Category Archives: Human oral

April 7, 2016

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Biases and challenges with microbiome data, metabolic syndrome, stem cell transplants, ammonia-eating bacteria in fish gills, and a distinct pilus in the gut microbiome.

Events

Webinar: Cancer and the Oral Microbiome: A Metagenomics Approach – Scott Kelley, April 25

General microbiome

Good read about biases: Commentary: Challenges for Case-Control Studies with Microbiome Data – J. Paul Brooks – Annals of Epidemiology

Review: The importance of the microbiome in epidemiologic research – Blake M. Hanson – Annals of Epidemiology

Perspective: Microbiome and Anticancer Immunosurveillance – Laurence Zitvogel – Cell

Human oral microbiome

Effects of triclosan on host response and microbial biomarkers during experimental gingivitis – Brooke A. Pancer – Journal of Clinical Periodontology

Human skin microbiome

Review: New insights into acne pathogenesis: Exploring the role of acne-associated microbial populations – Bipul Kumar – Dermatologica Sinica

Human respiratory microbiome

Respiratory syncytial virus and rhinovirus severe bronchiolitis are associated with distinct nasopharyngeal microbiota – Jonathan M. Mansbach – Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Review: The respiratory microbiome: An underappreciated player in the human response to inhaled pollutants? – Sara D. Adar – Annals of Epidemiology

Human gut microbiome

The effect of heritability and host genetics on the gut microbiota and metabolic syndrome – Mi Young Lim – Gut

Functional changes in gut microbiota during haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for severe combined immunodeficiency – Jonathan P. Lane – Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Interplay between bile acid metabolism and microbiota in irritable bowel syndrome – M. Dior – Neurogastroenterology & Motility

Review: The Intestinal Microbiota in Metabolic Disease – Anni Woting – MDPI Nutrients

Animal models

The absence of microbiota delays the inflammatory response to Cryptococcus gattii – Marliete Carvalho Costa – International Journal of Medical Microbiology

Brain injury induces specific changes in the caecal microbiota of mice via altered autonomic activity and mucoprotein production – A. Houlden – Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

Animal microbiome

Branchial nitrogen cycle symbionts can remove ammonia in fish gills – Maartje A.H.J. van Kessel – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Bovine teat microbiome analysis revealed reduced alpha diversity and significant changes in taxonomic profiles in quarters with a history of mastitis – Helene Falentin – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Could The Martian science heck work? Evolution of soil on Mars – Shannon Bohle – Astronomy & Geophysics

Enhanced Degradation of Diesel in the Rhizosphere of Lupinus luteus after Inoculation with Diesel-Degrading and Plant Growth-Promoting Bacterial Strains – María Balseiro-Romero – Journal of Environmental Quality

Amplicon-based metabarcoding reveals temporal response of soil microbial community to fumigation-derived products – Feng Wei – Applied Soil Ecology

Water microbiome

Identification of bacterial communities in sediments of Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China – Wenbo Kou – SpringerPlus

Influence of selected environmental factors on the abundance of aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs in peat-bog lakes – Sylwia Lew – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Other microbiology

From Bacteroidia: A Distinct Type of Pilus from the Human Microbiome – Qingping Xu – Cell

Identification of new drug candidates against Borrelia burgdorferi using high-throughput screening – Venkata Raveendra Pothineni – Drug Design, Development and Therapy

Microbes and art

Another report on this beautiful art: Microbiome Art by Joana Ricou – Alex Alexiev – MicroBEnet

Students paint bacteria in cross campus learning Science Meets Art is a part of the SciCom initiative which is intended to help science students communicate their work and research – Connie Beltran – Texas Christian University

Microbes in the news

“Evolution of Soil on Mars”… where fiction becomes fact – David Coil – MicroBEnet

Gut Microbiota Altered in First-Episode Schizophrenia – Liam Davenport – Medscape

Gut Microbiome May Play Role in Myelination Disorders Including Multiple Sclerosis – interview with John Cryan – Medical Research

New type of symbiosis: Bacteria eat ammonia in fish gills – Science Daily

Elucidating the Microbiome of Acne Pathogenesis – Clincical Microbiomics

Biofilm oscillations: Excellent Paper on Metabolism dynamics + a video – Ben Libberton – NPJ Biofilms Community

California Strains of Lyme Bacteria May Survive Antibiotic Treatment According to Study – PR NewsWire

 

April 2, 2016

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Yes, it is technically already April 3, but I only got to do the daily roundup late tonight, so I did not quite get it done in time. C-section and weight influence on infant colonization, dachshunds, crops selecting fungi, post-mortem microbial transmigration

Pregnancy and birth

Birth mode-dependent association between pre-pregnancy maternal weight status and the neonatal intestinal microbiome – Noel T. Mueller – Scientific Reports

