March 13, 2016

General microbiome

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

Pregnancy and birth / Human vaginal microbiome

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

Human gut microbiome

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

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

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

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

Animal microbiome

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

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

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

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

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

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

Water and glacier microbiome

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

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

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

Infection microbiology

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

Viruses

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

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

Microbial Ecology

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

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

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

Microbes in the news

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

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

Science, publishing and career

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

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

Bik’s Picks

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

[hr]

March 11, 2016

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

Pregnancy and birth

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

Human oral microbiome

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

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

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

Human respiratory microbiome

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

Human vaginal microbiome

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

Human gut microbiome

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

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

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

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

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

Microbiome models

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

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

Animal microbiome

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

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

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

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

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

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

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

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

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

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

Air and space station microbiome

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

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

Water, waste, and pollution microbiology

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

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

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

Microbial Ecology

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

Infection and microbiology

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

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

Microbes in the news

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Science, publishing, and career

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

Papers with simpler abstracts are cited more, study suggests – Dalmeet Singh Chawla – Retraction Watch
[hr]

March 9, 2016

Two papers on altered microbiome in HIV-infected humans and SIV-infected monkeys, ESBL carriage in hospital wards and medical students, fungus infection affects frog song, and protein recycling in the ocean.

Pregnancy and birth

Gut bacteria dysbiosis and necrotising enterocolitis in very low birthweight infants: a prospective case-control study – Barbara B Warner – The Lancet

Human gut microbiome

Editorial: The HIV-Associated Enteric Microbiome Has Gone Viral – Brent E. Palmer – Cell Host & Microbe

Altered Virome and Bacterial Microbiome in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Associated Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome – Cynthia L. Monaco – Cell Host & Microbe

Comparison of the faecal colonization rates with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing enterobacteria among patients in different wards, outpatients and screened medical students – Fatemeh Ebrahimi – Microbiology and Immunology

Animal models

SIV Infection-Mediated Changes in Gastrointestinal Bacterial Microbiome and Virome Are Associated with Immunodeficiency and Prevented by Vaccination – Scott A. Handley – Cell Host & Microbe

Animal microbiome

Enhanced call effort in Japanese tree frogs infected by amphibian chytrid fungus
Deuknam An – Biology Letters

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Diversity and bioactivity of bacterial endophyte community of Cupressaceae – J. Soltani – Forest Pathology

Leaf litter decomposition in remote oceanic island streams is driven by microbes and depends on litter quality and environmental conditions – Verónica Ferreira – Freshwater Biology

Network modules and hubs in plant-root fungal biomes – Hirokazu Toju – Journal of the Royal Society Interface

Water and extremophile microbiome

Diverse, uncultivated bacteria and archaea underlying the cycling of dissolved protein in the ocean – William D Orsi – The ISME Journal

Food microbiology

Detection of pathogenic Escherichia coli and microbiological quality of chilled shrimp sold in street markets – Liliana Jose Barbosa – Letters in Applied Microbiology

More microbiology

Antimicrobial activity of extracts from macroalgae Ulva lactuca against clinically-important Staphylococci is impacted by lunar phase of macroalgae harvest – Amy M. Deveau – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Bacteria discovered by scientists in London cuts dependence on commercial fertilizers – John Miner – LFPress

Fungus makes tree frogs sing – Nature

Michigan researchers start $9.2M effort to study bacteria – Click on Detroit

“Nightmare Bacteria” Found in Southern California Sewage Treatment Plants – Alexander Haro – The Inertia

Two Starbucks Items Voluntarily Recalled Due to Bacteria, Allergen Risk – Gillian Mohney – ABC News

Science, publishing, and career

Scientific record: Class uncorrected errors as misconduct – Sophien Kamoun – Nature

A Multi-dimensional Investigation of the Effects of Publication Retraction on Scholarly Impact – Xin Shuai – Arxiv

[hr]

March 8, 2016

A very special edition of Bik’s Picks on this International Women’s Day: Soil decomposition on Mount Kilimanjaro, genome of a Ruminococcus associated with IBS, survival of microbes during the digestion of cheese.

Human oral microbiome

EditorialOral Biofilm Architecture at the Microbial Scale – Maria D. Ferrer – Trends in Microbiology

Human reproductive tract microbiome

Cervical Microbiota Associated with Risk of Higher Grade Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia in Women Infected with High-Risk Human Papillomaviruses – Chandrika J Piyathilake – Cancer Prevention Research

Human gut microbiome

Isolation and whole genome sequencing of a Ruminococcus-like bacterium, associated with irritable bowel syndrome – Ulla Hynönen – Anaerobe

Opinion: Gut microbiota impact on stroke outcome: Fad or fact? – Katarzyna Winek – J Cereb Blood Flow Metab

Review: Mechanisms linking the gut microbiome and glucose metabolism – Kristina M Utzschneider – J Clin Endocrinol Metab

Review: Gut Microbiome and Kidney Disease in Pediatrics: Does Connection Exist? – Tetyana L. Vasylyeva – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: The complex interplay of diet, xenobiotics, and microbial metabolism in the gut: Implications for clinical outcomes – Mariia Taguer – Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Review: Obesity and Asthma: Microbiome-metabolome Interactions – Stephanie A Shore – American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology

Animal models

Gut Microbiota-Induced Immunoglobulin G Controls Systemic Infection by Symbiotic Bacteria and Pathogens – Melody Y. Zeng – Immunity

