Category Archives: Human reproductive or urinary

April 20, 2016

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Posting from SJC: The reproductive tract microbiome from heterosexual couples, olfactory epithelium changes in GF mice, and life in the twilight zone.

Jobs

Post doc positions in human microbiome research in the Lynch Lab at #UCSF – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

Human respiratory microbiome

Culture-Independent Identification of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria in Cystic Fibrosis Respiratory Samples – Lindsay J. Caverly – PLOS ONE

Human reproductive tract microbiome

Rationale and Safety Assessment of a Novel Intravaginal Drug-Delivery System with Sustained DL-Lactic Acid Release, Intended for Long-Term Protection of the Vaginal Microbiome – Hans Verstraelen – PLOS ONE

Bacterial communities in penile skin, male urethra, and vaginas of heterosexual couples with and without bacterial vaginosis – Marcela Zozaya – Microbiome

Human gut microbiome

Review: Antibiotics, obesity and the link to microbes – what are we doing to our children? – Olli Turta – BMC Medicine

Review: Microbiome mediation of infections in the cancer setting – Ying Taur – Genome Medicine

Review: Moody microbes or fecal phrenology: what do we know about the microbiota-gut-brain axis? – Paul Forsythe – BMC Medicine

Animal models

Olfactory epithelium changes in germfree mice – Adrien François – Scientific Reports

Association between Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Gut Microbiota – Yanjie Guo – PLOS ONE

Effect of fidaxomicin versus vancomycin on susceptibility to intestinal colonization with vancomycin-resistant enterococci and Klebsiella pneumoniae in mice – Abhishek Deshpande – Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

Intestinal microbiota and oral administration of Enterococcus faecium associated with the growth performance of new-born piglets – Y.B. Wang – Beneficial Microbes

Animal microbiome

Impact of the Chromatin Remodeling Factor CHD1 on Gut Microbiome Composition of Drosophila melanogaster – Johanna Sebald – PLOS ONE

Minireview: Lower Termite Associations with Microbes: Synergy, Protection, and Interplay – Brittany F. Peterson – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Volatile compounds emitted by diverse phytopathogenic microorganisms promote plant growth and flowering through cytokinin action – Ángela María Sánchez-López – Plant, Cell & Environment

Quantifying the associations between fungal endophytes and biocontrol-induced herbivory of invasive purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.) – Aaron S David – Mycologia

Effect of CaMSRB2-Expressing Transgenic Rice Cultivation on Soil Microbial Community – Soo-In Sohn – Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Water microbiome

Marine protist associations and environmental impacts across trophic levels in the twilight zone and below – VP Edgcomb – Current Opinion in Microbiology

The Arsenite Oxidation Potential of Native Microbial Communities from Arsenic-Rich Freshwaters – Stefano Fazi – Microbial Ecology

Probiotics

Review: Probiotic approach to prevent antibiotic resistance – Arthur C. Ouwehand – Annals of Medicine

Infection microbiology

Metataxonomic and Metagenomic Approaches vs. Culture-Based Techniques for Clinical Pathology – Sarah K. Hilton – Frontiers in Microbiology

More microbiology
A Generalized Spatial Measure for Resilience of Microbial Systems – Ryan S. Renslow – Frontiers in Microbiology

Community assembly and coexistence in communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi – Kriszta Vályi – The ISME Journal

Microbes in the news

Exploding bacteria could help in our battle against superbugs: Aussie researchers have discovered that some bacteria explode to share useful resources with others, causing the whole group to become nastier. – Signe Dean – SBS

Phylo.io: interactive viewing and comparison of large phylogenetic trees on the web – Oscar Robinson – Molecular Biology and Evolution

April 5, 2016

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Differences in myelination and gene expression in prefrontal cortex between GF and conventional mice, migratory passerines, metagenomics of probiotics, and megaviromes.

Events

NAS Meeting: Microbiomes of the Built Environment: From Research to Application – David Coil – MicroBEnet

Human oral microbiome

Impact of age and sex on the composition and abundance of the intestinal microbiota in individuals with and without enteric infections – Pallavi Singh – Annals of Epidemiology

Review [PDF]: Oral Microbial Shift: Factors affecting the Microbiome and Prevention of Oral Disease – Namrata Dagli – Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice

Human reproductive tract microbiome

Review: Incorporating microbiota data into epidemiological models: Examples from vaginal microbiota research – Janneke van de Wijgert – Annals of Epidemiology

Combined effect of diet and cervical microbiome on the risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia – Sang-Soo Seo – Clinical Nutrition

Human gut microbiome

Diversified mcr-1-Harbouring Plasmid Reservoirs Confer Resistance to Colistin in Human Gut Microbiota – Huiyan Ye – mBio

Animal models

Regulation of prefrontal cortex myelination by the microbiota – AE Hoban – Translational Psychiatry

Responses of fecal bacterial communities to resistant starch intervention in diabetic rats – Zhongkai Zhou – Starch

Resveratrol Attenuates Trimethylamine-N-Oxide (TMAO)-Induced Atherosclerosis by Regulating TMAO Synthesis and Bile Acid Metabolism via Remodeling of the Gut Microbiota – Ming-liang Chen – mBio

Commentary: Policing of gut microbiota by the adaptive immune system – Laurent Dollé – BMC Medicine

Animal microbiome

Sample processing impacts the viability and cultivability of the sponge microbiome – Ana I. Esteves – Frontiers in Microbiology

Characterization of the gut microbiota of migratory passerines during stopover along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico – William B. Lewis – Journal of Avian Biology

Highlight: Microbes matter: herbivore gut endosymbionts play a role in breakdown of host plant toxins – Franziska Beran – Environmental Microbiology

Selective feeding by the giant barrel sponge enhances foraging efficiency – Steven E. McMurray – Limnology and Oceanography

PhD Thesis: Molecular investigation of Australian termites and their gut symbionts – Nurdyana Abdul Rahman – University of Queensland

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Distance-dependent effects of pathogenic fungi on seedlings of a legume tree: impaired nodule formation and identification of antagonistic rhizosphere bacteria –  Lan Liu – Journal of Ecology

Bacterial community dynamics during ensiling of perennial ryegrass at two compaction levels monitored by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism – K. Graf – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Microsite differentiation drives the abundance of soil ammonia oxidizing bacteria along aridity gradients – Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo – Frontiers in Microbiology

Not exactly microbes but sounded interesting: Do tropical rain forest soils have greater nematode diversity than High Arctic tundra? A metagenetic comparison of Malaysia and Svalbard – Dorsaf Kerfahi – Global Ecology and Biogeography

