Category Archives: Human gut

February 10, 2016

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Socioeconomic status and microbiota diversity, metagenome of a carnivorous plant, microbiota of homes of CF patients, and high-resolution phylogenetic microbial community profiling.

Events

ASM Microbe 2016, June 16-20, Boston MA. With opening keynote lecture by Bill Gates

SC2: Microbiome: Sorting out the hype from the hope – March 6-11 2016, San Francisco

Probiotics and Prebiotics – June 21-23, Budapest

Pregnancy and birth

Routine Use of Probiotics in Preterm Infants: Longitudinal Impact on the Microbiome and Metabolome – Abdulkadir B. – Neonatology

Human oral microbiome

Isolation of Propionibacterium acnes among the microbiota of primary endodontic infections with and without intraoral communication – Sadia Ambreen Niazi – Clinical Oral Investigations

Human gut microbiome

Deciphering bifidobacterial-mediated metabolic interactions and their impact on gut microbiota by a multi-omics approach – Francesca Turroni – The ISME Journal

Lower Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status Associated with Reduced Diversity of the Colonic Microbiota in Healthy Adults – Gregory E. Miller – PLOS ONE

The features of mucosa-associated microbiota in primary sclerosing cholangitis –
J. Torres – Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Review: Physiological Role of Gut Microbiota for Maintaining Human Health – Andoh A. – Digestion

Editorial: You Are What You Feed Your Gut Microbiome – Joseph E. Scherger – Health Affairs

Review: Gastroenvironmental distress: metaphorical antecedents of the gut microbiome – Nitin K Ahuja – Medical Humanities

Review: Fostering of advanced mutualism with gut microbiota by Immunoglobulin A – Duncan B. Sutherland – Immunological Reviews

Models of microbiome research

Drosophila: Preventing Age-Related Decline of Gut Compartmentalization Limits Microbiota Dysbiosis and Extends Lifespan – Hongjie Li – Cell Host & Microbe

Editorial: Microbes without Borders: Decompartmentalization of the Aging Gut – Erin S. Keebaugh – Cell Host & Microbe

Mice (and humans): Intestinal REG3 Lectins Protect against Alcoholic Steatohepatitis by Reducing Mucosa-Associated Microbiota and Preventing Bacterial Translocation – Lirui Wang – Cell Host & Microbe

Editorial: Alcohol Lowers Your (Intestinal) Inhibitions – Namrata Iyer – Cell Host & Microbe

Mice: Daikenchuto (TU-100) shapes gut microbiota architecture and increases the production of ginsenoside metabolite compound K – Takumu Hasebe – Pharmacology Research & Perspectives

Editorial: Microbiota Control of Malaria Transmission – Miguel P. Soares – Trends in Parasitology

Animal microbiome

Beetles: Trophic and Non-Trophic Interactions in a Biodiversity Experiment Assessed by Next-Generation Sequencing – Julia Tiede – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

The Metagenome of Utricularia gibba’s Traps: Into the Microbial Input to a Carnivorous Plant – Luis David Alcaraz – PLOS ONE

Enhancement of drought stress tolerance in crops by plant growth promoting rhizobacteria – Sai Shiva Krishna Prasad Vurukonda – Microbiological Research

Actinobacteria from Arid and Desert Habitats: Diversity and Biological Activity –
Fatemeh Mohammadipanah – Frontiers in Microbiology

Organic Fertilization in Traditional Mediterranean Grapevine Orchards Mediates Changes in Soil Microbial Community Structure and Enhances Soil Fertility – Fuensanta García-Orenes – Land Degradation & Development

Effects of plant functional group loss on soil biota and net ecosystem exchange: a plant removal experiment in the Mongolian grassland – Dima Chen – Journal of Ecology

Water microbiome

Plankton networks driving carbon export in the oligotrophic ocean – Lionel Guidi – Nature

Built environment microbiome

Assessment of the Microbial Constituents of the Home Environment of Individuals with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and Their Association with Lower Airways Infections – Alya Heirali – PLOS ONE

Metabolomics

Microbial metabolomics in open microscale platforms – Layla J. Barkal – Nature Communications

More microbiology

Open for discussion: Bacterial sequences detected in 99 out of 99 serum samples from Ebola patients – Marina Manrique – bioRxiv

Ethanol Production by Selected Intestinal Microorganisms and Lactic Acid Bacteria Growing under Different Nutritional Conditions – Fouad M. F. Elshaghabee – Frontiers in Microbiology

Rapid radiation in bacteria leads to a division of labour – Wook Kim – Nature Communications

Total biosynthesis of opiates by stepwise fermentation using engineered Escherichia coli – Akira Nakagawa – Nature Communications

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

PhyloTags: High-resolution phylogenetic microbial community profiling – Esther Singer – The ISME Journal

Analysis of five complete genome sequences for members of the class Peribacteria in the recently recognized Peregrinibacteria bacterial phylum – Karthik Anantharaman – PeerJ

Microbes in the news

The Good, the Bad and the Microbiome – Rachel Reisig – University of Minnesota

Unraveling the Mysterious Function of the Microbiome – by Mike Orcutt – MIT Technology Review

Wound-healing intestinal bacteria: Like shrubs after a forest fire
Akkermansia + other anaerobic bacteria temporarily bloom – EurekAlert

San Diego Scientists Find Data Brewing In Local Fermentation Culture – David Wagner – KPBS

Bacteria Have Ability to ‘See,’ Eye-Opening Study Finds – Maggie Fox – NBC News

A gut feeling about bacteria: Men are from Mars, women are from Venus – and their gut bacteria is just as different. – The Senior

How Your Gut Affects Your Bones. The surprising new science of how intestinal bacteria control bone strength – Rana Samadfam – Scientific American

Scientists Discover New Bacteria Responsible For Lyme Disease – David Beasly – Huffington Post

Overhyped: Sci-Q: The Science Of Love: The role of the microbiome in romantic attraction

Science, publishing, and career

Improving the peer-review process and editorial quality: key errors escaping the review and editorial process in top scientific journals – Antoni Margalida – PeerJ

Does it take too long to publish research? – Kendall Powell – Nature

The history of publishing delays – Daniel Himmelstein

The sexual misconduct case that has rocked anthropology – Michael Balter – Science
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February 9, 2016

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Human skin metagenome, gout patients, malaria and gut microbes, the secrets of the rhizosphere, and single-stranded DNA phages.

