April 9, 2020

Good morning! There’s a diverse set of microbiome papers to share today, ranging from the human microbiome in Lynch Syndrome to the microbes that flavor wine and degrade paintings in art galleries. You may also want to check out the recent news that popular video game Borderlands 3 is introducing a new mini-game that prompts players to help “map” the human gut microbiome—technical details are hard to come by, but it appears to be alignment related. There is also a study that found more than 20 percent of recently published metagenomes are not accessible.

In addition, Microbiome Data Congress 2020 will be held online on May 6 and is offering free registration through tomorrow (Friday, April 10). Speakers include human microbiome researcher Dr. Nikos Kyrpides of the (U.S.) DOE Joint Genome Institute and soil microbiologist Dr. Kari Dunfield of the University of Guelph.

Human gut microbiome

Structure of the Mucosal and Stool Microbiome in Lynch Syndrome, Yan Yan et al., Cell Host & Microbe

Effects of sex and chronic cigarette smoke exposure on the mouse cecal microbiome, Tam and Filho et al., PLOS ONE

The gut microbiome but not the resistome is associated with urogenital schistosomiasis in preschool-aged children, Derick N. M. Osakunor et al., Communications Biology

Perspective: Developing a new class of engineered live bacterial therapeutics to treat human diseases, Mark R. Charbonneau et al., Nature Communications

Review: The gut mycobiome: The overlooked constituent of clinical outcomes and treatment complications in patients with cancer and other immunosuppressive conditions, Galloway-Peña and Kontoyiannis, PLOS Pathogens

Intestinal enteroids recapitulate the effects of short-chain fatty acids on the intestinal epithelium, Sarah C. Pearce et al., PLOS ONE


Animal experiments

A combination of monosodium glutamate and high-fat and high-fructose diets increases the risk of kidney injury, gut dysbiosis and host-microbial co-metabolism, Thatsanapong Pongking et al., PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Preprint: Vineyard ecosystems are structured and distinguished by fungal communities impacting the flavour and quality of wine, Di Liu et al., bioRxiv

Bacterial community composition of vermicompost-treated tomato rhizospheres, Juana Munoz-Ucros et al., PLOS ONE

Field Performance of Mixtures of Pseudomonas and Bacillus spp. in Managing Papaya Ringspot Virus Disease and their Effect on Plant Defense Enzyme Activity, Ranasinghe and De Costa, Tropical Agricultural Research

Built environment

Detection of potential biodeterioration risks for tempera painting in 16th century exhibits from State Tretyakov Gallery, Alexander Zhgun et al., PLOS ONE

Microbiome and antibiotic resistome in household dust from Beijing, China, Long-Jun Ding et al., Environment International

Preprint: Microbial dark matter driven degradation of carbon fiber polymer composites, Adam M. Breister et al., bioRxiv

Phages and viruses

Preprint: Primate phageomes are structured by superhost phylogeny and environment, Jan-Frederik Gogarten et al., bioRxiv

Bioinformatics

PIA: More Accurate Taxonomic Assignment of Metagenomic Data Demonstrated on sedaDNA From the North Sea, Becky Cribdon et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Techniques

A restriction enzyme reduced representation sequencing approach for low-cost, high-throughput metagenome profiling, Melanie K. Hess et al., PLOS ONE

Science, publishing, and career

Every fifth published metagenome is not available to science, Eckert, Di Cesare and Fontaneto et al., PLOS Biology

April 6, 2020

God morgon!

Good morning from Sweden. This is my first post and following the current trend, it starts with some articles on the COVID19 pandemic. Today’s digest is headlined by some interesting preprints reporting inhibitors of SARS-CoV2 virus, followed by another interesting read suggesting the link between the gut microbiome and ADHD, some articles on our struggle against pathogenic bacteria, virus and fungi, and capped off with a small but informative news article on things one should not do during the COVID19 lockdown.

