Category Archives: General Microbiome

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 24, 2015

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Merry Christmas! The stream of microbiome research papers never appears to take a break, so I will keep on posting during the holidays. Today I found two nice review papers on the oral microbiome and cystic fibrosis microbiome, an upcoming hands-on workshop on mothur (Microbial Ecology software), the acne microbiome, and bacterial exchange in your washing machine.

Events

Throughout the year, Pat offers 4-5 workshops on mothur and programming in R for microbial ecologists. February mothur workshop by Patrick Schloss, February 8-10, Detroit

General microbiome

Review: Tools for the Microbiome: Nano and Beyond – Julie S. Biteen – ACS Nano

Human skin microbiome

Microorganisms inhabiting follicular contents of facial acne are not only Propionibacterium but also Malassezia spp. – Narifumi Akaza – The Journal of Dermatology

Human oral microbiome

Review: Beyond the oral microbiome – Howard F. Jenkinson – Environmental Microbiology

Prevalence of Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis in caries-free and caries-active children in relation to the oral microbiota—a clinical study – A. Al-Ahmad – Clinical Oral Investigations

Human respiratory microbiome

Looking beyond respiratory cultures: Microbiome-cytokine signatures of bacterial pneumonia and tracheobronchitis in lung transplant recipients – Jyoti Shankar – American Journal of Transplantation

The Lung Immune Response to Bacteria in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – Paul T. King – American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

Review: The Microbiome in Cystic Fibrosis – Yvonne J. Huang – Clinics in Chest Medicine

Human gut microbiome

Not a very novel insight: Analysis of the microbiome: Advantages of whole genome shotgun versus 16S amplicon sequencing – Ravi Ranjan – Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications

Review: The Gastrointestinal Microbiome: Alcohol Effects on the Composition of Intestinal Microbiota – Phillip A. Engen – Alcohol Research Current Reviews

Review: The First Line of Defense: The Effects of Alcohol on Post-Burn Intestinal Barrier, Immune Cells, and Microbiome – Adam M. Hammer

Microbiome models

Intestinal Microbiota Signatures Associated with Inflammation History in Mice Experiencing Recurring Colitis – David Berry – Frontiers in Microbiology

The Anti-Oxidant Drug Tempol Promotes Functional Metabolic Changes in the Gut Microbiota – Jingwei Cai – Journal of Proteome Research

Effects of the dietary protein level on the microbial composition and metabolomic profile in the hindgut of the pig – Liping Zhou – Anaerobe

Development of gut inflammation in mice colonized with mucosa-associated bacteria from patients with ulcerative colitis – Zhengyu Du – Gut Pathogens

Animal microbiome

The Metabolically Active Bacterial Microbiome of Tonsils and Mandibular Lymph Nodes of Slaughter Pigs – Evelyne Mann – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial community of Pacific abalone (Haliotis discus hannai) juveniles during a disease outbreak in South China – Liu-yang Shi – Aquaculture Research

The Role of Tissue-specific Microbiota in Initial Establishment Success of Pacific oysters – Ana Lokmer – Environmental Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiomes

Impact of forest management practices on soil bacterial diversity and consequences for soil processes – Federica Colombo – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Metagenomics study of endophytic bacteria in Aloe vera using next-generation technology – Mushafau Adewale Akinsanya – Genomics Data

Shifts of microbial community structure in soils of a photovoltaic plant observed using tag-encoded pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA – Shijin Wu – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Copper pollution decreases the resistance of soil microbial community to subsequent dry–rewetting disturbance – Jing Li – Journal of Environmental Sciences

Switchgrass rhizospheres stimulate microbial biomass but deplete microbial necromass in agricultural soils of the upper Midwest, USA – Chao Liang – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Water and waste microbiome

Occurrence and persistence of antibiotic resistance genes in river biofilms after wastewater inputs in small rivers – Lorenzo Proia – Environmental Pollution

Biogeochemical importance of the bacterial community in uranium waste deposited at Key Lake, Northern Saskatchewan – VF Bondici – Geomicrobiology Journal

Built environment microbiome

Bacterial Exchange in Household Washing Machines – Chris Callewaert- Frontiers in Microbiology

Survival of Antarctic Cryptoendolithic Fungi in Simulated Martian Conditions On Board the International Space Station – Onofri Silvano – Astrobiology

Darkening on lead-based pigments: Microbiological contribution – Tânia Rosado – Color Research & Application

Microbes in the news

Giant Balls of Bacteria Pile Up on Arctic Lake Beds, Ooze Toxin – Emily Benson – EOS

This Squid Could Help Humans Repel Dangerous Flesh-Eating Bacteria – Esther Inglis-Arkell – Gizmodo

Lackner Investigates Whether Brain Changes Affect Gut Microbiome – University of Buffalo

Science, publishing, and career

2015 London Naturejobs Career Expo: Science communication videos – Julie Gould – Nature Blogs
How to deal with the media
How to get a job
How to deal with articles that misrepresent science
Do you need a PhD?

Korean prosecutors seek jail time for professors in massive plagiarism scheme – Mark Zastrow – Retraction Watch

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December 18, 2015

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Influence of breast milk on infant gut microbiome, built environment microbiome and mental health, and a review on treatment strategies of bacterial vaginosis biofilms.

