January 15, 2015

Human respiratory microbiome

Aging and the microbiome: implications for asthma in the elderly? – Sanjay H Chotirmall, and Conor M Burke – Expert Review of Respiratory Medicine

Human oral microbiome

Code blue: Acinetobacter baumannii, a nosocomial pathogen with a role in the oral cavity
A.M. Richards – Molecular Oral Microbiology

Inhibitory effect of Lactobacillus salivarius on Streptococcus mutans biofilm formation – C.-C. Wu – Molecular Oral Microbiology

Animal models of microbiome research

Murine Gut Microbiota—Diet Trumps Genes – Jens Walter – Cell Host & Microbe

Animal microbiome

Effects of dietary synbiotic on growth, survival, lactobacillus bacterial count, blood indices and immunity of beluga (Huso huso Linnaeus, 1754) juvenile – R. Akrami – Aquaculture Nutrition

Plant microbiome

Short-term impact of two liquid organic fertilizers on Solanum lycopersicum L. rhizosphere Eubacteria and Archaea diversity – L. Canfora – Applied Soil Ecology

A review on weeds as source of novel plant growth promoting microbes for crop improvement – C. Sarathambal – Journal of Applied and Natural Science

Different mycorrhizal fungal strains determine plant community response to nitrogen and water availability – Laura B. Martínez – Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science

Soil microbiome

Effects of wildfires on flora, fauna and physico-chemical properties of soil-An overview –
Manoj Kumar Jhariy* and Abhishek Raj – Journal of Applied and Natural Science

Cellulolytic potential under environmental changes in microbial communities from grassland litter – Renaud Berlemont – Frontiers in Microbiology

Water microbiome

Insights into environmental controls on microbial communities in a continental serpentinite aquifer using a microcosm-based approach – Melitza Crespo-Medina – Frontiers in Microbiology

Diversity of arsenite oxidizing bacterial communities in arsenic-rich deltaic aquifers in West Bengal, India – Devanita Ghosh – Frontiers in Microbiology

Food microbiology

Isolation and Identification of Lactic Acid Bacteria in Winter Salad (Local Pickle) during Fermentation Using 16S rRNA Gene Sequence Analysis – Mansour Saeedi – Journal of Food Safety

Metagenomics

Going from microbial ecology to genome data and back: studies on a haloalkaliphilic bacterium isolated from Soap Lake, Washington State – Melanie R. Mormile – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioinformatics

The yearly Database Issue of Nucleic Acids Research is out. Just a selection:
–  rrnDB: improved tools for interpreting rRNA gene abundance in bacteria and archaea and a new foundation for future development – Steven F. Stoddard
–  Update on RefSeq microbial genomes resources – Tatiana Tatusova

Scientific Meeting 2014 “NGS Data after the Gold Rush” Meeting, Norwich, UK – EMBnet.journal. Selection of 2 abstracts:
–  Analyzing RNA-Seq data with RNASeqGUI – Claudia Angelini, Francesco Russo – EMBnet.journal
–  NGS data management and analysis for hundreds of projects: Experiences from Sweden – Ola Spjuth – EMBnet.journal
Microbial Ecology

Perspective: Impact of spatial distribution on the development of mutualism in microbes – Ákos T. Kovács – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bacteria in the news

Cataloguing 10 million human gut microbial genes – Tim Sandle – Pharmamicroresources

Arctic bacteria could make life-saving drugs – Samantha Bresnahan – KSPR

Iron Overload Disease Causes Rapid Growth of Potentially Deadly Bacteria, UCLA Study Finds – Infection Control Today

The Microbiome Diet: Evolving Past Paleo – Raphael Kellman

Is Naya Rivera right about her ‘showering too often’ theory? – Hope Gillette – Voxxi

Science, publishing and career

Want To Be In STEM? Here Are The 10 Best Metro Areas – Hank Campbell – Science 2.0

Gender gap: Women welcome in ‘hard working’ fields, but ‘genius’ fields are male-dominated, study finds – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

Bik’s Picks

Prolonging lifespan: Researchers create ‘Methuselah fly’ by selecting best cells – Science Daily

Proteins found in the brain may help speed up flu recovery while you sleep – Lydia Ramsey – Popular Science

What the history of dogs tells us about civilization in the Americas – Elahe Izadi – Washington Post

Earth’s magnetic field guides sea turtles home – Julia Rosen – Science News

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January 13, 2015

Human oral microbiome

The Biofilm Community: Rebels with a Cause – A. Wilson Aruni – Current Oral Health Reports

Human respiratory microbiome

Culture and molecular-based profiles show shifts in bacterial communities of the upper respiratory tract that occur with age – J C Stearns – The ISME Journal

Recombination is a key driver of genomic and phenotypic diversity in a Pseudomonas aeruginosa population during cystic fibrosis infection – Sophie E. Darch – Scientific Reports

Human gut microbiome

Effect of Exclusive Enteral Nutrition on the Microbiota of Children With Newly Diagnosed Crohn’s Disease – Nadeem O. Kaakoush – Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology

The intestinal microbiota: its role in health and disease – Luc Biedermann, Gerhard Rogler – European Journal of Pediatrics

Geographical patterns of the standing and active human gut microbiome in health and IBD – Ateequr Rehman – Gut

Severity of atopic disease inversely correlates with intestinal microbiota diversity and butyrate-producing bacteria – L. Nylund – Allergy

The influence of the microbiota on the immune response to transplantation – Bartman, Caroline – Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation

Animal models of microbiome research

The enduring importance of animal models in understanding periodontal disease – George Hajishengallis – Virulence

Animal microbiome

Similarities and seasonal variations in bacterial communities from the blood of rodents and from their flea vectors – Carmit Cohen – The ISME Journal

Molecular analysis of cecal and tracheal microbiome of heat-stressed broilers supplemented with prebiotic and probiotic – Muhammad U. Sohail – Avian Pathology

Divergence across diet, time and populations rules out parallel evolution in the gut microbiomes of Trinidadian guppies – Karen E Sullam – The ISME Journal

Composition and predicted functional ecology of mussel-associated bacteria in Indonesian marine lakes – Daniel F. R. Cleary – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Deep down on a Caribbean reef: lower mesophotic depths harbor a specialized coral-endosymbiont community – Pim Bongaerts – Scientific Reports

Soil microbiome

Exploring the dynamics of bacterial community composition in soil: the pan-bacteriome approach – Giovanni Bacci – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Role of RNase on microbial community analysis in the rice and wheat plants soil by 16S rDNA-DGGE – Md. Mizanur Rahman – Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology

Field-based evidence for consistent responses of bacterial communities to copper contamination in two contrasting agricultural soils – Jing Li – Frontiers in Microbiology

Evident bacterial community changes but only slight degradation when polluted with pyrene in a red soil – Gaidi Ren – Frontiers in Microbiology

Soil bacterial and fungal communities respond differently to various isothiocyanates added for biofumigation – Ping Hu – Frontiers in Microbiology

Seasonal dynamics of bacterial and archaeal methanogenic communities in flooded rice fields and effect of drainage – Björn Breidenbach and Ralf Conrad – Frontiers in Microbiology

Biogeography and biophysicochemical traits link N2O emissions, N2O emission potential and microbial communities across New Zealand pasture soils – Sergio E. Morales – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Formation of iron-rich shelled structures (IRSS) by microbial communities – David C. Fernández-Remolar – Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences

