August 18, 2015

New paper from our lab about human microbiota during pregnancy, association between obesity and cervical microflora, Argentina soil metagenomes, proteomics library, and microbiology during mozzarella cheese making.

Events and conferences

ECCMID: 26th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases: April 2016, Istanbul, Turkey

General microbiome

Review: Fulfilling the Promise of Microbiomics to Revolutionize Medicine – Traci L Testerman – J Microbiol Exp

Review: Cross-kingdom similarities in microbiome functions – Rodrigo Mendes – ISME Journal

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

From our lab: Temporal and spatial variation of the human microbiota during pregnancy – Daniel B. DiGiulio – PNAS

Maternal group B Streptococcus and the infant gut microbiota – A. E. Cassidy-Bushrow – Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

The stool microbiota of insulin resistant women with recent gestational diabetes, a high risk group for type 2 diabetes – Marina Fugmann – Scientific Reports

Human reproductive tract microbiome

Relationship of Specific Bacteria in the Cervical and Vaginal Microbiotas With Cervicitis – Linda M. Gorgos – Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Changes in vaginal microbiota following antimicrobial and probiotic therapy – Jean M. Macklaim – Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease

Association between obesity and cervical microflora dominated by Lactobacillus iners in Korean women – Hea Young Oh – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes and bacterial vaginosis presence in cervical samples from Paraguayan indigenous – Pamela Mongelos – International Journal of Infectious Diseases

The most common isolated microorganisms and its clinical manifestation in hospitalised women suffering from urogenital diseases in Latvia – Anatolijs Naumčiks – International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology

Human respiratory microbiome

Conference abstract: Profiling of lung microbial communities in lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients – Yanhong Liu – Cancer Research

Human oral microbiome

Conference abstract: 16S rRNA saliva analysis unveils differences in the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma microbiome before and after surgical resection – Rafael E. Guerrero-Preston – Cancer Research

Human gut microbiome

Variable alterations of the microbiota, without metabolic or immunological change, following faecal microbiota transplantation in patients with chronic pouchitis – J. Landy – Scientific Reports

Review: Systematic Review of the Relation Between Intestinal Microbiota and Toll-Like Receptors in the Metabolic Syndrome: What Do We Know So Far? – José Pedro Portela-Cidade – GE Portuguese Journal of Gastroenterology

Review: Commensal Microbiome Promotes Resistance to Local and Systemic Infections – Nan Zhang – Chinese Medical Journal

Animal microbiome

High diversity of viable bacteria isolated from lymph nodes of slaughter pigs and its possible impacts for food safety – Evelyne Mann – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Geographic patterns in the bacterial microbiome of the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca vitripennis (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) – E. W. Welch – Symbiosis

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Using direct amplification and next-generation sequencing technology to explore foliar endophyte communities in experimentally inoculated western white pines – Lorinda S. Bullington – Fungal Ecology

Maize lines with different nitrogen use efficiency select bacterial communities with different β-glucosidase-encoding genes and glucosidase activity in the rhizosphere – Shamina I. Pathan – Biology and Fertility of Soils

Fire severity shapes plant colonization effects on bacterial community structure, microbial biomass, and soil enzyme activity in secondary succession of a burned forest – Joseph E. Knelman – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Diversity of hydrolases from hydrothermal vent sediments of the Levante Bay, Vulcano Island (Aeolian archipelago) identified by activity-based metagenomics and biochemical characterization of new esterases and an arabinopyranosidase – Antonio Placido – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Consistent responses of soil microbial communities to elevated nutrient inputs in grasslands across the globe – Jonathan W. Leff – PNAS

Soil Metagenomes from Different Pristine Environments of Northwest Argentina – Christina B. McCarthy – Genome Announcements

Relationships between the density and activity of microbial communities possessing arylsulfatase activity and soil sulfate dynamics during the decomposition of plant residues in soil – Séverine Piutti – European Journal of Soil Biology

Food microbiology

Microbial changes of natural milk cultures for mozzarella cheese during repeated propagation cycles – Angela Guidone – LWT – Food Science and Technology

No paper, just abstract, no pathogens appear to have been found: Culture-independent Pathogenic Bacterial Communities in Bottled Mineral Water – Hamdy A. Hassan – Renewable Energy & Sustainable Development

A diagnosis of the microbiological quality of dehydrated bee-pollen produced in Brazil – Adriane Alexandre Machado De-Melo – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

HipMer: An Extreme-Scale De Novo Genome Assembler – Evangelos Georganas

Functional metagenomic discovery of bacterial effectors in the human microbiome and isolation of commendamide, a GPCR G2A/132 agonist – Louis J. Cohen – PNAS

Proteomics and metabolomics

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory library of bacterial and archaeal proteomic biodiversity – Samuel H. Payne – Scientific Data

Monitoring microbial metabolites using an inductively coupled resonance circuit – Daniil Karnaushenko – Scientific Reports

Extremophiles

Biotechnological applications of extremophiles, extremozymes and extremolytes – Noura Raddadi – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Microbes in the news

Mothers facing C-sections look to vaginal ‘seeding’ to boost their babies’ health – Aimee Molloy – The Guardian

Bacterial community in pregnant women linked to preterm birth, study finds – Erin Digitale – Stanford Medicine
Stanford preterm birth study counters Detroit findings – Karen Bouffard – The Detroit News
Microbe Mix May Play Role In Preterm Birth Risk – Rob Stein – NPR

Biologist investigates how gene-swapping bacteria evade antibiotics – University of Texas at Dallas – EurekAlert

Methane and Climate Change: Arctic Bacteria Might Eat Methane? – Nature World News

How beneficial bacteria protect intestinal cells – Quinn Eastman – Emory News Center

Researchers Identify Metaproteomic Differences between Obese, Non-Obese Individuals – Adam Bonislawski – Genomeweb

How does Cincinnati Children’s Hospital use the microbiome to study lupus? A look inside with Diana Taft – Megan McGrath – DNA Genotek

Science, publishing, and career

A Scientific Look at Bad Science – Bourree Lam – The Atlantic

Bik’s Picks

Photos: Ancient Flowering Plant May Have Lived with Dinosaurs – Live Science

First-Ever Salamander in Amber Found in Caribbean – Richard Farrell – Discovery

Nasa awards $200,000 grant to a research project aimed at turning astronaut poo into food – Independent

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August 17, 2015

Gut microbiota composition is associated with stool consistency, sequencing the lung microbiome, and the importance of purses as fomites.