General microbiome

Review: The Microbiome and Musculoskeletal Conditions of Ageing: A Review of Evidence for Impact and Potential Therapeutics – Claire J Steves – Journal of Bone and Mineral Research

Pregnancy and birth

Human Breast Milk and Infant Formulas Differentially Modify the Intestinal Microbiota in Human Infants and Host Physiology in Rats – Zhenmin Liu – The Journal of Nutrition

Models for microbiome research

Effects and mode of action of chitosan and ivy fruit saponins on the microbiome, fermentation and methanogenesis in the rumen simulation technique – Alejandro Belanche – – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

The long-term effect of uranium and pH on the community composition of an artificial consortium – Ryann M. Brzoska – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Human gut microbiome

Optimal screening and donor management in a public stool bank – Abbas Kazerouni – Microbiome

Human vaginal microbiome

Review: Bacterial vaginosis biofilms: challenges to current therapies and emerging solutions – Daniela Machado – Frontiers in Microbiology

Built environment microbiome

The microbiome of the built environment and mental health – Andrew J. Hoisington – Microbiome

Microbes in the news
Microorganisms Spreading Holiday Cheer – Laurie Kundrat – Microbiologics

Nanotech weapon against chronic bacterial infections in hospitals – EurekAlert

Bacteria battle: How one changes appearance, moves away to resist the other – EurekAlert

Science, publishing, and career

New approach needed for governance of risky research, scholars say – Steve Fyffe – MedicalXpress

Do drug firm ties affect researchers’ reporting of study results? – Charles Piller – STAT news

Kaiser Permanente’s Innovative Approach to Care Delivery Defines Its New National School of Medicine Opening in 2019 — Kaiser Permanente

365 days: The best science images of 2015 – From Pluto to viral structures, this year produced an array of dazzling pictures – Daniel Cressey – Nature
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December 17, 2015

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Effects of intranasal flu vaccine on nose microbiota, intestinal microbiota of Dutch children, fungi in dung, optical sensors, and diurnal time scales in drinking water.

General microbiome

Review: Intestinal Microbiota and Metabolic Diseases: Pharmacological Implications – Liang Shen – Trends in Pharmacological Sciences

Editorial: Immunotherapy Not Working? Check Your Microbiota – Nathan R. West – Cancer Cell

Review: Human Microbiome and Its Association With Health and Diseases – Asmaa Althani – Journal of Cellular Physiology

Infection and immunity

The microbiome of diabetic foot osteomyelitis – S. A. V. van Asten – European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases

A baleful weed and the king of fruits: tolerance, immunity, and the microbiome – Kairav Sinha – International Journal of Dermatology

Human oral microbiome

Salivary changes in oral mucosal diseases – Yazan Hassona – Periodontology 2000

Human respiratory microbiome

The administration of intranasal live attenuated influenza vaccine induces changes in the nasal microbiota and nasal epithelium gene expression profiles – Y. Tarabichi – Microbiome

Editorial: Precision respiratory medicine and the microbiome – Geraint B Rogers – The Lancet Respiratory Medicine

Review: The microbiome and critical illness – Robert P Dickson – The Lancet Respiratory Medicine

Human urinary tract microbiome

Intracellular Bacterial Communities: A Potential Etiology for Chronic Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms – Victoria C.S. Scott – Urology

Review: The interplay of extracellular matrix and microbiome in urothelial bladder cancer – Massimo Alfano – Nature Reviews Urology

Human gut microbiome

Composition and stability of intestinal microbiota of healthy children within a Dutch population – Tim G. J. de Meij – The FASEB Journal

Long-term risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease after removal of the colonic microbiota by colectomy: a cohort study based on the Danish National Patient Register from 1996 to 2014 – Anders Boeck Jensen – BMJ Open

Adverse events in faecal microbiota transplant: a review of the literature –
M. Baxter – Journal of Hospital Infection

Editorial: Antidiabetic drug treatment confounds gut dysbiosis associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus – David Holmes – Nature Reviews Endocrinology

Improved taxonomic assignment of human intestinal 16S rRNA sequences by a dedicated reference database – Jarmo Ritari – BMC Genomics

Microbiome models

Response of gut microbiota to salinity change in two euryhaline aquatic animals with reverse salinity preference – Meiling Zhang – Aquaculture

Destabilization of the gut microbiome marks the end-stage of simian immunodeficiency virus infection in wild chimpanzees – Hannah J. Barbian – American Journal of Primatology

Non-lethal Inhibition of Gut Microbial Trimethylamine Production for the Treatment of Atherosclerosis – Zeneng Wang – Cell

Editorial: Immunotherapy Meets Microbiota – Jiaying Tan – Cell

Editorial: Drug the Bug! – Annika Lindskog Jonsson – Cell

Functional anatomy of the colonic bioreactor: Impact of antibiotics and Saccharomyces boulardii on bacterial composition in human fecal cylinders – Alexander Swidsinski – Systematic and Applied Microbiology

The Murine Lung Microbiome Changes During Lung Inflammation and Intranasal Vancomycin Treatment – Kenneth Klingenberg Barfod – The Open Microbiology Journal