Effects of alkyl-imidazolium ionic liquid [Omim]Cl on the functional diversity of soil microbial communities – Pengpeng Guo – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Cyanobacteria drive community composition and functionality in rock-soil interface communities – Angel Valverde – Molecular Ecology

Separation of soil microbial community structure by aggregate size to a large extent under agricultural practices during early pedogenesis of a Mollisol – Na Li – Applied Soil Ecology

Microbial community structure of anoxic-oxic-settling-anaerobic sludge reduction process revealed by 454-pyrosequencing – Zhen Zhou – Chemical Engineering Journal

Conservation tillage positively influences the microflora and microfauna in the black soil of Northeast China – Shixiu Zhang – Soil and Tillage Research

Resuscitation of the rare biosphere contributes to pulses of ecosystem activity – Zach Aanderud – Frontiers in Microbiology

Water microbiome

Drinking water microbiology — from measurement to management – Caitlin R Proctor, Frederik Hammes – Current Opinion in Biotechnology

Microbial biogeography of drinking water: patterns in phylogenetic diversity across space and time – Guus Roeselers – Environmental Microbiology

Energy landscapes shape microbial communities in hydrothermal systems on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge – Håkon Dahle – The ISME Journal
http://www.nature.com/ismej/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ismej2014247a.html

Metagenomics

Connecting biodiversity and potential functional role in modern euxinic environments by microbial metagenomics – Tomàs Llorens-Marès – The ISME Journal

Environmental Metagenomics: The Data Assembly and Data Analysis Perspectives – Vinay Kumar – Journal of The Institution of Engineers (India): Series A

Metagenome assembly through clustering of next-generation sequencing data using protein sequences – Mikang Sim, Jaebum Kim – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Metagenomic Insights into the Effects of Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) on the Composition of Fecal Microbiota in Mice – Bingyong Mao – Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Diagnosis of Neuroinvasive Astrovirus Infection in an Immunocompromised Adult With Encephalitis by Unbiased Next-Generation Sequencing – Samia N. Naccache – Clinical Infectious Diseases

Unbiased Next-Generation Sequencing and New Pathogen Discovery: Undeniable Advantages and Still-Existing Drawbacks – Arianna Calistri and Giorgio Palù – Clinical Infectious Diseases

Identification of diverse circular single-stranded DNA viruses in adult dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) of Arizona and Oklahoma, USA – Anisha Dayaram – Infection, Genetics and Evolution

Metabolomics

Multi -omics and metabolic modelling pipelines: challenges and tools for systems microbiology – Marco Fondi and Pietro Liò – BioRxiv

Techniques

Accounting for uncertainty in DNA sequencing data – Jason A. O’Rawe – Trends in Genetics

More microbes
3D-Printed Microfluidic Device for the Detection of Pathogenic Bacteria Using Size-based Separation in Helical Channel with Trapezoid Cross-Section – Wonjae Lee – Scientific Reports

Microbes in the news

UCSD hires star biologist Rob Knight – Gary Robbins – UT San Diego

Drug developed out of microbiome studies advances in phase I trial – Stephanie M. Lee – SF Gate
and
Second Genome’s gut check uncovers a possible drug for bowel disease – Ron Leuty – San Francisco Business Times

The Megabiome – It’s not micro anymore – Megabiome.net

Are We Really 10% Human and 90% Bacteria? Exploring The Microbiome… (with Jessica Richman and Jonathan Eisen) – Tim Ferriss Show – Four Hour Workweek

Mounting Research Shows Gut-Brain Connection – Traci Pedersen – Psych Central

Microbiota organization influences colorectal cancers – Nicola Garrett – Family Practice News

“MyNewGut”: New project explores role of gut microbiota in preventing diet- and brain-related diseases – News-Medical.net

Joint Pain, From the Gut – David Kohn – The Atlantic

A Lamp Whose Light Comes From Bioluminescent Bacteria – Liz Stinson – Wired.com

Pieter Dorrestein Recognized by Pharmacology Society – Heather Buschman – UC San Diego

Science, publishing and career

Post publication peer review comes of age – Emma Stoye – Chemistry World

What Tech Conferences Need to Stop for Women to Contribute More – Kellyn Pot’Vin-Gorman – LinkedIn

Bik’s Picks

Because our lab is close: Jeepers! New Look at ‘Creeping’ San Andreas Fault
by Becky Oskin – LiveScience
http://www.livescience.com/49435-san-andreas-fault-less-creepy.html

These scientists raised bot fly larvae in their own bodies — on purpose – Rachel Feltman – The Washington Post

Today in Adorable Science: Disney Has Created a L’il Turtle Robot to Draw Doodles in the Sand – Carolyn Cox – The Mary Sue

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January 12, 2015

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

Milk- and solid-feeding practices and daycare attendance are associated with differences in bacterial diversity, predominant communities, and metabolic and immune function of the infant gut microbiome – Amanda L. Thompson – Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Human oral microbiome

Combinations of bacterial species associated with symptomatic endodontic infections in a Chinese population – Z Qi – International Endodontic Journal

Human gut microbiome
Inferred metagenomic comparison of mucosal and fecal microbiota from individuals undergoing routine screening colonoscopy reveals similar differences observed during active inflammation – Mei San Tang – Gut Microbes

Intestinal microbiota in metabolic diseases: From bacterial community structure and functions to species of pathophysiological relevance – Thomas Clavel – Gut Microbes

Editorial: a simple faecal preparation protocol for faecal microbiota transplantation – C. R. Kelly – Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Human skin microbiome

Microbiology of diabetic foot infections: from Louis Pasteur to ‘crime scene investigation’ – Anne Spichler – BMC Medicine

Human urinary tract microbiome

The human urine virome in association with urinary tract infections – Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez – Frontiers in Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Normal bacterial conjunctival flora in the Huacaya alpaca (Vicugna pacos) – Goedele Storms – Veterinary Ophthalmology

Replicating phages in the epidermal mucosa of the eel (Anguilla anguilla) – Miguel Carda Diéguez – Frontiers in Microbiology

Functional phylotyping approach for assessing intraspecific diversity of Ruminococcus albus within the rumen microbiome – Inna Rozman Grinberg – FEMS Microbiology Letters

Master Thesis: Predominant fecal microbiota of captive adult cheetahs housed in European zoos: a cross-sectional study – Niloufar Majdzadeh – Ghent University

Plant microbiome

Plant–microbe interactions: Microbiome remote control – Christopher Surridge – Nature Plants

Impact of plant development on the rhizobacterial population of Arachis hypogaea: a multifactorial analysis – Shyamalina Haldar and Sanghamitra Sengupta

Pyrosequencing Reveals Fungal Communities in the Rhizosphere of Xinjiang Jujube – Peng Liu – BioMed Research International

Soil, sediment, sludge microbiome

Delineating bacterial community structure of polluted soil samples collected from cancer prone belt of Punjab, India – Gagandeep Kaur – 3 Biotech

Nitrogen and methanogen community composition within and among three Sphagnum dominated peatlands in Scandinavia – Magalí Martí – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Detailed investigation of the microbial community in foaming activated sludge reveals novel foam formers – Feng Guo – Nature Scientific Reports

Long-term experimental warming alters community composition of ascomycetes in Alaskan moist and dry arctic tundra – Tatiana A. Semenova – Molecular Ecology