Events

Tuesday evening: The Microbiome: An Alien Organ Within the Human Body – OMSI Science Pub (18 August 2015), Portland, OR

Human respiratory microbiome

Integrating microbial and host transcriptomics to characterize asthma-associated microbial communities – Eduardo Castro-Nallar – BMC Medical Genomics

Editorial to the Sze article : Outside In: Sequencing the Lung Microbiome – Michael J. Cox – American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

Human gut microbiome

Gut microbiota composition associated with stool consistency – E F Tigchelaar – Gut

Review: The role for gut permeability in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes – a solid or leaky concept? – Xia Li – Pediatric Diabetes

Animal microbiome

Buccal swabbing as a non-invasive method to determine bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic microbial community structure in the rumen – Sandra Kittelmann – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Olive Husk Compost Improves the Quality of Intensively Cultivated Agricultural Soils – María Teresa Moreno – Land Degradation & Development

Climate Change and Physical Disturbance Manipulations Result in Distinct Biological Soil Crust Communities – Blaire Steven – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Built environment microbiology

A study to investigate the importance of purses as fomites – Susheela D Biranjia-Hurdoyal – Advanced Biomedical Research

More microbiology

Review: Diagnostics and Discovery in Viral Central Nervous System Infections – Walter Ian Lipkin – Brain Pathology

(Meta)genomics

Getting the genome in shape: the formation of loops, domains and compartments – Britta AM Bouwman – Genome Biology

Microbes in the news

Bug-killing book pages clean murky drinking water: pages can be torn out to filter drinking water – Jonathan Webb – BBC

A geneticist says any new parent should ‘roll their child on floor of the New York subway’ — here’s why – Erin Brodwin – Business Insider

Having your rot on! In your compost pile you will find billions and billions of microbes with a voracious appetite for organic matter – Chuck Martin – Midland Daily News

Bacteria in flowers may boost honeybees’ healthy gut microbes: Honeybees were into probiotics way before they were cool, a new study suggests. – Beth Mole – Science News

The curious meeting of two partners: the squid–vibrio symbiosis – Tim Miyashiro – Society for General Microbiology

Horses: Heaves and Tracheal Microbiomes: Is There a Connection? – Erica Larson – The Horse

What’s on the menu? Bacteria – lots of them – Elisa Ung – North Jersey.com
“menus are usually the most bacteria-laden object on a restaurant table”

Oral bacteria: friends and foes of the mouth – Nikki Natividad – Rappler

TB Traces: The mummy museum in Vác, Hungary, has human remains that helped researchers learn more about the origins of tuberculosis in Europe – The Scientist

Bik’s Picks

The relationship between the season of birth and early-onset food allergies in children
Kajiyo Tanaka – Pediatric Allergy and Immunology

NASA working on gecko-inspired, sticky-footed robot – Chuck Bednar – Red Orbit

Tour de Turtles: The Race to Save the Turtles and Maybe Humans as Well – Dave Randle – Huffington Post
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August 16, 2015

So many new papers, that I need to do a Sunday post as well. Human nose microbiota changes during rhinovirus infection. tsrimethylamine and human gut microbiome, gut microbiota in sloths, and effect of timber harvesting on forest soils.

Human oral microbiome

Long-term evaluation of the antimicrobial susceptibility and microbial profile of subgingival biofilms in individuals with aggressive periodontitis – Talita Gomes Baêta Lourenco – Brazilian Journal of Microbiology

The human oral metaproteome reveals potential biomarkers for caries disease – Pedro Belda-Ferre – Proteomics

Human respiratory microbiome

Changes in microbiota during experimental human Rhinovirus infection – J. J. Hofstra – BMC Infectious Disease

Human gut microbiome

The Microbiome and Osteosarcopenic Obesity in Older Individuals in Long-Term Care Facilities – Julia E. Inglis – Current Osteoporosis Reports

Review: Microbiology Meets Big Data: The Case of Gut Microbiota–Derived Trimethylamine – Gwen Falony – Annual Review of Microbiology

Review: Gut microbiota modulate the immune effect against hepatitis B virus infection – D. Xu – European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases

Microbiome models

Osteopontin Deficiency Accelerates Spontaneous Colitis in Mice with Disrupted Gut Microbiota and Macrophage Phagocytic Activity – Takahiko Toyonaga – PLOS ONE

Prolonged antibiotic treatment induces a diabetogenic intestinal microbiome that accelerates diabetes in NOD mice – Kirsty Brown – ISME Journal

Prebiotic effects of diet supplemented with the cultivated red seaweed Chondrus crispus or with fructo-oligo-saccharide on host immunity, colonic microbiota and gut microbial metabolites – Jinghua Liu – BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Animal microbiome

Metagenome Sequencing of the Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) Rumen Microbiome – Anita N. Dube – Genome Announcements

Diet specialization selects for an unusual and simplified gut microbiota in two- and three-toed sloths – Kimberly A. Dill-McFarland – Environmental Microbiology

Microbiome Variation Across Amphibian Skin Regions: Implications for Chytridiomycosis Mitigation Efforts – Arnaud Bataille – Microbial Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Molecular screening of microbial communities for candidate indicators of multiple metal impacts in marine sediments from Northern Australia – Alyssa M. Cornall – Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Response of Archaeal and Bacterial Soil Communities to Changes Associated with Outdoor Cattle Overwintering – Alica Chroňáková – PLOS ONE

Long-term effects of timber harvesting on hemicellulolytic microbial populations in coniferous forest soils – Hilary T C Leung – ISME Journal

Microbial Community Composition and Extracellular Enzyme Activities Associated with Juncus roemerianus and Spartina alterniflora Vegetated Sediments in Louisiana Saltmarshes – Anthony J. Rietl – Microbial Ecology