Study provides evidence that “vaginal seeding” of infants born by caesarean partially restores microbiota – Amali Lokugamage – BMJ

Relationship between milk microbiota, bacterial load, macronutrients and human cells during lactation – Alba Boix-Amoros – Frontiers in Microbiology

Mode of Delivery Determines Neonatal Pharyngeal Bacterial Composition and Early Intestinal Colonization – David E. Brumbaugh – Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition

Effect of Formula Containing Lactobacillus Reuteri DSM 17938 on Fecal Microbiota of Infants Born by Cesarean-Section – Rodenas, Clara L. Garcia – Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition

Human oral microbiome

Mucosal and salivary microbiota associated with recurrent aphthous stomatitis – Yun-ji Kim- BMC Microbiology

Assessment of oral malodor and tonsillar microbiota after gargling with benzethonium chloride – Yuki Iwamura – Journal of Oral Science

Potential screening and early diagnosis method for cancer: Tongue diagnosis – Shuwen Han – International Journal of Oncology

In vitro: A dual-species microbial model for studying the dynamics between oral streptococci and periodontal pathogens during biofilm development on titanium surfaces by flow cytometry – Anita Manti – Research in Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Changes in fecal microbiota and metabolomics in a child with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) responding to two treatment periods with exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) – Lillemor Berntson – Clinical Rheumatology

Renal Failure due to Excessive Intake of Almonds in the Absence of Oxalobacter formigenes – Yngvar Lunde Haaskjold – The American Journal of Medicine

Reanalysis of published data, no apparent new findings: Host genetics is associated with the gut microbial community membership rather than the structure – Peihua Zhao – Molecular BioSystems

Review: Modulatory Effects of Gut Microbiota on the Central Nervous System: How Gut Could Play a Role in Neuropsychiatric Health and Diseases – Shadi S Yarandi – Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility

Commentary: Can microbiota research change our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases? – Filip Scheperjans – Neurodegenerative Disease Management

Review: Microbes and the mind: emerging hallmarks of the gut microbiota–brain axis
– Kylynda C. Bauer – Cellular Microbiology

Animal models

Distinctly altered gut microbiota in the progression of liver disease – Guoxiang Xie – Oncotarget

Wolbachia confers sex-specific resistance and tolerance to enteric but not systemic bacterial infection in Drosophila – Radhakrishnan B Vasanthakrishnan – BioRxiv

Gut Microbiota and a Selectively Bred Taste Phenotype: A Novel Model of Microbiome-Behavior Relationships – Lyte, Mark – Psychosomatic Medicine

Periodontal dysbiosis linked to periodontitis is associated with cardio-metabolic adaptation to high-fat diet in mice – Maxime Branchereau – American Journal of Physiology Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology

Protocol: The Gut Microbiome in the NOD Mouse – Jian Peng – Part of the series Methods in Molecular Biology

Animal microbiome

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

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Differential response of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria to the wetting of salty arid soil – Yonatan Sher – Journal of Basic Microbiology

Selection of fungi by candidate cover crops – Maria-Soledad Benitez – Applied Soil Ecology

Unravelling Linkages between Plant Community Composition and the Pathogen-Suppressive Potential of Soils – Ellen Latz – Scientific Reports

Water and extremophile microbiome

Characterization of the prokaryotic diversity through a stratigraphic permafrost core profile from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau – Weigang Hu – Extremophiles

Seasonal and Spatial Changes of Planktonic Bacterial Communities Inhabiting the Natural Thermal Lake Hévíz, Hungary – Gergely Krett – Acta Microbiologica et Immunologica Hungarica

Microbiome of Death

Fluorescently labeled bacteria provide insight on post-mortem microbial transmigration –
Z.M. Burcham – Forensic Science International

Food microbiology

Review: Hygienic characteristics and microbiological hazard identification in horse and donkey raw milk – Giampaolo Colavita – Veterinaria Italiana

Waste and pollution microbiology

Microbial communities in riparian soils of a settling pond for mine drainage treatment – Miaochun Fan – Water Research

Metagenomic analysis shows diverse, distinct bacterial communities in biofilters among different marine recirculating aquaculture systems – Zhitao Huang – Aquaculture International

More microbiology

Evaluation of genetic diversity among strains of the human gut commensal Bifidobacterium adolescentis – Sabrina Duranti – Scientific Reports

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Not sure if this is a good approach; ignores variation between individual human microbiome strains: Reconstruction of bacterial and viral genomes from multiple metagenomes – Vineet K. Sharma – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metabolomics

Harnessing the power of microbial metabolism – Eduardo Santero – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Microbiology and art

BioArt: Joana Ricou shows the Beautiful Similarities of the Microbiome – Labiotech

Rap song: CosmosID Metagenomics: Exploring the Universe of Microbes – CosmosID – YouTube