Use of two spatially separated plant species alters microbial community function in horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands – Mark Button – Ecological Engineering

Water microbiome

Spatio-temporal interdependence of bacteria and phytoplankton during a Baltic Sea spring bloom – Carina Bunse – Frontiers in Microbiology

Protist-bacteria associations: Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria are prevalent as digestion-resistant bacteria in ciliated protozoa – Jun Gong – Frontiers in Microbiology

Particulate matter stoichiometry driven by microplankton community structure in summer in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean – M. Rembauville – Limnology and Oceanography

Waste and pollution microbiome

Functional Metagenomics of a Biostimulated Petroleum-Contaminated Soil Reveals an Extraordinary Diversity of Extradiol Dioxygenases – Laura Terrón-González – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Lateral Gene Transfer in a Heavy Metal-Contaminated-Groundwater Microbial Community – Christopher L. Hemme – mBio

Built environment microbiome

A novel, optical, on-line bacteria sensor for monitoring drinking water quality – Bo Højris – Scientific Reports

Food and probiotics microbiology

Culture-Independent Metagenomic Surveillance of Commercially Available Probiotics with High-Throughput Next-Generation Sequencing – Jennifer N. Patro – mSphere

Unravelling the effect of clostridia spores and lysozyme on microbiota dynamics in Grana Padano cheese: A metaproteomics approach – Alessio Soggiu – Journal of Proteomics

Viruses and phages / metagenomics

VIP: an integrated pipeline for metagenomics of virus identification and discovery – Yang Li – Scientific Reports

Antibiotic Resistome: Improving Detection and Quantification Accuracy for Comparative Metagenomics – Ali H. A. Elbehery – OMICS

Themed Issue of Current Opinion in Microbiology: Environmental microbiology/Megaviromes
Review: Giants among larges: how gigantism impacts giant virus entry into amoebae – Rodrigo Araújo Lima Rodrigues – Current Opinion in Microbiology
Review: Updating strategies for isolating and discovering giant viruses – Jacques Yaacoub Bou Khalil
Review, but not sure about what: Persistent virus and addiction modules: an engine of symbiosis – Luis P Villarreal

Metabolomics

In silico methods for linking genes and secondary metabolites: The way forward – Shradha Khater – Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology

Techniques and bioinformatics

It’s all relative: analyzing microbiome data as compositions – Gregory B. Gloor – Annals of Epidemiology

Not metagenomics but about a not-clearly defined 16S rRNA gene amplification pipeline. Not a good paper: Snapshot on a pilot metagenomic study for the appraisal of gut microbial diversity in mice, cat and men – Coline Plé – Gastroenterology Research and Practice

More microbiology

Expression of arsenic resistance genes in the obligate anaerobe Bacteroides vulgatus ATCC 8482, a gut microbiome bacterium – Jiajiao Li – Anaerobe

Cholesterol Analogs with Degradation-resistant Alkyl Side Chains Are Effective Mycobacterium tuberculosis Growth Inhibitors – Daniel J. Frank – The Journal of Biological Chemistry

Microbiology and art

This Artist Paints With Bacteria, And It’s Strangely Beautiful – Jacqueline Howard – Huffington Post

Microbes in the news

With a quote from me! Gut bacteria regulate nerve fibre insulation – Mo Costandi – The Guardian

Europe’s Microbiology Society’s Annual Conference 2016: the Twitter story – Microbepost

Antibiotic soap can alter a baby’s gut bacteria – Tim Sandle – Digital Journal

The fridge that detects bacteria in your food – NZ Herald

About COPD: Take a deep breath – your lung microbiome will appreciate it – GSK

Microbiome and the modern environment: a global drift toward dysbiosis? – Susan Prescott and Alan Logan – BioMed Central blog

Biofilm researcher: New Faces: Boo Shan Tseng: This Life Sciences professor is all about communities – University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Study by the University of Kaiserslautern: Viruses cause bacteria to produce pink pigments – AlphaGalileo

Promising new method inhibits TB–causing bacteria – Phys.org

Bacteria Hysteria

Do you know how clean your lean workout is? The DEADLY bacteria found in your gym mat – Kat Romero – Express

Bik’s Picks

Cellular telephone use during free-living walking significantly reduces average walking speed – Jacob E. Barkley – BMC Research Notes

So cool: The Cemetery as Archive: A 177-year-old cemetery is preparing to digitize millions of records that shed light on New York City’s shifting demographics – Jessica Leigh Hester

April 4, 2016

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Gut microbiome of Australian sea lions, Trichoderma fungi in endemic plants, and digging for microbial proof of Hannibal’s route over the alps.

Human vaginal microbiome

Comment: Translating the vaginal microbiome: gaps and challenges – Jacques Ravel – Genome Medicine

Human respiratory microbiome

Review: The lung microbiome: the perfect culprit for COPD exacerbations? – Carine Gomez – European Respiratory Journal

Animal models

Frogs: Short-term exposure to coal combustion waste has little impact on the skin microbiome of adult spring peepers, Pseudacris crucifer – Myra C. Hughey – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Short bowel syndrome (SBS)-associated alterations within the gut-liver axis evolve early and persist long-term in the piglet model of short bowel syndrome – Prue M. Pereira-Fantini – Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Maternal Antibiotic Treatment Impacts Development of the Neonatal Intestinal Microbiome and Antiviral Immunity – Gabriela Gonzalez-Perez – The Journal of Immunology

Generation and Characterization of Indoor Fungal Aerosols for Inhalation Studies – Anne Mette Madsen – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Correspondence: The premature invocation of a ‘gut-lung axis’ may obscure the direct effects of respiratory microbiota on pneumonia susceptibility – Robert P Dickson – Gut

Animal microbiome

Colony location and captivity influence the gut microbial community composition of the Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) – Tiffany C. Delport – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

DGGE: Decreased microbial diversity and Lactobacillus group in the intestine of geriatric giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) – Zhirong Peng – World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Germs within Worms: Localization of Neorickettsia sp. within Life Cycle Stages of the Digenean Plagiorchis elegans – Stephen E. Greiman – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Comparison of the abundance and community structure of ammonia oxidizing prokaryotes in rice rhizosphere under three different irrigation cultivation modes – Jinping Zhang – World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Endemic plants harbour specific Trichoderma communities with an exceptional potential for biocontrol of phytopathogens – Christin Zachow – Journal of Biotechnology

Water microbiome

Diverse and temporally-variable particle-associated microbial communities are insensitive to bulk seawater environmental parameters – Cheuk-Man Yung – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Pollution and waste microbiology

Similar Microbial Consortia and Genes Are Involved in the Biodegradation of Benzalkonium Chlorides in Different Environments – Emine Ertekin – Environmental Science & Technology

Biofilm and Planktonic Bacterial and Fungal Communities Transforming High-Molecular-Weight Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons – Benjamin D. Folwell – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Microbes and art

These petri dish “paintings” reveal the hidden beauty of bacteria – Julia Belluz – Vox

After Effects: A series of architectural scale models constructed with black paper and covered with flour and a layer of mould to create the effect of old abandoned buildings – Daniele Del Nero.