Microbial community composition of transiently wetted Antarctic Dry Valley soils – Thomas D. Neiderberger – Frontiers in Microbiology

Water microbiome

Ecogenomics reveals metals and land-use pressures on microbial communities in the waterways of a megacity – Gourvendu Saxena – Environmental Science & Technology

An association network analysis among microeukaryotes and bacterioplankton reveals algal bloom dynamics – Shangjin Tan – Journal of Phycology

Phages and viruses

(also see above) The human urine virome in association with urinary tract infections – Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez – Frontiers in Microbiology

TRIM28 Represses Transcription of Endogenous Retroviruses in Neural Progenitor Cells – Liana Fasching – Cell Reports

Probiotics

Systematic discovery of probiotics – Samuel C Forster & Trevor D Lawley – Nature Biotechnology

Microbes in the News

Prebiotics: Yeast Is Healthy, And So Are Bacteria That Help Us Break Down Bread And Beer – Science 2.0

Stop Killing the Good Guys! Protect Your Child’s Microbiome From Antibiotic Overuse – Aviva Romm – Huffington Post

Mounting research tightens gut microbial connection with the brain – MedicalXpress
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-01-mounting-tightens-gut-microbial-brain.html

Intestinal bacteria study uses Zingerman’s bread – Lea Giotto – The Michigan Daily

Are We Ruled by Our Microbiome? – Qiagen

Could Gut Microbes Help Us Treat Brain Disorders? – Kavli Foundation – Labmanager

Bacteria could contribute to development of wound-induced skin cancer – EurekAlert

Revenge of the bacteria? Earth Talk – August FreePress

Do viruses make us smarter? – Science Daily

The Doctor Who Championed Hand-Washing And Briefly Saved Lives – Rebecca Davis – NPR Morning Edition

Love your gut – and help your body shift those festive pounds – Kathie Swift – Daily Mail

Science, publishing, career

Life sciences workforce trends evolve with the industry – Kathy L Nugent & Lori Lindburg – Nature Biotechnology

12 Common Mistakes In Empirical Social Science – Fred Phillips – Science 2.0

How The War On Science Affects Us All – Greg Satell – Forbes

Bik’s Picks

Devil is in the detail: Evolution of color in plants and animals – Science Daily’

This cannot be statistically sound: Number Of Large Earthquakes Dropped 60 Percent In 2014 – Science 2.0

Why OCD Is ‘Miserable’: A Science Reporter’s Obsession With Contracting HIV – Shots/Fresh Air – NPR

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December 28, 2014

Human oral microbiome

Periodontitis: from microbial immune subversion to systemic inflammation – George Hajishengallis – Nature Reviews Immunology

Microbiology of Oral Biofilm-Dependent Diseases: Have We Made Significant Progress to Understand and Treat These Diseases? – Ana Paula Vieira Colombo – Current Oral Health Reports

Human skin microbiome

Dynamics of the surgical microbiota along the cardiothoracic surgery pathway – Sara Romano-Bertrand – Frontiers in Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Decreased Bacterial Diversity Characterizes the Altered Gut Microbiota in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis, Resembling Dysbiosis in Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Jose U. Scher – Arthritis & Rheumatology

Insights Into the Role of the Microbiome in Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes – Annick V. Hartstra – Diabetes Care

* The gut microbiota and its role in the development of allergic disease: a wider perspective – C. E. West – Clinical & Experimental Allergy

The power in numbers: Gut microbiota in Parkinson’s disease – Joaquin A. Vizcarra – Movement Disorders

Childhood Obesity: A Role for Gut Microbiota? – Marina Sanchez – Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health

Animal models of microbiome

Impact of the gut microbiota on rodent models of human disease – Axel Kornerup Hansen – World Journal of Gastroenterology

Dynamics and Establishment of Clostridium difficile Infection in the Murine Gastrointestinal Tract – Mark J. Koenigsknecht – Infection and Immunity

Alteration of the fecal microbiota and serum metabolite profiles in dogs with idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease – Yasushi Minamoto – Gut Microbes

Intermittent hypoxia alters gut microbiota diversity in a mouse model of sleep apnoea
Isabel Moreno-Indias – European Respiratory Journal

Bioreactor models

Lead toxicity to the performance, viability, and community composition of activated sludge microorganisms – Husen Zhang – Environmental Science & Technology

Animal microbiome

Diet strongly influences the gut microbiota of surgeonfishes – Sou Miyake – Molecular Ecology

Plant microbiome

21st century agriculture: integration of plant microbiomes for improved crop production and food security – Angela Sessitsch and Birgit Mitter – Microbial Biotechnology

Soil microbiome

Vertical distribution of the soil microbiota along a successional gradient in a glacier forefield – Thomas Rime – Molecular Ecology

Changes in the composition and diversity of bacterial communities 13 years after soil reclamation of abandoned mine land in eastern China – Yuanyuan Li – Ecological Research

Nitrogen cycling processes and microbial community composition in bed sediments in the Yukon River at Pilot Station – Deborah A. Repert – Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences

Clay minerals and metal oxides strongly influence the structure of alkane-degrading microbial communities during soil maturation – Annelie Steinbach – ISME Journal

Different vegetable crop rotations affect soil microbial communities and soilborne diseases of potato and onion: literature review and a long-term field evaluation – PJ Wright – New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science

Water microbiome

* Biogeography and ecology of the rare and abundant microbial lineages in deep-sea – Rika E. Anderson – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Comparative metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses of microbial communities in acid mine drainage – Lin-xing Chen – ISME Journal

Microbes of the built environment

Indoor bioaerosol dynamics – William W Nazaroff – Indoor Air

Bioinformatics

An improved method to set significance thresholds for β diversity testing in microbial community comparisons – Arda Gülay and Barth F. Smets – Environmental Microbiology

Metabolomics

Reevaluating the hype: Four bacterial metabolites under scrutiny – Esther Eleonore Fröhlich – European Journal of Microbiology and Immunology

Microbes in the news

Discovering microbiology – Nicholas P Money – Oxford University Press

The Microbes in Your Kitchen (Or in your Starbucks mocha) – Kevin Bonham – Scientific American

Science, Publishing, Career

Science is the most ‘future proof’ degree: Engineering and chemistry seen as courses likely to lead to an adaptable career – Laura Clark – Daily Mail

Bik’s Picks

Dr. Oz gets roasted in science journal’s Christmas edition — science roundup extra (video, links) – Susannah L. Bodman – Oregon Live

Science Explains Why The Best BBQ Is Slow Cooked – Patrick Allan – LifeHacker

The Shapes of Snowflakes – CompoundChem

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December 23, 2014

Microbiome publications are definitely not taking a winter break, so here is your holiday update. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!