Microbes in the news

Mythbusters: Human Microbiota – Caroline Ayinon – Yale Scientific

Introducing the “HomeGenome”. Not endorsing this. Exploring the Microcosm Within. Adventures and insights from the microbiome – Conan Milner – Epoch Times

April Fool’s Day microbiome jokes

Thanks to Microbiome Boost, Donuts May Be Beneficial: when paired with P. tursiops – Tim De Chant – PBS

A microbiology of the built environment April Fools’ joke – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

And of course my own selection: Human-derived microbial strains used for food and beverage production – Elisabeth Bik – Microbiome Digest

Science, publishing, and career

‘Lab Girl’ Is a Fierce, Uplifting, Must-Read Memoir – Hope Jahren is an acute observer, prickly, and funny as hell. – Elizabeth Royte – Elle

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 31, 2016

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A special mBio issue discussing the Holobiont concept, salivary microbiota in oral cancer, truffles, sinuses in germ-free mice, and Wolbachia in cave spiders.

General microbiome

Special Issue: The Holobiont Concept- mBio
Introduction to the Hologenome Special Series – Margaret McFall-Ngai
Microbes Drive Evolution of Animals and Plants: the Hologenome Concept – Eugene Rosenberg
Speciation by Symbiosis: the Microbiome and Behavior – J. Dylan Shropshire
Holes in the Hologenome: Why Host-Microbe Symbioses Are Not Holobionts – Angela E. Douglas

Pregnancy and birth

Research Highlight: Baby steps towards the microbiome – Andrea Du Toit – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Oral microbiome

Changes in the salivary microbiota of oral leukoplakia and oral cancer – Xiaosheng Hu – Oral Oncology

Human respiratory microbiome

Tonsillar microbiota in children with PFAPA (periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and adenitis) syndrome – M. V. Tejesvi – European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases

Conference abstract: Nasal Microbiome Composition Is Associated with Chitotriosidase (Chit1) Activity in Adult Hutterites – Catherine Igartua – Annals of the American Thoracic Society

Conference abstract: Gut Microbiota and Allergic Disease. New Insights
Susan V. Lynch- Annals of the American Thoracic Society

Human gut microbiome

Association between intestinal permeability and faecal microbiota composition in Italian children with beta cell autoimmunity at risk for type 1 diabetes – Claudio Maffeis – Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews

Fecal microbial transplants reduce antibiotic-resistant genes in patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infection – Braden Millan – Clinical Infectious Diseases

Special issue with reviews: Gastric and Gut Microbiota in Health and Disease – Digestive Diseases

Animal models

Effect of a long-term high-protein diet on survival, obesity development and gut microbiota in mice – Pia Kiilerich – American Journal of Physiology

Differences in the paranasal sinuses between germ-free and pathogen-free mice – Ravi Jain – International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology

Effects of taurine on gut microbiota and metabolism in mice – Haining Yu – Amino Acids

Animal microbiome

Research Highlight: Microbiome ‘coral’ations – Ursula Hofer – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Classification of Wolbachia (Alphaproteobacteria, Rickettsiales): No evidence for a distinct supergroup in cave spiders – Michael Gerth – BioRxiv

Not a great title: Metagenomic bacterial community profiles of chicken embryo gastrointestinal tract by using T-RFLP analysis – L. A. Ilina – Doklady Biochemistry and Biophysics

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Screening of soil bacteria as potential agents for drugs biodegradation: a case study with clofibric acid – Claudia Popa Ungureanu – Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology

Metagenomes provide valuable comparative information on soil microeukaryotes –
Samuel Jacquiod – Research in Microbiology

The Truffle Microbiome: Species and Geography Effects on Bacteria Associated with Fruiting Bodies of Hypogeous Pezizales – Gian Maria Niccolò Benucci – Microbial Ecology

Bioreactor microbiology

The First Space-Related Study of a Kombucha Multimicrobial Cellulose-Forming Community: Preparatory Laboratory Experiments – O. Podolich – Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres

Food microbiology

Characterisation of the yeast and mould biota in traditional white pickled cheeses by culture-dependent and independent molecular techniques – Hana Šuranská – Folia Microbiologica

Use of propidium monoazide for selective profiling of viable microbial cells during Gouda cheese ripening – Oylum Erkus – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Predicting microbial interactions through computational approaches – Chenhao Li – Methods

Microbes in the news

A Hidden Factor in Stroke Severity: The Microbes in Your Gut : A new study in mice demonstrates that manipulating the microbiome can influence the extent of brain damage caused by a stroke – Jordana Cepelewic – Scientific American

Pushing and Pulling on the Mosquito Microbiome – Kevin Bonham – Scientific American

Sampling an animal shelter – Holly Ganz – MicroBEnet

Intestinal Microbiome of Children with Cystic Fibrosis Promotes Gut Inflammation, Study Finds – Patricia Inacio – Cystic Fibrosis News Today
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March 30, 2016

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Microbiome and mood, bone marrow transplantation, archaea in kangaroos, tardigrade genome contamination.

