October 29, 2015

Library prep technology, skin communities in urban and rural populations, rarity in aquatic microbes, and the microbiome of solar panels.

Pregnancy and birth

The commensal infant gut meta-mobilome as a potential reservoir for persistent multidrug resistance integrons – Anuradha Ravi – Scientific Reports

Associations between human milk oligosaccharides and infant body composition in the first 6 mo of life – Tanya L Alderete – The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Human skin microbiome

The Influence of Age and Gender on Skin-Associated Microbial Communities in Urban and Rural Human Populations – Shi Ying – PLOS ONE

Human respiratory microbiome

Review: A comprehensive review of the nasal microbiome in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) – Mahboobeh Mahdavinia – Clinical & Experimental Allergy

Human gut microbiome

Lactobacillus casei Shirota Supplementation Does Not Restore Gut Microbiota Composition and Gut Barrier in Metabolic Syndrome: A Randomized Pilot Study – Vanessa Stadlbauer – PLOS ONE

DGGE: The duodenal microbiota composition in children with active coeliac disease is influenced for the degree of enteropathy – F. Girón Fernández-Crehuet – Anales de Pediatría (English Edition)

Review: The microbiome and its pharmacological targets: therapeutic avenues in cardiometabolic diseases – Ana Luisa Neves – Current Opinion in Pharmacology

Review: Microbiome impact on metabolism and function of sex, thyroid,
growth and parathyroid hormones – Michał Kunc – Acta Biochimica Polonica

Review: Intestinal Microbiota: From Inflammatory Bowel Disease to Bone Marrow Transplantation – Ernst Holler – Blood

Review: Dysbiotic gut microbiome: A key element of Crohn’s disease – Styrk Furnes Øyri – Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Infection microbiology

Serum bacterial DNA detection in patients with cholangitis after Kasai procedure – Qianfu Luo – Pediatrics International

Deceiving title (not about microbiome but infection): Breast Implant–Associated Infections: The Role of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program and the Local Microbiome – Cohen, Justin B. – Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Influence of microbiome species in hard-to-heal wounds on disease severity and treatment duration – Dagmar Chudobova – The Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases

Animal and bioreactor models

The gut microbiota plays a protective role in the host defence against pneumococcal pneumonia – Tim J Schuijt – Gut

In mice: The Intestinal Microbiota Contributes to the Ability of Helminths to Modulate Allergic Inflammation – Mario M. Zaiss – Cell

Normalization of Host Intestinal Mucus Layers Requires Long-Term Microbial Colonization – Malin E.V. Johansson – Cell Host & Microbe

Microbiota-Dependent Hepatic Lipogenesis Mediated by Stearoyl CoA Desaturase 1 (SCD1) Promotes Metabolic Syndrome in TLR5-Deficient Mice – Vishal Singh – Cell Metabolism

Influences of graphene on microbial community and antibiotic resistance genes in mouse gut as determined by high-throughput sequencing – Yongchao Xie – Chemosphere

The longitudinal effect of a multi-strain probiotic on the intestinal bacterial microbiota of neonatal foals – A. Schoster – Equine Veterinary Journal

A longitudinal assessment of changes in bacterial community composition associated with the development of periodontal disease in dogs – Corrin Wallis – Veterinary Microbiology

Assessment of prebiotic potential of Akpan-yoghurt-like product and effects on the human intestinal microbiota – Beatriz Gullón – Journal of Functional Foods

Relationship between inflammation, the gut microbiota, and metabolic osteoarthritis development: studies in a rat model – K.H. Collins – Osteoarthritis and Cartilage

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Long-term reactive nitrogen loading alters soil carbon and microbial community properties in a subalpine forest ecosystem – Claudia M. Boot – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Do arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi stabilize litter-derived carbon in soil? – Erik Verbruggen – Journal of Ecology

Editorial: Does Microbial Diversity Confound General Predictions? – Marie Duhamel – Trends in Plant Science

Water microbiome

Review: Rarity in aquatic microbes: placing protists on the map – Ramiro Logares – Research in Microbiology

Waste microbiology

Functional responses and adaptation of mesophilic microbial communities to psychrophilic anaerobic digestion – Eoin Gunnigle – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

An ‘omics’ approach towards the characterisation of laboratory scale anaerobic digesters treating municipal sewage sludge – D.J. Beale – Water Research

Extremophile microbiome

Functional analysis of the archaea, bacteria, and viruses from a halite endolithic microbial community – Alexander Crits-Christoph – BioRxiv

A highly diverse, desert-like microbial biocenosis on solar panels in a Mediterranean city – Pedro Dorado-Morales – BioRxiv

Food microbiology

Microbial community dynamics in thermophilic undefined milk starter cultures – Eugenio Parente – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

ARK: Aggregation of Reads by K-Means for Estimation of Bacterial Community Composition – David Koslicki – PLOS ONE

Linear-time superbubble identification algorithm for genome assembly – Ljiljana Brankovic – Theoretical Computer Science

Bifidobacteria exhibit social behavior through carbohydrate resource sharing in the gut – Christian Milani – Scientific Reports

Power law analysis of the human microbiome – Zhanshan (Sam) Ma – Molecular Ecology

More microbiology

Bioactive natural products from novel microbial sources – Victoria L. Challinor – Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Conference report: Bacterial Networks in Cells and Communities – Victor Sourjik – Journal of Molecular Biology

Self-establishing communities enable cooperative metabolite exchange in a eukaryote – Kate Campbell – eLife