Microbes in the news

Scarlett Fever: A 19th-century disease is on the rise in the UK—and nobody knows why – Akshat Rathi – Quartz

The truth about Hannibal’s route across the Alps. How exactly did the Carthaginian general and his elephants reach Italy? Scientists have got their hands dirty to come up with an answer – Philip Ball – The Guardian

Gender differences in antibiotic prescribing in the community: a systematic review and meta-analysis – Wiebke Schröder – Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

Microbes Meet Cancer. Understanding cancer’s relationship with the human microbiome could transform immune-modulating therapies – Kate Yandell – The Scientist

Guts and Glory. An open mind and collaborative spirit have taken Hans Clevers on a journey from medicine to developmental biology, gastroenterology, cancer, and stem cells – Anna Azvolinsky – The Scientist

Science, pubilishing, and career

Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2016 – Carol Peckham – MedScape

Bik’s Picks

It turns out this planet has three suns in its sky – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

April 1, 2016 (the serious one)

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Make sure to check out my special April 1st post about the creative use of human-derived microbes in food and beverage production. Today’s serious update is about a twin study on oral microbiota and the effects of host genetics and smoking, microbes in floral nectar along an urbanization gradient, plankton biogeography among alpine lakes, and classification of metagenomics data.

General microbiome

Review: Compositional Data Analysis of the Microbiome: Fundamentals, Tools, and Challenges – Matthew C.B. Tsilimigras – Annals of Epidemiology

Review: Gut Microbiotas and Host Evolution: Scaling Up Symbiosis – Michael Shapira – Trends in Ecology and Evolution

Pregnancy and birth

Conference abstract: Neonatal microbiota in health and disease – P. Panigrahi – International Journal of Infectious Diseases

Human oral microbiome

Analysis of the association between host genetics, smoking, and sputum microbiota in healthy humans – Mi Young Lim – Scientific Reports

Human cervical microbiome

Combined effect of diet and cervical microbiome on the risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia – Sang-Soo Seo – Clinical Nutrition

Human gut microbiome

Review: The effect of NOD2 on the microbiota in Crohn’s disease – Mackenzie L Lauro – Current Opinion in Biotechnology

Animal models

Prebiotics and Bioactive Milk Fractions Affect Gut Development, Microbiota and Neurotransmitter Expression in Piglets – Kirsten Berding – Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition

Isolation of Lactobacillus reuteri from Peyer’s patches and their effects on sIgA production and gut microbiota diversity – Panpan Wang – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Ectomycorrhizal fungal richness declines toward the host species’ range edge – Richard A. Lankau – Molecular Ecology

Diversity and temporal dynamics of the epiphytic bacterial communities associated with the canopy-forming seaweed Cystoseira compressa (Esper) Gerloff & Nizamuddin – Francesco Paolo Mancuso – Frontiers in Microbiology

Do rhizosphere priming effects enhance plant nitrogen uptake under elevated CO2? –
Ming Nie – Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

Evidence for foliar endophytic nitrogen fixation in a widely distributed subalpine conifer – Andrew B. Moyes – New Phytologist

Microbial diversity in the floral nectar of Linaria vulgaris along an urbanization gradient – Jacek Bartlewicz – BMC Ecology

Water and pollution microbiome

Microbial eukaryote plankton communities of high-mountain lakes from three continents exhibit strong biogeographic patterns – Sabine Filker – Molecular Ecology

Nutrient uplift in a cyclonic eddy increases diversity, primary productivity and iron demand of microbial communities relative to a western boundary current – Martina A Doblin – PeerJ preprint

Connectivity between surface and deep waters determines prokaryotic diversity in the North Atlantic Deep Water – Alexander H. Frank – Environmental Microbiology

Chemical multi-contamination drives benthic prokaryotic diversity in the anthropized Toulon Bay – Benjamin Misson – Science of The Total Environment

Phylogenetic clustering of fungal communities in human-disturbed streams – H. Mykrä – Ecosphere

Built environment microbiome

Changes in bacterial composition of biofilm in a metropolitan drinking water distribution system – R. P. Revetta – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Food microbiology

Biodiversity and technological-functional potential of lactic acid bacteria isolated from spontaneously fermented quinoa sourdoughs – L. Ruiz Rodríguez – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Bioreactor microbiology

Genome-based microbial ecology of anammox granules in a full-scale wastewater treatment system – Daan R. Speth – Nature Communications

An exploratory study on the influence orange juice on gut microbiota using a dynamic colonic model – Ana Luiza Rocha Faria Duque – Food Research International

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

FOCUS2: agile and sensitive classification of metagenomics data using a reduced database – Genivaldo Silva – BioRxiv

Microbial Ecology

Microbial diversity arising from thermodynamic constraints – Tobias Großkopf – The ISME Journal

Techniques

Genetic circuit design automation: Programming circuitry for synthetic biology –
Alec A. K. Nielsen – Science

Review: Exploring the Secretomes of Microbes and Microbial Communities Using Filamentous Phage Display – Dragana Gagic – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Your Cat’s Poop Might Help Save Lives: KittyBiome – Lisa Richman – Catster

Pine Bacteria Getting a Closer Look From Scientists – Lorena Anderson – UC Merced

Episode 2: Peek inside a lab trying to create living medicine — from bugs in your gut – Carl Zimmer – STAT News

Poop paper flushed due to possible sample contamination – Shannon Palus – Retraction Watch

About the minimal cell: Breakthrough in synthetic biology is far from ‘playing God’ – New Scientist

Commense Advances Microbiome Platform Targeting Early Childhood Health – Businesswire

New research supports previous findings in the placental microbiome – Baylor College of Medicine

Forensic microbiology from an entomological perspective – SFAM – Microbe Blog
New Potent Nanodrug to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Infections – University of Arkansas