Animal microbiome

Biogeographic variation in the microbiome of the ecologically important sponge, Carteriospongia foliascens – Heidi M. Luter – PeerJ

Review: Dung-inhabiting fungi: a potential reservoir of novel secondary metabolites for the control of plant pathogens – Sabrina Sarrocco – Pest Management Science

Book Chapter: Age-Related Variation in the Scent Pouch Bacterial Communities of Striped Hyenas (Hyaena hyaena) – Kevin R. Theis – Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 13

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Effects of chemical and biological pesticides on plant growth parameters and rhizospheric bacterial community structure in Vigna radiata – Sunil Singh – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Experimental Evidence that Fungi are Dominant Microbes in Carbon Content and Growth Response to Added Soluble Organic Carbon in Moss-rich Tundra Soil – O. Roger Anderson

Fertilizing with Animal Manure Disseminates Antibiotic Resistance Genes to the Farm Environment – Matti Ruuskanen – Journal of Environmental Quality

Water microbiome

Microbiology: lessons from a first attempt at Lake Ellsworth – D. A. Pearce – Philosophical Transactions A

Comprehensive genomic analyses of the OM43 clade including a novel species from Red Sea indicate ecotype differentiation among marine methylotrophs – Francy Jimenez-Infante – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Built environment microbiome

Exposure to culturable and total microbiota in cultural heritage conservation laboratories – Rafał L. Górny – Int J Occup Med Environ Health

The impact of sampling, PCR, and sequencing replication on discerning changes in drinking water bacterial community over diurnal time-scales – Quyen Melina Bautista-de los Santos – Water Research

Food microbiology

The impact of yeast starter cultures on the microbial communities and volatile compounds in cocoa fermentation and the resulting sensory attributes of chocolate – Nádia Nara Batista – Journal of Food Science and Technology

Techniques

Optical sensors for sensing microbial life on a surface – M. Fischer – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Metagenomes, viruses, and bioinformatics

Rise of Microbial Culturomics: Noncontiguous Finished Genome Sequence and Description of Beduini massiliensis gen. nov., sp. nov. – Gaël Mourembou – OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology

A metagenomic approach from aphid’s hemolymph sheds light on the potential roles of co-existing endosymbionts – Caroline De Clerck – Microbiome

MeFiT: Merging and Filtering Tool for Illumina Paired-End Reads for 16S rRNA Amplicon Sequencing – Hardik I. Parikh – ArXiv

Putative bacterial interactions from metagenomic knowledge with an integrative systems ecology approach – Philippe Bordron – MicrobiologyOpen

What Can We Learn from a Metagenomic Analysis of a Georgian Bacteriophage Cocktail?
Henrike Zschach – Viruses

MEEPTOOLS: A maximum expected error based FASTQ read filtering and trimming toolkit – Vishal N. Koparde – Arxiv

Microbes in the news

Book review: I, superorganism – learning to love your inner ecosystem – Jon Turney

Science, publishing, and career

South Korean professors charged over alleged plagiarism scheme: Prosecutors accuse academics of colluding with publishers to boost their standing and sell more books – David Matthews – Times Higher Education
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December 16, 2015 #2

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Role of Lactobacillus in early pregnancy, skin microbiome of psoriasis patients before and after a spa treatment, retroviruses in coprolites, colonization of germ-free cockroach guts, more decomposing pigs, kitty poop, and de novo clustering methods are just better. So many papers, I had to do a second installment today.

General human microbiome

Review: Human Microbiome and Its Association With Health and Diseases – Asmaa Althani – Journal of Cellular Physiology

Review: Microbiota, Parasites and Immunity – Judith Allen – Parasite Immunology

Pregnancy and birth (and vaginal microbiome)

Role of Lactobacillus Species in the Intermediate Vaginal Flora in Early Pregnancy: A Retrospective Cohort Study – Alex Farr – PLOS ONE

Human Breast Milk miRNA, Maternal Probiotic Supplementation and Atopic Dermatitis in Offspring – Melanie Rae Simpson – PLOS ONE

Review: The Infant Microbiome: Implications for Infant Health and Neurocognitive Development – Yang, Irene – Nursing Research

Human oral microbiome

Association between Herpesviruses and Chronic Periodontitis: A Meta-Analysis Based on Case-Control Studies – Ce Zhu – PLOS ONE

Short-term Effects of Povidone Iodine and Sodium Fluoride Therapy on Plaque Levels and Microbiome Diversity – Cavan Reilly – Oral Diseases

Review: Saliva and viral infections – Paul L. A. M. Corstjens – Periodontology 2000

Review: The physiology of salivary secretion – Gordon B. Proctor – Periodontology 2000

Human skin microbiome

Skin Microbiome in Patients With Psoriasis Before and After Balneotherapy at the Thermal Care Center of La Roche-Posay – Richard Martin – Journal of Drugs in Dermatology

Importance of Lid Hygiene Before Ocular Surgery: Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Eyelid and Conjunctiva Microbiota – Peral, Assumpta – Eye & Contact Lens

Human gut microbiome

Coprolites: Retroviral DNA Sequences as a Means for Determining Ancient Diets – Jessica I. Rivera-Perez – PLOS ONE