Human oral microbiome

Serum IgG Antibody Levels to Periodontal Microbiota Are Associated with Incident Alzheimer Disease – James M. Noble – PLOS ONE

Cultivation of a human-associated TM7 phylotype reveals a reduced genome and epibiotic parasitic lifestyle – Xuesong He – PNAS USA

Pyrosequencing of supra- and subgingival biofilms from inflamed peri-implant
and periodontal sites – Simone Schaumann – BMC Oral Health

Human respiratory microbiome

The Microbial Community of the Cystic Fibrosis Airway Is Disrupted in Early Life – Julie Renwick – PLOS ONE

Human gut or general microbiome
Effects of bowel cleansing on the intestinal microbiota – Jonna Jalanka – Gut

The Microbiome of Aging and Age-Related Disease – 2014 Meeting Abstracts

Microbial community pattern detection in human body habitats via ensemble clustering framework – Peng Yang – ArXiv.org

Cancer and the microbiome: potential applications as new tumor biomarker – Khan Shahanavaj – Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy

Influence of Intestinal Microbiota on Body Weight Gain: a Narrative Review of the Literature – Camila S. Cardinelli – Obesity Surgery

Animal models of microbiome research

Host genetics and diet, but not immunoglobulin A expression, converge to shape
compositional features of the gut microbiome in an advanced intercross population
of mice – Larry J Leamy – Genome Biology

Animal microbiome

Microbiomes, plausible players or not in alteration of host behaviour – David G. Biron – Frontiers in Microbiology

The Howler Monkey as a Model for Exploring Host-Gut Microbiota Interactions in Primates – Katherine R. Amato, Nicoletta Righini – Howler Monkeys

The Gut Microbiota Appears to Compensate for Seasonal Diet Variation in the Wild Black Howler Monkey (Alouatta pigra) – Katherine R. Amato – Microbial Ecology

Application of the Human Intestinal Tract Chip to the non-human primate gut microbiota – T.D.J. Bello González – Beneficial Microbes

Effects of dietary supplementation of a commercial prebiotic Previda® on survival, growth, immune responses and gut microbiota of Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei – J.D. Anuta – Aquaculture Nutrition

Metagenomic-Based Study of the Phylogenetic and Functional Gene Diversity in Galápagos Land and Marine Iguanas – Pei-Ying Hong – Microbial Ecology

Plant microbiome

The plant microbiome at work – Klaus Schlaeppi and Davide Bulgarelli – Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions

Tree communities rapidly alter soil microbial resistance and resilience to drought – David Rivest – Functional Ecology

The Sesquiterpene Biosynthesis and Vessel-Occlusion Formation in Stems of Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Gilg Trees Induced by Wounding Treatments without Variation of Microbial Communities – Zheng Zhang – International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Analysis of microbial taxonomical groups present in maize stalks suppressive to colonization by toxigenic Fusarium spp.: A strategy for the identification of potential antagonists – Jürgen Köhl – Biological Control

Soil and sediment microbiome

Diversity, Distribution and Hydrocarbon Biodegradation Capabilities of Microbial Communities in Oil-Contaminated Cyanobacterial Mats from a Constructed Wetland – Raeid M. M. Abed – PLOS ONE

Do climate factors govern soil microbial community composition and biomass at a regional scale? – L. Ma – Biogeosciences Discuss

Water microbiome

Early succession of micro-periphyton communities in kelp bed and barren ground ecological systems – Roberto A. Uribe – Marine Ecology

Greater temporal changes of sediment microbial community than its waterborne counterpart in Tengchong hot springs, Yunnan Province, China – Shang Wang – Scientific Reports

Effects of warming on microbial communities in the coastal waters of temperate and subtropical zones in the Northern Hemisphere, with a focus on Gammaproteobacteria
Dao Thi Anh Tuyet – Journal of Oceanography

Colonization in the photic zone and subsequent changes during sinking determines bacterial community composition in marine snow – Stefan Thiele – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Diversity, Distribution and Hydrocarbon Biodegradation Capabilities of Microbial Communities in Oil-Contaminated Cyanobacterial Mats from a Constructed Wetland
Raeid M. M. Abed – PLOS ONE

Bioreactor microbiology

Comparative analysis of microbial community of novel lactic acid fermentation inoculated with different undefined mixed cultures – Shaobo Liang – Bioresource Technology

A framework for establishing predictive relationships between specific bacterial 16S rRNA sequence abundances and biotransformation rates – Damian E. Helbling – Water Research

Metagenomics

Shotgun metagenomics reveals a wide array of antibiotic resistance genes and mobile elements in a polluted lake in India – Johan Bengtsson-Palme – Frontiers in Microbiology

Challenges of metagenomics and single-cell genomics approaches for exploring cyanobacterial diversity – Michelle Davison – Photosynthesis Research

Metagenomic chromosome conformation capture (meta3C) unveils the diversity of chromosome organization in microorganisms – Martial Marbouty – eLIFE

Development and validation of an rDNA operon based primer walking strategy applicable to de novo bacterial genome finishing – Alexander W. Eastman and Ze-Chun Yuan – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metabolomics and transcriptomics

Terpene synthases are widely distributed in bacteria – Yuuki Yamada – PNAS USA

Scaling microbial biomass, metabolism and resource supply – Robert L. Sinsabaugh – Biogeochemistry

Metatranscriptomics of N2-fixing cyanobacteria in the Amazon River plume – Jason A Hilton – ISME Journal

Mining Soil Metagenomes to Better Understand the Evolution of Natural Product Structural Diversity: Pentangular Polyphenols as a Case Study – Hahk-Soo Kang and Sean F. Brady – Journal of the American Chemical Society

Molecular details of a starch utilization pathway in the human gut symbiont Eubacterium rectale – Darrell W. Cockburn – Molecular Microbiology

Techniques

Deciphering the Prokaryotic Community and Metabolisms in South African Deep-Mine Biofilms through Antibody Microarrays and Graph Theory – Yolanda Blanco – PLOS ONE

Rapid species-level identification of vaginal and oral lactobacilli using MALDI-TOF MS analysis and 16S rDNA sequencing – Annette Carola Anderson – BMC Microbiology

Probiotics

Probiotic and technological properties of Lactobacillus spp. strains from the human stomach in the search for potential candidates against gastric microbial dysbiosis – Susana Delgado – Frontiers in Microbiology

Phages and viruses

Effectiveness of bacteriophages in the sputum of cystic fibrosis patients – E. Saussereau – Clinical Microbiology and Infection

More Microbiology

Bridging the gap between viable but non-culturable and antibiotic persistent bacteria – Mesrop Ayrapetyan – Trends in Microbiology

Bacterial microcompartments and the modular construction of microbial metabolism – Cheryl A. Kerfeldemail, Onur Erbilgin – Trends in Microbiology

The impact of triclosan on the spread of antibiotic resistance in the environment – Daniel E. Carey – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbes in the news

At Last, I Meet My Microbes – Katherine Harmon Courage – NPR Shots

This Is Your Microbiome: Katherine Harmon Courage at NPR is taking a tour through her microbiome and that of her husband, mother, and dog, as she recounts in a four-part series – Genome Web

Big Idea 2015: Medicine, Wellbeing, and the Microbiome – Deepak Chopra – LinkedIn

When Threatened By Worms, Bacteria Summon Killer Fungi – Ed Yong – National Geographic

Parkinson’s disease linked to gut bacteria – Tim Sandle – Digital Journal

Bacteria in 550-million-year-old fossils provide new clues about fossil formation – Science Codex

Yellowstone Thermal Pools Colored by Pollution – Patrick J Kiger – Discovery

Floating Toilets That Clean Themselves Grow On A Lake – Nsikan Akpan – NPR Goats and Soda

Bettendorf wrestling coach’s invention tackles germs and bacteria on sporting mats and floors – Dennis Moran – QC Online

People on Craigslist Want to Give You Bacteria for Free – Natalie Kitroeff – BusinessWeek

Science, publishing, career

Patterns of text reuse in a scientific corpus – Daniel T. Citron and Paul Ginsparg – PNAS USA