Events

UC Berkeley Event: Archaea and the Three Domains: Classification of Life for Middle School

Microbiome expert to speak at UB –  Martin Blaser is a former president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, April 6-7 – Charlotte Hsu – University of Buffalo

Pregnancy and birth

Microbiome: Antibiotics and the infant microflora – Kristen Meyer & Kjersti Aagaard – Nature Microbiology

Human mouth microbiome

Accuracy of commercial kits and published primer pairs for the detection of periodontopathogens – Elisabeth Santigli – Clinical Oral Investigations

Human gut microbiome

Gut microbes in correlation with mood: case study in a closed experimental human life support system – L. Li – Neurogastroenterology & Motility

Anti-TNF Therapy Response in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis Is Associated with Colonic Antimicrobial Peptide Expression and Microbiota Composition – Maria K. Magnusson – Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis

Gut microbiota profiling of pediatric NAFLD and obese patients unveiled by an integrated meta-omics based approach – Federica Del Chierico – Hepatology

Commentary: Role of gut flora after bone marrow transplantation – Jonathan U. Peled – Nature Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Differences down-under: alcohol-fueled methanogenesis by archaea present in Australian macropodids – Emily C Hoedt – The ISME Journal

Mussel biofiltration effects on attached bacteria and unicellular eukaryotes in fish-rearing seawater – Eleni Voudanta – PeerJ

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Tobacco, Microbes, and Carcinogens: Correlation Between Tobacco Cure Conditions, Tobacco-Specific Nitrosamine Content, and Cured Leaf Microbial Community – Audrey D. Law – Microbial Ecology

Plant and soil fungal but not soil bacterial communities are linked in long-term fertilized grassland – Noriko A. Cassman – Scientific Reports

Drinking water microbiome

Flow cytometric examination of bacterial growth in a local drinking water network –
Sam Van Nevel – Water and Environment Journal

Animal microbiome

Breakdown of coevolution between symbiotic bacteria Wolbachia and their filarial hosts – Emilie Lefoulon – PeerJ

Built environment microbiome

Review (but did not make much sense to me): Toward a microbial Neolithic revolution in buildings – David S. Thaler – Microbiome

Bioreactor microbiome

Functional maintenance and structural flexibility of microbial communities perturbed by simulated intense rainfall in a pilot-scale membrane bioreactor – Yuya Sato – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Fungi

News: Microbiology: Fungus produces a toxic surprise – Aaron P. Mitchell – Nature

Candidalysin is a fungal peptide toxin critical for mucosal infection – David L. Moyes – Nature

Biofilms

Spatio-temporal assembly of functional mineral scaffolds within microbial biofilms – Yaara Oppenheimer-Shaanan – NPJ Biofilms

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

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

myPhyloDB: a local web server for the storage and analysis of metagenomic data – Daniel K. Manter – Database

Detection of low-abundance bacterial strains in metagenomic datasets by eigengenome partitioning – Brian Cleary – Nature Biotechnology

Metabolomics

Optimization of metabolomics of defined in vitro gut microbial ecosystems – Dirk K. Wissenbach – International Journal of Medical Microbiology

Microbial ecology

Review: Challenges in microbial ecology: building predictive understanding of community function and dynamics – Stefanie Widder – The ISME Journal

Microbes in the news

Another reason to break the habit: Smoking alters bacterial balance in mouth – EurekAlert

Pseudomonas aeruginosa in shampoos and shower gels made by Gilchrist and Soames – FDA warning letter

Acne bacteria and hot dog cookers: Science projects take center stage at regional fair – Matt Barney – The Joplin Globe

Cave bacteria could control superbugs – News24

The 8-Bit Game That Makes Statistics Addictive – Ed Yong – The Atlantic

Microbes and art

“World’s First” Bacteria-Grown Book Combines Science and Culture – Nathaniel Ainley – The Creators Project

WTF

Polish company to brew beer from Czech model’s vagina bacteria – Ben Hooper – UPI

First Vaginal Beer: Bottled Instinct – Wojciech Mann – IndieGoGo
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March 28, 2016

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Oral microbiome and smoking, a bacterial genome from a germ-free mouse isolate, semi-arid soils, jellyfish, OTU picking methods, and the best hypervariable regions in the 16S rRNA gene.

