulation of Enteric Neurotransmission by Gut Bacteria – Tor C. Savidge – Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience

Bioreactor and animal models

Microbial Metabolism Shifts Towards an Adverse Profile with Supplementary Iron in the TIM-2 In vitro Model of the Human Colon – Guus A. M. Kortman – Frontiers in Microbiology

Video: A Novel Bioreactor for High Density Cultivation of Diverse Microbial Communities – Jacob R. Price – JOVE

Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.) Gastrointestinal Microbial Community Dynamics in Relation to Digesta Properties and Diet – Kamarul Zaman Zarkasi – Microbial Ecology

Animal microbiome

Microbial diversity in the digestive tract of two different breeds of sheep – J.-L. Douglas – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Dynamics of Bacterial Community Composition in the Malaria Mosquito’s Epithelia – Majoline T. Tchioffo – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbiota Plays a Role in Oral Immune Priming in Tribolium castaneum – Momir Futo – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Dynamics of Viral Abundance and Diversity in a Sphagnum-Dominated Peatland: Temporal Fluctuations Prevail Over Habitat – Flore Ballaud – Frontiers in Microbiology

Biogeographic barriers drive co-diversification within associated eukaryotes of the Sarracenia alata pitcher plant system – Jordan D. Satler – PeerJ

Expanding our Understanding of the Seaweed Holobiont: RNA Viruses of the Red Alga Delisea pulchra – Tim Lachnit – Frontiers in Microbiology

New Methods To Unravel Rhizosphere Processes – Eva Oburger – Trends in Plant Science

Soil microbial responses to forest floor litter manipulation and nitrogen addition in a mixed-wood forest of northern China – Xiao-Lu Sun – Scientific Reports

Unraveling the Functions of the Macroalgal Microbiome – Ravindra Pal Singh – Frontiers in Microbiology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Diversity and bioprospection of fungal community present in oligotrophic soil of continental Antarctica – Valéria M. Godinho – Extremophiles

Novel Barite Chimneys at the Loki’s Castle Vent Field Shed Light on Key Factors Shaping Microbial Communities and Functions in Hydrothermal Systems – Ida H. Steen – Frontiers in Microbiology

High Diversity of Anaerobic Alkane-Degrading Microbial Communities in Marine Seep Sediments Based on (1-methylalkyl)succinate Synthase Genes – Marion H. Stagars – Frontiers in Microbiology

Nutrient limitation of microbial phototrophs on a debris-covered glacier – J.L. Darcy – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Large-scale distribution of microbial and viral populations in the South Atlantic Ocean – Daniele De Corte – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Selective Pressure of Temperature on Competition and Cross-Feeding within Denitrifying and Fermentative Microbial Communities – Anna Hanke – Frontiers in Microbiology

A Lipid-Accumulating Alga Maintains Growth in Outdoor, Alkaliphilic Raceway Pond with Mixed Microbial Communities – Tisza A. S. Bell – Frontiers in Microbiology

Genomic Reconstruction of an Uncultured Hydrothermal Vent Gammaproteobacterial Methanotroph (Family Methylothermaceae) Indicates Multiple Adaptations to Oxygen Limitation – Connor T. Skennerton – Frontiers in Microbiology

Genomic and metagenomic analysis of microbes in a soil environment affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake tsunami – Satoshi Hiraoka – BMC Genomics

Oil reservoir microbiome

Genome-Resolved Metagenomic Analysis Reveals Roles for Candidate Phyla and Other Microbial Community Members in Biogeochemical Transformations in Oil Reservoirs – Ping Hu – mBio

Food microbiology

Dynamic changes in microbiota and mycobiota during spontaneous ‘Vino Santo Trentino’ fermentation – Irene Stefanini – Microbial Biotechnology

Other microbiology and techniques

Perspective: Adapting Koch’s postulates – Allyson L. Byrd, Julia Segre – Science

Depletion of human DNA in spiked clinical specimens to improve the sensitivity of pathogen detection by next generation sequencing – Mohammad R. Hasan – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Evaluation of a new device to simplify and standardize stool sample preparation for viral molecular testing with limited hands-on-time – Linda Feghoul – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Review: Polymicrobial Biofilm Studies: from Basic Science to Biofilm Control – Hubertine ME Willems – Current Oral Health Reports

Review: Laser microdissection: A promising tool for exploring microorganisms and their interactions with hosts – Oleg V. Podgorny – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Book: Applications of Mass Spectrometry in Microbiology – Plamen Demirev, Todd R Sandrin – Springer

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Searching more genomic sequence with less memory for fast and accurate metagenomic profiling – Shea N Gardner – bioRxiv