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Methodological Guidelines for Accurate Detection of Viruses in Wild Plant Species – Christelle Lacroix – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Rice bacterial endophytes: isolation of a collection, identification of beneficial strains and microbiome analysis – Iris Bertani – Environmental Microbiology

Sulfur Fertilization Changes the Community Structure of Rice Root-, and Soil-Associated Bacteria – Sachiko Masuda – Microbes and Environments

Do shifts in life strategies explain microbial community responses to increasing nitrogen in tundra soil? – Minna Männistö – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Temperature sensitivity and enzymatic mechanisms of soil organic matter decomposition along an altitudinal gradient on Mount Kilimanjaro – Еvgenia Blagodatskaya – Scientific Reports

Influence of pesticide seed treatments on rhizosphere fungal and bacterial communities and leaf fungal endophyte communities in maize and soybean – Rachel Nettles – Applied Soil Ecology

Forest understory plant and soil microbial response to an experimentally induced drought and heat-pulse event: the importance of maintaining the continuum – Isabell von Rein – Global Change Biology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Abundance and Biogeography of Picoprasinophyte Ecotypes and Other Phytoplankton in the Eastern North Pacific Ocean – Melinda P. Simmons – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Metagenomic 16s rrna investigation of microbial communities in the Black Sea estuaries in South-West of Ukraine – Oleksandra Bobrova – Acta Biochimica Polonica

Waste and pollution microbiology

Contaminant-Degrading Microorganisms Identified Using Stable Isotope Probing – Alison M. Cupples – Chemical Engineering & Technology

Food microbiology

Survival of lactic acid and propionibacteria in low- and full-fat Dutch-type cheese during human digestion Ex vivo – Aleksandra Martinovic – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Review: Targeted metagenomics of active microbial populations with stable-isotope probing -Sara Coyotzi – Current Opinion in Biotechnology

Infection and microbiology

Diagnosis of Bacterial Bloodstream Infections: A 16S Metagenomics Approach – Saskia Decuypere – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Microbes in the news

Fibre and protein enhance gut bacteria in children – Malene Sommer Christiansen – Science Nordic

Extreme Microbiome Project Aims to Characterize Microbes Living in Harsh Environments – Monica Heger – Genome Web

UTI bacteria use hooks to hang on inside you when you pee – Clare Wilson – New Scientist

Science, publishing and career

Statistical significance and its part in science downfalls – Hilda Bastian – PLOS Blogs

Microbiology and Nature in Video Games – Alex Alexiev – MicroBEnet

Tricon2016: The Microbiome: Sorting Out the Hype from the Hope – Bonnie Feldman – Storify

Leap day, giant viruses, and gene-editing – Dawn Field – Oxford University Press blog
[hr]

March 5, 2016

Lung microbes in Cystic Fibrosis, microbiota of reindeer, strawberry phyllosphere, and microbes in raindust.

Pregnancy and birth

Dynamics of Gut Microbiota According to the Delivery Mode in Healthy Korean Infants – Eun Lee- Allergy Asthma Immunol Res.

Review: Respiratory Microbiome of New-Born Infants – David J. Gallacher – Frontiers in Pediatrics

Review: Bosom Buddies: The Symbiotic Relationship Between Infants and Bifidobacterium longum ssp. longum and ssp. infantis. Genetic and Probiotic Features – Silvia Arboleya – Annual Review of Food Science and Technology

Review: Maternal microbiome – A pathway to preterm birth – Angela E. Vinturache – Seminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine

Human respiratory microbiome

Analysis of Lung Microbiota in Bronchoalveolar Lavage, Protected Brush and Sputum Samples from Subjects with Mild-To-Moderate Cystic Fibrosis Lung Disease – Deborah A. Hogan – PLOS ONE

Human oral microbiome

Levels of Candidate Periodontal Pathogens in Subgingival Biofilm – R.R.D.S Oliveira – Journal of Dental Research

Human gut microbiome

Effects of plant stanol ester consumption on fasting plasma oxy(phyto)sterol concentrations as related to fecal microbiota characteristics – Sabine Baumgartner – The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

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

Metagenomic evidence for taxonomic dysbiosis and functional imbalance in the gastrointestinal tracts of children with cystic fibrosis – Ohad Manor – Scientific Reports

Research highlight: Growth impairment in undernourished children – Claire Greenhill – Nature Reviews Endocrinology

Review: Elucidating the role of the host genome in shaping microbiome composition – Emily R. Davenport – Gut Microbes

Review: The Microbiome: A Key Regulator of Stress and Neuroinflammation – Kieran Rea – Neurobiology of Stress

Review: The Brain-Gut-Microbiome Axis: What Role Does it Play in Autism Spectrum Disorder? – Ruth Ann Luna – Current Developmental Disorders Reports

Review: Microbes and the Mind: Emerging Hallmarks of the Gut Microbiota-Brain Axis – Kylynda C. Bauer – Cellular Microbiology

Review: The human gut microbiome and its dysfunctions through the meta-omics prism – Stanislas Mondot – Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Animal models

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

Effects of environmental temperature on the gut microbial communities of tadpoles – Kevin D. Kohl – Environmental Microbiology

Apple-Derived Pectin Modulates Gut Microbiota, Improves Gut Barrier Function, and Attenuates Metabolic Endotoxemia in Rats with Diet-Induced Obesity – Tingting Jiang – MDPI Nutrients

The effects of fecal microbial transplantation on microbiome and immunity in SIV-infected macaques – Tiffany Hensley-McBain – Journal of Virology