Water microbiome

Every base matters: assessing small subunit rRNA primers for marine microbiomes with mock communities, time-series and global field samples – Alma Parada – Environmental Microbiology

Diversity of Synechococcus at the Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Observatory: Insights from Culture Isolations, Clone Libraries, and Flow Cytometry – Kristen R. Hunter-Cevera – Microbial Ecology

Built environment microbiome

The Effectiveness of Three Home Products in Cleaning and Disinfection of S. aureus and E. coli on Home Environmental Surfaces – Nancy Goodyear – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Geochemical influences and mercury methylation of a dental wastewater microbiome – Asha Rani – Scientific Reports

Metagenomics

Research Highlights: An encrypted growth signature – Naomi Attar – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Archaea / Metabolomics

Untargeted metabolomics studies employing NMR and LC–MS reveal metabolic coupling between Nanoarcheum equitans and its archaeal host Ignicoccus hospitalis – Timothy Hamerly – Metabolomics

Microbes in the news

Toxoplasma parasite’s greedy appetite may be its downfall – University of Melbourne – EurekAlert

Let’s hope the stock photo was not related to the techniques used in this study:
Computerized ‘fishing expedition’ hooks 12,500 virus genomes – Brooks Hays – UPI

New Beach Act aims for faster results on bacteria tests – Dan Radel – APP.com

Swedish infant infects four others with resistant bacteria – New Straits Times

What’s lurking in your lungs? Surprising findings emerge from U-M microbiome research – Health Canal

Science, publishing, and career

Fixing the Leaky Bucket: What Tech Companies Must Do to Retain Their Best Female Talent – Belle Beth Cooper – Huffington Post

Bik’s Picks

Here’s How To Call The International Space Station – Gizmodo

Playing Tetris for 3 minutes could reduce your worst cravings – IBN Live

Teenagers are making themselves DIY braces and it is horrifying – Amy Willis – Metro.co.uk

How the internet of things is having an impact in Africa – HTXT Africa

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August 15, 2015

Here is your Saturday edition of the Digest. Four papers today about Arctic water and soil microbes, oral bacteria in placentas, using hand microbiomes to identify human ethnicities, and machine learning classifiers give insights in bacterial vaginosis.

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Oral bacteria in placental tissues: Increased molecular detection in pregnant periodontitis patients – Vanessa Blanc – Oral Diseases

Human skin microbiome

Hand bacteria as an identifier: a biometric evaluation – Amanda B. Holbert – Network Modeling Analysis in Health Informatics and Bioinformatics

Minireview: From Head to Toe: Mapping Fungi across Human Skin – Tim Sandle – EC Microbiology

Human respiratory microbiome

Impact of cigarette smoking on the middle meatus microbiome in health and chronic rhinosinusitis – Vijay R. Ramakrishnan – International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology

Human gut microbiome

Metagenomic Analysis of Crohn’s Disease Patients Identifies Changes in the Virome and Microbiome Related to Disease Status and Therapy, and Detects Potential Interactions and Biomarkers – Pérez-Brocal, Vicente – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Animal models

SIV-infection-driven changes of pattern recognition receptor expression in mesenteric lymph nodes and gut microbiota dysbiosis – Tiffany W. Glavan – Journal of Medical Primatology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Diazotrophic bacilli isolated from the sunflower rhizosphere and the potential of Bacillus mycoides B38V as biofertiliser – A. Ambrosini – Annals of Applied Biology

Relationships between Oak powdery mildew incidence and severity and commensal fungi – E. T. Topalidou – Forest Pathology

The core microbiome bonds the Alpine bog vegetation to a transkingdom metacommunity – Anastasia Bragina – Molecular Ecology

Warming reduces the cover and diversity of biocrust-forming mosses and lichens, and increases the physiological stress of soil microbial communities in a semi-arid Pinus halepensis plantation – Fernando T. Maestre – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial Mineral Colonization Across a Subsurface Redox Transition Zone – Brandon Converse – Frontiers in Microbiology

Mutabilis in mutabili: Spatiotemporal dynamics of a truffle colony in soil – Milan Gryndler – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Water microbiome

Bacterioplankton community shifts associated with epipelagic and mesopelagic waters in the Southern Ocean – Zheng Yu – Scientific Reports

Microbial diversity in a submarine carbonate edifice from the serpentinizing hydrothermal system of the Prony Bay (New Caledonia) over a 6-year period – Anne Poste – Frontiers in Microbiology

Extremophile microbiome: Arctic edition

Microbial activity is not always limited by nitrogen in Arctic tundra soils – Caroline Melle – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Arctic soil microbial diversity in a changing world – Aimeric Blaud – Research in Microbiology

Temporal and spatial influences incur reconfiguration of Arctic heathland soil bacterial community structure – Richard Hill – Environmental Microbiology

Diversity of planktonic microorganisms in the Arctic Ocean – Carlos Pedrós-Alió – Progress in Oceanography

Waste treatment microbiology

Shotgun metaproteomic profiling of biomimetic anaerobic digestion processes treating sewage sludge – Ariane Bize – Proteomics

Bioinformatics

Machine learning classifiers provide insight into the relationship between microbial communities and bacterial vaginosis – Daniel Beck – BioData Mining

AmpliSAS: a web server for multilocus genotyping using next-generation amplicon sequencing data – Alvaro Sebastian – Molecular Ecology Resources

Science, publishing, and career

My alma mater, Utrecht University was again voted as the best Dutch university! Academic Ranking of World Universities 2015 – Shanghai Ranking

Microbes in the news

The Microbial Discovery Box: a hands-on activity for science teachers – ASM

Young scientists dreaming big: internship presentation competitions – Uganda Virus Research Institute

Infectious Diseases Like It Hot: How Climate Change Helps Cholera and Salmonella Outbreaks – Marlene Cimons – Think Progress

Before an Animal Disease Becomes a Human Epidemic – Cari Romm – The Atlantic

The dangers of eating snakes: Gauteng pastor encouraged his congregation to eat hair and snakes.