Events

2nd Annual Translational Microbiome Conference – April 20-21 2016, Boston MA

Pregnancy and birth

Longitudinal Prediction of the Infant Gut Microbiome with Dynamic Bayesian Networks – Michael J. McGeachie – Scientific Reports

Review: Gut microbiota and the pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm neonates – Nadim Cassir – Future Microbiology

Human skin microbiome

Resolving the Complexity of Human Skin Metagenomes Using Single-Molecule Sequencing – Yu-Chih Tsai – mBio

Human urinary tract microbiome

Male non-gonococcal urethritis: From microbiological etiologies to demographic and clinical features – Shin Ito – International Journal of Urology

Research highlight: Altered gut microbiota in CKD – Jessica K. Edwards – Nature Reviews Nephrology

Human respiratory microbiome

Review: Microbiome, biofilms, and pneumonia in the ICU – Massimiliano Pirrone – Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases

Human gut microbiome

Intestinal Microbiota Distinguish Gout Patients from Healthy Humans – Zhuang Guo – Scientific Reports

Effect of Proton Pump Inhibitors and Antibiotics on the Gut Microbiome of Hospitalised Older Persons – Caoilfhionn O’Donoghue – Journal of Infection

Editorial: A metabolic bridge between microbiota and humans – Kiyoshi Takeda – Nature Reviews Immunology

Review: The Gut Microbiome: Potential Innovations for the Understanding and Treatment of Psychopathology – Matilda E. Nowakowski – Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne

Review: Metabolic modeling with big data and the gut microbiome – Jaeyun Sung – Applied & Translational Genomics

Review: The influence of commensal bacteria on infection with enteric viruses – Stephanie M. Karst – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Review: One more role for the gut: microbiota and blood brain barrier – Laure Michel – Annals of Translational Medicine

Review: Expanding role of gut microbiota in lipid metabolism – Anatole Ghazalpour – Current Opinion in Lipidology

Models of microbiome research

Mice: Composition of the gut microbiota modulates the severity of malaria – Nicolas F. Villarino – PNAS

Mice: Lambda Interferon Restructures the Nasal Microbiome and Increases Susceptibility to Staphylococcus aureus Superinfection – Paul J. Planet – mBio

Dogs: Longitudinal evaluation of the skin microbiome and association with microenvironment and treatment in canine atopic dermatitis – Charles W. Bradley – Journal of Investigative Dermatology

Goats: The effect of helminth infection on the microbial composition and structure of the caprine abomasal microbiome – Robert W. Li – Scientific Reports

More goats: Grain-rich diets altered the colonic fermentation and mucosa-associated bacterial communities and induced mucosal injuries in goats – Huimin Ye – Scientific Reports

Rats: The Colonic Microbiome and Epithelial Transcriptome Are Altered in Rats Fed a High-Protein Diet Compared with a Normal-Protein Diet – Chunlong Mu – The Journal of Nutrition

Rats: Resistant Starch Alters Gut Microbiome and Metabolomics Profiles Concurrent with Amelioration of Chronic Kidney Disease in Rats – Dorothy A. Kieffer – American Journal of Physiology – Renal Physiology
http://ajprenal.physiology.org/content/early/2016/02/01/ajprenal.00513.2015.abstract

Drosophila: From pathogens to microbiota: how Drosophila intestinal stem cells react to gut microbes – Alessandro Bonfini – Developmental & Comparative Immunology

Animal microbiome

Host plant determines the population size of an obligate symbiont Buchnera aphidicola in aphids – Yuan-Chen Zhang – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Altered Carbohydrates Allocation by Associated Bacteria-fungi Interactions in a Bark Beetle-microbe Symbiosis – Fangyuan Zhou – Scientific Reports

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Soil amendments yield persisting effects on the microbial communities—a 7-year study – Catherine L. Reardon – Applied Soil Ecology

Microbial genetic and enzymatic responses to an anthropogenic phosphorus gradient within a subtropical peatland – Elise Morrison – Geoderma

Salinity altered root distribution and increased diversity of bacterial communities in the rhizosphere soil of Jerusalem artichoke – Hui Yan – Scientific Reports

Development of oligonucleotide microarrays for simultaneous multi-species identification of Phellinus tree-pathogenic fungi – Yuh Tzean – Microbial Biotechnology

Dilution reveals how viral lysis and grazing shape microbial communities – Jacob A. Cram – Limnology and Oceanography

Response of Soil Bacterial Community Structure to Land-use Conversion of Natural Forests in Maoershan National Forest Park, China – Fanjuan Meng – Molecular Soil Biology

Editorial: Unlocking the Secrets of the Rhizosphere – Susanne C. Brink – Trends in Plant Science

Spotlight: The soil-borne supremacy – Corné M.J. Pieterse – Trends in Plant Science

Water and pollution microbiome

Temporal and spatial changes of microbial community in an industrial effluent receiving area in Hangzhou Bay – Yan Zhang – Journal of Environmental Sciences

Built environment microbiome

Metagenomic Analysis Indicates Epsilonproteobacteria as a Potential Cause of Microbial Corrosion in Pipelines Injected with Bisulfite – Dongshan An – Frontiers in Microbiology

Viruses and phages

Viral metagenomics: are we missing the giants? – S Halary – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Single-Stranded DNA Phages: From Early Molecular Biology Tools to Recent Revolutions in Environmental Microbiology – Anna J. Székely – FEMS Microbiology Letters

Sequencing techniques

A comparison of rumen microbial profiles in dairy cows as retrieved by 454 Roche and Ion Torrent (PGM) sequencing platforms – Nagaraju Indugu – PeerJ

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Improved environmental genomes via integration of metagenomic and single-cell assemblies – Daniel R. Mende – Frontiers in Microbiology

PhyloPythiaS+: a self-training method for the rapid reconstruction of low-ranking taxonomic bins from metagenomes – Ivan Gregor- PeerJ

Estimating and comparing microbial diversity in the presence of sequencing errors – Chun-Huo Chiu – PeerJ

Metabolomics

Metabolic modeling with big data and the gut microbiome – Jaeyun Sung – Applied & Translational Genomics

More microbiology

Cyanobacteria use micro-optics to sense light direction – Nils Schuergers – eLIFE

Ultrasensitive Detection of Bacteria by Targeting Abundant Transcripts – Xinhui Wang – Scientific Reports

Microbes in the news

Pill measures gut gas – Swallowable tool may eventually help reveal digestive problems – Sarah Schwartz – Science News

Gut environment could reduce severity of malaria – EurekAlert

Great stockphoto: Hibernation Helpers: Gut microbes may help regulate the metabolic changes a bear experiences before and during hibernation, scientists show – Catherine Offord – The Scientist

The complex marketing of “probiotic” cosmetics – Éva Lagarde – Premium Beauty News