An evaluation of the accuracy and speed of metagenome analysis tools – Stinus Lindgreen – Scientific Reports

Motif-based text mining of microbial metagenome redundancy profiling data for disease classification – Yin Wang – BioMed Research International

Metabolic pathways

Metabolic traits of an uncultured archaeal lineage -MSBL1- from brine pools of the Red Sea – Romano Mwirichia – Scientific Reports

Microbes in the news

Looking at the Microbiota to Improve Intestinal Transplantation Results – Jeannette Y. Wick – HCP Live

Why do I have to share my body with so many bugs? – Michael Mosley – BBC

How Bitter Taste Receptors Defend the Body against Bacteria – Robert J Lee – Scientific American

White Paper: The Future of Microbiome Research: Out of the Lab and Into the Clinic – Global Engage

How chicory may help fight plague bacteria – Jason Tetro – Popular Science

Lethal bacteria in Christmas Island feral cats sparks warning (Leptospira) – Nicolas Perpitch – ABC Australia

Microbes and art

Subvisual Subway: The Art of New York City’s Bacterial World – Emily Driscoll – Science Friday

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January 13, 2016

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Frozen vs fresh stool transplants, the primate skin microbiome, diet-induced extinctions, bacteria in breast milk from low income Mexican-American moms, and engineered poplar tree endosphere.

Events

Tapping the Human Microbiome (Kavli Hangout) – Tuesday, Jan. 19, 1:30 pm EST, with Janet Jansson, Rob Knight, and Jeff Miller

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Bacterial microbiome of breast milk and child saliva from low-income Mexican-American women and children – Veronica Davé – Pediatric Research

Human vaginal microbiome

Review: Biotherapeutic agents and vaginal health – F. H. Al-Ghazzewi – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Frozen vs Fresh Fecal Microbiota Transplantation and Clinical Resolution of Diarrhea in Patients With Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection – Christine H. Lee – JAMA

Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth and Environmental Enteropathy in Bangladeshi Children – Jeffrey R. Donowitz – mBio

Animal and bioreactor models

Diet-induced extinctions in the gut microbiota compound over generations – Erica D. Sonnenburg – Nature

Intestinal epithelial TLR4 signaling affects epithelial function, colonic microbiota and promotes risk for transmissible colitis – Rishu Dheer – Infection and Immunity

Modulation of the human gut microbiota by dietary fibres occurs at the species level – Wing Sun Faith Chung – BMC Biology

Animal microbiome

Diversity and evolution of the primate skin microbiome – Sarah E. Council – Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Host-associated coral reef microbes respond to the cumulative pressures of ocean warming and ocean acidification – N. S. Webster – Scientific Reports

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Lignin engineering in field-grown poplar trees affects the endosphere bacterial microbiome – Bram Beckers – PNAS

Invariant community structure of soil bacteria in subtropical coniferous and broadleaved forests – Xiaoli Wang – Scientific Reports

Food microbiology

Seasonal and Growth-Dependent Dynamics of Bacterial Community in Radish Sprouts – Hiroshi Asakura – Journal of Food Safety

Bacterial dynamics and metabolite changes in solid-state acetic acid fermentation of Shanxi aged vinegar – Sha Li – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Transcriptomics

Functional Profiling of Unfamiliar Microbial Communities Using a Validated De Novo Assembly Metatranscriptome Pipeline – Mark Davids – PLOS ONE

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Direct next-generation sequencing of virus-human mixed samples without pretreatment is favorable to recover virus genome – Dingchen Li – Biology Direct

Microbes in the news

DNA Genotek’s microbiome collection and stabilization blog – Lisa Gamwell – The Microbiome Snapshot

Human trials will test freeze-dried poop pills as a weight-loss treatment – David Nield – Science Alert

What is Zika virus? Interview with Derek Gatherer – Microbe Post

E. coli Slinky: Revealed: the awful anchor that lets urinary tract infections take hold – Josh Barney – University of Virginia

Bik’s Picks

Estimation of a Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) Population’s Diet Using Sequencing Analysis of DNA from Feces – Michael J. Ford – PLOS ONE

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January 7, 2016

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A new estimate of the ratio microbial:human cells in our bodies, a 5300-year old Helicobacter genome, antibiotics alter bile metabolism, microbiota from 59 bird species, and fecal contamination of Kathmandu drinking water.

Events

3rd Microbiome R&D and Business Collaboration Forum: Europe, which will take place in London, on the 11th and 12th of April, 2016. Early registration closes Jan 15th.