Bik’s Picks

Air Problem Is Worse Than You Think – James Fallows – The Atlantic

Georgia court weighs destiny of 18 captured beluga whales – Rich McKay – Reuters

Los Angeles Throws 96M Balls At California’s Drought Problem – Science Daily

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August 10, 2015

Ammonia oxidizing bacteria in urban soil, respiratory tract microbiota in Cystic Fibrosis, and colonization of sewer systems.

Human respiratory microbiome

Insights into the respiratory tract microbiota of patients with cystic fibrosis during early Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization – Marlène Keravec – Springer Plus

Animal microbiome

Distribution and Genetic Diversity of Bacteriocin Gene Clusters in Rumen Microbial Genomes – Analice C. Azevedo – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Interactions between co-occurring lactic acid bacteria in the honey bee hive – Z.P. Rokop – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Combined Flux Chamber and Genomics Approach Links Nitrous Acid Emissions to Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria and Archaea in Urban and Agricultural Soil – Nicole K. Scharko – Environmental Science & Technology

Microhabitat heterogeneity across leaves and flower organs promotes bacterial diversity – Robert R. Junker – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Influence of physicochemical and nutritional factors on bacterial diversity in mangrove sediments along the southwest coast of Tamilnadu, India – S. Prakash – Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

Isolation and Screening of Rhizosphere Bacteria from Grasses in East Kavango Region of Namibia for Plant Growth Promoting Characteristics – D. H. Haiyambo – Current Microbiology

Long-term oil contamination causes similar changes in microbial communities of two distinct soils – Jingqiu Liao – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Waste treatment microbiology

Profile and fate of bacterial pathogens in sewage treatment plants revealed by high-throughput metagenomic approach – Bing Li – Environmental Science & Technology

Changes of microbial biofilm communities during colonization of sewer systems – O Auguet – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Impacts of Long-term Irrigation of Domestic Treated Wastewater on Soil Biogeochemistry and Bacterial Community Structure – Denis Wafula – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Metagenomics

Genomes analysis and bacteria identification: The use of overlapping genes as molecular markers – Elena Perrin – Journal of Microbiological Methods

ReviewFrom cultured to uncultured genome sequences: metagenomics and modeling microbial ecosystems – Daniel R. Garza – Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences

Microbes in the news

I’ll Take My Latte with a Shot of Bacteria
 – Carrie Arnold – The Daily Beast

UO architect and microbiologist explore how home weatherization affects beneficial bacteria – Diane Dietz – The Register-Guard

Are Microbes Stealing Your Mind? Could bacteria hold the answer to an Alzheimer’s cure? Some researchers say yes. – David Ewing Duncan – The Daily Beast

This one made me laughNo bacteria found in popular sandwiches: Taiwan FDA. “The FDA said the tests only showed Staphylococcus arouse” (sic)

Very rhetoric piece with lots of adjectives, some science, and lots of nonsense:
How The Microbiome Destroyed the Ego, Vaccine Policy, and Patriarchy – Sayer Ji – GreenMedInfo

Bik’s Picks

Massive ‘Communal’ Spider Webs Emerge in Dallas Suburb – Richard Farrell – Discovery

Coca-Cola is funding obesity research with a biased message, nutrition experts say – Ariana Eunjung Cha – Washington Post

Here’s why goats have those freaky eyes – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post
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August 8, 2015

Lung and oral microbiomes in setting of HIV infection, cell biology of the plant–microbe interface, deep see prokaryotes, bacterial succession during grape fermentation, and correcting amplicon errors with Dada2.

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Is abnormal vaginal microflora a risk factor for intrauterine fetal growth restriction? – Natalija Vedmedovska – Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction

Multiple Opportunistic Pathogens, but Not Pre-existing Inflammation, May Be Associated with Necrotizing Enterocolitis – Steven T. Leach – Digestive Diseases and Sciences

Review: Nutrient availability, the microbiome and intestinal transport during pregnancy – Stuart Astbury – Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism

Human oral and lung microbiome

Multi-center Comparison of Lung and Oral Microbiomes of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected Individuals – James M. Beck – American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

Review: Microbial protection and virulence in periodontal tissue as a function of polymicrobial communities: symbiosis and dysbiosis – Frank A. Roberts and Richard P. Darveau – Periodontology 2000

Needs assessment for emerging oral microbiome knowledge in dental hygiene education – R. Constance Wiener – Journal of Epidemiological Research

Human reproductive microbiome

Is abnormal vaginal microflora a risk factor for intrauterine fetal growth restriction? – Natalija Vedmedovska – Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction

Human gut microbiome

Alterations of mucosal microbiota in the colon of patients with inflammatory bowel disease revealed by real time polymerase chain reaction amplification of 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid – Jayakanthan Kabeerdoss – Indian J Med Res

An In Vitro Method to Assess Soil Arsenic Metabolism by Human Gut Microbiota: Arsenic Speciation and Distribution – Naiyi Yin – Environmental Science & Technology

Review: Does a low FODMAP diet help IBS? – Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin

Microbiome models

Modulation of intestinal microbiota in mice by kefir administration – Dong-Hyeon Kim – Food Science and Biotechnology

High nutrient availability reduces the diversity and stability of the equine caecal microbiota – Naja C. K. Hansen – Microbial Ecology in Health & Disease

Impact of Dietary Fiber/Starch Ratio in Shaping Cecal Microbiota in Rabbits – YanLi Zhu – Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Electrical Retrieval of Living Microorganisms from Cryopreserved Marine Sponges Using a Potential-Controlled Electrode – Sumihiro Koyama – Marine Biotechnology

PhD Thesis: Reproduction, Sex Ratio and Bacterial Communities of the Coffee Berry Borer Hypothenemus Hampei F. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) – Mariño Cárdenas – Universidad de Puerto Rico

Effect of starch source (corn, oats or wheat) and concentration on fermentation by equine fecal microbiota in vitro – Brittany E. Harlow – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Role of peptidases of the intestinal microflora and prey in temperature adaptations of the digestive system in planktivorous and benthivorous fish – V. V. Kuz’mina – Fish Physiology and Biochemistry