Plants trick bacteria into attacking too soon – Chris Samoray – Science News

Obstructive sleep apnea-induced hypertension linked to gut microbiome – Baylor College of Medicine

Includes Rob Knight. HT: Tomer Altman. Deepak Chopra Convenes 30+ of the World’s Preeminent Thought Leaders, Philosophers, Scientists, Musicians and Artists to Explore Consciousness at a 3-Day Symposium This Fall – PR Newswire

Researchers identify most dangerous strains of often-deadly bacteria – University of Maryland – EurekAlert

Science, publishing, and career

Harvard Medical School students decry lack of diversity – Melissa Baily – STATnews

I make an appearance here: Getting credit for peer review – Sandeep Ravindran – Science

Change the system to halt harassment – Joan Schmelz – Nature

Bik’s Picks

The peptidergic control circuit for sighing – Peng Li – Nature

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February 8, 2016

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Plasmid-mediated salt tolerance in the gut microbiota, Tuft cells and immunity, microbes of the Cerrado, impact of sequencing technique on microbiota analysis, and a new microbiome tool on the cloud.

Events

Introducing Nephele, NIAID’s new cloud-based microbiome analysis tool. Webinar on March 7. See also under Bioinformatics below.

Human oral microbiome

Research highlight: FISHing in the oral microbiota – Naomi Attar – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Intestinal microbiota in inflammatory bowel disease and carcinogenesis: Implication for therapeutics – Steven D. Bruner – Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Evidence for plasmid mediated salt tolerance in the human gut microbiome and potential mechanisms – Eileen Broaders – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Oral versus intravenous iron replacement therapy distinctly alters the gut microbiota and metabolome in patients with IBD – Thomas Lee – Gut

Review: Novel Strategies for Applied Metagenomics – Moore-Connors, Jessica M. – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Research highlight: ntestinal microbiota in inflammatory bowel disease and carcinogenesis: Implication for therapeutics – Steven D. Bruner – Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Models of microbiome research

Tuft cells, taste-chemosensory cells, orchestrate parasite type 2 immunity in the gut – Michael R. Howitt – Science

Effects of dietary resistant starch content on metabolic status, milk composition, and microbial profiling in lactating sows and on offspring performance – H. Yan – Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition

Beneficial Effects of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation on Ulcerative Colitis in Mice – Zhihui Tian – Digestive Diseases and Sciences

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Soil bacterial communities associated with natural and commercial Cyclopia spp. – Anneke Postma – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Diversity and functional traits of culturable microbiome members, including cyanobacteria in the rice phyllosphere – Siddarthan Venkatachalam – Plant Biology

Microbial Diversity in Cerrado Biome (Neotropical Savanna) Soils – Alinne Pereira de Castro – PLOS ONE

Dissipation and effects of tricyclazole on soil microbial communities and rice growth as affected by amendment with alperujo compost – M. García-Jaramillo – Science of The Total Environment

Opinion: Plant microbiota affects seed transmission of phytopathogenic micro-organisms – Matthieu Barret – Molecular Plant Pathology

Built environment microbiome

Indoor microbial communities: Influence on asthma severity in atopic and nonatopic children – Karen C. Dannemiller – The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Antibiotics in drinking water in Shanghai and its contribution to antibiotic exposure of school children – Hexing Wang – Environmental Science & Technology

Pollution and waste microbiology

Characterisation of biofilm and planktonic bacterial and fungal communities transforming high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – Benjamin D Folwell – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Shift in antibiotic resistance gene profiles associated with nanosilver during wastewater treatment – Yanjun Ma – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Evaluating the Metal Tolerance Capacity of Microbial Communities Isolated from Alberta Oil Sands Process Water – Mathew L. Frankel- PLOS ONE

Nutrient and metal pollution of the eastern Gulf of Finland coastline: Sediments, macroalgae, microbiota – Yulia Gubelit – Science of the Total Environment

Impacts of pristine and transformed Ag and Cu engineered nanomaterials on surficial sediment microbial communities appear short-lived – Joe D Moore – Environmental Science & Technology

Food microbiology

Diversity and Stability of Lactic Acid Bacteria in Rye Sourdoughs of Four Bakeries with Different Propagation Parameters – Ene Viiard – PLOS ONE

Techniques

Comparing Apples and Oranges?: Next Generation Sequencing and Its Impact on Microbiome Analysis – Adam G. Clooney – PLOS ONE

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket: a cost-effective and powerful method to optimize primer choice for rRNA environmental community analyses using the Fluidigm Access Array – Shawn P. Brown – Molecular Ecology Resources

Probiotics

Probiotic and Functional Characterization of Bifidobacteria of Indian Human Origin – Nancy Awasti – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Bioinformatics

Nephele, microbiome analysis without boundaries. NIAID’s new tool offering cloud-based storage, file transfer, and analysis.

Note: 16S is not the same as metagenomics: Vikodak – A Modular Framework for Inferring Functional Potential of Microbial Communities from 16S Metagenomic Datasets – Sunil Nagpal – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the news

Smart Science: Wolbachia Bacteria Might Stop Zika and Dengue Viruses – Judy Stone – Forbes

The science of treating depression during pregnancy – Josie Glausiusz – Quartz

GIANTmicrobes – When Teachers Throw Things – Anne Estes

Gut bacteria may influence alcoholics’ liver damage – Kathryn Doyle – Reuters
Scientists Seek Answers on Zika in Other Viruses – Carl Zimmer – New York Times

Bears’ Hibernation Linked To Unusual Changes In Their Gut Microbes – Samantha Mathewson – Nature World News

Bears hibernate ‘with bacterial help’ – Jonathan Webb – BBC News

The Tardigrade story a.k.a. Open Science Wins – Surya Saha – Storify

This Bacteria-Powered Microrobot Navigates via Electric Fields – Michael Byrne – Motherboard

Sainsbury’s Recall Camembert Cheese Products Over Food Poisoning Concerns – Natasha Hinde – The Huffington Post UK

EFSA update: Fully defining microbiota cause-and-effect: Yolanda Sanz provides update –
Will Chu – Nutraingredients

Satire: Trump Proposes Ban On All Microbiome Researchers “Until We Know What They Are Up To” “When I become president, we are going to make American poo great once again.” – The Allium

Bacteria Hysteria

What’s hiding in your handbag? Contact 6 tests purses for bacteria – Katrina Cravy – Fox

Bik’s Picks

Natural History Museums Are Teeming With Undiscovered Species – Ed Yong – The Atlantic

New species of tarantula found near Folsom Prison named for Johnny Cash – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

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February 6, 2016

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Your Saturday morning Microbiome Digest.