Mysterious Microbes Webinar Series 1 of 3: Microbes and the miracle of compost tea, with Noah Fierer and Ryan Heiland, on Jan 14. Learn how and why microbes are the natural secret to green lawns, lush flowers, and abundant produce

General human microbiome

Revised estimates for the number of human and bacteria cells in the body – Ron Sender – bioRxiv

Review: The human microbiota: the role of microbial communities in health and disease – Luz Elena Botero – Acta Biologica Columbiana

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

A comparative study of bifidobacteria in human babies and adults – Shadi Khonsari – Bioscience of Microbiota, Food and Health

Human oral microbiome

Salivary Antimicrobial Peptides in Early Detection of Periodontitis – Güliz N. Güncü – Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

The 5300-year-old Helicobacter pylori genome of the Iceman – Frank Maixner – Science

Microbiome animal and other models

Antibiotic-Induced Alterations of the Gut Microbiota Alter Secondary Bile Acid Production and Allow for Clostridium difficile Spore Germination and Outgrowth in the Large Intestine – Casey M. Theriot – mSphere

The Gut Microbiota Reduces Colonization of the Mesenteric Lymph Nodes and IL-12-Independent IFN-γ Production During Salmonella Infection – María Fernández-Santoscoy – Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Steering Endogenous Butyrate Production in the Intestinal Tract of Broilers as a Tool to Improve Gut Health – Lonneke Onrust – Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Animal microbiome

Comparative Gut Microbiota of 59 Neotropical Bird Species – Sarah M. Hird – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Potential Activity, Size, and Structure of Sulfate-Reducing Microbial Communities in an Exposed, Grazed and a Sheltered, Non-Grazed Mangrove Stand at the Red Sea Coast –
Melike Balk – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bacterial endophytes from wild and ancient maize are able to suppress the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia homoeocarpa – Hanan R. Shehata – Journal of Applied Microbiology

High throughput multiplex real time PCR assay for the simultaneous quantification of DNA and RNA viruses infecting cassava plants – Gerald Otti – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Methods for Baiting and Enriching Fungus-Feeding (Mycophagous) Rhizosphere Bacteria  – Max-Bernhard Ballhausen – Frontiers in Microbiology

Cucumber Rhizosphere Microbial Community Response to Biocontrol Agent Bacillus subtilis B068150 – Lihua Li – MDPI Agriculture

Water and waste microbiome

Bacterial diversity in water samples from uranium wastes as demonstrated by 16S rDNA and ribosomal intergenic spacer amplification retrievals – Galina Radeva – Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Master thesis: Evaluation of Two Culture-Independent Methods for Quantification of the Fraction of K-and r-Strategists within Water Microbial Communities – Brandsegg, Hege – Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet

Built environment microbiome

The Ecological Dynamics of Fecal Contamination and Salmonella Typhi and Salmonella Paratyphi A in Municipal Kathmandu Drinking Water – Abhilasha Karkey – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Application of the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index in Finland – Martin Täubel – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Food microbiology

Review: Phage-Host Interactions of Cheese-Making Lactic Acid Bacteria – Jennifer Mahony – Annual Review of Food Science and Technology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

The Road to Metagenomics: From Microbiology to DNA Sequencing Technologies and Bioinformatics – Alejandra Escobar-Zepeda – Frontiers in Genetics

Science, publishing, and career

Peer review: tips from field experts for junior reviewers – Sabina Alam – BMC Medicine

Microbes in the news

Gut bacteria from Otzi the Iceman reveals our intimate ties to one microbe – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

Scientists unearth bacteria from stomach of 5,300-year-old iceman – Carl Zimmer – StatNews

The Famous Ancient “Iceman” Had Ulcer Bacteria In His Gut – Dan Vergano – BuzzFeed

High Stress Environments May Lead To Unhealthy Gut Microbiomes: How To Protect Yourself From The Consequences – Lecia Bushak – Medical Daily

Antibiotics Pave Way for C. Diff Infections – North Carolina State University

Jackson Laboratory Hosted Microbiome Symposium Related to Cancer and Immunology – Lexology

The Bacteria That May Be Causing Your Nasty Cold. “The most common one of them in Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Infection,” Martin explained. – Fox29

Bik’s Picks

A “Pedi” Cures All: Toenail Trimming and the Treatment of Ulcerative Dermatitis in Mice – Sean C. Adams – PLOS ONE
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December 12, 2015

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Events

3rd Microbiome R&D and Business Collaboration Forum: Europe, 11-12 April, 2016, London

Pregnancy and birth

Study protocol (no data yet): Intestinal microbiota composition after antibiotic treatment in early life: the INCA study – N. B. M. M. Rutten – BMC Pediatrics