Model microbiome

The deterministic assembly of complex bacterial communities in germ-free cockroach guts – Aram Mikaelyan – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

The piglet as a model for studying dietary components in infant diets: effects of galacto-oligosaccharides on intestinal functions – A. Alizadeh – British Journal of Nutrition

Lactobacillus crispatus inhibits growth of Gardnerella vaginalis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae on a porcine vaginal mucosa model – Laura M. Breshears – BMC Microbiology

Vancomycin treatment and butyrate supplementation modulate gut microbe composition and severity of neointimal hyperplasia after arterial injury – Karen J. Ho – Physiological Reports

Necrobiome: the microbiome of death

Shifts in soil biodiversity—A forensic comparison between Sus scrofa domesticus and vegetation decomposition – Ayodeji O. Olakanye – Science & Justice

Animal microbiome

A Longitudinal Study of the Feline Faecal Microbiome Identifies Changes into Early Adulthood Irrespective of Sexual Development – Oliver Deusch – PLOS ONE

Spatial Homogeneity of Bacterial Communities Associated with the Surface Mucus Layer of the Reef-Building Coral Acropora palmata – Dustin W. Kemp – PLOS ONE

Salmonella enterica Serovars Enteritidis Infection Alters the Indigenous Microbiota Diversity in Young Layer Chicks – Khin K. Z. Mon – Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Niche Limits of Symbiotic Gut Microbiota Constrain the Salinity Tolerance of Brine Shrimp – Odrade Nougué – The American Naturalist

Opinion: Blurred lines: pathogens, commensals, and the healthy gut – Paul Wigley – Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Review: The gut microbiome and its potential role in the development and function of newborn calf gastrointestinal tract – Nilusha Malmuthuge – Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Review: An introduction to the avian gut microbiota and the effects of yeast-based prebiotic-type compounds as potential feed additives – Stephanie M. Roto – Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Biological attributes of rehabilitated soils contaminated with heavy metals – Jessé Valentim dos Santos – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Comparison between cultivated and total bacterial communities associated with Cucurbita pepo using cultivation-dependent techniques and 454 pyrosequencing – N. Eevers – Systematic and Applied Microbiology

Euphorbia plant latex is inhabited by diverse microbial communities – Manjula Gunawardana – American Journal of Botany

Bioreactor and waste microbiology

Systematic investigation and microbial community profile of indole degradation processes in two aerobic activated sludge systems – Qiao Ma – Scientific Reports

Pretreatment of piggery wastewater by a stable constructed microbial consortium for improving the methane production – Jian Cai – Water Science & Technology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

De novo clustering methods outperform reference-based methods for assigning 16S rRNA gene sequences to operational taxonomic units – Sarah L. Westcott – PeerJ

Improved taxonomic assignment of human intestinal 16S rRNA sequences by a dedicated reference database – Jarmo Ritari – BMC Genomics

RisaAligner software for aligning fluorescence data between Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer chips: Application to soil microbial community analysis – Elisabeth Navarro – BioTechniques

Review: Metagenomics: Retrospect and Prospects in High Throughput Age – Satish Kumar – Biotechnology Research International

Microbes in the news

Human-gut-on-a-chip model offers hope for IBD sufferers – Kat J McAlpine – Harvard

Metagenomics Explainer, with Emory geneticist Tim Read – Lab Land, Emory Health Sciences Research blog

Your Face Is Covered in Mites, and It’s Your Parents’ Fault – Matt Simon – Wired

Science, publishing, and career

Plenty of moustaches but not enough women: cross sectional study of medical leaders – Mackenzie R Wehner – BMJ
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December 15, 2015

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Self-tracking the microbiome (quantified self), a human gut-on-a-chip model, indoor air bacteria in residences in the San Francisco Bay Area, and using probiotics on corals during oil spills.

General microbiome

Biometrics’ new identity—measuring more physical and biological traits: Research into the characteristics that are unique to an individual is addressing the need to correctly identify people in a variety of medical, social and security contexts – Andrea Rinaldi – EMBO Reports

Commentary: Self-tracking the microbiome: where do we go from here? – Carine Gimbert – Microbiome

Conference abstracts: 3th ISM World Congress on Targeting Microbiota – Journal of International Society of Microbiota Volume 1 No. 1

Pregnancy and birth

Buccal administration of human colostrum: impact on the oral microbiota of premature infants – K Sohn – Journal of Perinatology

Human mouth/ear microbiome

Pathophysiology of sinusitis of odontogenic origin – Silvio Taschieri – Journal of Investigative and Clinical Dentistry

Human gut microbiome

Different sub-type strains of Akkermansia muciniphila abundantly colonize in southern China – Xianfeng Guo – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Simultaneous fecal microbial and metabolite profiling enables accurate classification of pediatric irritable bowel syndrome – Vijay Shankar – Microbiome

Mucosal Barrier Depletion And Loss Of Bacterial Diversity Are Primary Abnormalities In Paediatric Ulcerative Colitis – Misagh Alipour – Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis

Systematic review with meta-analysis: long-term outcomes of faecal microbiota transplantation for Clostridium difficile infection – Y.-T. Li – Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Microbiome models