Jobs and events

Postdoctoral Associate, Chicago, Illinois – Shedd Aquarium Microbiome Project

Human urinary tract microbiome

The Bladder Is Not Sterile: History and Current Discoveries on the Urinary Microbiome – Krystal Thomas-White – Current Bladder Dysfunction Reports

Human gut microbiome

American Gut: Researchers Launch Open-Access Gut Project – Nancy Averett – BioScience

Animal microbiome

Faecal virome of red foxes from peri-urban areas – Ivana Lojkić – Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Closely coupled evolutionary history of ecto- and endosymbionts from two distantly-related animal phyla – Judith Zimmermann – Molecular Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Impact of soil heat on reassembly of bacterial communities in the rhizosphere microbiome and plant disease suppression – Menno van der Voort – Ecology Letters

Extracellular DNA extraction is a fast, cheap and reliable alternative for multi-taxa surveys based on soil DNA – Lucie Zinger – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Water and extremophile microbiome

Metagenomic Analysis Reveals Symbiotic Relationship among Bacteria in Microcystis-Dominated Community – Meili Xie – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metagenomic Analysis of Virioplankton of the Subtropical Jiulong River Estuary, China – Lanlan Cai – MDPI Viruses

Hydrocarbon pollutants shape bacterial community assembly of harbor sediments – Marta Barbato – Marine Pollution Bulletin

Thesis: The Impact of Temperature, pH and Environmental Heterogeneity on Prokaryotic
Diversity in Yellowstone National Park Thermal Springs – Xiaoben Jiang – The University of New Mexico

Drinking water and waste microbiome

Archaeal community in a human-disturbed watershed in southeast China: diversity, distribution, and responses to environmental changes – Anyi Hu – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Comparison of Particle-Associated Bacteria from a Drinking Water Treatment Plant and Distribution Reservoirs with Different Water Sources – G. Liu – Scientific Reports

Biostimulation of metal-resistant microbial consortium to remove zinc from contaminated environments – Isis E. Mejias Carpio – Science of the Total Environment

Review: Biological Stability of Drinking Water: Controlling Factors, Methods, and Challenges – Emmanuelle I. Prest – Frontiers in Microbiology

Built environment microbiome / microbes in space

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

The Last Possible Outposts for Life on Mars – Davila Alfonso F. – Astrobiology

Metagenomic analysis and functional characterization of the biogas microbiome using high throughput shotgun sequencing and a novel binning strategy – Stefano Campanaro – Biotechnology for Biofuels

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

TruSPAdes: barcode assembly of TruSeq synthetic long reads – Anton Bankevich – Nature Methods

Identifying contamination with advanced visualization and analysis practices: metagenomic approaches for eukaryotic genome assemblies – Tom O. Delmont – PeerJ

Thesis: A Case Study Tested Framework for Multivariate Analyses of Microbiomes: Software for Microbial Community Comparisons – Eric M. Spaulding – University of Montana – Missoula
Metabolomics

Twin metabolomics: The key to unlocking complex phenotypes in nutrition research – Rebecca Barron – Nutrition Research

Increasing metagenomic resolution of microbiome interactions through functional phylogenomics and bacterial sub-communities – Angélica Cibrián-Jaramillo – Frontiers in Genetics

Microbes in the news

Buffalo Wild Wings Hit By Norovirus Investigation Before Super Bowl Binge – Venessa Wong – BuzzFeed

Explainer: what is the gut microbiota and how does it affect mind and body? – Senaka Ranadheera – The Conversation

Not all statements are true: Microbial miracle workers – Jay Keche – Indiana Daily Student

Science, publishing, and career

Gaming Metrics conference (Feb 4-5, UC Davis) about science misconduct, fake journals, and citation games – Storify Day 1 by Jonathan Eisen
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February 5, 2016

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Just a quick new Digest in the lunch break at the #GamingMetrics conference at UC Davis. Here is a Storify from Day 1 (yesterday) by Jonathan Eisen – more to follow soon.

Pregnancy and birth

Microbial transmission from mothers with obesity or diabetes to infants: an innovative opportunity to interrupt a vicious cycle – Taylor K. Soderborg – Diabetologia

Human urinary tract microbiome

16S rRNA gene-based metagenomic analysis reveals differences in bacteria-derived extracellular vesicles in the urine of pregnant and non-pregnant women – Jae Young Yoo – Experimental & Molecular Medicine

Human gut microbiome

Fungal microbiota dysbiosis in IBD – Harry Sokol – Gut

Animal models of microbiome research

Oxygen Affects Gut Bacterial Colonization and Metabolic Activities in a Gnotobiotic Cockroach Model – Dorothee Tegtmeier – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Deterministic Assembly of Complex Bacterial Communities in Guts of Germ-Free Cockroaches – Aram Mikaelyan – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Associations of microbiota and toll-like receptor signaling pathway in esophageal adenocarcinoma – Ali H. Zaidi – BMC Cancer

Comparison of fecal microbiota between German Holstein dairy cows with and without left-sided displacement of the abomasum – Eun-Sik Song – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Animal microbiome

The Gut Microbiota Modulates Energy Metabolism in the Hibernating Brown Bear Ursus arctos – Felix Sommer – Cell Reports

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Microbial Diversity in Soil, Sand Dune and Rock Substrates of the Thar Monsoon Desert, India – Subramanya Rao – Indian Journal of Microbiology

Microbial communities play important roles in modulating paddy soil fertility
Xuesong Luo – Scientific Reports

Diversity of archaeal and bacterial communities on exfoliated sandstone from Portchester Castle (UK) – Elisabetta Zanardini – International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation

Distance from the sea as a driving force of microbial communities under water potential stresses in litters of two typical Mediterranean plant species – Anne Marie Farnet Da Silva – Geoderma

Opinion: Back to the future of soil metagenomics – Joseph Nesme – Frontiers in Microbiology

Waste and water treatment

Occurrence and enrichment of ‘bacterial sherpas’: climb to sustainability in wastewater treatment – M. Arnaldos – Water Science & Technology

Metagenomics

Comprehensive Genomic Analyses of the OM43 Clade, Including a Novel Species from the Red Sea, Indicate Ecotype Differentiation among Marine Methylotrophs – Francy Jimenez-Infante – Applied and Environmental Micro

Microbial Ecology

Model-based media selection to minimize the cost of metabolic cooperation in microbial eco-systems – Mattia Zampieri – Bioinformatics

Microbes in the news

Savvy bacteria parents distribute damage unevenly among their children – Cara Giaimo – Atlas Obscura

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February 4, 2016

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A late digest today – Meetings and lab work kept me busy all day! Review about gut microbiota and malnutrition, Helicobacter infection affects local microbiome, salinity tolerance in corals, rhizosphere reviews, microbial mats in Shark Bay, and missing CRISPR regions in major bacterial lineages.