Soy Protein Compared with Milk Protein in a Western Diet Increases Gut Microbial Diversity and Reduces Serum Lipids in Golden Syrian Hamsters – Dustie N Butteiger – Journal of Nutrition

Review: The interplay between intestinal bacteria and host metabolism in health and disease: lessons from Drosophila melanogaster – Adam C. N. Wong – Disease Models & Mechanisms

Animal microbiome

New Insights into the Microbiota of the Svalbard Reindeer Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus – Sylwia Zielińska – Frontiers in Microbiology

Geographically conserved microbiomes of four temperate water tunicates – Patrick L. Cahill – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Twenty five new viruses associated with the Drosophilidae (Diptera) – Claire L Webster – bioRxiv

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Soil Microbial Community Interactions Under Tillage Systems in Australia – Vivian A. Rincon-Florez – Plant, Soil and Microbes

Variation of Bacterial Community Diversity in Rhizosphere Soil of Sole-Cropped versus Intercropped Wheat Field after Harvest – Zhenping Yang – PLOS ONE

Dispersal of Bacillus subtilis and its effect on strawberry phyllosphere microbiota under open field and protection conditions – Feng Wei – Scientific Reports

Temporally Variable Geographical Distance Effects Contribute to the Assembly of Root-Associated Fungal Communities – Christopher J. Barnes – Frontiers in Microbiology

Elevation gradient of soil bacterial communities in bamboo plantations – Yu-Te Lin – Botanical Studies

Soil microbial functional capacity and diversity in a millet-shrub intercropping system of semi-arid Senegal – S. Diakhaté – Journal of Arid Environments

Bioaugmentation of microbes to restore coastal wetland plants to protect land from coastal erosion – Regina Bledsoe – International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation

Review: Nutrient scavenging activity and antagonistic factors of non-photobiont lichen-associated bacteria: a review – M. Auður Sigurbjörnsdóttir – World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Water, rain, and extremophile microbiome

Remnants of marine bacterial communities can be retrieved from deep sediments in lakes of marine origin – Silke Langenheder – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Comparative summer dynamics of surface cyanobacterial communities in two connected lakes from the west of Ireland – N. Touzet – Science of The Total Environment

Dust Rains Deliver Diverse Assemblages of Microorganisms to the Eastern Mediterranean – Ghida Nouhad Itani – Scientific Reports

Protistan diversity and activity inferred from RNA and DNA at a coastal ocean site in the eastern North Pacific – Sarah K. Hu – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

A distinct and active bacterial community in cold oxygenated fluids circulating beneath the western flank of the Mid-Atlantic ridge – Julie L. Meyer – Scientific Reports

Biodigester microbiology

This one sounded wrong: Microbial diversity in an anaerobic digester with biogeographical proximity to geothermal active region – Rishi Mahajan – Environmental Technology

Food microbiology

Impact of mulches and growing season on indicator bacteria survival during lettuce cultivation – Aixia Xu – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Built environment microbiology

Seasonal Dynamics of the Airborne Bacterial Community and Selected Viruses in a Children’s Daycare Center – Aaron J. Prussin II – PLOS ONE

Bioweathering Potential of Cultivable Fungi Associated with Semi-Arid Surface Microhabitats of Mayan Buildings – Benjamín O. Ortega-Morales – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbiome of death

Review: The Thanatomicrobiome: A Missing Piece of the Microbial Puzzle of Death – Gulnaz T. Javan – Frontiers in Microbiology

Waste and pollution microbiology

Isolation and characterization of yeasts associated with plants growing in heavy-metal- and arsenic-contaminated soils – Juan Ramos-Garza – Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Review: Understanding the development of environmental resistance among microbes: A Review – Jatin Srivastava – CLEAN – Soil, Air, Water

Review: Microbial communities, processes and functions in acid mine drainage ecosystems – Lin-xing Chen – Current Opinion in Biotechnology

Infection microbiology

Absence of Serological Evidence of Rickettsia spp., Bartonella spp., Ehrlichia spp. and Coxiella burnetii Infections in American Samoa – Colleen Lau – Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases

Comparison between a Broad-Range Real-Time and a Broad-Range End-Point PCR Assays for the Detection of Bacterial 16S rRNA in Clinical Samples – Mariam Meddeb – Annals of Clinical & Laboratory Science

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Capturing the most wanted taxa through cross-sample correlations – Mathieu Almeida – The ISME Journal

MEGAnnotator: a user-friendly pipeline for microbial genomes assembly and annotation
Gabriele Andrea Lugli – FEMS Microbiology Letters

Sequence techniques

Microbial Ecology in the Era of Next Generation Sequencing – Surajit De Mandal – Omics: Next Generation: Sequencing & Applications

Microbial Ecology

Microbes as Engines of Ecosystem Function: When Does Community Structure Enhance Predictions of Ecosystem Processes? – Emily B. Graham – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Would you try to vaginally “seed” your baby’s microbiome after a C-section – Jonathan Eisen – The Tree of Life

Science, publishing, and career

This Paper Should Not Have Been Retracted: #HandofGod highlights the worst aspects of science twitter – Andrew David Thaler – Southern Friend Science

The “Creator” paper, Post-pub Peer Review, and Racism Among Scientists – Dr24hours – Complex Roots

UC reclassifies master’s degrees, charges elevated tuition – Nanette Asimov – SF Chronicle

She Wanted to Do Her Research. He Wanted to Talk ‘Feelings.’ – A. Hope Jahren – NY Times

[hr]

March 1, 2016

Colonization of the mouth in babies, biofilm in dinosaur bone, lichen symbiosis, microbial forensics, horse stool transplants, and ViromeScan.