Contributions of microbiome and mechanical deformation to intestinal bacterial overgrowth and inflammation in a human gut-on-a-chip – Hyun Jung Kim – PNAS

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

Animal microbiome

Metagenomic Assembly Reveals Hosts of Antibiotic Resistance Genes and the Shared Resistome in Pig, Chicken and Human Feces – Liping Ma – Environmental Science & Technology

The impact of rearing environment on the development of gut microbiota in tilapia larvae – Christos Giatsis – Scientific Reports

The characterization and manipulation of the bacterial microbiome of the Rocky Mountain wood tick, Dermacentor andersoni – Katie A. Clayton – Parasites & Vectors

Impact of oil spills on coral reefs can be reduced by bioremediation using probiotic microbiota – Henrique Fragoso ados Santos – Scientific Reports

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Stronger warming effects on microbial abundances in colder regions – Ji Chen – Scientific Reports

Seasonal dynamics of the microbiome of chernozems of the long-term agrochemical experiment in Kamennaya Steppe – T. I. Chernov – Eurasian Soil Science

Water and extremophile microbiome

Metagenome-assembled genomes uncover a global brackish microbiome – Luisa W. Hugerth – Genome Biology

Similar microbial communities found on two distant seafloor basalts – Esther Singer – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial communities on seafloor basalts at Dorado Outcrop reflect level of alteration and highlight global lithic clades – Michael D. Lee – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bacterioplankton dynamics within a large anthropogenically impacted urban estuary – Thomas C. Jeffries – Frontiers in Microbiology

Marine microbial community structure assessed from combined metagenomic analysis and ribosomal amplicon deep-sequencing – Savvas Genitsaris – Marine Biology Research

Groundwater isolation governs chemistry and microbial community structure along hydrologic flowpaths – Sarah Ben Maamar – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Forged Under the Sun: Life and Art of Extremophiles from Andean Lakes – Virginia Helena Albarracín – Photochemistry and Photobiology

Food microbiology

Comparative genomics Lactobacillus reuteri from sourdough reveals adaptation of an intestinal symbiont to food fermentations – Jinshui Zheng – Scientific Reports

Built environment microbiology

Relative and contextual contribution of different sources to the composition and abundance of indoor air bacteria in residences – Marzia Miletto – Microbiome

Review: Antibiotic resistance in urban aquatic environments: can it be controlled? – Célia M. Manaia – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Metagenomics, phages, and bioinformatics

Computational approaches to predict bacteriophage–host relationships – Robert A. Edwards – FEMS Microbiology Reviews

Partial least squares regression can aid in detecting differential abundance of multiple features in sets of metagenomic samples – Ondrej Libiger – Frontiers in Genetics

Techniques

A new fungal large subunit ribosomal RNA primer for high throughput sequencing surveys – Rebecca C Mueller – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Biofilms

Classic Spotlight: Before They Were Biofilms – George A. O’Toole – Journal of Bacteriology

Microbes in the news

How Bacteria and Brown Fat Can Spur Weight Loss – Mandy Oaklander – Time

A cultural revolution in the study of the gut microbiome – Medical Xpress

Why Your Body Is Like A Rainforest… Micro-Macro Exhibition at Eden features artwork from students at local secondary schools – PirateFM

Italian olive trees are withering from this deadly bacteria – PBS Newshour

Behind the scenes: Microbial biogeography of a university campus – Ashley Ross – MicroBEnet

Irish company makes biggest breakthrough for microbiology testing in dairy industry in 100 years – Independent Ireland

Bacteria, Archaea – Some Methane In Hydraulic Fracturing Is Even More Natural Than Assumed – Science 2.0

Sweet and sticky: Bacteria use sugars to bind to human cells – Phys.org

Science, publishing, and career

The Unwritten Code of Conduct: Each day this week, my supervisor has walked into my office and made verbal demands that I remove content from my beloved blog – The Research Whisperer

A lesson on misleading graphs from the National Review – Lenny Teytelman – The Spectroscope

Women in STEM research: Better Data and Information Sharing Could Improve Oversight of Federal Grant-making and Title IX Compliance – US Government Accountability Office

Why do scientists like anonymity? Lenny Teytelman – Protocols

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December 10, 2015

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The microbiome quality control project, proton pump inhibitors, microbiome models are useful, and Cryoconites in glaciers.

General microbiome

The microbiome quality control project: baseline study design and future directions – Rashmi Sinha – Genome Biology

Human gut microbiome

Proton pump inhibitors affect the gut microbiome – Floris Imhann – Gut

Microbiome models

Your gut microbiome, deconstructed: Probing microbiome functions through simple models – Dylan Dodd, Carolina Tropini & Justin L Sonnenburg – Nature Biotechnology

Baby, It’s Cold Outside: Host-Microbiota Relationships Drive Temperature Adaptations –
Sol Gomez de la Torre Canny, John F. Rawls – Cell Host & Microbe

N-Acetyl-l-cysteine effects on multi-species oral biofilm formation and bacterial ecology –
K. Rasmussen – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

The molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the arsenic mining impacted sites in Hunan province of China – Yuqing Sun – Journal of Environmental Sciences