The Anti-Plagiarism Machine: An analysis of hundreds of thousands of scientific papers finds text re-use is rampant, but it isn’t always malicious – Adrienne Lafrance – The Atlantic

“You Are Welcome Here”: Small Stickers Make a Big Difference for LGBTQ Scientists – Kyle Frischkorn – Scientific American

Science and Art

Incredible Bacteria-Laced Fabric Combines Art, Biology And Fashion – Priscilla Frank – Huffington Post
Bik’s Picks

Evolutionary perspectives on human height variation – Gert Stulp and Louise Barrett – Biological Reviews

What the ‘marshmallow test’ can teach you about your kids – Chuck Hadad – CNN

7 of the Ocean’s Strangest Creatures, Including a Fish With a Flashlight – Matt Simon – Wired

Modern genetics confirm ancient relationship between fins and hands – Science Daily

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December 19, 2014

Pregnancy and Birth

Lots of abstracts (mostly from the group of Kjersti Aagaard) from the 35th Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine — The Pregnancy Meeting in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

13: Association of preterm birth with alterations in the microbiome and linkage to host mtDNA variants – Kjersti Aagaard

57: Alterations in the intestinal microbiome of infants are associated with breastfeeding practice – Derrick Chu

78: Distinct alterations in the placental microbiome among spontaneous preterm births – Kjersti Aagaard

79: Metagenomics of a population-based prospective cohort reveals no discernable impact of mode of delivery (MOD) on the infant microbiome by 6 weeks of age – Derrick Chu

122: The microbiome of the placenta is altered among subjects with severe chorioamnionitis & spontaneous preterm birth – Amanda Prince

282: Chorioamnionitis induced by intramniotic injection of IL1, LPS or Ureaplasma parvum is associated with an altered microbiome in a primate model of inflammatory preterm birth (PTB) – Amanda Prince

283: Amniotic fluid microbiome community and inflammation in women with second trimester cervical changes – Amanda Roman

342: Poor maternal nutrition is associated with alterations in the maternal and neonatal microbiome communities – Kathleen Antony

650: Characterization of the vaginal microbiome following preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) – Janet Hill

709: Race, latency, and fetal membrane microbiota diversity in preterm premature rupture of membranes – Sarahn Wheeler

Human oral microbiome

* Comparative analysis of the human saliva microbiome from different climate zones: Alaska, Germany, and Africa – Li J – BMC Microbiology

Human respiratory microbiome

The adult nasopharyngeal microbiome as a determinant of pneumococcal acquisition – Cremers AJ – Microbiome Journal

Human gut microbiome

* The gut microbiota of Colombians differs from that of Americans, Europeans and Asians – Escobar JS – BMC Microbiology

Gut Microbiota: Its Role in Hepatic Encephalopathy – Rahul Rai – Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology

The fungal microbiota of de-novo paediatric inflammatory bowel disease – I. Mukhopadhya – Microbes and Infection

Human vaginal microbiome

Colonization of the upper genital tract by vaginal bacterial species in non-pregnant women  – Caroline M. Mitchell – American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Transcriptional fingerprints of antigen-presenting cell subsets in the human vaginal mucosa and skin reflect tissue-specific immune microenvironments – Dorothée Duluc – Genome Medicine

Animal models

Microbially Driven TLR5-Dependent Signaling Governs Distal Malignant Progression through Tumor-Promoting Inflammation – Melanie R. Rutkowski – Cancer Cell

Intestinal microbiota diversity and expression of pattern recognition receptors in newly weaned piglets – Xin Tao – Anaerobe

Host genetics and diet, but not immunoglobulin A expression, converge to shape
compositional features of the gut microbiome in an advanced intercross population
of mice – Larry J Leamy – Genome Biology

The effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus as feed supplement on skin mucosal immune parameters, intestinal microbiota, stress resistance and growth performance of black swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri) – Seyed Hossein Hoseinifar – Fish & Shellfish Immunology

Animal microbiome

Investigation of a new acetogen isolated from an enrichment of the tammar wallaby forestomach – Gagen EJ – BMC Microbiology

Metagenomics, bioinformatics

Determining the quality and complexityof next-generation sequencing data without
a reference genome – Seyed Yahya Anvar – Genome Biology

Techniques

Tracking down the sources of experimental contamination in microbiome studies – Sophie Weiss – Genome Biology

More microbiology

Single cell genomics of bacterial pathogens: outlook for infectious disease research – Jeffrey S McLean and Roger S Lasken – Genome Medicine

A phylogeny-based sampling strategy and power calculator informs genome-wide associations study design for microbial pathogens – Maha R Farhat – Genome Medicine

Environmental enteropathy and malnutrition: do we know enough to intervene? – William A Petri – BMC Medicine

Microbes in the news

Mix of Bacteria in Gut May Depend More on Diet than Genes – Microbiota, Microbiome Change Quickly, UCSF Researchers Find – Jeffrey Norris – UCSF

Protection of the mouse gut by mucus depends on microbes – Phys.org

Life would go on if all bacteria disappeared (but it would totally suck) – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

New technology using bacteria from dung helps coffee farmers to purify water – Oliver Balch – The Guardian

Science, publishing, career

Dragging scientific publishing into the 21st century – Razib Khan – Genome Biology

Training for peer review: why we need it and how to get there – David Moher – Biome BioMedCentral

Along with the privilege of authorship come important responsibilities – David Moher – BMC Medicine

Crashing the Old Boys’ Science Club – Yamina Berchiche – Live Science

Bik’s Picks

‘People Can Be Afraid of Anything’ – There are plenty of people afraid of whales who will never even see one. How I learned about, and tried to conquer, my own cetaphobia – Kate Horowitz – The Atlantic

Playlist: Science! – NPR/TED staff – NPR

Birds sensed severe storms and fled before tornado outbreak – Science Daily

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December 16, 2014

Pregnancy and birth

* The establishment of the infant intestinal microbiome is not affected by rotavirus vaccination – Li Ang – Scientific Reports

In pregnant women: Gut Microbiota as an Epigenetic Regulator: Pilot Study Based on Whole-Genome Methylation Analysis – Himanshu Kumar – mBio

Human skin and hair microbiome

* Molecular characterization of the skin fungal microbiome in patients with psoriasis – Akemi Takemoto – The Journal of Dermatology

* Metagenomic analyses of bacteria on human hairs: a qualitative assessment for applications in forensic science – Silvana R Tridico – Investigative Genetics

Human oral microbiome

Oral Streptococci and Nitrite-Mediated Interference of Pseudomonas aeruginosa – Jessica A. Scoffield and Hui Wu – Infection and Immunity

Antimicrobial effect of lemongrass oil against oral malodour micro-organisms and the pilot study of safety and efficacy of lemongrass mouthrinse on oral malodour – P. Satthanakul – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Human respiratory microbiome

The adult nasopharyngeal microbiome as a determinant of pneumococcal acquisition – Amelieke JH Cremers – Microbiome Journal

Human gut microbiome

Shaping the gut microbiome – Linda Koch – Nature Reviews Microbiology

A viral understudy for commensal bacteria – Yvonne Bordon – Nature Reviews Microbiology

* Impacts of infection with different toxigenic Clostridium difficile strains on faecal microbiota in children – Zongxin Ling – Scientific Reports

Gut Microbiota as an Epigenetic Regulator: Pilot Study Based on Whole-Genome Methylation Analysis – Himanshu Kumar – mBio