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Environmental conditions rather than microbial inoculum composition determine the bacterial composition, microbial biomass and enzymatic activity of reconstructed soil microbial communities – Weibing Xun – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Editorial: Introduction to a Virtual Special Issue on cell biology at the plant–microbe interface – Ralph Panstruga and Hannah Kuhn – New Phytologist

Influence of 34-years of fertilization on bacterial communities in an intensively cultivated black soil in northeast China – Jing Zhou – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Functional and structural responses of methanogenic microbial communities in Uruguayan soils to intermittent drainage – Yang Ji – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Effects of pasture management on soil fertility and microbial communities in the semi-arid grasslands of Inner Mongolia – Jun Liu – Journal of Soils and Sediments

Antibiotic resistance differentiates Echinacea purpurea endophytic bacterial communities with respect to plant organs – Alessio Mengoni – Research in Microbiology

Effect of combined microbes on plant tolerance to Zn–Pb contaminations – Anna Ogar – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

From mesophilic to thermophilic digestion: the transitions of anaerobic bacterial, archaeal, and fungal community structures in sludge and manure samples – Weimin Sun – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Water microbiome

Metagenome-based diversity analyses suggest a significant contribution of non-cyanobacterial lineages to carbonate precipitation in modern microbialites – Aurélien Saghaï – Frontiers in Microbiology

Thesis: Geobiological interactions of archaeal populations in acidic and alkaline geothermal springs of Yellowstone National Park, WY, USA – Jacob Preston Beam – Montana State University

Global diversity and biogeography of deep-sea pelagic prokaryotes – Guillem Salazar – ISME Journal

Built environment microbiology

Halophilic microbial communities in deteriorated buildings – Justyna Adamiak – World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Food microbiology

Insights into the bacterial community and its temporal succession during the fermentation of wine grapes – Hailan Piao – Frontiers in Microbiology

Identification of key microorganisms involved in Douchi fermentation by statistical analysis and their use in an experimental fermentation – Chen Chen – Journal of Applied Microbiology

In vitro fermentation of lupin seeds (Lupinus albus) and broad beans (Vicia faba): dynamic modulation of the intestinal microbiota and metabolomic output – Patricia Gullón – Food & Function

Bioinformatics

DADA2: High resolution sample inference from amplicon data – Benjamin J Callahan

Transcriptomics

Molecular and chemical dialogues in bacteria-protozoa interactions – Chunxu Song – Scientific Reports

Techniques

Methods for Improving Human Gut Microbiome Data by Reducing Variability through Sample Processing and Storage of Stool – Monika A. Gorzelak – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the News

Prestigious Japanese university comes up with cheesecake … made with Gorilla bacteria! – RocketNews

Lambton College research project proves successful in eliminating bacteria in firefighting gear – Lambton College

Where the sausage gets made – Holly Ganz – MicroBEnet

Calgary diseases expert on the importance of studying our guts – The Globe and Mail

Bik’s Picks

Creepers’ peepers: Why animals’ pupils have different shapes – Nicholas St. Fleur – Seattle Times

Venomous frogs discovered during painful scientific mishap: Frogs head-butt enemies with their spines to inject toxic venom – CBC News

ISS Astronauts to Sample Leafy Greens Grown on Space Station – NDTV

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August 5, 2015

Microbiome in patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, gastric bypass operations induces long-term microbiome changes, environmental enteropathy in a mouse model, respiratory viruses in large families, and microbiology of restaurant grease waste.

Events

Microbiome R&D and Business Collaboration Forum – September 10-11, 2015, San Diego, USA

European Microbiome Congress 2015 – 18 and 19 November 2015, London, UK

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

Review: Antibiotics and the developing infant gut microbiota and resistome – Molly K Gibson – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Review: Early Life Experience and Gut Microbiome: The Brain-Gut-Microbiota Signaling System – Cong, Xiaomei – Advances in Neonatal Care

ReviewThe Prescient Placenta – Christopher Coe – The Scientist

Human respiratory microbiome

Community Surveillance of Respiratory Viruses Among Families in the Utah Better Identification of Germs-Longitudinal Viral Epidemiology (BIG-LoVE) Study –  L. Byington – Clinical Infectious Diseases

Human gut microbiome

Reduction of butyrate- and methane-producing microorganisms in patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Marta Pozuelo – Scientific Reports

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass and Vertical Banded Gastroplasty Induce Long-Term Changes on the Human Gut Microbiome Contributing to Fat Mass Regulation – Valentina Tremaroli – Cell Metabolism

Gut-Microbiota-Metabolite Axis in Early Renal Function Decline – Clara Barrios – PLOS ONE

Editorial: Microbiome reflects status of RA and response to therapy – Robert Phillips – Nature Reviews Rheumatology

Microbiome models

Bacterial sensing underlies artificial sweetener-induced growth of gut Lactobacillus – Kristian Daly – Environmental Microbiology

Diet and specific microbial exposure trigger features of environmental enteropathy in a novel murine model – Eric M. Brown – Nature Communications

Animal microbiome

Dominant ectosymbiotic bacteria of cellulolytic protists in the termite gut also have the potential to digest lignocellulose – Masahiro Yuki – Environmental Microbiology

Two gut community enterotypes recur in diverse bumblebee species – Jilian Li- Current Biology

Unique metabolites protect earthworms against plant polyphenols – Manuel Liebeke – Nature Communications

Streptococcus panodentis sp. nov., from the oral cavities of chimpanzees – Masaaki Okamoto – Microbiology and Immunology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Fungal root endophytes of Quercus robur subjected to flooding – H. Kwaśna – Forest Pathology

Land Use and Precipitation Affect Organic and Microbial Carbon Stocks and the Specific Metabolic Quotient in Soils of Eleven Ecosystems of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania – Holger Pabst – Land Degradation & Development

The Phytophthora species assemblage and diversity in riparian alder ecosystems of western Oregon, USA – Laura Lee Sims – Mycologia

Bacterial community structures as a diagnostic tool for watershed quality assessment – Luigimaria Borruso – Research in Microbiology

Water microbiome

Planktonic and sedimentary bacterial diversity of Lake Sayram in summer – Lei Fang – Microbiology Open