Incorporating biotic factors in species distribution modeling: are interactions with soil microbes important? – Clifton P. Bueno de Mesquita – Ecography

Water and extremophile microbiome

Temperature and trophic structure are driving microbial productivity along a biogeographical gradient – Sarah M. Gray – Ecography

Review: Cryoconite: The dark biological secret of the cryosphere – Joseph Cook – Progress in Physical Geography

Infection and transplantation microbiology

Review: The Microbiome, Systemic Immune Function, and Allotransplantation – Anoma Nellore – Clinical Microbiology Reviews

Built environment microbiology

Microbiological testing of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics in Egypt – Hend Zeitoun – BMC Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Influence of tree shape and evolutionary time-scale on phylogenetic diversity metrics – Florent Mazel – Ecography

Microbes in the news
Germ Warfare: Turns out that, sometimes, Mr. Microbe is your friend – Christianna McCausland – Baltimore

A gut feeling: there’s a connection between your intestines and your health – Carrie Dennett – Seattle Times

Agilent Technologies Presents Thought Leader Award to Human Microbiome Expert Jeffrey Gordon – Business Wire

Getting the Hologenome Concept Right – Seth Bordenstein – Symbionticism

A microbiologist reveals what would go wrong if all bacteria disappeared – with Jack Gilbert – Tech Insider

Microorganism Devours Its Prey in Award-Winning Video – Carl Engelking – Discover

Illumina Invests in Four Startups Through Accelerator Program – Genome Web

Phage Hunters: New biology course transforms Virginia Tech students into young scientists, research contributors – Augusta Free Press

Lab staple agar hit by seaweed shortage: Dwindling algae harvest imperils reagent essential for culturing microbes – Ewen Callaway – Nature

Lab ‘NERD’ receives $1M funding from Taiwan ministry for microbiome research – Michelle Yeomans – Cosmetics Design

uBiome Releases Predictive Engine for Over 100 Metabolic Functions Based on Microbiome Data – Virtual Strategy

Science, publishing, and career

Blog, tweet, and avoid the pitfalls – Sharon Ann Holgate – Science
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December 9, 2015

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Student activity about the microbiome that uses pasta, nutritional supplementation in Malawian infants, fungi and drywall, and microbial aerosols from soiled hospital linens.

General microbiome

Cool student activity: Modeling the Dynamic Digestive System Microbiome – Anne M. Estes – Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education

Pregnancy and birth

Persistent microbial dysbiosis in preterm premature rupture of membranes from onset until delivery – Elizabeth A. Baldwin – PeerJ

No effect of supplementation: Gut microbiota in Malawian infants in a nutritional supplementation trial – Yin Bun Cheung – Tropical Medicine & International Health

Human vaginal microbiome

Bacterial vaginosis and inflammatory response showed association with severity of cervical neoplasia in HPV-positive women – Juçara Maria de Castro-Sobrinho – Diagnostic Cytopathology

Human gut microbiome

Review: Gut Microbiota Modulation and Mucosal Immunity: Focus on Rifaximin – Loris R. Lopetuso – Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry

Animal microbiome

The effects of omeprazole therapy on bacterial colonization of the pharynx in healthy dogs – Lauren A. Sullivan – Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care

Water microbiome

Spatial Patterns in Biofilm Diversity across Hierarchical Levels of River-Floodplain Landscapes – Marc Peipoch – PLOS ONE

 

Built environment microbiome

Moisture parameters and fungal communities associated with gypsum drywall in buildings – Sandra Dedesko – Microbiome

A viability-linked metagenomic analysis of cleanroom environments: eukarya, prokaryotes, and viruses – Thomas Weinmaier – Microbiome

Microbial aerosol liberation from soiled textiles isolated during routine residuals handling in a modern health care setting – Alina Handorean – Microbiome

Phages and viruses

Better together: bacteriophage combinations significantly reduce Clostridium difficile growth in vitro and proliferation in vivo – Janet Y. Nale – Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

Infection and transplantation

A genetic modifier of the gut microbiome influences the risk of GVHD and bacteremia following HSCT – Ahmad Rayes – Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation

World Health Organization Estimates of the Global and Regional Disease Burden of 22 Foodborne Bacterial, Protozoal, and Viral Diseases, 2010: A Data Synthesis – Martyn D. Kirk – PLOS Medicine

Functional foods

A novel consortium of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Streptococcus thermophilus for increased access to functional fermented foods – Remco Kort – Microbial Cell Factories

Changes in the Milk Metabolome of the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) with Time after Birth – Three Phases in Early Lactation and Progressive Individual Differences – Tong Zhang – PLOS ONE

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Small Sample Kernel Association Tests for Human Genetic and Microbiome Association Studies – Jun Chen – Genetic Epidemiology

Microbes in the news

Questions About the Science Of Beer – Matt Shipman – NC State University News

Guest Post – Stadium Seat Bacteria – PeerJ – David Coil

How microbes in your gut today hold clues to tomorrow’s medicines: For the second episode of “Science Happens,” we hung out with Pamela Silver, a scientist who wants to hack the microbiome – Carl Zimmer – STAT news

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December 8, 2015

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The CF microbiome, microbes attaching to glycoproteins in sweat, gut bacteria make cockroach poop smell attractive for other cockroaches, mycobiome of South African Cabernet vines, and seasonality of Japanese cherry orchard soil fungi.