Jobs

Assistant, Associate or Senior Editor (Microbiology and Infectious Disease), Nature Communications, London, New York or Shanghai

Bioinformatics Scientist, Microbiome – Synthetic Genomics, Inc. – La Jolla CA

Pregnancy and birth
Routine Amoxicillin for Uncomplicated Severe Acute Malnutrition in Children – Sheila Isanaka – New England Journal of Medicine

Review: The case in favour of probiotics before, during and after pregnancy: insights from the first 1,500 days – G. Reid – Beneficial Microbes

Review: Development of the Neonatal Intestinal Microbiome and Its Association With Necrotizing Enterocolitis – Timothy G. Elgin – Clinical Therapeutics

Human oral microbiome

Interesting choice of  journal: Periodontitis induced by Porphyromonas gingivalis drives periodontal microbiota dysbiosis and insulin resistance via an impaired adaptive immune response – Vincent Blasco-Baque

Non-oral gram-negative facultative rods in chronic periodontitis microbiota – Arie J. van Winkelhoff – Microbial Pathogenesis

Microbial profiles at baseline and not the use of antibiotics determine the clinical outcome of the treatment of chronic periodontitis – S. Bizzarro – Scientific Reports

Human respiratory microbiome

Effect of Advanced HIV Infection on the Respiratory Microbiome – Homer L Twigg III – American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

Human gut microbiome

The emerging view of Firmicutes as key fibre degraders in the human gut – David Berry – Environmental Microbiology

Review: Gut Microbiota and Malnutrition – Matthieu Million – Microbial Pathogenesis

Review: Diet, Microbiota, And Dysbiosis: A ‘Recipe’ For Colorectal Cancer – Kishore Vipperla – Food & Function

Review: Microbiota, Immunity and the Liver – T. Vaikunthanathan – Immunology Letters

Animal and other models of microbiome research

Alterations of the Ileal and Colonic Mucosal Microbiota in Canine Chronic Enteropathies – Eric Cassmann – PLOS ONE

In a Neonatal Piglet Model of Intestinal Failure, Administration of Antibiotics and Lack of Enteral Nutrition Have a Greater Impact on Intestinal Microflora Than Surgical Resection Alone – Crystal L. Levesque – Journal of Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition

Development of the Chick Microbiome: How Early Exposure Influences Future Microbial Diversity – Anne L. Ballou – Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Gastric Helicobacter pylori Infection Affects Local and Distant Microbial Populations and Host Responses – Sabine Kienesberger – Cell Reports

Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Exploits Inflammation to Modify Swine Intestinal Microbiota – Rosanna Drumo – Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Changes in intestinal microflora of Caenorhabditis elegans following Bacillus nematocida B16 infection – Qiuhong Niu – Scientific Reports

Chitosan lowers body weight through intestinal microbiota and reduces IL-17 expression via mTOR signalling – Dingfu Xiao – Journal of Functional Foods

The effect of agave fructan products on the activity and composition of the microbiota determined in a dynamic in vitro model of the human proximal large intestine – Marjorie E. Koenen – Journal of Functional Foods

Animal microbiome

Long-term salinity tolerance is accompanied by major restructuring of the coral bacterial microbiome – Till Röthig – Molecular Ecology

High-throughput sequencing reveals the core gut microbiome of Bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) in different wintering areas in Tibet – Wen Wang – Microbiology Open

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Spatial Distribution of Fungal Communities in an Arable Soil – Julia Moll – PLOS ONE

Soil Nitrogen Status Modifies Rice Root Response to Nematode-Bacteria Interactions in the Rhizosphere – Yanhong Cheng – PLOS ONE

Natural genetic variation in Arabidopsis for responsiveness to plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria – Paul C. A. Wintermans – Plant Molecular Biology

Metagenomic analysis of microbial consortia enriched from compost: new insights into the role of Actinobacteria in lignocellulose decomposition – Cheng Wang – Biotechnology for Biofuels

Microbial Profiling of a Suppressiveness-Induced Agricultural Soil Amended with Composted Almond Shells – Carmen Vida – Frontiers in Microbiology

Editorial: How does the tree root microbiome assemble? Influence of ectomycorrhizal species on Pinus sylvestris root bacterial communities – Aurélie Deveau – Environmental Microbiology

Lots of reviews on the plant rhizosphere in Trends in Plant Science: 

Review: Impact of Bacterial–Fungal Interactions on the Colonization of the Endosphere – Leonard S. van Overbeek – Trends in Plant Science

Review: Signaling in the Rhizosphere – Vittorio Venturi – Trends in Plant Science

Review: Root–Root Interactions: Towards A Rhizosphere Framework – Liesje Mommer – Trends in Plant Science

Review: Metabolomics in the Rhizosphere: Tapping into Belowground Chemical Communication – Nicole M. van Dam – Trends in Plant Science

Opinion: Mannitol in Plants, Fungi, and Plant–Fungal Interactions
Takshay K. Patel – Trends in Plant Science

Water and extremophile microbiome

Evolution of Chemical Characteristics of Technosols in an Afforested Coal Mine Dump over a 20-year Period – Ivana M. Rivas-Pérez – Land Degradation and Development

Microbial mats: New multi-scale perspectives on the stromatolites of Shark Bay, Western Australia – E. P. Suosaari – Scientific Reports

Spatial isolation and environmental factors drive distinct bacterial and archaeal communities in different types of petroleum reservoirs in China – Peike Gao – Scientific Reports

Salinity is the major factor influencing the sediment bacterial communities in a Mediterranean lagoonal complex (Amvrakikos Gulf, Ionian Sea) – Christina Pavloudi – Marine Genomics

Microbial diversity in European alpine permafrost and active layers – Beat Frey – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Nutrient and metal pollution of the eastern Gulf of Finland coastline: Sediments, macroalgae, microbiota – Yulia Gubelit – Science of the Total Environment

Food microbiology

Unraveling the Enzymatic Basis of Wine “Flavorome”: A Phylo-Functional Study of Wine Related Yeast Species – Ignacio Belda – Frontiers in Microbiology

Developmental Peculiarities and Seed-Borne Endophytes in Quinoa: Omnipresent, Robust Bacilli Contribute to Plant Fitness – Andrea Pitzschke – Frontiers in Microbiology

Viruses, phages, and CRISPRs

Major bacterial lineages are essentially devoid of CRISPR-Cas viral defence systems – David Burstein – Nature Communications