Vedanta Biosciences Announces License Agreement with RIKEN and other Japanese Institutions for New Immune Boosting Microbiome Technology – Pipeline Review

Brewers Claim They’ve Made Ice-Cold Beer With Vaginal Bacteria; In Theory It Works – Dana Dovey – Medical Daily

Beer brewed with vaginal bacteria is the draft we didn’t ask for – Justina Huddleston – She Knows

Scientists create ‘programming language for bacteria’ – BT.com

‘Listeria on Rye’? Many U.S. Deli Meat Slicers Cut Corners on Cleanliness – Health Day

Retail Deli Slicer Cleaning Frequency — Six Selected Sites, United States, 2012 – Laura G. Brown – CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)

Science, publishing, and career

Life in the lab, book review of “Lab Girl” by Hope Jahren – Meg Lowman – Science

How to Make Psychology Studies More Reliable – Ed Yong – The Atlantic

Hilda Bastian: She speaks — and draws — truth to scientific power – Karen Weintraub – STAT news

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March 22, 2016

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Eye microbiota and contact lenses, leaf-cutter ant dumps, bacteria help with platinum transformation, metagenomics from a Swedish cave, extreme habitats at home, bacteria on board the ISS, a special issue on Megaviromes, and a recipe for Poop Peeps.

Jobs

Lecturership in Human Microbiome Studies – University of Reading, UK

Pregnancy and birth

Effect of Infant Formula Containing a Low Dose of the Probiotic Bifidobacterium lactis CNCM I-3446 on Immune and Gut Functions in C-Section Delivered Babies: A Pilot Study – L. Baglatzi – Clinical Medicine Insights: Pediatrics

Infection, immunology, and transplantion microbiology

Metagenomic analysis of bloodstream infections in patients with acute leukemia and therapy-induced neutropenia – P. Gyarmati – Scientific Reports

Rifaximin preserves intestinal microbiota balance in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation – D Weber – Bone Marrow Transplantation

Gut microbiome–derived metabolites modulate intestinal epithelial cell damage and mitigate graft-versus-host disease – Nathan D Mathewson – Nature Immunology

Crosstalk between microbiota, pathogens and the innate immune responses – Claudia Günther – International Journal of Medical Microbiology

Human oral microbiome

Commentary: Microbiota-derived metabolites modulate tissue homeostasis: relevance to the oral cavity? – Hervé Le Moual – Oral Diseases

Human eye and skin microbiome

Changes in the Eye Microbiota Associated with Contact Lens Wearing – Hakdong Shin – mBio

Human vaginal microbiome

Improvement and automation of a real-time PCR assay for vaginal fluids – E. De Vittori – Forensic Science International

Human gut microbiome

Conference report: Talking about cross-talk: the immune system and the microbiome: A report on the first EMBO conference entitled “Next Gen Immunology—From Host Genome to the Microbiome: Immunity in the Genomic Era”, Feb 2016 – David Zeevi – Genome Biology

Review: An (Anti)-Inflammatory Microbiota: Defining the Role in Inflammatory Bowel Disease? – Burman S. – Digestive Diseases

Review: Gut Microbiota: The Brain Peacekeeper – Chunlong Mu – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review [PDF]: The intestinal microbiota and its role in human health and
disease – Keiko Kataoka – The Journal of Medical Investigation

Editorial: The microbiome as a possible target to prevent celiac disease – Maureen M Leonard – Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Animal models

Mice: Arthritis-induced alveolar bone loss is associated with changes in the composition of oral microbiota – Jôice Dias Corrêa – Anaerobe

Chickens: Dietary High Fluorine Alters Intestinal Microbiota in Broiler Chickens – Qin Luo – Biological Trace Element Research

Tilapia: Abrupt suspension of probiotics administration may increase host pathogen susceptibility by inducing gut dysbiosis – Zhi Liu – Scientific Reports

Animal microbiome

Cellulose-Enriched Microbial Communities from Leaf-Cutter Ant (Atta colombica) Refuse Dumps Vary in Taxonomic Composition and Degradation Ability – Gina R. Lewin – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Relic DNA is abundant in soil and obscures estimates of soil microbial diversity – Paul Carini – bioRxiv

Biological role in the transformation of platinum-group mineral grains – Frank Reith – Nature Geoscience

Associations between ectomycorrhizal fungi and bacterial needle endophytes in Pinus radiata: implications for biotic selection of microbial communities – Megan A. Rúa – Frontiers in Microbiology

Functional composition of plant communities determines the spatial and temporal stability of soil microbial properties in a long-term plant diversity experiment – Tanja Strecker – Oikos

No synergistic effects of water and nitrogen addition on soil microbial communities and soil respiration in a temperate desert – Yan Gui Su – CATENA

The role of phosphorus, magnesium and potassium availability in soil fungal exploration of mineral nutrient sources in Norway spruce forests – Nicholas P. Rosenstock – New Phytologist

Climate and edaphic controllers influence rhizosphere community assembly for a wild annual grass – Erin E. Nuccio – Ecology

Temporal distance decay of similarity of ectomycorrhizal fungal community composition in a subtropical evergreen forest in Japan – Shunsuke Matsuoka – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Review: The Functioning of Rhizosphere Biota in Wetlands – a Review – Amir Neori – Wetlands

Water and extremophile microbiome

Experimental evidence that microbial activity lowers the albedo of glaciers – M. Musilova – Geochemical Perspectives Letters

Transcriptional analysis of sulfate reducing and chemolithoautotrophic sulfur oxidizing bacteria in the deep subseafloor – William D. Orsi – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Cave microbiome

Metagenomic Analysis from the Interior of a Speleothem in Tjuv-Ante’s Cave, Northern Sweden – Marie Lisandra Zepeda Mendoza – PLOS ONE

Built environment microbiology

Microbial diversity of extreme habitats in human homes – Amy M. Savage – PeerJ preprint

Growth of 48 built environment bacterial isolates on board the International Space Station (ISS) – David A. Coil – PeerJ

Food microbiology

Isolation and identification of biocellulose-producing bacterial strains from Malaysian acidic fruits – Wen Yi W. V – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Bioinformatics, techniques, and metagenomics

Strain-level microbial epidemiology and population genomics from shotgun metagenomics – Matthias Scholz – Nature Methods

Improving the microbial community reconstruction at the genus level by multiple 16S rRNA regions – Shengqin Wang – Journal of Theoretical Biology