Techniques

Library preparation methodology can influence genomic and functional predictions in human microbiome research – Marcus B. Jones – PNAS

Microbes in the news

Scientists Urge National Initiative on Microbiomes – Carl Zimmer – New York Times

Fecal transplant pills: Large-scale production begins: Nonprofit stool bank launched by MIT researchers completes first dose-finding study – GlobeNewsWire
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October 27, 2015

Gut biogeography, soil transplants, donkey penises, Chicago public beaches, deep-sea mussels, dust particles in the International Space Station, and red pepper influence on kimchi microbiology

Events

About the world within us: This week, Penn Vet, Penn Medicine, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia will host their second annual microbiome symposium – Sandy Bauers – Philly.com

Call for Volunteers: Gut Microbiota Samples – AGA is now recruiting volunteers to have their gut analyzed. Submit your name by Dec. 7 to be considered

General human microbiome

Human microbiomes and their roles in dysbiosis, common diseases, and novel therapeutic approaches – José E. Belizário – Frontiers in Microbiology

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

The Early Intestinal Microbiota of Healthy Korean Newborns – Eu Kyoung Lee – Iran J Pediatr

Human oral microbiome

Microbiome interaction with sugar plays an important role in relapse of childhood caries
Jing Tian – Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications

Human respiratory microbiome

The microbiome of the maxillary sinus and middle nasal meatus in chronic rhinosinusitis – O.A. Ivanchenko – Rhinology

Human skin microbiome

The Skin Microbiome in Atopic Dermatitis and Its Relationship to Emollients – Charles W. Lynde – Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery

Human gut microbiome

Quinolone resistance mutations in the faecal microbiota of Swedish travellers to India – Anna Johnning – BMC Microbiology

Regulation of lung immunity and host defense by the intestinal microbiota – Derrick R. Samuelson – Frontiers in Microbiology

Intestinal Microbiota Profiles of Healthy Pre-School and School-Age Children and Effects of Probiotic Supplementation – Wang C. – Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism

Effect of Whole-Grain Barley on the Human Fecal Microbiota and Metabolome – Maria De Angelis – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Microbiota studies in the bile duct strongly suggest a role for H. pylori in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma – Francisco Avilés-Jiménez- Clinical Microbiology and Infection

Review: A Molecular-Level Landscape of Diet-Gut Microbiome Interactions: Toward Dietary Interventions Targeting Bacterial Genes – Yueqiong Ni – mBio

Review: Gut biogeography of the bacterial microbiota – Gregory P. Donaldson – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Review: The Microbiome in Mental Health: Potential Contribution of Gut Microbiota in Disease and Pharmacotherapy Management – Stephanie A. Flowers – Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy

Review: Impact of Gut Microbiota on Obesity, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk – Luca Miele – Current Cardiology Reports

Editorial: Faecal transplants – Tim Spector, Rob Knight – British Medical Journal

Microbiome models

MHC variation sculpts individualized microbial communities that control susceptibility to enteric infection – Jason L. Kubinak

Diet drives quick changes in the metabolic activity and composition of human gut microbiota in a validated in vitro gut model – Marisol Aguirre – Research in Microbiology

The effect of diet and host genotype on ceca microbiota of Japanese quail fed a cholesterol enriched diet – Shasha Liu – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Selective manipulation of the gut microbiota improves immune status in vertebrates – Ana Montalban-Arques – Frontiers in Immunology

Animal microbiome

With a picture of the sampling site! Bacterial and fungal microflora on the external genitalia of male donkeys (Equus asinus) – Carla L. Carleton – Animal Reproduction Science

Zoo animalsHuman Staphylococcus aureus lineages among Zoological Park residents in
Greece – E. Drougka – Open Veterinary Journal

InsectsMicrobial ecology-based methods to characterize the bacterial communities of non-model insects – Erica M. Prosdocimi – Journal of Microbiological Methods

CattleThe nasopharyngeal microbiota of feedlot cattle – Devin B. Holman – Scientific Reports

CattleThe rumen microbial metagenome associated with high methane production in cattle – R. John Wallace – BMC Genomics

GooseComparative analysis of the gastrointestinal microbial communities of bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) in different breeding patterns by high-throughput sequencing – Wen Wang – Microbiological Research

BatsBacterial diversity indicates dietary overlap among bats of different feeding habits – Sunil Banskar – Microbiological Research

Copepods: Biotransformation of petroleum hydrocarbons and microbial communities in seawater with oil dispersions and copepod feces – Ingvild Fladvad Størdal – Marine Pollution Bulletin

Mussels: Abundant toxin-related genes in the genomes of beneficial symbionts from deep-sea hydrothermal vent mussels – Lizbeth Sayavedra – eLIFE

SnailEnrichment and Identification of Cellulolytic Bacteria from the Gastrointestinal Tract of Giant African Snail, Achatina fulica – Kiran D. Pawar – Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology

CoralIntraspecific diversity among partners drives functional variation in coral symbioses – John Everett Parkinson – Scientific Reports

CoralVariations in the abundance and structural diversity of microbes forming biofilms in a thermally stressed coral reef system – Huda Mahmoud – Marine Pollution Bulletin

CoralMicrobiome shifts and the inhibition of quorum sensing by Black Band Disease cyanobacteria – Julie L Meyer – The ISME Journal