Dietary effects on human gut microbiome diversity – Zhenjiang Xua and Rob Knight – British Journal of Nutrition

Host Demise as a Beneficial Function of Indigenous Microbiota in Human Hosts – Martin J. Blaser and Glenn F. Webb – mBio

Editorial for special issue of CMI: Faecal transplantation and infectious diseases practitioners – D. Raoult – Clinical Microbiology and Infection

Review: Dysbiotic Events in Gut Microbiota: Impact on Human Health – Serena Schippa and Maria Pia Conte – Nutrients

Animal and other models of microbiome research

A Winogradsky-based culture system shows an association between microbial fermentation and cystic fibrosis exacerbation – Robert A Quinn – ISME Journal

Whole Grain Oats Improve Insulin Sensitivity and Plasma Cholesterol Profile and Modify Gut Microbiota Composition in C57BL/6J Mice – Albert Lihong Zhou – Journal of Nutrition

The Antipsychotic Olanzapine Interacts with the Gut Microbiome to Cause Weight Gain in Mouse – Andrew P. Morgan – PLOS ONE

Genetically identical co-housed pigs as models for dietary studies of gut microbiomes
Fang Yang – Microbiome Science and Medicine

Animal microbiome

Changes in the faecal microbiota of mares precede the development of post partum colic – J. S. Weese – Equine Veterinary Journal

Succession and Replacement of Bacterial Populations in the Caecum of Egg Laying Hens over Their Whole Life – Petra Videnska – PLOS ONE

 

* Adult blood-feeding tsetse flies, trypanosomes, microbiota and the fluctuating environment in sub-Saharan Africa – Anne Geiger – ISME Journal

Spatial and Temporal Features of the Growth of a Bacterial Species Colonizing the Zebrafish Gut – Matthew Jemielita – mBio

Functional genomics and microbiome profiling of the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) reveal insights into the digestive physiology and nutritional ecology of wood feeding beetles – Erin D Scully – BMC Genomics

 

Bacteria–bacteria interactions within the microbiota of the ancestral metazoan Hydra contribute to fungal resistance – Sebastian Fraune – ISME Journal

Plant microbiome

Local-scale biogeography and spatiotemporal variability in communities of mycorrhizal fungi – Mohammad Bahram – New Phytologist

Emergence shapes the structure of the seed-microbiota – Matthieu Barret – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Bacterial communities in the phylloplane of Prunus species – Yeonhwa Jo – Journal of Basic Microbiology

Changes in rhizospheric microbial community structure and function during the natural recovery of abandoned cropland on the Loess Plateau, China – Chao Zhang – Ecological Engineering

Climate-induced die-off affects plant–soil–microbe ecological relationship and functioning – Francisco Lloret – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Leaf-inhabiting endophytic yeasts are abundant but unevenly distributed in three Ficus species from botanical garden greenhouses in Germany – Michael Jay L. Solis – Mycological Progress

Soil and sediment microbiome

Succession of Bacterial Community Structure and Diversity in Soil along a Chronosequence of Reclamation and Re-Vegetation on Coal Mine Spoils in China – Yuanyuan Li – PLOS ONE

Soil microbial communities identify organic amendments for use during oil sands reclamation – M.L. Béass – Ecological Engineering

Forest canopy structural controls over throughfall affect soil microbial community structure in an epiphyte-laden maritime oak stand – Carl Rosier – Ecohydrology

Pyrosequencing revealed highly microbial phylogenetic diversity in ferromanganese nodules from farmland – Min Hu – Environ Sci Processes Impacts

Seasonal dynamics of bacterial and archaeal methanogenic communities in flooded rice fields and effect of drainage – Björn Breidenbach1 and Ralf Conrad – Frontiers in Microbiology

Variations of Bacterial Community Structure and Composition in Mangrove Sediment at Different Depths in Southeastern Brazil – Lucas William Mendes – Diversity

Invasive dreissenid mussels and benthic algae in Lake Michigan: characterizing effects on sediment bacterial communities – Philip O. Lee – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Plant assemblage composition and soil P concentration differentially affect communities of AM and total fungi in a semi-arid grassland – Rim Klabi – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Bacterial and Archaeal Communities in Sediments of the North Chinese Marginal Seas
Jiwen Liu – Microbial Ecology

Microbial community composition and diversity in Caspian Sea sediments – Nagissa Mahmoudi – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Priming of the decomposition of ageing soil organic matter: concentration dependence and microbial control – Johannes Rousk – Functional Ecology

Influence of spoil type on afforestation success and natural vegetative recolonization on a surface coal mine in Appalachia, United States – Kenton Sena – Restoration Ecology

Water microbiome

Bacterial community responses to a gradient of alkaline mountaintop mine drainage in Central Appalachian streams – Raven L Bier – The ISME Journal

Big answers from small worlds: a user’s guide for protist microcosms as a model system in ecology and evolution – Florian Altermatt – Methods in Ecology and Evolution

Spatial scales of bacterial community diversity at cold seeps (Eastern Mediterranean Sea) – Petra Pop Ristova – ISME Journal

The effects of oil pollution on Antarctic benthic diatom communities over 5 years – R. Polmear – Marine Pollution Bulletin

Bacterial community dynamics in a swine wastewater anaerobic reactor revealed by 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis – An-Chi Liu – Journal of Biotechnology

Food microbiology

Antimicrobial activity of hop extracts against foodborne pathogens for meat applications – B. Kramer – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Molecular and enological characterization of Touriga Nacional non-Saccharomyces yeasts – Andreia Teixeira – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Metabolomics

Intra- and inter-species interactions in microbial communities – Luis R. Comolli – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metabolomic Pattern Analysis after Mediterranean Diet Intervention in a Nondiabetic Population: A 1- and 3-Year Follow-up in the PREDIMED Study – Rosa Vázquez-Fresno – Journal of Proteome Research

A gut microbial metabolite of linoleic acid, 10-hydroxy-cis-12-octadecenoic acid, ameliorates intestinal epithelial barrier impairment partially via GPR40/MEK-ERK pathway – Junki Miyamoto – The Journal of Biological Chemistry

Bioinformatics

IM-TORNADO: A Tool for Comparison of 16S Reads from Paired-End Libraries – Patricio Jeraldo – PLOS ONE

Techniques

Normalization of environmental metagenomic DNA enhances the discovery of under-represented microbial community members – Jean-Baptiste Ramond – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Remediation of pharmaceuticals and personal care products using an aerobic granular sludge sequencing bioreactor and microbial community profiling using Solexa sequencing technology analysis – Xia Zhao – Bioresource Technology

Predicting Bacterial Community Assemblages Using an Artificial Neural Network Approach – Peter Larsen – Artificial Neural Networks

Functional foods

Systematic review of randomized controlled trials of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics in inflammatory bowel disease – Ghouri YA – Clinical and Experimental Gastroenterology

More microbiology

Life in a World without Microbes – Jack A. Gilbert, Josh D. Neufeld – PLOS Biology

Demystifying Escherichia coli pathovars – Kate S. Baker – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Wolbachia small noncoding RNAs and their role in cross-kingdom communications – Jaime G. Mayoral – PNAS USA

How the virophage compels the need to readdress the classification of microbes – Didier Raoult – Virology

Microbes in the news

To Get To The Bottom Of Your Microbiome, Start With A Swab Of Poo – Katherine Harmon Courage – NPR Shots Health News