General microbiome

Perspective: Behavioral Microbiomics: A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Microbial Influence on Behavior – Adam C.-N. Wong – Frontiers in Microbiology

Research highlight: Microbiota-based nutrition plans – Cláudio Nunes-Alves – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Pregnancy and birth

Maternal risk factors for abnormal vaginal flora during pregnancy – Cecilia Tibaldi – International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics

Human respiratory microbiome

MiniReview: The cystic fibrosis microbiome in an ecological perspective and its impact in antibiotic therapy – Andreia P. Magalhães – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Human oral microbiome

Oral Microbiota and Risk for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in a High-Risk Area of China – Xingdong Chen – PLOS ONE

Human skin microbiome

Sweating the small stuff: Glycoproteins in human sweat and their unexplored potential for microbial adhesion – Robyn A Peterson – Glycobiology

Human gut microbiome

Gut microbiota manipulation with prebiotics in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a randomized controlled trial protocol – BMC Gastroenterology

Review: Current roles of specific bacteria in the pathogenesis of inflammatory
bowel disease – Lucy McMullen – Microbiology

Animal and bioreactor models

Intestinal microbiota contributes to individual susceptibility to alcoholic liver disease – M Llopis – Gut

Development of a Laboratory Model of a Phototroph-Heterotroph Mixed-Species Biofilm at the Stone/Air Interface – Federica Villa – Frontiers in Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Gut bacteria mediate aggregation in the German cockroach – Ayako Wada-Katsumata – PNAS

The deep-sea glass sponge Lophophysema eversa harbors potential symbionts responsible for the nutrient conversions of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur – Ren-Mao Tian – Environmental Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

The Anti-Phytophthora Effect of Selected Potato-Associated Pseudomonas Strains: From the Laboratory to the Field – Anouk Guyer – Frontiers in Microbiology

Defoliation reduces soil biota – and modifies stimulating effects of elevated CO2 – Marie Dam – Ecology and Evolution

Sequence-based Analysis of the Vitis vinifera L. cv Cabernet Sauvignon Grape Must Mycobiome in Three South African Vineyards Employing Distinct Agronomic Systems – Mathabatha E. Setati – Frontiers in Microbiology

Paradox of plant growth promotion potential of rhizobacteria and their actual promotion effect on growth of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) under salt stress – Massimiliano Cardinale – Microbiological Research

Survey of Annual and Seasonal Fungal Communities in Japanese Prunus mume Orchard Soil by Next-Generation Sequencing – Yoshinao Aoki – Advances in Microbiology

Actinobacterial Diversity in the Sediments of Five Cold Springs on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau – Jian Yang – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bacterial diversity assessment of pristine mangrove microbial community from dhulibhashani, sundarban using 16S rRNA gene tag sequencing – Pijush Basak – Genomics Data

Microbialites in the shallow-water marine environments of the Holy Cross Mountains (Poland) in the aftermath of the Frasnian–Famennian biotic crisis – Michał Rakociński – Global and Planetary Change

No tillage combined with crop rotation improves soil microbial community composition and metabolic activity – Bingjie Sun – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Assessing the contribution of fallen autumn leaves to airborne fungi in an urban environment – Peter J. Irga – Urban Ecosystems

Water and extremophile microbiome

Weak Coherence in Abundance Patterns Between Bacterial Classes and Their Constituent OTUs Along a Regulated River – Clara Ruiz-González – Frontiers in Microbiology

Combined Culture-Based and Culture-Independent Approaches Provide Insights into Diversity of Jakobids, an Extremely Plesiomorphic Eukaryotic Lineage – Tomáš Pánek – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metabolic characteristics of dominant microbes and key rare species from an acidic hot spring in Taiwan revealed by metagenomics – Kuei-Han Lin – BMC Genomics

Waste treatment

Microbial community structure associated with the high loading anaerobic codigestion of olive mill and abattoir wastewaters – Hana Gannoun – Bioresource Technology

Microbial analysis of in situ biofilm formation in drinking water distribution systems: implications for monitoring and control of drinking water quality – Isabel Douterelo – Environmental Biotechnology

Food microbiology

Pyrosequencing reveals bacterial diversity in Korean traditional wheat-based nuruk – Jyotiranjan Bal – Journal of Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Hunting Down Frame Shifts: Ecological Analysis of Diverse Functional Gene Sequences – Michal Strejcek – Frontiers in Microbiology

GenomeTester4: a toolkit for performing basic set operations – union, intersection and complement on k-mer lists – Lauris Kaplinski – GigaScience

Microbes in the news

Cockroaches communicate via bacteria in their feces – Elizabeth Pennisi – Science Magzine

MSU professor trekking to the Amazon to study bacteria of insects that spread disease
– Anne Cantrell, MSU News Service – Bozeman Daily

Bacterial Biofilms: A Charged Environment – Kathryn Calkins – Biomedical Beat

Maintaining Wellness, Starting From Your Gut – Julie Chen – Huffington Post

Fall into Fungi – Alex Alexiev – MicroBEnet

Caps can play a part in cleaning water, not just bottling it – Jim Johnson – Plastic News

Dirty Yamuna water harbours drug-resistant bacteria – Neetu Chandra Sharma – Daily Mail India

Cooperating bacteria isolate cheaters – Phys.org

What you should know about this ‘new’ STD: interview with Raquel Dardik – Kristine Thomason – CNN

Bacteria Hysteria

Bacteria tests: What’s growing beneath your feet? – Alex Osiadacz – KLTV

Science, publication, and career

Five selfish reasons to work reproducibly – Florian Markowetz – Genome Biology

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December 5, 2015

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Two job openings in our lab / UCSF, parasitism in TM6, and colonization of a new island.