ZebrafishIdentification of Population Bottlenecks and Colonization Factors during Assembly of Bacterial Communities within the Zebrafish Intestine – W. Zac Stephens – mBio

ArthropodThe microbiome of Folsomia candida: an assessment of bacterial diversity in a Wolbachia-containing animal – V. Agamennone – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Dynamics of bacterial community structure on intertidal sandflat inhabited by the ghost shrimp Nihonotrypaea harmandi (decapoda: Axiidea: Callianassidae) in tomioka bay, amakusa, Japan – Minoru Wada – Gene

Agricultural matrix affects differently the alpha and beta structural and functional diversity of soil microbial communities in a fragmented Mediterranean holm oak forest
Dulce Flores-Rentería – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Long lasting effects of the conversion from natural forest to poplar plantation on soil microbial communities – Francesco Vitali – Microbiological Research

Significant alteration of soil bacterial communities and organic carbon decomposition by different long-term fertilization management conditions of extremely low-productivity arable soil in South China – Weibing Xun – Environmental Microbiology

Microbial responses to southward and northward Cambisol soil transplant – Mengmeng Wang – Microbiology Open

Review: Incorporating the soil environment and microbial community into plant competition theory – Po-Ju Ke – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Root Microbiome Assemblage is Modulated by Plant Host Factors – Venkatachalam Lakshmanan – Advances in Botanical Research

Water microbiome

Niche differentiation of bacterial communities at a millimeter scale in Shark Bay microbial mats – Hon Lun Wong – Scientific Reports

Survey of microbial populations within Lake Michigan nearshore waters at two Chicago public beaches – Kema Malki – Data in Brief

Cyanobacterial reuse of extracellular organic carbon in microbial mats – Rhona K Stuart – The ISME Journal

External controls on the distribution, fabrics and mineralization of modern microbial mats in a coastal hypersaline lagoon, Cayo Coco (Cuba) – Anthony Bouton – Sedimentology

Variance and potential niche separation of microbial communities in subseafloor sediments off Shimokita Peninsula, Japan – Takuro Nunoura – Environmental Microbiology

Do phages impact microbial dynamics, prokaryotic community structure and nutrient dynamics in Lake Bourget? – Antony Meunier, Stéphan Jacquet – Biology Open

Active populations of rare microbes in oceanic environments as revealed by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and 454 tag sequencing – Koji Hamasaki – Gene

Spatiotemporal variation of bacterial and archaeal communities in a pilot-scale constructed wetland for surface water treatment – Tao He – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

[Mini review] metagenomic studies of the Red Sea – Hayedeh Behzad – Gene

Marine bacteria from the French Atlantic coast displaying high forming-biofilm abilities and different biofilm 3D architectures – Ibtissem Doghri – BMC Microbiology

Genome-wide tuning of protein expression levels to rapidly engineer microbial traits – Emily F. Freed – ACS Synthetic Biology

Built Environment microbiology

Microbiomes of the dust particles collected from the International Space Station and Spacecraft Assembly Facilities – Aleksandra Checinska – Microbiome

Microbial community dynamics in Baolige oilfield during MEOR treatment, revealed by Illumina MiSeq sequencing – Jing You – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Food microbiology

The influence of red pepper powder on the density of Weissella koreensis during kimchi fermentation – Bo Kyoung Kang – Scientific Reports

Relationships among house, rind and core microbiotas during manufacture of traditional Italian cheeses at the same dairy plant – Maria Calasso – Food Microbiology

Extremophile microbiology

Hot spring deposits: Tracing Biosignature Preservation of Geothermally Silicified Microbial Textures into the Geological Record – Kathleen A. Campbell – Astrobiology

Microbiome composition and geochemical characteristics of deep subsurface high-pressure environment, Pyhäsalmi mine Finland – Hanna Miettinen – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

mBLAST: Keeping up with the Sequencing Explosion for (Meta) Genome Analysis – Curtis Davis – Journal of Data Mining in Genomics & Proteomics

Identification and resolution of microdiversity through metagenomic sequencing of parallel consortia – William C. Nelson – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

V-GAP: Viral genome assembly pipeline – Yoji Nakamura – Gene

Impact of library preparation protocols and template quantity on the metagenomic reconstruction of a mock microbial community – Robert M. Bowers – BMC Genomics

MinION Analysis and Reference Consortium: Phase 1 data release and analysis [version 1; referees: awaiting peer review] – Camilla L.C. Ip – F1000 Research

Review: Machine learning for metagenomics: methods and tools – Hayssam Soueidan, Macha Nikolski – Arxiv

Review: Novel Computational Technologies for Next-Generation Sequencing Data Analysis and Their Applications – Chuan Yi Tang – International Journal of Genomics

Microbes in the news

Potentially Dangerous Bacteria Thrive At The International Space Station, NASA Warns
– Katrina Pascual – Tech Times
What’s In The Microbiome Of Space? – Science 2.0

Decoding the DNA of lung bacteria to keep you healthy – Leah Cuthbertson – Imperial College London

US researchers delve into make-up of gut bacteria in horses – HorseTalk

Microbial engineering finds a home at SEAS: genetic engineering on biofilms – Adam Zewe – Harvard

Cultures: a small magazine tackling big issues – Special Kids Edition – ASM

Hurricane Patricia Victims Use Chlorine To Fight Bacteria – Operation Blessing

Bacteria can communicate like brain cells. This is a bacterial world. We just live in it. – Bradley J. Fikes – San Diego Union Tribune