A framework for inferring biological communities from environmental DNA – Andrew Olaf Shelton – Ecological Applications

Review: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the microbiological world: How to make the most of your money – Antony T. Vincent – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Metagenomics and viruses

A Next-Generation Sequencing Data Analysis Pipeline for Detecting Unknown Pathogens from Mixed Clinical Samples and Revealing Their Genetic Diversity – Yu-Nong Gong – PLOS ONE

Exploring the virome of cattle with non-suppurative encephalitis of unknown etiology by metagenomics – Daniel Wüthrich – Virology

The Intestinal Eukaryotic Virome in Healthy and Diarrhoeic Neonatal Piglets – Oskar E. Karlsson – PLOS ONE

Special issue of Current Opinion in Microbiology: Megaviromes
Review: Giant viruses come of age – Matthias G Fischer
Review: Giant viruses and the origin of modern eukaryotes – Patrick Forterre

To be or not to be alive: How recent discoveries challenge the traditional definitions of viruses and life – Patrick Forterre – Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

More microbiology

The mystery of plague in medieval Iceland – Chris Callow – Journal of Medieval History

Microbes in the news

HT: Tomer Altman: Poop Peeps: Today we’re going to make Poop Peeps. Marshmallow Peeps that are shaped like the poop emoji.– Matthew Cetta – Nomageddon

Elizabethkingia, the rare and deadly bacteria that’s sickening people in the Midwest, explained – Julia Belluz – Vox

Forest resilience; can microbes help combat climate change issues faster than genetic adaptations? – Armand Séguin

Controversial New Push to Tie Microbes to Alzheimer’s Disease. A journal article says herpes virus and Lyme disease bacteria are behind the mind-robbing illness, but not all researchers are convinced – Melinda Wenner Moyer – Scientific American

Bacteria Are Revolutionizing Biotech–Here’s Why We Need To Talk About It – Catherine Feuillet – Forbes

Contact Lenses Fill Your Eyes With Bacteria – Mandy Oaklander – Time

Killing Bacteria With Gold Nanodisks And Light – Jennifer Hicks – Forbes

Space gives bacteria room to grow – Dan Satherley – NewsHub

Uncovering bacterial role in platinum formation – University of Adelaide

Top Science Fair Projects Put Stream Data, Bacteria to Work – Dan Swanson – News Channel Nebraska

The Daily Startup: Startups Look to ‘New Frontier’ of Microbiomes to Fight Disease – Wall Street Journal

The Human Microbiome Handbook – Edited by Jason Tetro, Emma Allen-Vercoe

New Bioinformatic Approach Enables Strain-Level Microbial Profiling From Metagenomic Data – Genome Web

Ulcerative Colitis Improves in Multidonor Fecal Transplant Trial – Damian McNamara – MedScape

Blog posts by me:

New papers, March 22, 2016 – Elisabeth Bik – MicroBEnet

Extreme environments at home – Elisabeth Bik – MicroBEnet

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March 15, 2016

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Intrapartum antibiotics and newborn gut microbiota, the seminal fluid microbiome, and xenobiotic metabolism by gut microbes.

General microbiome

Review: The interplay between the microbiome and the adaptive immune response in cancer development – Edda Russo – Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology

Pregnancy and birth

Evaluation of the effects of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis on newborn intestinal microbiota using a sequencing approach targeted to multi hypervariable 16S rDNA regions – Irene Aloisio – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Human respiratory microbiome

Neonatal Gastrointestinal and Respiratory Microbiome in Cystic Fibrosis: Potential Interactions and Implications for Systemic Health – Juliette C. Madan – Clinical Therapeutics

Review: Host-microbiome interactions in acute and chronic respiratory infections – Steven Taylor – Cellular Microbiology

Human reproductive tract microbiome

Discovery of a Novel Seminal Fluid Microbiome and Influence of Estrogen Receptor Alpha Genetic Status – Angela B. Javurek – Scientific Reports

Human gut microbiome

Bloom and bust: intestinal microbiota dynamics in response to hospital exposures and Clostridium difficile colonization or infection – Caroline Vincent – Microbiome

Upper Versus Lower Gastrointestinal Delivery for Transplantation of Fecal Microbiota in Recurrent or Refractory Clostridium difficile Infection: A Collaborative Analysis of Individual Patient Data From 14 Studies – Luis Furuya-Kanamori – Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology

Similar depletion of protective Faecalibacterium prausnitzii in psoriasis and Inflammatory Bowel Disease, but not in Hidradenitis Suppurativa – Hester Eppinga – Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis

Review: The role of the gastrointestinal tract and microbiota on uremic toxins and chronic kidney disease development – David Briskey – Clinical and Experimental Nephrology

Review: The microbial pharmacists within us: a metagenomic view of xenobiotic metabolism – Peter Spanogiannopoulos – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Vertebrate hosts as islands: dynamics of selection, immigration, loss, persistence and potential function of bacteria on salamander skin – Andrew H. Loudon – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Altered carbon turnover processes and microbiomes in soils under long-term extremely high CO2 exposure – Felix Beulig – Nature Microbiology

Metagenomic and functional analyses of the consequences of reduction of bacterial diversity on soil functions and bioremediation in diesel-contaminated microcosms – Jaejoon Jun – Scientific Reports

Bacterial Community Succession in Pine-Wood Decomposition – Anna M. Kielak – Frontiers in Microbiology

Cave microbiome

MiSeq HV4 16S rRNA gene analysis of bacterial community composition among the cave sediments of Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot – Surajit De Mandal – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Water microbiome

Bacterial diversity and distribution in seven different estuarine sediments of Poyang Lake, China – Ping Sheng – Environmental Earth Sciences

Built environment microbiology

Detection of Balamuthia mandrillaris DNA in the storage case of contact lenses in Germany – Carsten Balczun – Parasitology Research

Viruses and phages

Characterization of Viral Communities of Biting Midges and Identification of Novel Thogotovirus Species and Rhabdovirus Genus – Sarah Temmam – MDPI Viruses

Metagenomic analysis demonstrates the diversity of the fecal virome in asymptomatic pigs in East Africa – Joshua O. Amimo – Archives of Virology

Bacteriophages to reduce gut carriage of antibiotic resistant uropathogens with low impact on microbiota composition – Matthieu Galtier – Environmental Microbiology

Review: Mutualistic viruses and the heteronomy of life – Thomas Pradeu – Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Microbial Ecology

Engineering microbial consortia for controllable outputs – Stephen R Lindemann – ISME Journal