Pregnancy and birth

Probiotic Supplementation and Late-Onset Sepsis in Preterm Infants: A Meta-analysis – Shripada C. Rao – Pediatrics

Early colonization of the oral cavity in 6- and 12-month-old infants by cariogenic and periodontal pathogens: a case-control study – Vlasta Merglova – Folia Microbiologica

Review: Perinatal nutrition: How to Take Care of the gut microbiota? – Izaskun García-Mantrana – Clinical Nutrition Experimental

Human skin microbiome

Antagonism between Staphylococcus epidermidis and Propionibacterium acnes and its genomic basis – Gitte J. M. Christensen – BMC Genomics

Human oral microbiome

Bacterial community shifts during healing of palatal wounds: comparison of two graft harvesting approaches – Suzanne L. Delima – Journal of Clinical Periodontology

Human gut microbiome

Innate Sensing of the Gut Microbiota: Modulation of Inflammatory and Autoimmune Diseases – Aline Ignacio – Frontiers in Immunology

Does the intestinal microbial community of Korean Crohn’s disease patients differ from that of western patients? – Chang Soo Eun – BMC Gastroenterology

Review: Gut Microbiota Modification: Another Piece in the Puzzle of the Benefits of Physical Exercise in Health? – Begoña Cerdá – Frontiers in Physiology

Editorial: The Microbiome in Critical Illness: Firm Conclusions or Bact to Square One?
John D. Lyons – Digestive Diseases and Sciences

Editiorial: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Does the Gut Microbiome Hold the Key?
Sophie Leclercq – Canadian Journal of Psychiatry

Animal models of microbiome research

Cognitive Impairment by Antibiotic-Induced Gut Dysbiosis: Analysis of Gut Microbiota-Brain Communication – Esther E. Fröhlich – Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

Epigenome-Microbiome crosstalk: A potential new paradigm influencing neonatal susceptibility to disease – Rene Cortese – Epigenetics

Animal microbiome

Testing the Hypothesis of Biofilm as a Source for Soft Tissue and Cell-Like Structures Preserved in Dinosaur Bone – Mary Higby Schweitzer – PLOS ONE

The holobiont concept: the case of xylophagous termites and cockroaches – Mercedes Berlanga – Symbiosis

Termites: Characterization of the Core and Caste-Specific Microbiota in the Termite, Reticulitermes flavipes – Jacquelynn Benjamino – Frontiers in Microbiology

The sea cucumber microbiome is so hot right now: Individual Apostichopus japonicus fecal microbiome reveals a link with polyhydroxybutyrate producers in host growth gaps – Yohei Yamazaki – Scientific Reports

Gut bacterial communities across tadpole ecomorphs in two diverse tropical anuran faunas – Miguel Vences – The Science of Nature

Review: Equine faecal microbiota transplant: Current knowledge, proposed guidelines and future directions – K. R. Mullen – Equine Veterinary Education

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Differential Response of Potato Toward Inoculation with Taxonomically Diverse Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria – Tahir Naqqash – Frontiers in Plant Science

Disentangling the relative importance of host tree community, abiotic environment, and spatial factors on ectomycorrhizal fungal assemblages along an elevation gradient – Shunsuke Matsuoka – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Changes of soil microbial community under different degraded gradients of alpine meadow – Yaoming Li – Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

Responses of Soil Fungal Populations and Communities to the Thinning of Cryptomeria Japonica Forests – Wan-Rou Lin – Microbes and Environments

Land-Cover Legacy Effects on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Abundance in Human and Wildlife Dominated Systems in Tropical Savanna – Geofrey E. Soka – Advances in Ecology

Response of Soil Microbial Properties to Long-Term Application of Organic and Inorganic Amendments in a Tropical Soil (Saria, Burkina Faso) – Ndeye Hélène Diallo-Diagne – OJSS

Microspatial variability in community structure and photophysiology of calcified macroalgal microbiomes revealed by coupling of hyperspectral and high-resolution fluorescence imaging – R. G. Perkin – Scientific Reports

Lichen: Understanding Microbial Multi-Species Symbioses – Ines A. Aschenbrenner – Frontiers in Microbiology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Protist metabarcoding and environmental biomonitoring: time for change – J. Pawlowski – European Journal of Protistology

Biogeochemical and microbial variation across 5500 km of Antarctic surface sediment implicates organic matter as a driver of benthic community structure – Deric R. Learman – Frontiers in Microbiology

Book Chapter: Life in the Anoxic Sub-Seafloor Environment: Linking Microbial Metabolism and Mega Reserves of Methane Hydrate – Varsha Honkalas – Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology

Waste and pollution microbiology

Potential Impacts of PCBs on Sediment Microbiomes in a Tropical Marine Environment – James S. Klaus – MDPI J. Mar. Sci. Eng.