Jessica Richman Wants People to Track Their Microbiomes – Wall Street Journal

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August 20, 2015

Jobs

Jobs at Technical University of Denmark: Three PhD scholarships at the interface of synthetic biology, metagenomics and bacterial evolution

Pregnancy and birth

The Placental Microbiome Varies in Association with Low Birth Weight in Full-Term Neonates – Jia Zheng – Nutrients

Impact of mode of delivery on the milk microbiota composition of healthy women – R. Cabrera-Rubio – Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

Human oral microbiome

Dental plaque as a biofilm and a microbial community – implications for treatment – P.D. Marsh – Journal of Oral Biosciences

Human gut microbiome

Low Level Engraftment and Improvement following a Single Colonoscopic Administration of Fecal Microbiota to Patients with Ulcerative Colitis – Christopher J. Damman – PLOS ONE

The presence of Oxalobacter formigenes in the microbiome of healthy young adults – Clea Barnett – The Journal of Urology

The gut microbial community in metabolic syndrome patients is modified by diet – Carmen Haro – The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry

Review: Intestinal Microbiota and Celiac Disease: Cause, Consequence or Co-Evolution? – María Carmen Cenit – Nutrients

Review: The intestinal microbiome in human disease and how it relates to arthritis and spondyloarthritis – Mary-Ellen Costello – Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology

Editorial: Getting Healthier Through Microbiome Makeover – Duc Hong Le – EBioMedicine

Review: Nutritional Modulation of Gut Microbiota – The Impact on Metabolic Disease Pathophysiology – Patricia Ojeda – The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry

Animal models

Interactions between Gut Microbiota, Host Genetics and Diet Modulate the Predisposition to Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome – Siegfried Ussar – Cell Metabolism

IL-21 and probiotic therapy improve Th17 frequencies, microbial translocation, and microbiome in ARV-treated, SIV-infected macaques – A M Ortiz – Mucosal Immunology

Animal microbiome

The rectal microbiota of cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus infection and uninfected controls – JS Weese – Veterinary Microbiology

Bartonella Infection among Cats Adopted from a San Francisco Shelter, Revisited – Drew A. Fleischman – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Microbial activity in forest soil reflects the changes in ecosystem properties between summer and winter – Lucia Žifčáková – Environmental Microbiology

Diversity and complexity of microbial communities from a chlor-alkali tailings dump – Cyril Zappelini – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Different impacts of native and exotic earthworms on rhizodeposit carbon sequestration in a subtropical soil – Jinhua Huang – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons degradation and microbial community shifts during co-composting of creosote-treated wood – Stefano Covino – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Waste microbiology

Occurrence of and Sequence Variation among F-Specific RNA Bacteriophage Subgroups in Feces and Wastewater of Urban and Animal Origins – C. Hartard – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Pathogenic Enteric Viruses and Microbial Indicators during Secondary Treatment of Municipal Wastewater – Naim Montazeri – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Metaproteomics of activated sludge from a wastewater treatment plant – A pilot study – Sebastian Püttker – Proteomics

Food microbiology

Chromosomal Copy Number Variation in Saccharomyces pastorianus Is Evidence for Extensive Genome Dynamics in Industrial Lager Brewing Strains – M. van den Broek – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Not sure why the title is between quotes: “Spoilage of vacuum-packed beef by the yeast Kazachstania psychrophila” – Jan Kabisch – Food Microbiology

Microbiota of Minas cheese as influenced by the nisin producer Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis GLc05 – Luana Martins Perin – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Does This Phylum Make Me Look Fat? – Katherine Harmon Courage – NPR

Stanford researchers find surprising level of tick-borne disease risk on local trails – Rob Jordan

What Gut Bacteria Can Teach Us About Eating Disorders: uBiome and University of North Carolina Launch Groundbreaking Study – Global News Wire

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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 10, 2015

Hacking B-theta’s genome, oral bacteria recycle nitrate, crustacean hemolymph microbiota, and extracting protist DNA from soil. Happy weekend!

Events

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

Jobs

Microbiome and NRI Faculty Scientist – UNC Nutrition Research Institute – North Carolina Research Campus

Human gut microbiome

Significant Differences in Fecal Microbiota are Associated With Various Stages of Glucose Tolerance in African-American Male Veterans – Irina Ciubotaru – Translational Research

Fecal microbiota transplantation restores dysbiosis in patients with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus enterocolitis – Yao Wei – BMC Infectious Diseases

Perspective: Foodomics for personalized nutrition: how far are we? – Karani S Vimaleswaran – Current Opinion in Food Science

Animal models

Programming a Human Commensal Bacterium, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, to Sense and Respond to Stimuli in the Murine Gut Microbiota – Mark Mimee – Cell Systems

The Gut Microbiota Regulates Intestinal CD4 T Cells Expressing RORγt and Controls Metabolic Disease – Lucile Garidou – Cell Metabolism

Got Worms? Perinatal Exposure to Helminths Prevents Persistent Immune Sensitization and Cognitive Dysfunction Induced by Early-Life Infection – Lauren L. Williamson –
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

Dietary saponins from four popular herbal tea exert prebiotic-like effects on gut microbiota in C57BL/6 mice – Lei Chen – Journal of Functional Foods

Physiological recycling of endogenous nitrate by oral bacteria regulates gastric mucus thickness – Joel Petersson – Free Radical Biology and Medicine