You might notice that today’s post is dominated by preprints. These preprints, while being an excellent way to disperse information as rapidly as it emerges, aren’t peer-reviewed. Hence, always read them with a pinch of salt!

COVID19

Preprint: In vitro screening of a FDA approved chemical library reveals potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 replication – Franck Touret, et al.

Preprint: LY6E Restricts the Entry of Human Coronaviruses, including the currently pandemic SARS-CoV-2 – Xuesen Zhao, et al.

Preprint: Indomethacin has a potent antiviral activity against SARS CoV-2 in vitro and canine coronavirus in vivo – Tianhong Xu, et al.

Preprint: Potent Antiviral Activities of Type I Interferons to SARS-CoV-2 Infection – Emily K. Mantlo, et al.

Microbial interactions

Preprint: Enhanced nutrient uptake is sufficient to drive emergent cross-feeding between bacteria – Ryan K Fritts, et al.

Structure and function of the Arctic and Antarctic marine microbiota as revealed by metagenomics – Weipeng Zhang, et al. – Microbiome

Preprint: Accumulation of dead cells from contact killing facilitates coexistence in bacterial biofilms – Gabi Steinbach, et al.

Human microbiome

Preprint: Gut microbiota from persons with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder affects the brain in mice – Anouk C. Tengeler, et al.

Lung function and microbiota diversity in cystic fibrosis – Leah Cuthbertson, et al. – Microbiome

Animal microbiome

Preprint: Functional maturation of the gut microbiota at weaning is influenced by maternal environment in piglets – Martin Beaumont, et al.

Bacteria Hysteria

Preprint: The adaptive transcriptional response of pathogenic Leptospira to peroxide reveals new defenses against infection-related oxidative stress – Crispin Zavala-Alvarado, et al.

Preprint: Cytotoxicity of the effector protein BteA was attenuated in Bordetella pertussis by insertion of an alanine residue – Jan Bayram, et al.

Preprint: Antimicrobial peptide induced-stress renders Staphylococcus aureus susceptible to toxic nucleoside analogues – Alexandro Rodriguez-Rojas, et al.

Preprint: (p)ppGpp and malonyl-CoA set the pace for Staphylococcus aureus adaptation to FASII antibiotics and provide a basis for bi-therapy inhibition – Amit Pathania, et al.

Phages and viruses

Preprint: Viral RNA is a target for Wolbachia-mediated pathogen blocking – Tamanash Bhattacharya, et al.

Preprint: Synchronized infection identifies early rate-limiting steps in the hepatitis B virus life cycle – Anindita Chakraborty, et al.

Techniques

Preprint: Evaluation of DNA extraction protocols from liquid-based cytology specimens for studying cervical microbiota – Takeo Shibata, et al.

Preprint: Biotinylated surfome profiling identifies potential biomarkers for diagnosis and therapy of Aspergillus fumigatus infection – Lei-Jie Jia, et al.

Bioinformatics

Preprint: Interpretable machine learning framework reveals novel gut microbiome features in predicting type 2 diabetes – Wanglong Gou, et al.

Preprint: Comprehensive single cell analysis of pandemic influenza A virus infection in the human airways uncovers cell-type specific host transcriptional signatures relevant for disease progression and pathogenesis – Jenna N Kelly, et al.

MetaEuk—sensitive, high-throughput gene discovery, and annotation for large-scale eukaryotic metagenomics – Eli Levy Karin, et al. – Microbiome

Preprint: Whole genome sequences of multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli isolated in a Pastoralist Community of Western Uganda: Phylogenomic changes, virulence and resistant genes – Jacob Stanley Iramiot, et al.

Microbes in news

News article: Experts study banana disease in Tanzania – The Guardian

News article: What not to do while on COVID-19 lockdown – Jamaica Observer

I know a lot of my fellow researchers are unable to continue their experiments and are yearning to get back to their respective labs. It is a testing time and I believe that patience and perseverance are the biggest strengths of a researcher. So, let’s bank on our strength and hope to see each other on the other side of this global pandemic soon!