Waste and bioreactor microbiome

Reactor performance and microbial community dynamics during anaerobic co-digestion of municipal wastewater sludge with restaurant grease waste at steady state and overloading stages – Vahid Razaviarani – Bioresource Technology

Arsenic toxicity effects on microbial communities and nutrient cycling in indoor experimental channels mimicking a fluvial system – Baigal-Amar Tuulaikhuu – Aquatic Toxicology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Xander: employing a novel method for efficient gene-targeted metagenomic assembly – Qiong Wang – Microbiome

Metabolomics

Symposium report: Olfaction in the Kidney: ‘Smelling’ gut microbial metabolites – Niranjana Natarajan and Jennifer L. Pluznick – Experimental Physiology

Microbial Ecology

Clustering in community structure across replicate ecosystems following a long-term bacterial evolution experiment – Hasan Celiker & Jeff Gore – Nature Communications

Microbes in the news

Interview with Peter DiLaura, CEO of Second Genome: Data Mining The Microbiome Toward A Cure For Inflammatory Disease – Peter High – Forbes

Weight loss surgery benefits for gut microbiome last at least a decade – MedicalXpress

Extreme weight loss surgery works, but is it thanks to the knife—or the microbes? – Mitch Leslie – Science

A Belated Look at New York’s Cooling Towers, Prime Suspect in Legionnaires’ Outbreak – Winnie Hu and Noah Remnick – NY Times

Amid Legionnaires’ Fears, City Proposes New Cooling Tower Rules – Mara Gay and Corinne Ramey – Wall Street Journal
Randomised clinical study: Aspergillus niger-derived enzyme digests gluten in the stomach of healthy volunteers – B. N. Salden – Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Study: Citrus Greening Bacterium Gives Vector Unexpected Boost – Paul Rusnak – Growing Produce

Team identifies mutations that allow bacteria to resist antibiotics – Phys.org

Africa is within reach of being declared a polio free region – The Conversation

Viruses Thrive In Big Families, In Sickness and In Health – University of Utah

Science, career, and publishing

Where Next for Genetics and Genomics? – Chris Tyler-Smith – PLOS Biology

Tech Women Triumph: $30k Funding In A Day, Success Under Pressure, True Leaders Inspire – Leo King – Forbes

#ilooklikeanengineer wants to challenge your ideas about who can be a scientist – Susan Svrluga – Washington Post

#FieldWorkFail: Gluing Yourself to a Live Crocodile and Other Mistakes: Scientists share the gross, scary, and often hilarious reality of doing experiments in the wild – Robinson Meyer – The Atlantic

9 Scientists Told Us What Scares Them The Most – Kelly Oakes – BuzzFeed

Bik’s Picks

Jack the Ripper’s final victim set to be exhumed following new theory on the killer’s identity – Doug Bolton – Independent

Scientists unearth earthworm’s ability to digest plant toxins – LiveMint

Are monarch butterflies really being massacred? A new study says it’s a lot more complicated than it seems – Sarah Kaplan – Washington Post

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August 1, 2015

So many new papers, so here is another Saturday installment of The Digest. Several papers on microbiome during pregnancy or the first months of life, ear infections, having older siblings, rhizosphere on volcanic islands, and aquatic fungal communities.

General human microbiome

A Year of Infection in the Intensive Care Unit: Prospective Whole Genome Sequencing of Bacterial Clinical Isolates Reveals Cryptic Transmissions and Novel Microbiota – David J. Roach – PLOS Genetics

Opinion: The human–microbe metaorganism, evolution and extraterrestrial colonization – Leonard A Mermel – Future Microbiology

Frailty and the Microbiome – Meehan C.J. – Frailty in Aging

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Secretor Status Is Strongly Associated with Microbial Alterations Observed during Pregnancy – Himanshu Kumar – PLOS ONE

Longitudinal Survey of Microbiota in Hospitalized Preterm Very Low Birth Weight Infants – Patel, Aloka L. – Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition

Lactation and Intestinal Microbiota: How Early Diet Shapes the Infant Gut
Felicia Goldsmith – Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia

DGGE: Distinctive Intestinal Lactobacillus Communities in Six-Month-Old Infants From Rural Malawi and South-Western Finland – Aakko, Juhani – Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition

Early Gut Colonization with Lactobacilli and Staphylococcus in Infants: the Hygiene Hypothesis Extended – Salminen, Seppo – Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition

Association between positive urine cultures and necrotizing enterocolitis in a large cohort of hospitalized infants – Leslie C. Pineda – Early Human Development

Human oral microbiome

Strains of Enterococcus faecalis differ in their ability to coexist in biofilms with other root canal bacteria – L. E. Chávez de Paz – International Endodontic Journal

Human respiratory microbiome

Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Sputum Can Be Chemically Dynamic, Anoxic, and Extremely Reduced Due to Hydrogen Sulfide Formation – Elise S. Cowley – mBio

Human skin and ear microbiome

The microbiome of otitis media with effusion in Indigenous Australian children – Jake Jervis-Bardy – International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology

Review: Probiotics in personal care products – Mei-Chiung Jo Huang – Microbiology Discovery

Human gut microbiome

Having older siblings is associated with gut microbiota development during early childhood – Martin Frederik Laursen – BMC Microbiology

Serum Trimethylamine-N-Oxide is Elevated in CKD and Correlates with Coronary Atherosclerosis Burden – Jason R. Stubbs – Journal of the American Society of Nephrology

Probiotics modify human intestinal mucosa-associated microbiota in patients with colorectal cancer – Zhiguang Gao – Molecular Medicine Reports

A Survey on the Developmental Intestinal Microbiota Research in China: the history, funding, and frontiers of gut bacteria – Hui Min Chen – Journal of Digestive Diseases

Review: Gut microorganisms as promising targets for the management of type 2 diabetes – Nathalie M. Delzenne – Diabetologia

Microbiome models

Systems Modeling of Interactions between Mucosal Immunity and the Gut Microbiome during Clostridium difficile Infection – Andrew Leber – PLOS ONE