Animal microbiome

Exceptionally low daily energy expenditure in the bamboo-eating giant panda – Yonggang Nie – Science

Review: Crustacean hemolymph microbiota: Endemic, tightly controlled, and utilization expectable – Xian-Wei Wang – Molecular Immunology

Food microbiology

Understanding the bacterial communities of hard cheese with blowing defect – Daniela Bassi – Food Microbiology

Biodiversity of refrigerated raw milk microbiota and their enzymatic spoilage potential – Mario von Neubeck – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Metagenomics

FCMM: A comparative metagenomic approach for functional characterization of multiple metagenome samples – Jongin Lee – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Metabolic networks

Thermodynamics and H2 Transfer in a Methanogenic, Syntrophic Community – Joshua J. Hamilton – PLOS Computational Biology

Techniques

Comparison of three DNA extraction methods for recovery of soil protist DNA – Susana S. Santos – Journal of Microbiological Methods

MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for early identification of bacteria grown in blood culture bottles – Jean-Benoît Zabbe – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Assessment of four protocols for rapid bacterial identification from positive blood culture pellets by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (Vitek® MS) – Jean Thomin – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Microbial rRNA:rDNA gene ratios may be unexpectedly low due to extracellular DNA preservation in soils – Glade Dlott – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Microbes in the news

How to Program One of the Gut’s Most Common Microbes – Ed Yong – National Geographic

Researchers develop basic computing elements for bacteria: Sensors, memory switches, and circuits can be encoded in a common gut bacterium – Helen Knight – MIT News

Pow! Bam! Seq! Uncovering the genomic secrets of superpowers – Illumina

TV One, International Gut Microbiome expert Dr Kathy McCoy returns to Malaghan Institute – Live News

Bacteria use DNA replication to time key decision – Phys.org

The Baby-Associated Built Environment (BABE) Microbiome Project – Zac Lewis – MicroBe.net

Microbial Communications and Mosquitoes: Changing the Message – Catherine Arnold – Nature World News

Science, publishing, and career

Controversial piece: Getting noticed is half the battle – Eleftherios P. Diamandis – Science

Book review: The Safety Dance. Book review of: The Ethics Police? The Struggle to Make Human Research Safe – Lainie Friedman Ross – Science

Bik’s Picks

Here’s What it Takes to Study Dolphin Vaginas – Diane Kelly – Throb Gizmodo

Giant Pandas’ Lazy Lifestyle Justified by Science – Laura Geggel – Discovery

With Sonar-Reflecting Leaves, Plant Lures Bats to Poo in it – Ed Yong – National Geographic

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May 29, 2015

General microbiome

Perspective: The trendy microbes – VK Viswanathan – Gut Microbes

Review: Use of the Microbiome in the Practice of Epidemiology: A Primer on -Omic Technologies – Betsy Foxman – American Journal of Epidemiology

Review: Biological warfare: Microorganisms as drivers of host–parasite interactions – Nolwenn M. Dheilly – Infection, Genetics and Evolution

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

Bacterial communities in neonatal feces are similar to mothers’ placentae – X-D Dong – Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology

Human oral microbiome

Maturation of Oral Microbiota in Children with or without Dental Caries – Pernilla Lif Holgerson – PLOS ONE

Exploring the variation of oral microbiota in supragingival plaque during and after head-and-neck radiotherapy using pyrosequencing – Li Gao – Archives of Oral Biology

Human genital microbiome

Sensitive Detection of Thirteen Bacterial Vaginosis-Associated Agents Using Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction – Natália Malaguti – BioMed Research International

Human gut microbiome

Esophageal Microbiome in Eosinophilic Esophagitis – J. Kirk Harris – PLOS ONE

Pyrosequencing Analysis Reveals Changes in Intestinal Microbiota of Healthy Adults Who Received a Daily Dose of Immunomodulatory Probiotic Strains – Julio Plaza-Díaz – Nutrients

Fecal menaquinone profiles of overweight adults are associated with gut microbiota composition during a gut microbiota–targeted dietary intervention – J Philip Karl – American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Pouch Inflammation is Associated with a Decrease in Specific Bacterial Taxa – Leah Reshef – Gastroenterology

Human seroreactivity to gut microbiota antigens – Benjamin S. Christmann – Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Acute cholecystitis associated with infection of Enterobacteriaceae from gut microbiota – Jianjun Liu – Clinical Microbiology and Infection

Letter to the Editor: Mediterranean diet: the missing link between gut microbiota and inflammatory diseases – M Bifulco – European Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Editorial: Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Ulcerative Colitis: Not Just Yet – Ari M. Grinspan – Gastroenterology

Perspective: Rifaximin, gut microbes and mucosal inflammation: unraveling a complex relationship – Jun Gao – Gut Microbes

Review: Apples and Cardiovascular Health—Is the Gut Microbiota a Core Consideration? – Athanasios Koutsos  – Nutrients

Animal models of microbiome research

Exercise Is More Effective at Altering Gut Microbial Composition and Producing Stable Changes in Lean Mass in Juvenile versus Adult Male F344 Rats – Agnieszka Mika – PLOS ONE

Gut microbiota inhibit Asbt-dependent intestinal bile acid reabsorption via Gata4 – Carolien Out – Journal of Hepatology

Animal microbiome

RUMINANT NUTRITION SYMPOSIUM: The impact of the rumen microbiome on nutrition, health, and production – R.A. Kohn – Journal of Animal Science
How to use data on the rumen microbiome to improve our understanding of ruminant nutrition – J.L. Firkins – Journal of Animal Science