Microbial Community Structure of Activated Sludge in Treatment Plants with Different Wastewater Compositions – Nataliya M. Shchegolkova – Frontiers in Microbiology

Food microbiology

Metatranscriptomics reveals temperature-driven functional changes in microbiome impacting cheese maturation rate – Francesca De Filippis – Scientific Reports

Forensic microbiology

Review: Expansion of Microbial Forensics – Sarah E. Schmedes – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Bioinformatics, viruses, metagenomics

ViromeScan: a new tool for metagenomic viral community profiling – Simone Rampelli – BMC Genomics

MIMIVIRE is a defence system in mimivirus that confers resistance to virophage – Anthony Levasseur – Nature

More microbiology

Culture-independent method for identification of microbial enzyme-encoding genes by activity-based single-cell sequencing using a water-in-oil microdroplet platform – Kazuki Nakamura – Scientific Reports

Expanding the Diet for DIET: Electron Donors Supporting Direct Interspecies Electron Transfer (DIET) in Defined Co-Cultures – Li-Ying Wang – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbes and infection

Genome analysis of three Pneumocystis species reveals adaptation mechanisms to life exclusively in mammalian hosts – Liang Ma – Nature Communications

Microbes in the news

NASA’s lab rat: What astronaut Scott Kelly’s year in space can teach us – Sharon Begley – STAT news

Video: Bacteria Can Be Your Best Friend, interview with Ned Ruby and Margaret McFall-Ngai – ThinkTech Hawaii

Inside the secret defense systems of giant viruses – Carl Zimmer – STATnews

How Gut Microbiota Impacts HIV Disease. A new understanding of the role gut microbiota plays in HIV disease is beginning to emerge, suggesting potential new strategies to manage the infection – Bob Roehr – Scientific American

The Case of the Missing Microbes – Kevin Bonham – Scientific American

Faecal transplants could be useful in treating diarrhoea in horses – review – Horse Talk

Antibiotic use in preschoolers alters intestinal microbiome, increases disease risk – Healio

Altering the Gut Microbiome with Early Life Exercise – HCP Live

Obstructive sleep apnea raises hypertension risk, a possible link with gut bacteria: Study– Devon Andre – Belmarra Health

Tipping the Balance in Microbiome Standoffs.The Human Microbiome May Dispose Us toward Health or Illness On The Basis Of Tiny Shifts in Microbial Subpopulations – MaryAnn Labant – GenEngNews

Fighting Infections with Viruses, as Antibiotics Fail – NewsMax

HU develops Jerusalem sewage viruses to kill off resistant dental bacteria – Jerusalem Post

Turning bacteria into ‘SWARMBOTS’: Groups of microbes could be engineered to help combat harmful bugs in the gut – Daily Mail

Bacteria or Virus? New Tests May Identify What’s Causing Your Infection – The Wall Street Journal

Science, publishing, and career

I’m quoted here too: Blatt is back: “open debate cornerstone of scientific process” – Leonid Schneider- For Better Science

An introvert goes conferencing – Strategies to cope – Stephen B Heard – Scientist Sees Squirrel

Bik’s Picks

Ever Wonder What a Neanderthal Considered a Delicacy? – Erika Engelhaupt – National Geographic

[hr]

February 28, 2016

Viral sequences in cancers, COPD, and EDGE, an easy online tool for metagenomics analysis.

Jobs

Researcher for a project on the effect of gut microbiome in human behavior – Radboud UMC Nijmegen, The Netherlands

General microbiome

Opinion: Manipulating Bacterial Communities by in situ Microbiome Engineering – Ravi U. Sheth – Trends in Genetics

Pregnancy and birth

Effect of Saccharomyces boulardii and Mode of Delivery on the Early Development of the Gut Microbial Community in Preterm Infants – Natalia Zeber-Lubecka – PLOS ONE

Human respiratory microbiome

Lung microbiome dynamics in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations – Zhang Wang – European Respiratory Journal

Human gut microbiome

Presence of Porphyromonas gingivalis in esophagus and its association with the clinicopathological characteristics and survival in patients with esophageal cancer – Shegan Gao – BMC Infectious Agents and Cancer

Human colorectal mucosal microbiota correlates with its host niche physiology revealed by endomicroscopy – Ai-Hua Wang – Scientific Reports

Review: Gut Microbiota of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease – Reham M. Abdou – Digestive Diseases and Sciences

Review: Microbes and the Mind: Emerging Hallmarks of the Gut Microbiota-Brain Axis – Kylynda C. Bauer – Cellular Microbiology

Review: Beyond the gut bacterial microbiota: The gut virome – Paola Columpsi – Journal of Medical Virology

Human tissues and infection

Identification of Known and Novel Recurrent Viral Sequences in Data from Multiple Patients and Multiple Cancers – Jens Friis-Nielsen – MDPI Viruses

Models of microbiome research

Maternal Weaning Modulates Emotional Behavior and Regulates the Gut-Brain – Pamela Farshim – Scientific Reports

Rats: Correlations of Fecal Metabonomic and Microbiomic Changes Induced by High-fat Diet in the Pre-Obesity State – Hong Lin – Scientific Reports

Animal microbiome

18S rRNA V9 metabarcoding for diet characterization: a critical evaluation with two sympatric zooplanktivorous fish species – Aitor Albaina – Ecology and Evolution

Plant, root and soil microbiome

Tundra soil carbon is vulnerable to rapid microbial decomposition under climate warming – Kai Xue – Nature Climate Change

Online Springer Book: Microbial Inoculants in Sustainable Agricultural Productivity – Springer

Book chapter: Soil Effects of Genetically Modified Trees (GMTs) – Fernando Gallardo – Biosafety of Forest Transgenic Trees

Borderline Products between Bio-fertilizers/ Bio-effectors and Plant Protectants: The Role of Microbial Consortia – Marco Nuti – David Publishing Company

Differences in substrate use efficiency: impacts of microbial community composition, land use management, and substrate complexity – Tobias Bölscher – Biology and Fertility of Soils

Comparing how land use change impacts soil microbial catabolic respiration in Southwestern Amazon – Andre Mancebo Mazzetto – Brazilian Journal of Microbiology