Evaluation of mucositis induced by irinotecan after microbial colonization in germ-free mice – Silvia H S P Pedroso – Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Exploring the microbial diversity of the distal intestinal lumen and mucosa of farmed rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) using next generation sequencing (NGS) – Philip P. Lyons – Aquaculture Research

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Rhizosphere on volcanic islands: Metagenomic analysis of soil fungal communities on Ulleungdo and Dokdo Islands – Yoon-Jong Nam – The Journal of General and Applied Microbiology

Effect of Agricultural Amendments on Cajanus cajan (Pigeon Pea) and Its Rhizospheric Microbial Communities – A Comparison between Chemical Fertilizers and Bioinoculants – Rashi Gupta – PLOS ONE

Vulnerability of Soil and Its Associated Organic Matter to Degradation in a Subtropical Region: A Study From São Paulo State, Brazil – Alexandre Marco da Silva – Environment Quality Management

Effects of historical logging on soil microbial communities in a subtropical forest in southern China – Piao Song – Plant and Soil

Effects of rotifers, copepods and chironomid larvae on microbial communities in peatlands – Tomasz Mieczan – European Journal of Protistology

Methanogenic microbial community of the Eastern Paris Basin: Potential for energy production from organic-rich shales – Margaux Meslé – International Journal of Coal Geology

All ecosystems potentially host electrogenic bacteria – Nicolas Chabert – Bioelectrochemistry

Phylogenetic structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal community shifts in response to increasing soil fertility – Yongjun Liu – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Water and extremophile microbiome

Phytoplankton–bacterial interactions mediate micronutrient colimitation at the coastal Antarctic sea ice edge – Erin M. Bertrand – PNAS

Effects of hydrostatic pressure on yeasts isolated from deep-sea hydrothermal vents – Gaëtan Burgaud- Research in Microbiology

Identification of Habitat-Specific Biomes of Aquatic Fungal Communities Using a Comprehensive Nearly Full-Length 18S rRNA Dataset Enriched with Contextual Data – Katrin Panzer – PLOS ONE

Metaproteomics of aquatic microbial communities in a deep and stratified estuary – David Colatriano – Proteomics

Waste treatment microbiology

Review: Meta-omics approaches to understand and improve wastewater treatment systems – Elisa Rodríguez – Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Growth dynamics of gut microbiota in health and disease inferred from single metagenomic samples – Tal Korem – Science

Spaced seeds improve k-mer-based metagenomic classification – Karel Břinda – Bioinformatics

Microbial Ecology

Resource pulses can alleviate the biodiversity–invasion relationship in soil microbial communities – Cyrus A. Mallon – Ecology

Not sure if I like this term: Tritagonist as a new term for uncharacterised microorganisms in environmental systems – Florian M Freimoser – ISME Journal

Microbes in the news

Bacteria on chicken, turkey, pork linked to bladder infections – Lynne Terry – Oregon Live

Byproduct of intestinal bacteria may jeopardize heart health in kidney disease patients – Medical Xpress

Oregon architecture researchers to study indoor air quality in 72 homes – EurekAlert

Research spotlights a previously unknown microbial ‘drama’ playing in the Southern Ocean – Science Daily

Government of Canada Invests in New Western Canadian Microbiome Centre – Sys-Con Media

A Video of the destruction can be seen hereWood-Decay Fungus Identified as Culprit Consuming Pomona Family’s Home – LA Testing

Microbes and Art

Don’t Be Grossed Out, The Bacteria On These Petri Dish Plates Is Art – Andrew Liszewski – Gizmodo

Call for Entries! ASM’s 2015 Agar Art Contest: Submit your work by September 3th – MicrobeWorld

Bik’s Picks: drought edition

Puget Sound sweltering from the drought and Blob – Department of Ecology – Courier Herald

Extreme Droughts Weaken Trees’ Ability to Soak Up Carbon – William R L Anderegg – Gizmodo

It’s Raining Spiders! Weirdest Effects of California Drought – Tia Ghose – Live Science

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July 31, 2015

Microbiome antibodies prevented an HIV vaccine from working, effect of antibiotics during rhinosinusitis, microbiome and tuberculosis, how mussels get colonized, and a fruit based nutrient bar’s effect on human metabolism.

Human respiratory microbiome

The Microbiome at the Pulmonary Alveolar Niche: How It Affects the Human Innate Response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis – Alexander J. Adami – Tuberculosis

The effect of antibiotics on the microbiome in acute exacerbations of chronic rhinosinusitis – Mark A. Merkley – International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology

Review: Microbiome influences on allergy in mice and humans – Benjamin J Marsland – Current Opinion in Immunology

Human gut microbiome

Diversion of HIV-1 vaccine-induced immunity by gp41-microbiota cross-reactive antibodies – Wilton B. Williams – Science

Not microbiota, but of interest: Go with the Flow: Regional gastrointestinal transit and pH studied in 215 healthy volunteers using the wireless motility capsule: influence of age, gender, study country and testing protocol – Y. T. Wang – Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Commentary: You Lose Some, You Win Some: Weight Loss Induces Microbiota and Metabolite Shifts – Elisabeth M. Bik – EBioMedicine

Review: The role of the gut microbiota in metabolic health – Aafke W. F. Janssen and Sander Kersten – The FASEB Journal

Microbiome models

MyD88 Adaptor-Dependent Microbial Sensing by Regulatory T Cells Promotes Mucosal Tolerance and Enforces Commensalism – Sen Wang – Immunity

CommentaryA Toolbox for Microbiome Engineering – Mohamed S. Donia – Cell Systems

Animal microbiome

The nasopharyngeal microbiota of feedlot cattle that develop bovine respiratory disease – Devin B. Holman – Veterinary Microbiology

Adapted to change: the rapid development of symbiosis in newly settled, fast-maturing chemosymbiotic mussels in the deep sea – Laming Sven R – Marine Environmental Research

Plant, soil, and root microbiology

Roots from distinct plant developmental stages are capable of rapidly selecting their own microbiome without the influence of environmental and soil edaphic factors – Jun Yuan – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Environmental Filtering of Microbial Communities in Agricultural Soil Shifts with Crop Growth – Sarah K. Hargreaves – PLOS ONE