High-Throughput Isolation of Giant Viruses in Liquid Medium Using Automated Flow Cytometry and Fluorescence Staining – Jacques Y. B. Khalil – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Self-synthesizing transposons: unexpected key players in the evolution of viruses and defense systems – Mart Krupovic – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Techniques

Assessing the impact of long term frozen storage of faecal samples on protein concentration and protease activity – Laura S. Morris – Journal of Microbiological Methods

More microbiology

Elie Metchnikoff, the Man and the Myth – Gordon S. – Journal of Innate Immunology

Microbes in the news

What Your Low-Fiber Diet Does to Your Health – Mandy Oaklander – Time

Your beard doesn’t contain poop, but it could help develop new antibiotics – Sarah Kaplan – The Washington Post

Modern microbial ecosystems provide window to early life on Earth. UM Rosenstiel School-led team reveals new details on modern-day stromatolites – Science Daily

Two Santa Clara University Students Confirmed with Meningitis – ABC7

USDA Imposes Stricter Limit On Salmonella Bacteria In Poultry Products – NPR Morning Edition

Young scientists present intriguing and surprising research – Kristen Browning-Blas – Colorado State University

Meet the CEO of Europe’s Leading Microbiome Biotech, Pierre Belichard of Enterome – Labiotech

Podcast: As Arctic Permafrost Thaws, Microbes Kick Into Action – with Janet Jansson – Science Friday

Podcast: Bear Gut Microbes Help Prep Hibernation – Karen Hopkin – Scientific American

Podcast: The Good Side of Viruses – Medical Discovery News
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February 3, 2016

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Microbiome and risk for chemotherapy-induced colitis, fungal communities in boreal forest, and our new paper on marine mammal microbiotas!

Jobs and events

Postdoc in Metagenomics and Microbial Ecology – Linné Universitetet Kalmar, Sweden

General microbiome

Collection: The Human Microbiome – Cell Host & Microbe

Human gut microbiome

Intestinal microbiome analyses identify melanoma patients at risk for checkpoint-blockade-induced colitis – Krista Dubin – Nature Communications

Animal microbiome

My latest paper: Marine mammals harbor unique microbiotas shaped by and yet distinct from the sea – Elisabeth M. Bik – Nature Communications

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Experimental warming alters potential function of the fungal community in boreal forest – Kathleen K. Treseder – Global Change Biology

Microbes in the news

Stanford Researchers Uncover New Bacterial Diversity Inside U.S. Navy Dolphins – Steve Fyffe – Stanford CISAC

What makes Listeria deadly – Nature

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria thriving in Galway’s sewers – Thérèse Hannon – Connacht Tribune

Plush pandemic: Colossal microbes taking over the world. Interview with Drew Oliver, creator of Giant Microbes – Andrew Jermy

Altru microbiologists discover bacteria, name it ‘altruii’ – Jennifer Johnson – Grand Forks Herald

Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria May Have Met Their Match – Sheila Foran – University of Connecticut

Fil-Am microbiology student receives scholar award at the 28th CSU Biotechnology Symposium – Asian Journal

Qiagen NV: New agreements underscore QIAGEN’s leadership in bioinformatics – The Wall Street Transcript

Science, publishing, and career

Reproducibility: A tragedy of errors – David B. Allison – Nature

Want to correct the scientific literature? Good luck – Alison McCook – Retraction Watch

Counselling: Knowledge is power: finding a mentor outside the lab – Paul Smaglik – Nature

Chicago Professor Resigns Amid Sexual Misconduct Investigation – Amy Harmon – New York Times

Bik’s Picks

The Weird Thing About Cat Legs – Ed Yong – The Atlantic

Doctors Rank Hazardous and Healthy Hospital Food Environments – Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
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February 2, 2016, second edition

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Updated status of the microbial census, bacteria in the nasopharynx, deodorant and armpit microbiome, lichen microbiome, fungi on decomposing forest materials, and metagenomics cover the amplicon gaps. So many papers I had to do a second installment today!

Events and jobs

Microbiology and bioinformatics positions at Whole Biome in San Francisco. Wearing hoodies encouraged.

General microbiome

The status of the microbial census: an update – Patrick D Schloss – BioRxiv

Getting the hologenome concept right: An eco-evolutionary framework for hosts and their microbiomes – Kevin R Theis – BioRxiv

Human oral microbiome

Interactions between Streptococcus oralis, Actinomyces oris, and Candida albicans in the development of multispecies oral microbial biofilms on salivary pellicle – Indira M.G. Cavalcanti – Molecular Oral Microbiology

Human respiratory microbiome

Unraveling the Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Nasopharyngeal Bacterial Community Structure – Wouter A. A. de Steenhuijsen Piters – mBio 

Human skin microbiome

The effect of habitual and experimental antiperspirant and deodorant product use on the armpit microbiome – Julie Urban – PeerJ

Skin microbiome surveys are strongly influenced by experimental design – Jacquelyn S. Meisel – Journal of Investigative Dermatology

Unique features of a global human ectoparasite identified through sequencing of the bed bug genome – Joshua B. Benoit – Nature Communications

Human vaginal microbiome

Hormonal Contraceptive Effects on the Vaginal Milieu: Microbiota and Immunity – Jessica Tarleton – Current Obstetrics and Gynecology Reports

Human gut microbiome

Sex differences in the gut microbiome–brain axis across the lifespan – Eldin Jašarević – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B

Very poor English and presentation, does not look peer reviewed: Preliminary analysis showed country-specific gut resistome based on 1267 feces samples – Zhenyu Yang – Gene

Confusing study design and interpretations: Gut Microbiota Linked to Sexual Preference and HIV Infection – Marc Noguera-Julian – EBioMedicine

Sequence-based methods for detecting and evaluating the human gut mycobiome – M.J. Suhr – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Review: Microbiota and arthritis: correlations or cause? – Bravo-Blas, Alberto – Current Opinion in Rheumatology

Perspective: Gut microbiota in 2015: Prevotella in the gut: choose carefully – Ruth E. Ley – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Editorial: PPIs alter gut microbiota composition – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Review: Samples and techniques highlighting the links between obesity and microbiota –
Emmanouil Angelakis – Microbial Pathogenesis

Animal models of microbiome

Bidirectional interactions between indomethacin and the murine intestinal microbiota – Xue Liang – eLife

 

Mixed feelings about this study that killed turtles to look at effect of probiotics on their shells: Dietary Probiotics Affect Gastrointestinal Microbiota, Histological Structure and Shell Mineralization in Turtles – Mateusz Rawski – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