Bacterial community dissimilarity between the surface and subsurface soils equals horizontal differences over several kilometers in the western Tibetan Plateau – Haiyan Chu – Environmental Microbiology

Soil and tree species traits both shape soil microbial communities during early growth of Chinese subtropical forests – Zhiqin Pei – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Water and extremophile microbiome

Functional interactions of archaea, bacteria, and viruses in a hypersaline endolithic community – Alexander Crits-Christoph – Environmental Microbiology

Ecological succession leads to chemosynthesis in mats colonizing wood in sea water – Dimitri Kalenitchenko – The ISME Journal

Chapter One – Geomicrobiology and Metagenomics of Terrestrial Deep Subsurface Microbiomes – M. Itävaara – Advances in Applied Microbiology

Waste and pollution microbiology

Bacterial ecology of abattoir wastewater treated by an anaerobic digestor – Linda Jabari – Brazilian Journal of Microbiology

High-Resolution Phylogenetic Analysis of Residual Bacterial Species of Fouled Membranes after NaOCl Cleaning – Ronald R. Navarro – Water Research

Microbial diversity and hydrocarbon degrading gene capacity of a crude oil field soil as determined by metagenomics analysis – Firouz Abbasian – Biotechnology Progress

Bioinformatics

Now peer reviewed: cual-id: Globally Unique, Correctable, and Human-Friendly Sample Identifiers for Comparative Omics Studies – John H. Chase – mSystems

Metabolic Model-Based Integration of Microbiome Taxonomic and Metabolomic Profiles Elucidates Mechanistic Links between Ecological and Metabolic Variation – Cecilia Noecker – mSystems

Assessing the performance of DNA barcoding using posterior predictive simulations – Anthony J. Barley – Molecular Ecology

Enabling the democratization of the genomics revolution with a fully integrated web-based bioinformatics platform – Po-E Li – BioRxiv

GenSeed-HMM: A tool for progressive assembly using profile HMMs as seeds and its application in Alpavirinae viral discovery from metagenomic data – João Marcelo P. Alves – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metabolomics

Human microbial metabolites as a source of new drugs – Somdutta Saha – Drug Discovery Today

More microbiology

Microbiota–mitochondria inter-talk: consequence for microbiota-host interaction – Yann Saint-Georges-Chaumet – Pathogens and Disease

Exploitation by cheaters facilitates the preservation of essential public goods in microbial communities – Clara Moreno-Fenoll – bioRxiv

Accurate and semi-automated analysis of bacterial association with mammalian cells – C.M. Murphy – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Microbes in the news

Fungal DNA, mycotoxins, cat allergens and fatigue in classrooms – Holly Ganz – MicroBEnet

Gum Disease Bacteria Linked to Esophageal Cancer Risk – Newsmax

Video: Virginia Tech scientists turn poo into power – Virginia Tech

[hr]

February 19, 2016

My PhD anniversary today! Today I found papers on primary sclerosing cholangitis, fungi from goat guts, dispersal from biofilms.

Human gut microbiome

The gut microbial profile in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis is distinct from patients with ulcerative colitis without biliary disease and healthy controls – Martin Kummen – Gut

Review: Obesity, Asthma, and the Microbiome – Youngji Cho – Physiology

Microbiology of infection

Bacterial biofilm infection detected in breast implant associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma – Hu, Honghua – Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Animal models

Peripheral Lymphoid Volume Expansion and Maintenance Are Controlled by Gut Microbiota via RALDH+ Dendritic Cells – Zongde Zhang – Immunity

Important Metabolic Pathways and Biological Processes Expressed by Chicken Cecal Microbiota – Ondrej Polansky – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Lingonberries reduce atherosclerosis in Apoe-/- mice in association with altered gut microbiota composition and improved lipid profile – Chrysoula Matziouridou – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

Emerging role of lipid droplets in Aedes aegypti immune response against bacteria and Dengue virus – Ana Beatriz Ferreira Barletta – Scientific Reports

Animal microbiome

GoatsEarly-branching gut fungi possess a large, comprehensive array of biomass-degrading enzymes – Kevin V. Solomon – Science

Identification of Specialists and Abundance-Occupancy Relationships among Intestinal Bacteria of Aves, Mammalia, and Actinopterygii – Hyatt C. Green – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Mucosal immunoglobulins at respiratory surfaces mark an ancient association that predates the emergence of tetrapods – Zhen Xu – Nature Communications

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Opposing phylogenetic diversity gradients of plant and soil bacterial communities – Marta Goberna – Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Water microbiome

Functional metagenomic screen reveals new and diverse microbial rhodopsins – Alina Pushkarev – The ISME Journal

Ultrafiltration and Microarray for Detection of Microbial Source Tracking Marker and Pathogen Genes in Riverine and Marine Systems – Xiang Li – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Pathogens in Ornamental Waters: A Pilot Study – Maria Nascimento – MDPI Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health

More Microbiology

What Makes a Bacterial Species Pathogenic? Comparative Genomic Analysis of the Genus Leptospira – Derrick E. Fouts – PLOS NTD

Go Forth and Colonize: Dispersal from Clinically Important Microbial Biofilms – Priya Uppuluri – PLOS Pathogens

Microbes in the news

Fungi from goats’ guts could lead to better biofuels – Matt McGrath – BBC News

Mapping the microbes in your mouth: We spoke to lead author Dr Gary Borisy about the research published in PNAS this month. – Microbe Post