Interactions between a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium and smoke-derived compounds and their effect on okra growth – Heino B. Papenfus – Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science

Food microbiology

Diversity and dynamics of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in cheese as determined by PCR denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis – Ana Belén Flórez – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Proteomics and metabolomics

A human gut metaproteomic dataset from stool samples pretreated or not by differential centrifugation – Alessandro Tanca – Data in Brief

A multicomponent nutrient bar promotes weight loss and improves dyslipidemia and insulin resistance in the overweight/obese: chronic inflammation blunts these improvements – Joyce C. McCann – The FASEB Journal

Microbes in the news

Gut microbiome may have interfered with experimental HIV vaccines – Rachel Tompa – Fred Hutch

Vacation souvenirs can be crappy, but rarely are they actual crap: Ilana Brito, the Biologist Who Flew to Fiji for Feces – Rachel Becker – Ozy

Science, publishing, and career

Why not have a life? I only stay late if I’m actually doing an experiment – Gary McDowell – Science

Bik’s Picks

Deadly Fungus Could Threaten U.S. Salamanders – Stephanie Pappas – Discover / LiveScience

Plants send out stress signals just like animals, scientists find – Robert Gebelhoff – Washington Post

Vaccine Success Holds Hope For End To Deadly Scourge Of Ebola – Kate Kelland – Huffington Post

The world’s best whiskey is being sent into space for the sake of science – Gabriel Fisher – Quartz

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July 30, 2015

Correct vocabulary of microbiome research, microbiome during mosquito development, microbes on Granada’s Royal Chapel stone, and microbes in Atacama desert.

General microbiome

About the proper use of “16S”, “microbiome”, and “microbiota”, and why “microflora” is not correct. Note Elies: But “microbiota” is a plant too!
The vocabulary of microbiome research: a proposal – Julian R. Marchesi – Microbiome

Human oral microbiome

Host response mechanisms in periodontal diseases – Nora Silva – Journal of Applied Oral Science

Human respiratory microbiome

The airway microbiome in patients with severe asthma: Associations with disease features and severity – Yvonne J. Huang – The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Human gastric microbiome

The Evolution of Stomach Acidity and Its Relevance to the Human Microbiome – DeAnna E. Beasley – PLOS ONE

Microbiome models

Network analysis of temporal functionalities of the gut induced by perturbations in new-born piglets – Nirupama Benis – BMC Genomics

Animal microbiome

Developmental succession of the microbiome of Culex mosquitoes – Dagne Duguma – BMC Microbiology

Review: The Microbiome: The Trillions of Microorganisms That Maintain Health and Cause Disease in Humans and Companion Animals – A. Rodrigues Hoffmann – Veterinary Pathology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi affect plant community structure under various nutrient conditions and stabilize the community productivity – Gaowen Yang – Oikos

Complementarity in both plant and mycorrhizal fungal communities are not necessarily increased by diversity in the other – Cameron Wagg – Journal of Ecology

Diversity of endophytic and rhizoplane bacterial communities associated with exotic Spartina alterniflora and native mangrove using Illumina amplicon sequencing
Youwei Hong – Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Genetic analysis reveals diversity and genetic relationship among Trichoderma isolates from potting media, cultivated soil and uncultivated soil – Abdullah M. Al-Sadi – BMC Microbiology

Mineralogy: Geochemical evidence of microbial activity within ooids – Mara R. Diaz – Sedimentology

Phylogenetic Diversity of Diazotrophs along an Experimental Nutrient Gradient in Mangrove Sediments – Isabel C. Romero – Journal of Marine Science and Engineering

Inexplicable Arsenic: Human Dimensions of Soil, Water, Food and Microbial
Resources – Ramakrishnan B – Journal of Environmetnal and Analytical Toxicology

Water microbiome

Structure of the archaeal community in the Black Sea photic zone – A. Y. Merkel – Microbiology

Review: Bridging the gap between omics and earth system science to better understand how environmental change impacts marine microbes – Thomas Mock – Global Change Microbiology

Extremophiles

Bacterial Diversity in Microbial Mats and Sediments from the Atacama Desert – Maria Cecilia Rasuk – Microbial Ecology

Thesis: Microbial Ecology, Biogeochemistry, and Signatures of Life at Low Temperature in Arctic Thermokarst Lake Sediments and High Sierra Snow Fields – Matheus Carnevali, Paula B – University of Nevada, Reno

Waste and built environment microbiology

Temporal and Spatial Stability of Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria in Aquarium Biofilters – Samik Bagchi – PLOS ONE

Molecular Tools for Monitoring the Ecological Sustainability of a Stone Bio-Consolidation Treatment at the Royal Chapel, Granada – Fadwa Jroundi – PLOS ONE

Seasonal Variation on Microbial Community and Methane Production during Anaerobic Digestion of Cattle Manure in Brazil – Juliana Alves Resende – Microbial Ecology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

deFUME: Dynamic exploration of functional metagenomic sequencing data – Eric van der Helm – BMC Research Notes

Microbial Ecology

An Economic Framework of Microbial Trade – Joshua Tasoff – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the news

Kingdoms are so 20th century: The tree of life gets a makeover: Schoolroom kingdoms are taking a backseat to life’s supergroups – Susan Milius – Science News

Soil-Dwelling Fungus Rode Joplin Tornado to Unexpected Human Home – Jennifer Frazer – Scientific American

Agave extracts show ability to shift gut microbiota: Ingredion study – Stephen DANIELLS – Nutraingredients

Bacterial Find Sheds Light on Digestive Issues, Diabetes, Obesity – American Crystallographic Association

Water At Some Olympic Venues In Rio de Janeiro Reportedly Contain Virus Levels On Par With Raw Sewage – Brad Brooks and Jeny Barchfield – Huffington Post

LASA students developing bacteria to improve carbon monoxide detectors – Calily Bien – KXAN

Bik’s Picks

A tragic death leaves just four northern white rhinos living and little hope for the species – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

‘Once in a Blue Moon’ Happens on Friday — Why? – Geoff Gaherty – Discovery

How did you get that job: designing a parachute for NASA’s Mars rover – Elizabeth Lopatto – The Verge

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