Human oral microbiome

Cigarette smoking and the oral microbiome in a large study of American adults – Jing Wu – The ISME Journal

Human gut microbiome

Persisting changes of intestinal microbiota after bowel lavage and colonoscopy – Drago, Lorenzo – European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Fecal Microbiota, Fecal Metabolome, and Colorectal Cancer Interrelations – Rashmi Sinha – PLOS ONE

Gut microbiome diversity in acute infective and chronic inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases in North India – Saurabh Kedia – Journal of Gastroenterology

Review: Gut Microbiota and Lifestyle Interventions in NAFLD – David Houghton – MDPI International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Review: Microbiota-gut-brain signalling in Parkinson’s disease: Implications for non-motor symptoms – Valeria D. Felice – Parkinsonism & Related Disorders

PhD Thesis: Development and analysis of molecular methods for functional metagenomics of the human gut microbiome – Kathy Lam – University of Waterloo

Animal models

Saturated and Unsaturated Dietary Fats Differentially Modulate Ethanol-Induced Changes in Gut Microbiome and Metabolome in a Mouse Model of Alcoholic Liver Disease – Irina A. Kirpich – The American Journal of Pathology

Complete Genome Sequence of Turicibacter sp. Strain H121, Isolated from the Feces of a Contaminated Germ-Free Mouse – T. A. Auchtung – Genome Announcements

Animal microbiome

Jellyfish-associated bacterial communities and bacterioplankton in Indonesian Marine lakes – Daniel F. R. Cleary – FEMS Microbial Ecology

Review: Use of Genomic Tools to Improve Cattle Health in the Context of Infectious Diseases – Mikolaj M. Raszek – Frontiers in Genetics

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Soil characteristics driving arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities in semiarid Mediterranean soils – Maria del Mar Alguacil – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

454-Pyrosequencing Reveals Variable Fungal Diversity Across Farming Systems – Elham A. Kazeeroni – Frontiers in Plant Science

Development of microbial community structure in vegetable-growing soils from open-field to plastic-greenhouse cultivation based on the PLFA analysis – Zhiyuan Yao – Journal of Soils and Sediments

Soil communities are affected by CO2 belowground emissions at a natural vent in Spain – I. Fernández-Montiel – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

No favorable effect of reduced tillage on microbial community diversity in a silty loam soil (Belgium) – Florine Degrune – Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

Bacteria play a more important role than nutrients in the accumulation of tetracycline resistance in manure-treated soil – Shuang Peng – Biology and Fertility of Soils

Review: Towards an Enhanced Understanding of Plant–Microbiome Interactions to Improve Phytoremediation: Engineering the Metaorganism – Sofie Thijs – Frontiers in Microbiology

Water microbiome

Temperature and redox effect on mineral colonization in Juan de Fuca Ridge flank subsurface crustal fluids – Jean-Paul Baquiran – Frontiers in Microbiology

Streams: Regional and global elevational patterns of microbial species richness and evenness – Jianjun Wang – Ecography

Extremophile microbiome

Novel, Deep-Branching Heterotrophic Bacterial Populations Recovered from Thermal Spring Metagenomes – Daniel R. Colman – Frontiers in Microbiology

Phylogenetic and Functional Substrate Specificity for Endolithic Microbial Communities in Hyper-Arid Environments – Alexander Crits-Christoph – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Application of database-independent approach to assess the quality of OTU picking methods – Patrick D Schloss – BioRxiv

MG-Digger: an automated pipeline to search for giant virus-related sequences in metagenomes – Jonathan Verneau – Frontiers in Microbiology

MEGAHIT v1.0: A Fast and Scalable Metagenome Assembler driven by Advanced Methodologies and Community Practices – Dinghua Li – Methods

Sensitivity and correlation of hypervariable regions in 16S rRNA genes in phylogenetic analysis – Bo Yang – BMC Bioinformatics

Absent words and the (dis)similarity analysis of DNA sequences: an experimental study – Mohammad Saifur Rahman – BMC Research Notes

Book chapter: Bidirectional Variable-Order de Bruijn Graphs – Djamal Belazzougui – LATIN 2016: Theoretical Informatics

Transcriptomics

Review: Translating RNA sequencing into clinical diagnostics: opportunities and challenges – Sara A. Byron – Nature Reviews Genetics

Techniques

Modification of a high- throughput automatic microbial cell enumeration system for ship board analyses – Christin M. Bennke – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

More microbiology

Rare-earth elements: Rare-earth separation using bacteria – William Bonificio – Environmental Science & Technology Letters

Expression of HIV-1 Neutralizing Antibody Fragments Using Human Vaginal Lactobacillus – Angela Marcobal – AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses

Review: Studying Bacterial Multispecies Biofilms: Where to Start? – Henriette L. Røder – Trends in Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Osel scientists engineer vaginal lactobacillus to express neutralizing HIV-1 antibody fragments – EurekAlert

‘Good’ bacteria could save amphibians hit by fungal diseases – Adam Wernick – PRI

Forget Chocolate Rabbits: Microbiologists Celebrate Easter With Bacteria Bunny – ABC News

Psychobiotics Will Use Bacteria to Alter Your Brain Through Your Gut – Ben Guarino – Inverse

Low FODMAP diet may significantly improve IBS symptoms – Healio

Scientists to drill into dinosaur-killing blast – Eric Hand – Science

Rage Disorder Linked with Parasite Found in Cat Feces. Toxoplasmosis may alter brain chemistry is people exhibiting bouts of explosive anger – Christopher Wanjek – Scientific American

Bacteria Hysteria

Would you dare to bacteria-test your entire life? Katherine Keogh did … and the result will shock all house-proud readers – Katherine Keogh – Daily Mail

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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 20, 2016

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Back in the PDT, so catching up with the literature.