Penn Study Reveals How Fish Control Microbes Through Their Gills – PennNews

93% of Israel’s Fresh Chicken Has Dangerous Bacteria (Campylobacter) – Forward

Electroporation 2.0: Breaking through the bacteria barrier: New microfluidic device may speed up DNA insertion in bacteria, the first step in genetic engineering – MIT News

Gut Microbes and Milk Compounds Tackle Childhood Malnutrition – Pat Bailey – UC Davis

Porcine Probiotic May Help Protect Gut Health – Susan Bubak – University of Guelph
Could Fecal Transplants From Rich Children Help Starving Kids in Africa? – Kari Paul – Motherboard

BiofilmDNA oral microbial salivary test to be launched by Oravital Inc. during 2016 Chicago Midwinter Meeting – DentistryIQ

[hr]

February 18, 2016

Two papers from the Gordon lab today about malnutrition and gut microbes, connecting gut microbes with host chitin, fur seals, and analyzing soil communities for forensic use.

Pregnancy and birth

(partly in miceGut bacteria that prevent growth impairments transmitted by microbiota from malnourished children – Laura V. Blanton – Science

Sialylated Milk Oligosaccharides Promote Microbiota-Dependent Growth in Models of Infant Undernutrition – Mark R. Charbonneau – Cell

Editorial: The right gut microbes help infants grow – Elizabeth Pennisi – Science

Stool bacterial load in preterm infants with necrotising enterocolitis – Bashir Abdulkadir – Early Human Development

Detection and sequencing of Zika virus from amniotic fluid of fetuses with microcephaly in Brazil: a case study – Guilherme Calvet – The Lancet Infectious Diseases

Human gut microbiome

Gut Microbiota Predict Pulmonary Infiltrates After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation – Bianca Harris – Am J Respir Crit Care Med

Members of the Intestinal Microbiota Are Associated with Relapse after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation – Jonathan U. Peled – Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Conference abstract: Fecal Microbiota Transplant Is a Potentially Safe and Effective Treatment for Clostridium Difficile Infection in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Recipients – Shannon Falconer – Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation

The impact of gut colonization by antibiotic-resistant bacteria on the outcomes of allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation: a retrospective, single-center study – Jaroslaw Bilinski – Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation

 

PhD Thesis: Temporal Modulation of Gut Microbiome and Metabolome by Morphine – Fuyuan Wang – University of Minnesota

Research highlight: Frailty associated with gut microbiota – Iain Dickson – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Review: Exploring the Microbiome in Heart Failure – Takeshi Kitai – Current Heart Failure Reports

Perspective: The microbiome and development of allergic disease – Susan V. Lynch – Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Hypothesis: The gut microbiota: A puppet master in the pathogenesis of endometriosis? – Matthias W. Laschke – American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Editorial: Microbiota, Obesity and Malnutrition – Didier Raoult – Microbial Pathogenesis

Review: Protective and Pro-Inflammatory Roles of Intestinal Bacteria – Cynthia Reinoso Webb – Pathophysiology

Models of microbiome

Mice: Hepatic circadian clock oscillators and nuclear receptors integrate microbiome-derived signals – Alexandra Montagner – Scientific Reports

Lactobacillus plantarum strain maintains growth of infant mice during chronic undernutrition – Martin Schwarzer – Science

Mice: Butyrate production from high-fiber diet protects against lymphoma tumor – Wei Wei – Leukemia & Lymphoma

Drosophila: Sex difference in pathology of the ageing gut mediates the greater response of female lifespan to dietary restriction – Jennifer C Regan – eLIFE

Mice: Treatment with a Monoclonal Anti-IL-12p40 Antibody Induces Substantial Gut Microbiota Changes in an Experimental Colitis Model – Josué Castro-Mejía – Gastroenterology Research and Practice

Mice: Diets enriched with cranberry beans alter the microbiota and mitigate colitis severity and associated inflammation – Jennifer M. Monk – The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry

Research Highlight: Microbiota promote gut healing – Hugh Thomas – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Animal microbiome

Gut immunity in a protochordate involves a secreted immunoglobulin-type mediator binding host chitin and bacteria – Larry J. Dishaw – Nature Communications

Characterisation of the faecal bacterial community of wild young South American (Arctocephalus australis) and Subantarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus tropicalis) – Aline Weber Medeiros – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

16S rRNA amplicon sequencing for epidemiological surveys of bacteria in wildlife: the importance of cleaning post-sequencing data before estimating positivity, prevalence and co-infection – Maxime Galan – bioRxiv

Nestedness of hoopoes’ bacterial communities: symbionts from the uropygial gland to the eggshell – Juan J. Soler – Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Biogeographic Patterns Between Bacterial Phyllosphere Communities of the Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) in a Small Forest – Bram W. G. Stone – Microbial Ecology

Culturable endophytic bacteria from the salt marsh plant Halimione portulacoides: phylogenetic diversity, functional characterization, and influence of metal(loid) contamination – Cátia Fidalgo – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Next-Generation Sequencing of the Bacterial 16S rRNA Gene for Forensic Soil Comparison: A Feasibility Study – Ellen M. Jesmok – Journal of Forensic Sciences

Water microbiome

Sediments and Soils Act as Reservoirs for Taxonomic and Functional Bacterial Diversity in the Upper Mississippi River – Christopher Staley – Microbial Ecology

The Influence of Time and Plant Species on the Composition of the Decomposing Bacterial Community in a Stream Ecosystem – Adam S. Wymore – Microbial Ecology