Review: The Anthropocene: a conspicuous stratigraphical signal of anthropogenic changes in production and consumption across the biosphere – Mark Williams – Earth’s Future

Book, all chapters written by Thomas CG Bosch and David J Miller. Not free of plagiarism and self-citing: The Holobiont Imperative: Perspectives from Early Emerging Animals – Springer

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Illumina error profiles: resolving fine-scale variation in metagenomic sequencing data – Melanie Schirmer – BMC Bioinformatics

Microbes in the news

Bacterial biofilms in hospital water pipes may show pathogenic properties – Phys.org

Developed in Prince William, ISOThrive feeds human microbiome – Potomac Local

The first Truth is already not true: 3 Truths and a Lie About the Microbiome. Stick to the science if you want a healthy gut. – Megan Meyer – US News

The microbial death clock – Kai Kupferschmidt – Science
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March 14, 2016

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Happy Pi day! I’m currently in Europe, so today is just 14-3 here. But microbiomes are everywhere, so here we go with bacterial vaginosis in Africa, biofilms of streams and hospital shower hoses, and fungi in Chinese oil-shale mines.

Human vaginal microbiome

Can one size fit all? Approach to bacterial vaginosis in sub-Saharan Africa – Zenda Woodman – Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials

Human gut microbiome

Review: The diet-microbiota-metabolite axis regulates the host physiology – Takahiro Yamada – Journal of Biochemistry

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

No difference in the competitive ability of introduced and native Trifolium provenances when grown with soil biota from their introduced and native ranges – Natasha Shelby – AOB Plants

Water microbiome

Review: The ecology and biogeochemistry of stream biofilms – Tom J. Battin – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Built environment microbiome

Characterization of biofilms developing on hospital shower hoses and implications for nosocomial infections – Maria J. Soto-Giron – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Pollution and waste microbiology

Fungal diversity in major oil-shale mines in China – Shaoyan Jiang – Journal of Environmental Sciences

More microbiology

How pneumococci lose their capsule – Andrea Du Toit – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Airplane lavatories that clean themselves? It’s happening – Karla Cripps – CNN

Self-Cleaning Airplane Toilets Are A Crappy Idea – Martin Rivers – Forbes

Fighting back from bacterial meningitis – Paul Sisson – San Diego Union Tribune

Artists create living paintings from glow-in-the-dark bacteria – Geraldine Cremin – Mashable

Deadly disease outbreak in Wisconsin baffles public health officials – Keren Landman – STAT news

Wisconsin Bacterial Infection: A Case Of The Rare Elizabethkingia – Xbox360

Is fermented food a recipe for good gut health? – Philippa Roxby – BBC

Stanford chemists develop an ultra-sensitive test for cancers, HIV – Bjorn Carey – Stanford News

Fake drugs in Nigeria: Imprisonment of 2:1 microbiology graduate – National Mirror Online

How Does Salmonella Get on Pistachios? – Linda Larsen – Food Poisoning Bulletin

How Gut Bacteria Are Shaking Up Cancer Research – Makiko Kitamura – Bloomberg

Science, publishing, and career

About Kate Rubins, who worked in our lab: Napa astronaut prepares for space station journey: four-month mission aboard ISS- Howard Yune – Napa Valley Register

The Subtle Ways Gender Gaps Persist in Science – Paul Voosen – Chronicle

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March 13, 2016

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General microbiome

Review: Engineering Human Microbiota: Influencing Cellular and Community Dynamics for Therapeutic Applications – S. Woloszynek – International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology

Pregnancy and birth / Human vaginal microbiome

Review: The vaginal microbiota, host defense and reproductive physiology – Steven B Smith – The Journal of Physiology

Human gut microbiome

Review: Brain-Gut-Microbiota axis: Challenges for Translation in Psychiatry – John R. Kelly – Annals of Epidemiology

Editorial: The microbiome in celiac disease: Beyond diet-genetic interactions – Jose U. Scher – Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
Animal models

Age, introduction of solid feed and weaning are more important determinants of gut bacterial succession in piglets than breed and nursing mother as revealed by a reciprocal cross-fostering model – Gaorui Bian – Environmental Microbiology

Heat-treated high-fat diet modifies gut microbiota and metabolic markers in apoe−/− mice – Nittaya Marungruang – Nutrition & Metabolism

Animal microbiome

Characterization of pollen and bacterial community composition in brood provisions of a small carpenter bee – Quinn S. McFrederick – Molecular Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Cry1Ac Transgenic Sugarcane Does Not Affect the Diversity of Microbial Communities and Has No Significant Effect on Enzyme Activities in Rhizosphere Soil within One Crop Season – Dinggang Zhou – Frontiers in Plant Science

Succession of soil microbial communities and enzyme activities in artificial soils – Franziska Ditteric – Pedobiologia

Effect of copper and zinc on microbial tolerance to triclosan in two soil types – Gerty J. H. P. Gielen – Journal of Soils and Sediments

Microbial enzymes as an early warning management tool for monitoring mining site soils – Mohammad Wahsha – CATENA

Water and glacier microbiome

Bacterial communities potentially involved in iron-cycling in Baltic Sea and North Sea sediments revealed by pyrosequencing – Carolina Reyes – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

The Differing Biogeochemical and Microbial Signatures of Glaciers and Rock Glaciers – Timothy S. Fegel – Journal of Geophysical Research

Diuron tolerance and potential degradation by pelagic microbiomes in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon – Florent E. Angly – PeerJ

Infection microbiology

Whole genome sequencing identifies a novel species of the genus Capnocytophaga isolated from dog and cat bite wounds in humans – Salah Zangena – Scientific Reports

Viruses

RNA viruses as major contributors to Antarctic virioplankton – Jaclyn A Miranda – Environmental Microbiology

Review: Giant viruses of amoebas: an update – Sarah Aherfi – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial Ecology

Review: Dancing with the Stars: How Choreographed Bacterial Interactions Dictate Nososymbiocity and Give Rise to Keystone Pathogens, Accessory Pathogens, and Pathobionts – George Hajishengallis – Trends in Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

LSG: An External-Memory Tool to Compute String Graphs for Next-Generation Sequencing Data Assembly – Paola Bonizzoni – Journal of Computational Biology

Microbes in the news

Cool Citizen Microbiology Project in Spain With Great Engagement – David Coil – Microbenet

Podcast: The Bacteria Behind Your Favorite Blues, Bries, and More – Science Friday

Science, publishing and career

Scientists who tweet: 3 Fred Hutch researchers talk about getting #science out into the world, 140 characters at a time – Mary Engel – Fred Hutch

This Student Adds A Woman In Science To Wikipedia Every Time She’s Harassed Online – Kelly Oakes – BuzzFeed

Bik’s Picks

Neandertals’ large lower thorax may represent adaptation to high protein diet – Miki Ben-Dor – American Journal of Physical Anthropology

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March 11, 2016

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Posting from the airport – flying home to my folks for a week. I will try to keep you all updated, though! Fecal microbiota from dolphins (by another group!), microbes and Alzheimer’s, plastic-eating bacteria, and lead exposure.