The Role of the Microbial Environment in Drosophila Post-Embryonic Development –
Maura Strigini – Developmental & Comparative Immunology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Review about lichen bacterial microbiome: Understanding microbial multi-species symbioses – Ines A. Aschenbrenner – Frontiers in Microbiology

Dead fungal mycelium in forest soil represents a decomposition hotspot and a habitat for a specific microbial community – Vendula Brabcová – New Phytologist

Litter decomposition, residue chemistry and microbial community structure under two subtropical forest plantations: A reciprocal litter transplant study –
Zongming He – Applied Soil Ecology

Disentangling nematode-bacteria interactions using a modular soil model system and biochemical markers – Michael Ackermann – Nematology

Using native trees and cacti to improve soil potential nitrogen fixation during long-term restoration of arid lands – Nguyen E. Lopez-Lozano – Plant and Soil

Warming and nitrogen deposition are interactive in shaping surface soil microbial communities near the alpine timberline zone on the eastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, southwestern China – Qinli Xiong – Applied Soil Ecology

Short-term effects of mechanical drainage on fungal and bacterial community structure in a managed grassland soil – B.J. Fay – Applied Soil Ecology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Microbial Communities in Methane- and Short Chain Alkane-Rich Hydrothermal Sediments of Guaymas Basin – Frederick Dowell – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioreactor and crude oil microbiology

Illumina MiSeq sequencing reveals the key microorganisms involved in partial nitritation followed by simultaneous sludge fermentation, denitrification and anammox process – Bo Wang – Bioresource Technology

Microbial communities of light crude from Nigeria and potential for in situ biodegradation, souring, and corrosion – Okoro Chuma Conlette – Petroleum Science and Technology

Built environment microbiome

Rhinitis, Ocular, Throat and Dermal Symptoms, Headache and Tiredness among Students in Schools from Johor Bahru, Malaysia: Associations with Fungal DNA and Mycotoxins in Classroom Dust – Dan Norbäck – PLOS ONE

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Metagenomics uncovers gaps in amplicon-based detection of microbial diversity – Emiley A. Eloe-Fadrosh – Nature Microbiology

Development of an Analysis Pipeline Characterizing Multiple Hypervariable Regions of 16S rRNA Using Mock Samples – Jennifer J. Barb – PLOS ONE

Optimization of alignment-based methods for taxonomic binning of metagenomics reads – Magali Jaillard – Bioinformatics

Sequence element enrichment analysis to determine the genetic basis of bacterial phenotypes – John A Lees – BioRxiv

Proteomics

Review: Recent development of mass spectrometry and proteomics applications in identification and typing of bacteria – Keding Cheng – Proteomics – Clinical Applications

Microbes in the news

Study shows maternal diet alters the breast milk microbiome and microbial gene content – EurekAlert

Deodorant And Antiperspirant Alter The Skin Microbiome, But Researchers Can’t Be Sure Of Long-Term Effects – Stephanie Castillo – Medical Daily

Beard bacteria could lead to new antibiotics – Matthew Stock – Reuters

Science, publishing, and career

“Those who can, publish. Those who can’t, blog.” Jingmai O’Connor – Current Biology

Chill out about Jingmai O’Connor’s criticism of bloggers – Jeremy Fox – Dynamic Ecology

Paul Knoepfler: Stem cell scientist finds his ‘niche’ in blogging – Karen Weintraub – STAT News

How to (not) write a microbiome grant, part I

How to (not) write a microbiome grant, part II. A deeper dive on preliminary data – David Baltrus – My Chrobial Romance

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February 1, 2016

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Vaginal microbiota transplant, temporal sampling of lung microbiota, skin microbiota of a cute frog, extreme CO2 exposure in soil, and microbial mats.

General human microbiome

Human Microbiota of the Argentine Population- A Pilot Study – Belén Carbonetto – Frontiers in Microbiology

Now officially published: Are We Really Vastly Outnumbered? Revisiting the Ratio of Bacterial to Host Cells in Humans – Ron Sender – Cell

Pregnancy and birth

Partial restoration of the microbiota of cesarean-born infants via vaginal microbial transfer – Maria G Dominguez-Bello – Nature Medicine

Chiba study of Mother and Children’s Health (C-MACH): cohort study with omics analyses – Kenichi Sakurai – BMJ Open

Human respiratory microbiome

Prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage among pre-clinical and clinical medical students in a Tanzanian University
Benard Okamo – BMC Research Notes

A case report demonstrating the utility of next generation sequencing in analyzing serial samples from the lung following an infection with influenza A (H7N9) virus –
Yongfeng Hu – Journal of Clinical Virology

Human gut microbiome

Genomic analysis of the human gut microbiome suggests novel enzymes involved in quinone biosynthesis – Dmitry A. Ravcheev – Frontiers in Microbiology

Animal models of microbiome research

Research Highlight: Transgenerational missing taxa – Naomi Attar – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Ingestion of Milk Containing Very Low Concentration of Antimicrobials: Longitudinal Effect on Fecal Microbiota Composition in Preweaned Calves – Richard Van Vleck Pereira – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Molecular evidence of vector-borne pathogens in dogs and cats and their ectoparasites in Algiers, Algeria – Amina Bessas – Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Manatees: Antifungal Resistance and Virulence Among Candida spp. from Captive Amazonian manatees and West Indian Manatees: Potential Impacts on Animal and Environmental Health – José Júlio Costa Sidrim – EcoHealth

Very cute frog: Assessing Antibacterial Potential of Components of Phyllomedusa distincta Skin and its Associated Dermal Microbiota – Ananda Brito de Assis – Journal of Chemical Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

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

Precipitation regime drives warming responses of microbial biomass and activity in temperate steppe soils – Weixing Liu- Biology and Fertility of Soils

The diversity of iron reducing bacteria communities in subtropical paddy soils of China – Qi-an Peng – Applied Soil Ecology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Editorial: Systems biology and ecology of microbial mat communities – Martin G. Klotz – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioreactor microbiology

Microbial communities from 20 different hydrogen-producing reactors studied by 454 pyrosequencing – Claudia Etchebehere – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Impact of Organic Carbon Electron Donors on Microbial Community Development under Iron- and Sulfate-Reducing Conditions – Man Jae Kwon – PLOS ONE

Performance and microbial community variations in thermophilic anaerobic digesters treating OTC medicated cow manure under different operational conditions – Çağrı Akyol – Bioresource Technology

More microbiology

Acanthamoeba and mimivirus interactions: the role of amoebal encystment and the expansion of the ‘Cheshire Cat’ theory – Ludmila Karen dos Santos Silva – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Gene flow in microbial communities could explain unexpected patterns of synonymous variation in the Escherichia coli core genome – Rohan Maddamsetti – Mobile Genetic Elements