Production attributes of Merino sheep genetically divergent for wool growth are reflected in differing rumen microbiotas – I. De Barbieri – Livestock Science

The camel faecal metagenome under different systems of management: phylogenetic and gene-centric Approach – Suchitra S. Dande – Livestock Science

Microbiome structure of the fungid coral Ctenactis echinata aligns with environmental differences – Cornelia Roder – Molecular Ecology

Early life microbial colonization of the gut and intestinal development differ between genetically divergent broiler lines – Dirkjan Schokker – BMC Genomics

Soil microbiome

Biodegradation kinetic rates of diesel-contaminated sandy soil samples by two different microbial consortia – Alejandro Ledezma-Villanueva – Annals of Microbiology

Temperature sensitivity of soil bacterial community along contrasting warming gradient – Jinfeng Wu – Applied Soil Ecology

Water microbiome

Heavy metals and TPH effects on microbial abundance and diversity in two estuarine areas of the southern-central coast of São Paulo State, Brazil – Aline Bartelochi Pinto – Marine Pollution Bulletin

Food microbiology

Microbial food safety: Potential of DNA extraction methods for use in diagnostic metagenomics – Mathilde H. Josefsen – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Metagenomics

Alarmingly high segregation frequencies of quinolone resistance alleles within human and animal microbiomes are not explained by direct clinical antibiotic exposure – Wesley Field – Genome Biology and Evolution

Bioinformatics

Ghost-tree: creating hybrid-gene phylogenetic trees for diversity analyses – Jennifer Fouquier – PeerJ PrePrints

Microbes in the news

The germ at the scene of the crime – Viviane Richter – Cosmos

Researchers combat bias in next-generation DNA sequencing – Eric Beidel – Phys.org

Microbiome research heralds new era of medical diagnosis – Aaron Krumins – Extreme Tech

Community Microbiomes: Chatting Cat Scat with Kittybiome’s Holly Ganz – Scott Edmunds – BioMedCentral Blog

Pheromones produced by gut bacteria found to kill resistant variants of its own kind – Bob Yirka – Phys.org

500 protesters chant in Santa Barbara as bacteria munch the oil spill – Chriss W. Street – Breitbart

Science, publishing, and career

Career Advice From an Oldish Not-Quite Geezer: You can’t count on your publications and awards to take care of you – Robert J. Sternberg – Chronicle

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May 4, 2015

Grant opportunities

Newborn and Infant Gut Health – Application deadline : May 13, 2015 – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Events

Free Webinar: The Human Microbiome: Beyond the Gut – May 5, 2:30 pm ET – The Scientist

General microbiome

Review: Sequencing and beyond: integrating molecular ‘omics’ for microbial community profiling – Eric A. Franzosa – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Reproductive Parasitism: Maternally Inherited Symbionts in a Biparental World
Gregory D.D. Hurst and Crystal L. Frost – Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology

Human oral microbiome

Editorial: Defining functional signatures of dysbiosis in periodontitis progression
Gary P Wang – Genome Medicine
belongs to:
Functional signatures of oral dysbiosis during periodontitis progression revealed by microbial metatranscriptome analysis – Susan Yost – Genome Medicine

Human gut microbiome

Intestinal dysbiosis in children with short bowel syndrome is associated with impaired outcome – Helene Engstrand Lilja – Microbiome

Intestinal Microbiota Signatures Associated With Histological Liver Steatosis in Pediatric-Onset Intestinal Failure – Katri Korpela – Journal of Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition

Differences of the Fecal Microflora With Clostridium difficile Therapies – Thomas J. Louie – Clinical Infectious Diseases

Review: The human gut resistome – Willem van Schaik – Philosophical Transactions B

Animal models

The intestinal microbiota influences Campylobacter jejuni colonization and extra-intestinal dissemination in mice – Jason L. O’Loughlin – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Fish: Selection in the host structures the microbiota associated with developing cod larvae (Gadus morhua) – Ingrid Bakke – Environental Microbiology

Plant and soil microbiome

Crustose coralline algal species host distinct bacterial assemblages on their surfaces – Jennifer M Sneed – The ISME Journal

Influence of plant communities and soil properties during natural vegetation restoration on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities in a karst region – Yueming Liang – Ecological Engineering

Contrasting spatial patterns and ecological attributes of soil bacterial and archaeal taxa across a landscape – Florentin Constancias – Microbiology Open

Predictable communities of soil bacteria in relation to nutrient concentration and successional stage, in a laboratory culture experiment – Woojin Song – Environmental Microbiology

Water microbiome

Accumulation of Clinically Relevant Antibiotic Resistant Genes, Bacterial load and Metals from a Freshwater Lake Sediments in Central Europe – Naresh Devarajan – Environmental Science & Technology

Effects of Heavy Metal and Nutrients on Benthic Microbial Communities in Freshwater Sediment of Poyang Lake (China) – Cho Yu – Journal of Residuals Science & Technology

Review: Stream microbial diversity responds to environmental changes: Review and synthesis of existing research – Lydia Zeglin – Frontiers in Microbiology

Built environment microbiome

Indoor air bacterial communities in Hong Kong households assemble independently of occupant skin microbiomes – David Wilkins – Environmental Microbiology

Bioreactor microbiology

Bacterial community structure in treated sewage sludge with mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion – Hana Stiborova – Folia Microbiologica