Pregnancy and birth

State Scope of Practice Laws, Nurse-Midwifery Workforce, and Childbirth Procedures and Outcomes – Y. Tony Yang – Women’s Health Issues

Human oral microbiome

Characterization of a highly arginolytic Streptococcus species that potently antagonizes Streptococcus mutans – Xuelian Huang – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

The Microbiome of the Oral Mucosa in Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Nicolaas H. Fourie – Gut Microbes

Preliminary analysis of salivary microbiome and their potential roles in oral lichen planus
Kun Wang – Scientific Reports

Human respiratory microbiome

Review: The lung microbiome and exacerbations of COPD – Dy, Rajany – Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine

Human vaginal microbiome

Unique Insights in the Cervicovaginal Lactobacillus iners and L. crispatus Proteomes and Their Associations with Microbiota Dysbiosis – Hanneke Borgdorff – PLOS ONE

Human gut microbiome

The Microbiome, Intestinal Function, and Arginine Metabolism of Healthy Indian Women Are Different from Those of American and Jamaican Women – CC Kao – Journal of Nutrition

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Inhibits Multidrug-Resistant Gut Pathogens: Preliminary Report Performed in an Immunocompromised Host – Jarosław Biliński – Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis

The Intersection of TNF, IBD and the Microbiome – Yava L. Jones-Hall – Gut Microbes

Review: Bacterial species involved in the conversion of dietary flavonoids in the human gut – Annett Braune – Gut Microbes

Review: Formation of short chain fatty acids by the gut microbiota and their impact on human metabolism – Douglas J. Morrison – Gut Microbes

Microbiome models

Perinatal lead (Pb) exposure alters gut microbiota composition and results in sex-specific bodyweight increases in adult mice – Jianfeng Wu – Toxicological Sciences

Castration influences intestinal microflora and induces abdominal obesity in high-fat diet-fed mice – Naoki Harada – Scientific Reports

Animal microbiome

The bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) fecal microbiota – Matteo Soverini – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Bacterial associations reveal spatial population dynamics in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes – Moritz Buck – Scientific Reports

Resistance to antimicrobial agents among enterococci isolated from fecal samples of wild marine species in the southern coast of Brazil – Janira Prichula – Marine Pollution Bulletin

Targeting eukaryote mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene: Unbiased Characterization of Anopheles Mosquito Blood Meals by Targeted High-Throughput Sequencing – Kyle Logue – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Characterization of caecum and crop microbiota of Indian indigenous chicken targeting multiple hypervariable regions within 16s rRNA gene – S. Saxena – British Poultry Science

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Nitrogen-fixing bacterial communities in invasive legume nodules and associated soils are similar across introduced and native range populations in Australia – Christina Birnbaum – Journal of Biogeography

Abundance and Diversity of Bacterial, Archaeal, and Fungal Communities Along an Altitudinal Gradient in Alpine Forest Soils: What Are the Driving Factors? – José A. Siles – Microbial Ecology

Interactions between Bacteria And Aspen Defense Chemicals at the Phyllosphere – Herbivore Interface – Charles J. Mason – Journal of Chemical Ecology

Long-term effects of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene on microbial communities in dry soil – Yuan Ge – Environmental Science and Technology

Air and space station microbiome

Airborne Bacterial Diversity from the Low Atmosphere of Greater Mexico City – Jaime García-Mena – Environmental Microbiology

Characterization of Fungi Isolated from the Equipment Used in the International Space Station or Space Shuttle – Kazuo Satoh – Microbiology and Immunology

Water, waste, and pollution microbiology

A bacterium that degrades and assimilates poly(ethylene terephthalate) – Shosuke Yoshida – Science

The occurrence of PAHs and faecal sterols in Dublin Bay and their influence on sedimentary microbial communities – Brian T. Murphy – Marine Pollution Bulletin

Bacterial communities potentially involved in iron-cycling in Baltic Sea and North Sea sediments revealed by pyrosequencing – Carolina Reyes – Microbiology Ecology

Microbial Ecology

Phylogenetic organization of bacterial activity – Ember M Morrissey – The ISME Journal

Infection and microbiology

Editorial: Microbes and Alzheimer’s Disease – Ruth F. Itzhaki – Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease

Treatment of in vitro enterohemorrhagic E. coli infection using phage and probiotics – Cecilia Dini _ Journal of Applied Microbiology

Microbes in the news

These plastic-eating bacteria could help cut down on waste – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

Some bacteria think plastic is fantastic – Nicholas S. Wigginton – Science

Science: Newly Identified Bacteria Break Down Tough Plastic – Michelle Hampson – AAAS News

Scientists identify a virus and two bacteria that could be causing Alzheimer’s – Fiona MacDonald – Science Alert

Lead exposure changes gut microbiota, increases chance for obesity – Laurel Thomas Gnagey – University of Michigan

These newly discovered bacteria can help prevent cavities, and scientists want to put them in a pill – Peter Dockrill – Science Alert

Viral infections may affect respiratory microbiome of patients with CF – Healio

Emollient Treatment Improves Skin Microbiome in Atopic Dermatitis: Interview with Sophie Seite – Medical Research

Science, publishing, and career

The Frequency of “Brilliant” and “Genius” in Teaching Evaluations Predicts the Representation of Women and African Americans across Fields – Daniel Storage – PLOS ONE

Papers with simpler abstracts are cited more, study suggests – Dalmeet Singh Chawla – Retraction Watch
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March 10, 2016

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Signals within microbial communities, feeding the microbiome with milk, gut metagenomes of Japanese subjects, multiethnic cohorts, biogeography of viruses in the sea, and finding transcription start sites.