Pregnancy and birth

In mice: The maternal microbiota drives early postnatal innate immune development – Mercedes Gomez de Agüero – Science

Review: New techniques to characterise the vaginal microbiome in pregnancy – George L. Mendz – AIMS Microbiology

Perspective: The Placental Microbiome: A New Site for Policing Women’s Bodies – Saray Ayala – International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics

Review: Building a Beneficial Microbiome from Birth – Esther Castanys-Muñoz – Advances in Nutrition

Human oral microbiome

Microbiome associated with severe caries in Canadian First Nations children – EurekAlert

Comparative analysis of bacterial profiles in unstimulated and stimulated saliva samples – Daniel Belstrøm – Journal of Oral Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Microbiome Survey of the Inflamed and Noninflamed Gut at Different Compartments Within the Gastrointestinal Tract of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients – Forbes, Jessica D. – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Helicobacter pylori Eradication Causes Perturbation of the Human Gut Microbiome in Young Adults – Theresa Wan-Chen Yap – PLOS ONE

FODMAPs alter symptoms and the metabolome of patients with IBS: a randomised controlled trial – Keith McIntosh – Gut

Tumour-associated and non-tumour-associated microbiota in colorectal cancer – Burkhardt Flemer – Gut
Review: Microbiota and lifestyle interactions through the lifespan – Simone Rampelli – Trends in Food Science & Technology

Review: Gut Microbiota and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Insights on Mechanism and Application of Metabolomics – Xuyun He – Int J Mol Sci

Animal models

Effect of artesunate supplementation on bacterial translocation and dysbiosis of gut microbiota in rats with liver cirrhosis – Yun-Xia Chen – World Journal of Gastroenterology

Long-term effects of early life microbiota disturbance on adaptive immunity in laying hens
K. Simon – Poultry Science

Animal microbiome

Cuticular bacteria appear detrimental to social spiders in mixed but not monoculture exposure – Carl N. Keiser – Current Zoology

Review: Microbial diversity associated with ascidians: a review of research methods and application – Lei Chen – Symbiosis

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Distinctive tropical forest variants have unique soil microbial communities, but not always low microbial diversity – Binu M. Tripathi – Frontiers in Microbiology

Spatial variability of microbial richness and diversity and relationships with soil organic carbon, texture and structure across an agricultural field – Muhammad Naveed – Applied Soil Ecology

Microbial community structure and nutrient dynamics in forest soils colonized by bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) – Manuel Aira – PeerJ Preprint

Evidence of horizontal gene transfer between obligate leaf nodule symbionts – Marta Pinto-Carbó – The ISME Journal

Bacteria-Soil-Plant Interaction: This Relationship to Generate can Inputs and New Products for the Food Industry – Jeremias Pakulski Panizzon – Rice Research

Microbial growth and community structure in acid mine soils after addition of different amendments for soil reclamation – R. Zornoza – Geoderma

Water and extremophile microbiome

Deep Crustal Communities of the Juan de Fuca Ridge Are Governed by Mineralogy – Amy R. Smith – Geomicrobiology Journal

Methane seep in shallow-water permeable sediment harbors high diversity of anaerobic methanotrophic communities, Elba, Italy – Emil S. Ruff – Frontiers in Microbiology

Diversity and Metabolic Potentials of Subsurface Crustal Microorganisms from the Western Flank of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge – Xinxu Zhang – Frontiers in Microbiology

Built environment microbiology

Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Microbial Communities in Household Dishwashers in Germany – Britta Brands – Tenside Surfactants Detergents

Waste and pollution microbiology

Degradation of oxytetracycline and its impacts on biogas-producing microbial community structure – Halil Coban – Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering

Diversity of arsenite oxidase gene and arsenotrophic bacteria in arsenic affected Bangladesh soils – Santonu Kumar Sanyal

Techniques

Example used in this review paper: kombucha (?): DNA metabarcoding of microbial communities for healthcare – Zaets I. Ye – Biopolym Cell

Next-Generation Sequencing in the Mycology Lab – Jan Zoll – Current Fungal Infection Reports

Metagenomics

Identification of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance markers using bacterial genomics – Sofiane Bakour – Future Medicine