Performance and microbial community dynamics in bioaugmented aerated filter reactor treating with coking wastewater – Shengnan Shi – Bioresource Technology

Phages and viruses

My life with Mu – Ariane Toussaint – Bacteriophage

Fungi

Fungal artificial chromosomes for mining of the fungal secondary metabolome – Jin Woo Bok – BMC Genomics

Review: The Human Mycobiome – Patrick C. Seed – Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine

Antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance genes in the environment: prioritizing risks – Johan Bengtsson-Palme & D. G. Joakim Larsson – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Review: The human gut resistome – Willem van Schaik – Philosophical Transactions B

Metagenomics

Under-detection of endospore-forming Firmicutes in metagenomic data – Sevasti Filippidou – Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal

Microbes in the news

Each Vineyard Has a Unique Microbiome – University of Chicago – The Epoch Times

Viruses: You’ve heard the bad; here’s the good – American Society for Microbiology – Science Daily

Silver turns bacteria into deadly zombies – Emily Conover – Science Magazine

Rare plague outbreak in Colorado linked to pit bull, CDC says – CNN Wire

Science, publishing, and career

A time limit on postdoctoral contracts: The French experience – Elisabeth Pain – Science Careers

Follow the Funding – Bob Grant – The Scientist

Women Scientists Share Their Awful Stories Of Sexism In Publishing – Cat Ferguson – BuzzFeed Science

Science and art

The Microbiome Votes: I mixed my microbiome with the candidates and asked them to vote – Exploring the Invisible

Bik’s Picks

Horribly bleak study sees ‘empty landscape’ as large herbivores vanish at startling rate – Fred Barbash and Justin Wm. Moyer – Washington Post

Here’s How Coffee Cups in Space Could Help Save Lives on Earth – Helen Regan – Time

Why Hawaiians are protesting construction of the world’s second-largest telescope – Joseph Stromberg – Vox.com

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April 3, 2015

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

Human general microbiome

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

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

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

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

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

Human respiratory microbiome

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

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

Human gut microbiome / functional foods

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

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

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

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

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

Animal models of microbiome

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

Animal microbiome

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

Soil and compost microbiome

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

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

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

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

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

Food microbiology

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

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

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

Bioreactor microbiome

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

Bioinformatics

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

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

Microbes in the news

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Science, publishing, and career

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

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

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

Science and art

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

Bik’s Picks

All animal phyla in 35 photos – Melissa Hogenboom – BBC

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

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

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March 26, 2015

General microbiome

Note: not about metagenomics but 16S rRNA gene: The truth about metagenomics: quantifying and counteracting bias in 16S rRNA studies – J Paul Brooks – BMC Microbiology

Human respiratory microbiome

Spatial Variation in the Healthy Human Lung Microbiome and the Adapted Island Model of Lung Biogeography – Robert P. Dickson – Annals ATS

A metagenomic approach to characterize temperate bacteriophage populations from Cystic Fibrosis and non-Cystic Fibrosis bronchiectasis patients – Mohammad A. Tariq – Frontiers in Microbiology

Perspective: Meningitis in adolescents: the role of commensal microbiota – James W.B. Moir – Trends in Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

An n=1 case report of a child with autism improving on antibiotics and a father’s quest to understand what it may mean – John Rodakis – Microbial Ecology of Health and Disease

Animal microbiome

Sponges: Culturable associated-bacteria of the sponge Theonella swinhoei show tolerance to high arsenic concentrations – Ray Keren – Frontiers in Microbiology

Soil, sediment, and plant root microbiome

Community Dynamics of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in High-Input and Intensively Irrigated Rice Cultivation Systems – Yutao Wang – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Analysis of methane-producing and metabolizing archaeal and bacterial communities in sediments of the northern South China Sea and coastal Mai Po Nature Reserve revealed by PCR amplification of mcrA and pmoA genes – Zhichao Zhou – Frontiers in Microbiology

Isolation and characterization of culturable bacteria from bulk soil samples and the rhizosphere of arid-adapted Tylosema esculentum (Burchell). A. Schreiber (Marama bean) in Namibia – Olaf S. Kandjimi – African Journal of Biotechnology

Water microbiome

Prokaryotic assemblages and metagenomes in pelagic zones of the South China Sea – Ching-Hung Tseng – BMC Genomics

Spatial distribution of bacterial communities driven by multiple environmental factors in a beach wetland of the largest freshwater lake in China – Xia Ding- Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Advancing the science of microbial symbiosis to support invasive species management: a case study on Phragmites in the Great Lakes – Kurt P. Kowalski – Frontiers in Microbiology

Extremophile microbiome (by special request!)