General human microbiome

Review: Signaling in Host-Associated Microbial Communities – Michael A. Fischbach and Julia A. Segre – Cell

Review: The microbiome systemic diseases connection – T.A. van der Meulen – Oral Diseases

Review: The human microbiota: novel targets for hospital-acquired infections and antibiotic resistance – Melinda M. Pettigrew – Annals of Epidemiology

Pregnancy and birth

The placental microbiome is altered among subjects with spontaneous preterm birth with and without chorioamnionitis – Amanda L. Prince – American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

It’s in the Milk: Feeding the Microbiome to Promote Infant Growth – Stavros Bashiardes – Cell Metabolism

The Microbiome in Necrotizing Enterocolitis: A Case Report in Twins and Minireview –
Suchitra K. Hourigan – Clinical Therapeutics

Comment: Gut microbiome and necrotising enterocolitis: time for intervention? –
Alessio Fasano – The Lancet

Human oral microbiome

Not sure if I agree with the goal of this paper: Natural Antimicrobials and Oral Microorganisms: A Systematic Review on Herbal Interventions for the Eradication of Multispecies Oral Biofilms – Lamprini Karygianni – Frontiers in Microbiology

Human urinary tract microbiome

The Urinary Microbiome Differs Significantly between Patients with Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome and Controls as Well as between Patients with Different Clinical Phenotypes – Daniel A Shoskes – Urology

Human gut microbiome

The gut microbiome of healthy Japanese and its microbial and functional uniqueness – Suguru Nishijima – DNA Research

Microbiome Heterogeneity Characterizing Intestinal Tissue and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Phenotype – Tyler, Andrea D. – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Perspective: Characterisation and therapeutic manipulation of the gut microbiome in inflammatory bowel disease – J. Schulberg – Internal Medicine Journal

FMT Happens: Regulating Fecal Microbiota Therapy in Canada; What You Need to Know – Shahad Salman – World Medical & Health Policy

Review: Characterization of the Gut Microbiome in Epidemiologic Studies: The Multiethnic Cohort Experience – Benjamin C. Fu – Annals of Epidemiology

Review: Antibiotics and the Human Gut Microbiome: Dysbioses and Accumulation of Resistances – M. P. Francino – Frontiers in Microbiology

Animal models

Ecological robustness of the gut microbiota in response to ingestion of transient food-borne microbes – Chenhong Zhang – ISME Journal

Review: Viruses in Rodent Colonies: Lessons Learned from Murine Noroviruses – Stephanie M. Karst – Annual Review of Virology

Animal microbiome

Study of the Aminoglycoside Subsistence Phenotype of Bacteria Residing in the Gut of Humans and Zoo Animals – Teresita de J. Bello González – Frontiers in Microbiology

Allows the consumption of toxic cabbage: SaxA-mediated isothiocyanate metabolism in phytopathogenic Pectobacteria – Cornelia U. Welte – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Comparison of Fecal Microbiota of Mongolian and Thoroughbred Horses by High-Throughput Sequencing of the V4 Region of the 16S rRNA Gen (sic) – Yiping Zhao – Asian Australian Journal of Animal Sciences

Potential bacterial core species associated with digital dermatitis in cattle herds identified by molecular profiling of interdigital skin samples – Martin W. Nielsen – Veterinary Microbiology

I really feel for horses who are sick of grass.  Abstract: Analysis of the large intestinal and faecal microbiota of horses with grass sickness using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis – D. Nölkes – Journal of Equine Veterinary Science

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Phyllosphere Fungal Communities Differentiate More Thoroughly than Bacterial Communities Along an Elevation Gradient – Corinne Vacher – Microbial Ecology

A compositional shift in the soil microbiome induced by tetracycline, sulfamonomethoxine and ciprofloxacin entering a plant-soil system – Hui Lin – Environmental Pollution

Water and extremophile microbiome

Long-term warming alters richness and composition of taxonomic and functional groups of arctic fungi – József Geml – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Review: Biogeography of Viruses in the Sea – Cheryl-Emiliane T. Chow – Annual Review of Virology

DGGE: Oil removal and effects of spilled oil on active microbial communities in close to salt‑saturation brines – Yannick Y. Corsellis – Extremophiles

Bioreactors and waste microbiology

Longitudinal Analysis of Microbiota in Microalga Nannochloropsis salina Cultures – Haifeng Geng – Microbial Ecology

Ecological patterns, diversity and core taxa of microbial communities in groundwater-fed rapid gravity filters – Arda Gülay – ISME Journal

Bacterial communities in different locations, seasons and segments of a dairy wastewater treatment system consisting of six segments – Kikue Hirota – Journal of Environmental Sciences

Food microbiology

Resistome diversity in cattle and the environment decreases during beef production – Noelle R Noyes – eLIFE

Inactivation of Salmonella on tainted foods: using blue light to disinfect cucumbers and processed meat products – J. Stephen Guffey – Food Science & Nutrition

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Review: Recovering complete and draft population genomes from metagenome datasets – Naseer Sangwan – Microbiome

Dissecting phylogenetic fuzzy weighting: theory and application in metacommunity phylogenetics – Leandro D. S. Duarte – Methods in Ecology and Evolution

Transcriptomics

A novel enrichment strategy reveals unprecedented number of novel transcription start sites at single base resolution in a model prokaryote and the gut microbiome – Laurence Ettwiller – BMC Genomics

Fungi

Perspective: The invisible dimension of fungal diversity – David Hibbett – Science

Microbes in the news

At Stanford: Center launched to explore, exploit human microbiome – Bruce Goldman – Stanford Medicine

Columbia Expands Its Microbiome Research – Christopher Williams – Columbia University Medical Center

UT professor develops technique to enhance desirable traits of plants, animals through microbiology – Maluly Martinez Benavides – The Daily Texan

5th World Summit “Gut Microbiota For Health”: Media Information on Top Issues Ready for Download

Gut bacteria make cabbage poison harmless – Radboud University

Scientists developed a robust method for analysis of intestinal bacteria – Science Codex

Nukadoko: rich in beneficial bacteria: Nukadoko is made by fermenting rice bran, a byproduct of milling brown rice, with lactic acid bacteria and yeast. – Natsuko Tamaki – The Japan News

A mouse’s house may ruin experiments. Environmental factors lie behind many irreproducible rodent experiments – Sara Reardon – Nature

Viral infections may affect respiratory microbiome of patients with CF – Healio

Science, publishing, and career

German Defense Minister to keep doctoral degree – plagiarism found on 44% – Debora Weber-Wulff – Copy, Shake, and Paste

Bik’s Picks

How long can you chew on goat meat? Impact of meat and Lower Palaeolithic food processing techniques on chewing in humans – Katherine D. Zink – Nature

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