Seth Bordenstein: Expert to give talk on animal microbiome – Arizona State University

Could a bacterial ‘fingerprint’ solve a sexual assault case? – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

Oil-Dwelling Bacteria Are Highly Social Creatures, Contrary To Previous Belief – Rebekah Marcarelli – Headlines and Global News

Methane Bursts On Mars Could Hint At Previous Life – Joe Palca – NPR

Bik’s Picks

A 3D Map of the Human Genome at Kilobase Resolution Reveals Principles of Chromatin Looping – Suhas S.P. Rao – Cell

Shift workers ‘sicker and fatter’ – James Gallagher – BBC News

How to turn 4,000 watts of white light into a 45-meter-wide rainbow – Popular Science

How to Bike Home Your Christmas Tree in 11 Simple Steps – Anna Broadway – City Lab

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December 15, 2014

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Antibiotics in early life and obesity – Laura M. Cox & Martin J. Blaser – Nature Reviews Endocrinology

Is there a role for probiotics in the prevention of preterm birth? – Siwen Yang – Frontiers in Immunology

Human oral microbiome

A new era in palaeomicrobiology: prospects for ancient dental calculus as a long-term record of the human oral microbiome – Christina Warinner – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B

Commensal Streptococcus mitis is a unique vector for oral mucosal vaccination – Nada Daifalla- Microbes and Infection

Human respiratory microbiome

Correlation Between Nasal Microbiome Composition and Remote Purulent Skin and Soft-Tissue Infections – Ryan C. Johnson – Infection and Immunity

Human gut microbiome

The fungal microbiota of de-novo paediatric inflammatory bowel disease – I. Mukhopadhya – Microbes and Infection

Microbiome changes in healthy volunteers treated with GSK1322322, a novel antibiotic targeting bacterial peptide deformylase – Seda Arat – Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

Impact of commensal microbiota on the host pathophysiology: focusing on immunity and inflammation – Hiroshi Ohno – Seminars in Immunopathology
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00281-014-0472-2

Human vaginal microbiome

Trichomonas vaginalis origins, molecular pathobiology and clinical considerations.
Hirt, Robert P – Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases
http://journals.lww.com/co-infectiousdiseases/Abstract/publishahead/Trichomonas_vaginalis_origins,_molecular.99539.aspx

Animal microbiome

Impact of a Complex Food Microbiota on Energy Metabolism in the Model Organism Caenorhabditis elegans – Elena Zanni – BioMed Research International

Plant microbiome

The bacterial rhizobiome of hyperaccumulators: future perspectives based on omics analysis and advanced microscopy – Giovanna Visioli – Frontiers in Plant Science

Soil microbiome

Effect of 25-year fertilization on soil microbial biomass and community structure in a
continuous corn cropping system – Peng Shi – Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science

Microbial regulation of nitrogen dynamics along the hillslope of a natural forest – Kazuo Isobe – Frontiers in Environmental Science

Ancient and modern environmental DNA – Mikkel Winther Pedersen – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B

Protocols for Investigating the Microbiology of Oil Sands Deposits – Christina Ridley – Springer Protocols Handbooks 2014

Water microbiome

Spatially resolved sampling reveals dynamic microbial communities in rising hydrothermal plumes across a back-arc basin – Cody S Sheik – ISME Journal
http://www.nature.com/ismej/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ismej2014228a.html

Protocols for Investigating the Microbiology of Coal-Bed-Produced Waters – Amy V. Callaghan – Springer Protocols Handbooks 2014

The shift of microbial population composition accompanying the injected water flowing in the water-flooding petroleum reservoirs – P. K. Gao – BioGeosciences Discussions

Air microbiome

MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and identification of new bacteria species in air
samples from Makkah, Saudi Arabia – Emmanouil Angelakis – BMC Research Notes

Bioreactor microbiology
Spatial heterogeneity in degradation characteristics and microbial community composition of pesticide biopurification systems – Pieter Verhagen – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Metabolomics

Development of High-Performance Chemical Isotope Labeling LC-MS for Profiling the Human Fecal Metabolome – Wei Xu – Analytical Chemistry
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ac503619q

A straightforward and efficient analytical pipeline for metaproteome characterization – Alessandro Tanca – Microbiome

Microbes in the News

Healthier Soils Will Give Us – and the Planet — a Healthier Century – Robert T. Fraley – Huffington Post

These Crazy Bacteria-Filled Spacesuits May Be What Let Us Survive On Other Planets – Adele Peters – FastCoexist

Parkinson’s Disease Associated With Altered Intestinal Bacteria: Interview with Filip Scheperjans – Medical Research

New Imaging Technique Reveals Bacterial Biofilms in Colon Cancer Patients – Catherine Griffin – Science World Report

450 bacteria on a plastic giraffe vs. 80 million in a kiss is not bad at all! #BacteriaHysteria:
Is your child playing with a germ-infested toy? Here’s how to reduce the risks – Tracy Frank – InForum

Origin Of Eukaryotic Cells Gets A New Hypothesis – Science 2.0

Science, publishing, and career
Retraction Watch is growing, thanks to a $400,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation – Ivan Oransky – Retraction Watch

Bik’s Picks

The Innovative Chemistry of Tinsel – Francie Diep – Popular Science

The Math And Science Of Latkes – Tania Lombrozo – NPR

Northern white rhino dies at San Diego zoo; only 5 left worldwide – Faith Karimi and Joe Sutton – CNN

Why this computer science professor bakes 1,400 cookies for his students during finals week – John Cook – GeekWire

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December 12, 2014

Human oral microbiome

Periodontal microbiology in Latin America – Adolfo Contreras – Periodontology 2000

Current perspective of the impact of smoking on the progression and treatment of periodontitis – Francisco H. Nociti Jr – Periodontology 2000

Effect of periodontal treatment on preterm birth rate: a systematic review of meta-analyses – Néstor J. López, Sergio Uribe and Benjamín Martinez – Periodontology 2000

Pregnancy and birth

* The Infant Microbiome Development: Mom Matters – Noel T. Mueller – Trends in Molecular Medicine

(see also above) Effect of periodontal treatment on preterm birth rate: a systematic review of meta-analyses – Néstor J. López, Sergio Uribe and Benjamín Martinez – Periodontology 2000

Pre- and probiotics, functional foods

Repeated cooking and freezing of whole wheat flour increases resistant starch with beneficial impacts on in vitro fecal fermentation properties – Jennifer A. Arcila, Devin J. Rose – Journal of Functional Foods

Potential of cereal grains and grain legumes in modulating pigs’ intestinal microbiota – A review – Tobias Aumiller – Livestock Science

Significance of Inulin Fructans in the Human Diet – Gertjan Schaafsma and Joanne L. Slavin – Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety

Effects of targeted delivery of propionate to the human colon on appetite regulation, body weight maintenance and adiposity in overweight adults – Edward S Chambers – Gut

Animal models

P47 – A dietary-driven redox modulation of gut microbiome-host interactions: the rescue of epithelial barrier and mucus production during dysbiosis by dietary nitrate – Bárbara Rocha – Free Radical Biology and Medicine

Dietary Pectin–Derived Acidic Oligosaccharides Improve the Pulmonary Bacterial Clearance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Lung Infection in Mice by Modulating Intestinal Microbiota and Immunity – Henry Bernard – The Journal of Infectious Diseases