Microbes in the news

Gut health: Stanford researchers explain how what’s in our bellies affects myriad health issues – Martha Ross – Contra Costa Times

Inflamed, noninflamed mucosal microbiota differ between patients with Crohn’s disease, UC – Healio

Video: Six Strange Things Bacteria Eat – Wall Street Journal

Bacteria in your mom’s gut may have influenced the way you fight off infections today
Katherine Ellen Foley – Quartz

New technique for rapidly killing bacteria using tiny gold disks and light – Nanowerk

Bacteria-powered Bio-Bots Avoid Obstacles on Way to Target – MedGadget

Pneumonia, middle ear infections might be prevented by diverse bacteria in gut microbiome – Emily Lunardo – Belmarra Health

Going viral: IU Southeast student, teacher discover a new type of virus
Student, professor find new bacteriophage in Ohio River – Jerod Clapp – News and Tribune

Brucellosis-causing bacteria could be dropped from bioterrorism list – Helenair

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March 19, 2016

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General microbiome

Prospect: Know your neighbor: Microbiota and host epithelial cells interact locally to control intestinal function and physiology – Felix Sommer – BioEssays

Review: Functional Redundancy-Induced Stability of Gut Microbiota Subjected to Disturbance – Andrés Moya – Trends in Microbiology

Human oral microbiome

Successful enrichment and recovery of whole mitochondrial genomes from ancient human dental calculus – Andrew T. Ozga – American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Oral microbiota species in acute apical endodontic abscesses – Noelle George – Journal of Oral Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Changes in the Functional Potential of the Gut Microbiome Following Probiotic Supplementation during Helicobacter Pylori Treatment – Bumjo Oh – Helicobacter

Gut microbiota produce alcohol and contribute to NAFLD – Lixin Zhu – Gut

Probiotics

Probiotic Gut Microbiota Isolate Interacts with Dendritic Cells via Glycosylated Heterotrimeric Pili – Hanne L. P. Tytgat – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Metagenomic Survey of Viral Diversity Obtained from Feces of Subantarctic and South American Fur Seals – Mariana Kluge – PLOS ONE

Effect of Antibiotic Treatment on the Gastrointestinal Microbiome of Free-Ranging Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla g. gorilla) – Klára Vlčková – Microbial Ecology

Induction of trap formation in nematode-trapping fungi by bacteria-released ammonia – H.N. Su – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

The holistic rhizosphere: integrating zones, processes, and semantics in the soil influenced by roots – Larry M. York – Journal of Experimental Botany

Impact of an invasive N2-fixing tree on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and development of native species – Alejandra, Guisande-Collazo – AoB Plants

Shifts in taxonomic and functional microbial diversity with agriculture: How fragile is the Brazilian Cerrado? – Renata Carolini Souza – BMC Microbiology

Water microbiome

High Bacterial Diversity and Phylogenetic Novelty in Dark Euxinic Freshwaters Analyzed by 16S Tag Community Profiling – Tomàs Llorens-Marès – Microbial Ecology

Food and medicine microbiology

Characterization of malolactic bacteria isolated from Aosta Valley wines and evidence of psychrotrophy in some strains – I. Vigentini – Journal of Applied Microbiology

A review of melanized (black) fungal contamination in pharmaceutical products—incidence, drug recall and control measures – R. Vijayakumar – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Researchers Extract and Sequence Ancient DNA From Biofilm Coating Teeth – Genome Web

New green toothpaste reveals biofilm – Maria Perno Goldie – Dentistry IQ

Video: Pink Lake Mystery Solved: Lake Hillier Bacteria – SciShow – YouTube

SlideShow: Experiments with my Microbiome – Richard Sprague – LinkedIn

Video: #GMFH2016 (5th Gut Microbiota for Health World Summit ) Interviews: Prof. Joël Doré – YouTube
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March 16, 2016

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Events

Strategies & Techniques for Analyzing Microbial Population Structures (STAMPS) Course 8/3-8/13 – MicroBEnet

Human skin microbiome

An in Vitro Model for the Human Cutaneous Microbial Ecosystem – Danique A. van der Krieken – Acta Dermato-Venereologica

Human oral microbiome

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

Human respiratory tract microbiome

High genetic diversity of Staphylococcus aureus strains colonising the nasopharynx of Gambian villagers before widespread use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines – Chinelo Ebruke – BMC Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Note: data segregate according to study: Gene expression profiling gut microbiota in different races of humans – Lei Chen – Scientific Reports

Review: A healthy gastrointestinal microbiome is dependent on dietary diversity – Mark L. Heiman

Review: Gut Microbiota and Obesity: Potential Therapeutic Targets and Probiotic 
Nicole D. White – American Journal of Life Sciences