Colonization of plant substrates at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps in the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean and occurrence of symbiont-related bacteria – Kamil M. Szafranski – Frontiers in Microbiology

Out of the dark: transitional subsurface-to-surface microbial diversity in a terrestrial serpentinizing seep (Manleluag, Pangasinan, the Philippines) – Kristin M. Woycheese – Frontiers in Microbiology

Isolation of diverse members of the Aquificales from geothermal springs in Tengchong, China – Brian P. Hedlund – Frontiers in Microbiology

Fatty Acids Profile of Microbial Populations in a Mining Reclaimed Region Contaminated with Metals: Relation with Ecological Characteristics and Soil Respiration – Ramya Narendrula and Kabwe K. Nkongolo – Journal of Bioremediation & Biodegradation

Bioreactor microbiome

Nitrogen addition, not initial phylogenetic diversity, increases litter decomposition by fungal communities – Anthony S. Amend – Frontiers in Microbiology

Food microbiology

Lipidomics as an important key for identification of beer-spoilage bacteria – Tomáš Řezanka – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Metabolomics

Combining reverse genetics and NMR-based metabolomics unravels trypanosome-specific metabolic pathways – Frédéric Bringaud – Molecular Microbiology

Resource niche overlap promotes stability of bacterial community metabolism in experimental microcosms – Ellard R. Hunting – Frontiers in Microbiology

Techniques

Enriching distinctive microbial communities from marine sediments via an electrochemical-sulfide-oxidizing process on carbon electrodes – Shiue-Lin Li and Kenneth H. Nealson – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbes in presentations

Video: Dissertation seminar for Suzanne Ishaq – comparative analysis of the moose rumen microbiota

Video: Vance Kramer of Syngenta discussing microbiome research and comparing soil microbe communities across the US, Europe, and Brazil.

Video: Dr. Jan Jones from AgBiome discussing the plant-soil microbiome

Microbes in the news
Hidden Life Forms: Investigating Microbial Diversity on Our Bodies and in Our Homes – Jennifer Cutraro – New York Times

My uBiome Sleep Hacking Update – Alexandra Carmichael – uBiome

Antimicrobial CRISPR-Cas systems may be better weapons against bacteria than antibiotics – The Conversation

Secret Science Club Post-Lecture Recap: Big Data, Genomics and Urban Microbiomes – Big Bad Bald Bastard

Antibiotics For Gut Bacteria Show Surprising Results In Treating Autism – Dianne Depra – Tech Times

Harmless bacteria may be helpful against meningococcal outbreaks – Eureka Alert

New Software Offers Improved Read-based Identification in Metagenome Studies – Andrew P. Han – Genome Web

Not sure which one, but here it is: I am the bacterium that lives in your intestine – MicrobeWorld

FMTUpdate on OpenBiome – Paul Levy – Not Running A Hospital

Workshop on Planetary Protection Knowledge Gaps for Human Extraterrestrial Missions (Intro) – Jenna Lang – Microbe.net

Microbes and art

A Dress Made From Beer And Bacteria: C’est Chic Or C’est Ick? – Charles Poladian – IB Times

Science, publishing, and career

Developing microbiological learning materials for schools: best practice – James Redfern – FEMS Microbiology Letters

Sequencing and characterizing the genome of Estrella lausannensis as an undergraduate project: training students and biological insights – Claire Bertelli – Frontiers in Microbiology

Calling attention to poor speaker gender ratio – even when it hurts – Jonathan Eisen – The Tree of Life

The 5 Biases Pushing Women Out of STEM – Joan C. Williams – Harvard Business Review

Bik’s Picks

Jurrassic Park, but then with more furWoolly mammoth could be revived after scientists paste DNA into elephant’s genetic code – Andrew Griffin – The Independent

The Fitness Guru of the Trucking Industry – The Atlantic

On Friday, half a pair of twins leaves for a year in space. Here’s why that’s awesome. – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

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February 20, 2015

Human microbiome, general

Article collection (n=1?): Microbiota: Coevolution and the Modern Environment – Martin Katzman, Alan C. Logan – Journal of Physiological Anthropology

Review: Natural environments, ancestral diets, and microbial ecology: is there a modern “paleo-deficit disorder”? Part I – Alan C Logan – Journal of Physiological Anthropology

Human respiratory microbiome

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Lung Microbiota Diversity May Be Mediated by Age or Inhaled Corticosteroid Use – Alexa A. Pragman – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Reply to “Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Lung Microbiota Diversity May Be Mediated by Age or Inhaled Corticosteroid Use” – Marian Garcia-Nuñez – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Fecal microbiota transplantation

ECCO congress abstract: FMT not effective in active UC patients – Haelio

MALDI-Tof MS

Microbial Typing by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry: Do We Need Guidance for Data Interpretation? – Sébastien Spinali – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Immunology

Perspective: A common origin for immunity and digestion – Nichole A. Broderick – Frontiers in Immunology

Microbes in the news

Engineering the Human Microbiome Shows Promise for Treating Disease – Justin L. Sonnenburg – Scientific American

Book Review: “Philosophy of Microbiology”, by Maureen A. O’Malley – Adrian Woolfson – Science

UCLA Outbreak Highlights Challenge Of Curbing Infections – Jordan Rau – NPR

Title seems incorrect: Your Genes May Be Part Mom, Part Dad and Part Bacteria – Krystnell Storr – Science.Mic

Host influences bacterial metabolism – Phys.org

Bacteria-killing virus may help prevent root canal infections – DrBicuspid

Virus-cutting enzyme helps bacteria remember a threat – Phys.org

Science, publishing, and career

Putting the ‘Media’ in ‘Academia’ – Stewart Barker – MicrobeStew

College Faculties Have a Serious Diversity Problem – Marcus Woo – Wired.com

Satire: Grad Student Diagnosed With Early-Onset Thesis Fear – The Allium

Bik’s Picks

Nest Etiquette—Where Ants Go When Nature Calls – Tomer J. Czaczkes, Jürgen Heinze, Joachim Ruther – PLOS ONE

Why I’m Volunteering to Die on Mars – Sonia Van Meter – Time.com

How the sun can damage your skin even in the dark – Deborah Netburn – LA Times

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