Soil microbiome

Response of autochthonous microbiota of diesel polluted soils to land-farming treatments – Gloria Andrea Silva-Castro – Environmental Research

Are there links between responses of soil microbes and ecosystem functioning to elevated CO2, N deposition and warming? A global perspective – Pablo García-Palacios – Global Change Biology

Experimental evaluation of CO2 percolation effects on subsurface soil microbiota –
Patricia Österreicher-Cunha – International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

Water microbiome

In situ grazing experiments apply new technology to gain insights into deep-sea microbial food webs – Maria G. Pachiadaki – Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography

Metabolomics

Microbial Urease in Health and Disease – Diego Mora, Stefania Arioli – PLOS Pathogens

Bioinformatics

“Bioinformatics: Introduction and Methods,” a Bilingual Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) as a New Example for Global Bioinformatics Education – Yang Ding – PLOS Computational Biology

Techniques
Effect of Two Different Commercial DNA Extraction Kits on the Bacterial 16S rRNA gene Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis Profile of Arabian Gelding Feces – Megan L. Shepherd – Journal of Equine Veterinary Science

More microbiology papers

mBio Addresses the Pause in Gain-of-Function (GOF) Experiments Involving Pathogens with Pandemic Potential (PPP) – Arturo Casadevall – mBio

The battle for iron – Andrew E. Armitage, Hal Drakesmith – Science

Bacteriophage exclusion, a new defense system – Rodolphe Barrangou and John van der Oost – The EMBO Journal

Microbes in the news

Poo And You: A Journey Into The Guts Of A Microbiome – Katherine Harmon Courage – NPR Health

The Gut and Arthritis: The Evidence Grows – Nancy Walsh and Diana Swift – MedPageToday

Gross! Apparently Your Bacteria Is What Makes or Breaks a Relationship? – Zahra Barnes – Glamour.com (who knew?)

A Powder Made From Bacteria Waste Could Curb Overeating – Sarah Zhang – Gizmodo

Science, publishing, career

Scientific Elevator Pitches: A number of competitions around the world are challenging young scientists to describe their research in mere minutes – Rina Shaikh-Lesko – The Scientist

More science doctorates, fewer postdoctorate science jobs – Beryl Lieff Benderly – Science Careers

Making science a desirable career – Jessica K. Polka, Kristin A. Krukenberg – Science Magazine

Tips for Talking to Politicians: Members of an American Society for Cell Biology panel urge their colleagues to consider science advocacy – Tracy Vence – The Scientist

What Should High School Students Learn About Science? – Ria Misra – Space io9

Faculty member leads development of webinars that improve science education – Samantha Schwartz – PennState News

In defamation case, PubPeer moves to quash subpoena to unmask anonymous commenters – Kelly Servick – Science Magazine

Scientific American’s Top 10 Science Stories of 2014 – Scientific American

Bik’s Picks

Why whale poo matters – George Monbiot – The Guardian

Introduction to special Science Issue on bird genomes: A flock of genomes – Guojie Zhang – Science

The Darwin Awards: sex differences in idiotic behaviour – Ben Alexander Daniel Lendrem – British Medical Journal

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December 11, 2014

The Bay Area is getting drenched with rain right now, and several leaks in our roof kept me busy with buckets and towels, but the power is still on, so here we go:

Human microbiome general

* Review: The demographic determinants of human microbiome health – Sylvie Estrela – Trends in Microbiology

Human oral microbiome

Salivary Mucins Protect Surfaces from Colonization by Cariogenic Bacteria – Erica Shapiro Frenkel – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

* Effects of the gut microbiota on bone mass – Claes Ohlsson, Klara Sjögren – Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism

Discovery of a Conjugative Megaplasmid in Bifidobacterium breve – Francesca Bottacini – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

Microbiome of the placenta in pre-eclampsia supports the role of bacteria in the multifactorial cause of pre-eclampsia – Ranmalee Amarasekara – Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research
Animal and bioreactor models

Optimization of a rapid and efficient analytical pipeline for in-depth metaproteome characterization: evaluation on mock microbial mixtures and application to the mouse gut microbiome – Alessandro Tanca – Microbiome

* Microbial shifts in the aging mouse gut – Morgan GI Langille – Microbiome

Development of human colonic microbiota in the computer-controlled dynamic SIMulator of the GastroIntestinal tract SIMGI – Elvira Barroso – LWT – Food Science and Technology

Protocols for Microcosms for Growing Biofilms on Hydrophobic Substrates: A Polyphasic Approach to Study Biodiversity, Metabolic Activity, and Biofilm Architecture – Wolf-Rainer Abraham – Springer Protocols Handbooks 2014

Animal microbiome

Acidobacteria appear to dominate the microbiome of two sympatric Caribbean Sponges and one Zoanthid – Aileen O¿Connor-Sánchez – Biological Research

Plant microbiome

The impact of systemic and copper pesticide applications on the phyllosphere microflora of tomatoes – Andrea R Ottesen – Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

Soil and sediment microbiome

Linkages between the soil organic matter fractions and the microbial metabolic functional diversity within a broad-leaved Korean pine forest – Jing Tian – European Journal of Soil Biology

Carbon sequestration is related to mycorrhizal fungal community shifts during long-term succession in boreal forests – Karina E. Clemmensen – New Phytologist

Comparison of bacterial succession in green waste composts amended with inorganic fertiliser and wastewater treatment plant sludge – Sean Storey – Bioresource Technology

Water microbiome

Initial community and environment determine the response of bacterial communities to dispersant and oil contamination – Alice C. Ortmann – Marine Pollution Bulletin

Initial community and environment determine the response of bacterial communities to dispersant and oil contamination – Alice C. Ortmann, YueHan Lu – Marine Pollution Bulletin

Protistan diversity in a permanently stratified meromictic lake (Lake Alatsee, SW Germany) – Andreas Oikonomou – Environmental Microbiology

Exploration of Microbial Diversity of Taptapani (India) Hot Spring Through Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis – Sudip Kumar Sen – Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering

Food microbiology

Selection of Autochthonous Strains as Starter Cultures for Fermented Fish Products – Barbara Speranza – Journal of Food Science

Microbes in the news

Pregnancy Germs: Friend Or Foe? – How The Maternal Microbiome Influences Pregnancy Health – PR NewsWire / March of Dimes

Study Hints Gut Microbiome Plays A Role in Multiple Sclerosis
Kate O’Rourke – Gastroenterology and Endoscopy News

“The Great Plate Count Anomaly” that is no more – Gemma Reguera – Small Things Considered ASM

Google Science Fair – Bacteria boosting cereal crop yields – Brett Worthington – ABC Net Australia

Guts of obese dogs look similar to those of obese people – Agata Blaszczak-Boxe – Science Magazine

Baby infected in birthing pool died of Legionnaire’s disease – Bahar Gholipour – CBS News

Science, publishing, and career

Scientists Often Skip A Simple Test That Could Verify Their Work – NPR Morning Edition

Study of massive preprint archive hints at the geography of plagiarism – John Bohannon – Science Insider

Bik’s Picks

Deep Neural Networks are Easily Fooled: High Confidence Predictions for Unrecognizable Images – Anh Nguyen – Arxiv

Three-in-one drug cuts body weight by a third – Nsikan Akpan – Science Magazine

Water vapor on Rosetta’s target comet significantly different from that found on Earth – Science Daily

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