Microbes in the news

The Bacterium Disappearing From Our Stomachs – H. pylori is losing its foothold – Chau Tu – Science Friday

The Mycobiome: The largely overlooked resident fungal community plays a critical role in human health and disease – Mahmoud Ghannoum – The Scientist

Opportunities for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Studying Microbiomes – Paul S Weiss – ACS Nano

“Seeding” The Newborn’s Microbiome – Can We Do It? Should We Be Doing It? – Anne M. Estes – Science & Sensibility

Icy Worlds and their Analog Sites.Fieldwork on Earth provides insight into life’s potential on icy bodies – Keith Cooper – NASA Astrobiology

Bilingual Exhibition Explores the Human Microbiome – Alexandra Mendoza – La Prensa San Diego

Stalin May Have Studied Mao’s Poop in a Secret Lab – Erin Blakemore – Smithsonian

Mapping the Mouth Microbiome – GenEngNews

CosmosID raises $6M to advance microbiome bioinformatics offering – Nick Paul Taylor – Fierce BiotechIt

Science, publishing, and career

The Scientific 23 with Ed Yong: “Science takes us… to the entire natural world, to space, to molecules – things related to humans but not about us.”

How quality control could save your science. It may not be sexy, but quality assurance is becoming a crucial part of lab life – Monya Baker – Nature
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January 29, 2016

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Prescription drugs and microbiome analyses, antimicrobial targets in sarcoidosis granulomas, host-microbiota interactions in antibiotic-associated diseases, and iridescence in self-organizing biofilms.

General microbiome

Perspective: Prescription drugs obscure microbiome analyses – Suzanne Devkota – Science

Review: The role of microbiota in cancer therapy – Ernesto Perez-Chanona – Current Opinion in Immunology

Human respiratory microbiome

COPD and the microbiome – Manoj J. Mammen – Respirology

Molecular Analysis of Sarcoidosis Granulomas Reveals Antimicrobial Targets – Joseph E Rotsinger – American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology

Human skin microbiome

Review: The microbiome and atopic eczema: More than skin deep – Charlotte L Thomas – Australasian Journal of Dermatology

Human gut microbiome

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

Effects of enteral polymeric diet on gut microbiota in children with Crohn’s disease – Chloé Guinet-Charpentier – Gut

Review: Effect of antibiotics on gut microbiota, glucose metabolism and bodyweight regulation – a review of the literature – Kristian Hallundbæk Mikkelsen – Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism

Animal models

Effects of dispersal limitation in the face of intense selection via dietary intervention on the faecal microbiota of rats – Heli J. Barron Pastor – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Fecal dysbiosis in miniature dachshunds with inflammatory colorectal polyps –
Hirotaka Igarashi – Research in Veterinary Science

Dietary antigens limit mucosal immunity by inducing regulatory T cells in the small intestine – Kwang Soon Kim – Science

Translocation of microbes and changes of immunocytes in the gut of rapid- and slow-progressor Chinese rhesus macaques infected with SIVmac239 – Lin-Tao Zhang – Immunology

From the Sonnenburg lab: Host-Microbiota Interactions in the Pathogenesis of Antibiotic-Associated Diseases – Joshua S. Lichtman – Cell Reports

Effect of Antimicrobial Consumption and Production Type on Antibacterial Resistance in the Bovine Respiratory and Digestive Tract – Boudewijn Catry – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Symbiotic Bacteria in Gills and Guts of Chinese Mitten Crab (Eriocheir sinensis) Differ from the Free-Living Bacteria in Water – Meiling Zhang – PLOS ONE

Earthworm: Isolation, identification, and characterization of gut microflora of Perionyx excavatus collected from Midnapore, West Bengal – Tanushree Tulsian Samanta – Journal of Basic Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Genomic reconstruction of a novel, deeply branched sediment archaeal phylum with pathways for acetogenesis and sulfur reduction – Kiley W Seitz – The ISME Journal

Not a good paper (poor figures and language problems – see my comments on PubPeer), about carnivorous plant: Microbiome and Biocatalytic Bacteria in Monkey Cup (Nepenthes Pitcher) Digestive Fluid – Xin-Yue Chan – Scientific Reports

Microbial diversity drives multifunctionality in terrestrial ecosystems – Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo – Nature Communications

Various fungal communities colonise the functional wood tissues of old grapevines externally free from grapevine trunk disease symptoms – E. Bruez – Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi regulate soil respiration and its response to precipitation change in a semiarid steppe – Bingwei Zhang – Scientific Reports

Sewage sludge addition modifies soil microbial communities and plant performance depending on the sludge stabilization process – Eva Lloret – Applied Soil Ecology

Review: Engineering the Rhizosphere – Yves Dessaux – Trends in Plant Science

Water and extremophile microbiome

Bacterial diversity in the surface sediments of the hypoxic zone near the Changjiang Estuary and in the East China Sea – Qi Ye – Microbiology Open

Ecological succession reveals potential signatures of marine–terrestrial transition in salt marsh fungal communities – Francisco Dini-Andreote – The ISME Journal

Profiling microbial community in a watershed heavily contaminated by an active antimony (Sb) mine in Southwest China – Weimin Sun – Science of The Total Environment

More microbiology

A unique self-organization of bacterial sub-communities creates iridescence in Cellulophaga lytica colony biofilms – Betty Kientz – Scientific Reports

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Ten Simple Rules for a Bioinformatics Journal Club – Andrew Lonsdale – PLOS Computational Biology

NINJA-OPS: Fast Accurate Marker Gene Alignment Using Concatenated Ribosomes – Gabriel A. Al-Ghalith – PLOS Computational Biology

Microbes in the news

Stop pooping! You’re killing sentient beings! – PZ Myers – Pharyngula

ASM’s Commitment to Interdisciplinary Microbiome Research – American Society for Microbiology

Fermentation Farm wants you to eat better bacteria – Kathleen Luppi – LA Times

This bacteria can live for years in distilled water, and causes abscess, seizures and death: Melioidosis / Burkholderia pseudomallei – Jacinta Bowler – Science Alert

Science, publishing, and career

How to read a scientific paper – Adam Ruben – Science

High rejection rates by journals ‘pointless’– Analysis suggests higher selectivity fails to increase journals’ impact factors – David Matthews – Times Higher Education

How to stop the sexual harassment of women in science: reboot the system – Zuleyka Zevallow – The Conversation

Bik’s Picks

Arthropods of the great indoors: characterizing diversity inside urban and suburban homes – Matthew A Bertone

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