Jobs and Events

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)

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

General microbiome

The Hologenome Concept: Helpful or Hollow? – Nancy A. Moran , Daniel B. Sloan – PLOS Biology

Opinion: Cross-Kingdom Similarities in Microbiome Ecology and Biocontrol of Pathogens – Gabriele Berg – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Molecular Players Involved in the Interaction Between Beneficial Bacteria and the Immune System – Arancha Hevia – Frontiers in Microbiology

Commentary: Towards biome-specific analysis of meta-omics data – Youssef Darzi – ISME Journal

Human gut microbiome

Insights into the Role of Erysipelotrichaceae in the Human Host – Nadeem O. Kaakoush – Frontier sin Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Review: Interaction of Intestinal Microorganisms with the Human Host in the Framework of Autoimmune Diseases – Borja Sánchez – Frontiers in Immunology

Review: Mechanisms of Microbe–Host Interaction in Crohn’s Disease: Dysbiosis vs. Pathobiont Selection – Ludovica F. Buttó – Frontiers in Immunology

Review: The role of gut microbiota and diet in experimental autoimmune encephalitis and multiple sclerosis – Tatsusada Okuno – Clinical and Experimental Neuroimmunology

Animal and bioreactor models

Identification and Phylogeny of the First T Cell Epitope Identified from a Human Gut Bacteroides Species – Maria Elisa Perez-Muñoz – PLOS ONE

Wheat bran promotes enrichment within the human colonic microbiota of butyrate-producing bacteria that release ferulic acid – Sylvia H Duncan – Environmental Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Composition of the Spruce Budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) Midgut Microbiota as Affected by Rearing Conditions – Mathieu Landry – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Carbon-fixation rates and associated microbial communities residing in arid and ephemerally wet Antarctic Dry Valley soils – Thomas Niederberger – Frontiers in Microbiology

Forest wildfire and grassland prescribed fire effects on soil biogeochemical processes and microbial communities: Two case studies in the semi-arid Southwest – Lisa M. Fultz – Applied Soil Ecology

Response of the soil microbial community and soil nutrient bioavailability to biomass harvesting and reserve tree retention in northern Minnesota aspen-dominated forests – Tera E. Lewandowski – Applied Soil Ecology

Disease suppression in winter wheat from novel symbiosis with forest fungi – Mary Ridout – Fungal Ecology

Comparative genomics of candidate phylum TM6 suggests that parasitism is
widespread and ancestral in this lineage – Yun Kit Yeoh – Molecular Biology and Evolution

Carbon constrains fungal endophyte assemblages along the timberline – Teng Yang – Environmental Microbiology

Exploring the phenotypic space of non-Saccharomyces wine yeast biodiversity – Debra Rossouw – Food Microbiology

Colonization of new land by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi – Knud Brian Nielsen – Fungal Ecology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Microbial communities reflect temporal changes in cyanobacterial composition in a shallow ephemeral freshwater lake – Jason Nicholas Woodhouse – ISME Journal

Characterization of Bacterial Communities in Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents from Three Oceanic Regions – Tianliang He – Marine Biotechnology

Air microbiome

PhD thesis: Microbial biodiversity of the atmosphere – Ann Maureen Klein – University of Oregon

Built environment microbiome

The biogeography of the Plastisphere: implications for policy – Linda A Amaral-Zettler – Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

Colonization of new land by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi – Knud Brian Nielsen – Fungal Ecology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

COMMET: comparing and combining multiple metagenomic datasets – Nicolas Maillet – ArXiv

MetaScope – Fast and accurate identification of microbes in metagenomic sequencing data – Benjamin Buchfink – ArXiv

hc-OTU: A Fast and Accurate Method for Clustering Operational Taxonomic Unit based on Homopolymer Compaction – Seunghyun Park – ACM Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics

Functional metagenomic selection of RubisCO from uncultivated bacteria – Vanessa A. Varaljay – Environmental Microbiology

Metagenomic evidence for the presence of phototrophic Gemmatimonadetes bacteria in diverse environments – Yonghui Zeng – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Book Chapter: Metagenomics as a Tool for Enzyme Discovery: Hydrolytic Enzymes from Marine-Related Metagenomes – Ana Popovic – Prokaryotic Systems Biology

Microbes in the news

Superbug known as ‘phantom menace’ on the rise in U.S – Lena H. Sun – Washington Post

Petri dish Art: Holiday deer – Microbe World

The Blob, but smaller: Tasmania’s slime moulds – Ann Jones – ABC Australia
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