Animal models

Fuzhuan tea consumption imparts hepatoprotective effects and alters intestinal microbiota in high saturated fat diet-fed rats – Michelle T. Foster – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

Long-term effects of early life microbiota disturbance on adaptive immunity in laying 
K. Simon – Poultry Science

Rapid evolution of microbe-mediated protection against pathogens in a worm host –
Kayla C King – ISME Journal

Impact of 4-epi-oxytetracycline on the gut microbiota and blood metabolomics of Wistar rats
Hongxing Han – Scientific Reports

Animal microbiome

Genomic Analysis of Companion Rabbit Staphylococcus aureus – Mark A. Holmes – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Influences of Plant Species, Season and Location on Leaf Endophytic Bacterial Communities of Non-Cultivated Plants – Tao Ding – PLOS ONE

Water and extremophile microbiome

Ecosystem function decays by fungal outbreaks in Antarctic microbial mats – David Velázquez – Scientific Reports

Multi-laboratory survey of qPCR enterococci analysis method performance in U.S. coastal and inland surface waters – Richard A. Haugland – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Built environment microbiome

Potentially harmful secondary metabolites produced by indoor Chaetomium species on artificially and naturally contaminated building materials – I. Došen – Indoor AIr

Food microbiology

Helicobacter pylori in bottled mineral water: genotyping and antimicrobial resistance properties – Reza Ranjbar – BMC Microbiology

Effects of Temperature on Bacterial Communities and Metabolites during Fermentation of Myeolchi-Aekjeot, a Traditional Korean Fermented Anchovy Sauce – Ji Young Jung – PLOS ONE

Viruses and phages

The Formulation of Bacteriophage in a Semi Solid Preparation for Control of Propionibacterium acnes Growth – Teagan L. Brown – PLOS ONE

News & Views: Microbial oceanography: Viral strategies at sea – T. Frede Thingstad – Nature

Lytic to temperate switching of viral communities – B. Knowles – Nature

Microbial Ecology

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

Bioinformatics

RiboFR-Seq: a novel approach to linking 16S rRNA amplicon profiles to 
Yanming Zhang – Nucleic Acids Research

Techniques

The US Culture Collection Network lays the foundation for progress in preservation of valuable microbial resources – Kevin McCluskey – Phytopathology

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

A modified micro chamber agar spot slide culture technique for microscopic examination of filamentous fungi – Peralam Yegneswaran Prakash – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Microbes in the news

uBiome is World’s First Company to Appoint Citizen-Scientist-in-Residence – PR Web

Incredible images reveal bacteria motor parts in unprecedented detail – Science Codex

Ancient Bacteria With Photosynthesis Were Much More Common Than Previously Thought, Study Finds – Catherine Griffin – HNGN

Viral Remnants Help Regulate Human Immunity: Endogenous retroviruses in the human genome can regulate genes involved in innate immune responses – Jyoti Madhusoodanan – The Scientist

Plastic That Mimics Insect Wings Kills Bacteria, University of California, Irvine Study – Biospace

Early heavy metal exposure can cause permanent changes to gut microbiome and cause a host of diseases – Dave Mihalovic – SOTT

Slice of PLOS: Bacteria’s Social Media – Lauren Richardson – PLOS ONE

“Unsurprisingly, Perlmutter has his critics.” Neurologist David Perlmutter gets to the guts of brain health with surprising advice – SMH.com

Opinion: A Mother’s Microbes: On “vaginal seeding” and the challenge of evidence-based parenting – Rob Knight and Jack Gilbert – The Scientist

Australian Scientists Discover How Gut Bacteria May Prevent Stomach Cancer – MSN

Reduction in dietary diversity impacts richness of human gut microbiota – Science Codex
http://www.nature.com/articles/srep23075

Press might be overinterpreting Mouse seminal microbiome study:
Scientists discover microbiome that may be responsible for male reproductive disorders – EurekAlert

Seminal work. How unruly data led MU scientists to discover a new microbiome – Roger Meissen – Decoding Science

Microbiome: This Type Of Bacteria May Increase Risk Of Reproductive Disorders – Kathleen Lees – HNGN

Science, publishing, and career

Handful of Biologists Went Rogue and Published Directly to Internet – Amy Harmon

Peer-Led Team Learning Helps Minority Students Succeed – Julia J. Snyder – PLOS Biology

Video parody: PloS ANNA VS ELSAvier – For The First Time – Luisa Hugerth -YouTube

Bik’s Picks

A Month in Mammoth. Two sleep researchers braved the subterranean environment of a Kentucky cave to see if they could train their bodies to abandon the cyclical rhythms of the 24-hour day – The Scientist

Night Night, Flipper – Watch underwater footage of a dolphin sleeping in the wild – The Scientist

Scientists Find That Getting Multiple Tattoos Strengthens Your Immune System – Kelly Tatera – Science Explorer

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