Review: The very low birth weight infant microbiome and childhood health – Maureen W. Groer – Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today: Reviews

Review: Development of the infant intestinal microbiome: A bird’s eye view of a complex process – Sharon B. Meropol – – Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today: Reviews

Review: Microbial programming of health and disease starts during fetal life – Petya T. Koleva – Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today: Reviews

Human gut microbiome

Review: Gut microbiota in health and disease: an overview focused on metabolic inflammation – R. Nagpal – Beneficial Microbes

Animal models

Effects of antibiotics (oxytetracycline, florfenicol or tulathromycin) on neonatal calves’ faecal microbial diversity – J. Oultram – Veterinary Record

Water microbiome

Wind and sunlight shape microbial diversity in surface waters of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre – Jessica A Bryant – ISME Journal

Bioprospecting around Arctic islands: Marine bacteria as rich source of biocatalysts
– Concetta De Santi – Journal of Basic Microbiology

Built environment microbiology

Review: Microlayer enrichment in natural treatment systems: linking the surface microlayer to urban water quality – Megan A. Rippy – Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water

Food microbiology

Dynamics and Diversity of Microbial Community Succession of Surimi During Fermentation with Next-Generation Sequencing – Dandan Zhao – Journal of Food Safety

Infection microbiology

Making the Leap from Research Laboratory to Clinic: Challenges and Opportunities for Next-Generation Sequencing in Infectious Disease Diagnostics – Brittany Goldberg – mBio

Microbes in the news

Scientist who injected himself with 3.5 million year old bacteria ‘feels fine’ – Brittany A. Roston – Slash Gear

Kim Kardashian Has a Cold: Health issues are the new frontier in celebrity PR – Ruth Graham – Slate

Biotech startup will mine the gut for drugs affecting human behavior – Ike Swetlitz – STAT news

Functions of global ocean microbiome key to understanding environmental changes: Mary Ann Moran – University of Georgia / EurekAlert

Foodstuffs: N.H. Sauerkraut Maker Rides the Microbiome Wave Into Tom Brady’s Pantry (Maybe) – Sam Evans-Brown – NHPR

Kickstarter project: Snotbot, custom-built drones that hover in the air above a surfacing whale and collect the blow (or snot) exhaled from its lungs – Kickstarter
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December 7, 2015

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Not many new microbiome papers, but a nice oversight of the microbiological quality of Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara Bay, where the 2016 Olympics will be held.

Also, there was an interesting discussion online yesterday on IBM’s new campaign aimed to get more women interested to join them – which backfired and was pulled. IBM was trying to recruit more women with a video called “Hack a Hairdryer”, showing how you can use a hairdryer to iron your clothes or blow confetti. It was unclear how emphasizing feminine applications was supposed to attract smart women wanting to work at a computer company.

HackAHairDryer

Hack a hairdryer: Campaign aimed at women suddenly backfires – BBC

IBM Asks Women In Tech To Hack Hair Dryers, Women Tweet Back To Tell IBM It’s Not The 1950s – Sarah Buhr – Tech Crunch

Remember Massacred Women Engineers with a Hairdryer Hackathon – Mika McKinnon- Gizmodo

Jobs (posting again)

Two job openings in our lab / UCSF School of Dentistry (San Francisco) for our hyposalivation project: Full time study coordinator and Part time dental assistant (20 hours per week)

Animal microbiome

DGGE: Microbiological quality and bacterial diversity of the tropical oyster Crassostrea rhizophorae in a monitored farming system and from natural stocks – M.T. Silva Neta – Genet. Mol. Res

Plants, roots, and soil microbiome

Soil bacterial community responses to warming and grazing in a Tibetan alpine meadow – Yaoming Li – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi for the Biocontrol of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes: A Review of the Mechanisms Involved – Nele Schouteden – Frontiers in Microbiology

Prokaryotes in Subsoil—Evidence for a Strong Spatial Separation of Different Phyla by Analysing Co-occurrence Networks – Marie Uksa – Frontiers in Microbiology

Water microbiome

Environmental and Sanitary Conditions of Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro – Giovana O. Fistarol – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Metformin Users Have Different Gut Bugs: The popular type 2 diabetes drug may cause profound changes in patients’ microbiomes – Kerry Grens – The Scientist

Biologists Are Engineering Kill Switches for GM Microbes – Sarah Zhang – Wired

Bacteria containing mcr-1 gene resistant to all known antibiotics found in Denmark – News Australia

‘Bik’s Picks’ blogger describes features of a good microbiome study – Kristina Campbell in Gut microbiota

Microbiology and art

Paper Life – The artist Rogan Brown cuts thousands of microorganisms in paper – Ufunk

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