Built environment microbiome

Commentary: Making microbiology of the built environment relevant to design – G. Z. Brown – Microbiome

Food microbiology

Changes of microbial spoilage, lipid-protein oxidation and physicochemical properties during post mortem refrigerated storage of goat meat – Azad Behnan Sabow – Animal Science Journal

Metagenomic analysis of a Mexican ripened cheese reveals a unique complex microbiota – Alejandra Escobar-Zepeda – Food Microbiology

Bioinformatics

An analysis of human microbe–disease associations – Wei Ma – Briefings in Bioinformatics

FN-Identify: Novel Restriction Enzymes-Based Method for Bacterial Identification in Absence of Genome Sequencing – Mohamed Awad – Advances in Bioinformatics

Microbial ecology

Capturing the Dynamic, Heterogeneous Response of Microbes to their Environment in the Human Microbiome – Julie Biteen – Biophysical Journal

Perspective: Microbial community modeling using reliability theory – Julie L Zilles – The ISME Journal

Microbes in the news

Could the right gut microbes help fight childhood malnutrition? – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

Breast Milk Sugars Support Infant Gut Health – Anna Azvolinsky – The Scientist

Targeting gut microbes may reverse effects of childhood malnutrition
Healthy microbes, breast milk component suggest new treatment approach, mouse study shows – Julie Evangelou Strait – Washington University

How Microbes Make Malnutrition Worse. And how they can be marshaled to fight it – Ed Yong – The Atlantic

 

The Mushroom Death Suit is the latest in post-mortem, eco-friendly fashion – Atlas Obscura

Through Metagenomics Analysis, Researchers Uncover Zika Virus Genome in Amniotic Fluid – Genome Web

What’s bugging you now? The amazing potential of our bodies’ own bacteria – Trisha Macnair – Spectator Health

Gut bacteria may be the difference between well-fed and malnourished – Jacob Kastrenakes – The Verge

Creative Minds: Bacteria, Gene Swaps, and Human Cancer, featuring Julie Dunning Hotopp – Francis Collins – NIH Director’s Blog

This Startup Wants to Use Bacteria to Revolutionize How Our Food Is Produced – Beth Kowitt – Fortune

Bacteria Hysteria

Dad warns parents about Sistema Twist ‘N’ Sip drink bottles ‘hoarding bacteria’ – Stuff

Breast Milk Bought Online May Contain Bacteria That Could Harm Your Child, Investigation Finds – Inside Edition

[hr]

February 12, 2016

Infant gut microbiota development and family foods, a paper on the “blood microbiome” that caused some discussion on Twitter, Penicillinum and pears, and community types in the human microbiome.

Jobs and events

Mothur and programming in R workshop, May 23-25, Detroit

Postdoctoral Research Assistant – Microbiome – University of Oxford – Department of Plant Sciences

Pregnancy and birth

Infant Gut Microbiota Development Is Driven by Transition to Family Foods Independent of Maternal Obesity – Martin Frederik Laursen – mSphere

Human gut

A Novel Microbiome Therapeutic Increases Gut Microbial Diversity and Prevents Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection – Sahil Khanna – The Journal of Infectious Diseases

Microbiome of blood

No carefully designed controls, no deposit of sequence reads, misleading Y-axis in Figure S1. I don’t endorse this study: Comprehensive description of blood microbiome from healthy donors assessed by 16S targeted metagenomic sequencing – Sandrine Païssé – Transfusion

Animal models

Rearing room affects the non-dominant chicken caecum microbiota, while diet affects the dominant microbiota – Jane Ludvigsen – Frontiers in Veterinary Science

Extremophiles and water microbiome

Artificial electron acceptors decouple archaeal methane oxidation from sulfate reduction – Silvan Scheller – Science

Perspective: A new diet for methane oxidizers – Amelia-Elena Rotaru – Science

The role of particle associated microbes in remineralization of fecal pellets in the upper mesopelagic of the Scotia Sea, Antarctica – Anna Belcher – Limnology and Oceanography

Growth dynamics of a laminated microbial mat in response to variable irradiance in an Antarctic lake – Ian Hawes – Freshwater Biology

Food microbiology

Profile of Penicillium species in the pear supply chain – I. Scholtz – Plant Pathology

More microbes

Survival games at the dinner table: regulation of Enterobacterial virulence through nutrient sensing and acquisition – Gaëlle Porcheron – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

On the Origins and Control of Community Types in the Human Microbiome – Travis E. Gibson – PLOS Computational Biology

Microbes in the news

Forget chocolates. Give your sweetheart mushrooms this Valentine’s Day, says Stanford scientist – Rosemary Mena-Werth – Stanford News

Infant gut microbiome development not driven by maternal weight – Stephen Feller – UPI

Solid foods take over shaping of gut microbiota by 9 months – Yvette Brazier – Medical News Today

Why we might need to kill Australia’s koalas: Chlamydia infection is running rampant through their population, and a controlled cull might be their best hope- Katie Silver – BBC

Researchers Believe That Socialization Helps Spread Beneficial Gut Bacteria – Shariqua Ahmed – DogoNews

Novel microbiome therapy appears to prevent recurrent C. difficile infection – Healio

AbbVie Launches IBD Collaboration with Synlogic – GenEngNews

Bik’s Picks

Thursday’s massive gravitational wave news was broken by a sheet cake (really) – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

Science and art

An Artist Asks: Whose Business Is Our DNA? – Short film on artwork by Heather Dewey-Hagborg who created masks of strangers based on genetic material left behind – The Atlantic

[hr]