With new information emerging every day about COVID19, there is a plethora of misinformation and myths surrounding the virus and the disease. As science enthusiasts, it is pertinent for us to dispel these myths. Here is a small list that I complied a few days back. Check it out!

April 4, 2020

Good morning and salutations from Singapore! This is the first digest that I’m contributing for the blog, so I hope my selections are interesting to you all! Today’s digest begins with some recent COVID-19 pre-prints, before getting into papers on a diverse range of microbiome-related topics. Highlights today include a study on cats potentially harbouring SARS-CoV-2 (nooo…), the effect of C-section birth on the vaginal microbiota of adult women, and the impact of the virome on biogeochemical cycling in Lake Baikal.

COVID-19

Preprint: Characterization and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 in nasal and bronchial human airway epithelia – Pizzorno et al.

* Preprint: SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing serum antibodies in cats: a serological investigation – Zhang et al.

Preprint: Direct RNA sequencing and early evolution of SARS-CoV-2 – Taiaroa et al.

General microbiome

Review: Microbiota and metabolites in rheumatic diseases – Tong et al. – Autoimmunity Reviews

Human respiratory microbiome

Preprint: Distinctive airway microbial ecology of smokers and asthmatics – Turek et al.

Microbial burden and viral exacerbations in a longitudinal multicenter COPD cohort – Bouquet et al.Respiratory Research

Human gut microbiome

An in vitro evaluation of the effects of different statins on the structure and function of human gut bacterial community – Zhao et al.PLoS ONE

Human vaginal microbiome

* A cross-sectional pilot study of birth mode and vaginal microbiota in reproductive-age women – Stennett et al.PLoS ONE

Animal experiments

Polysaccharide extracted from WuGuChong reduces high-fat diet-induced obesity in mice by regulating the composition of intestinal microbiota – Wang et al.Nutrition & Metabolism

Animal microbiome

Intestinal microbes: an axis of functional diversity among large marine consumers – Scott et al.Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

The response of soil and phyllosphere microbial communities to repeated application of the fungicide iprodione: Accelerated biodegradation or toxicity? – Katsoula et al.FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Divergent patterns of microbial community composition shift under two fertilization regimes revealed by responding species – Yao et al.Applied Soil Ecology

Water and extremophile microbiome

* Preprint: New Viral Biogeochemical Roles Revealed Through Metagenomic Analysis of Lake Baikal – Coutinho et al.

Bioinformatics

Ten simple rules for providing effective bioinformatics research support – Kumuthini et al.PLoS Computational Biology

Finally, remember that physical isolation doesn’t have to mean social isolation. Call someone you haven’t talked to in a while, I’m sure they’ll appreciate it! You’re doing great 😀

March 26th, 2020

This is my first post on the site! There weren’t a lot of alerts today, so I dug around for other papers I can find. Today’s digest includes mostly human microbiome research, most notably a study identifying a staph peptide that induces acute exacerbation of pulmonary fibrosis, as well as a very diverse epidemiological study of the impact of diet on the gut microbiome in the United States.

General Human Microbiome

US nativity and dietary acculturation impact the gut microbiome in a diverse US population  – Peters, B.A., Yi, S.S., Beasley, J.M. et al. – ISME

Microbiome in Pregnancy and Birth

Maternal carriage of Prevotella during pregnancy associates with protection against food allergy in the offspring – Vuillermin, P.J., O’Hely, M., Collier, F. et al. – Nature Communications

Vaginal Microbiome of Pregnant Indian Women: Insights into the Genome of Dominant Lactobacillus Species – Mehta, O., Ghosh, T.S., Kothidar, A. et al. – Microbial Ecology

Translational human microbiome research

A Staphylococcus pro-apoptotic peptide induces acute exacerbation of pulmonary fibrosis – D’Alessandro-Gabazza, C.N., Kobayashi, T., Yasuma, T. et al. – Nature Communications

Effect of probiotics during vonoprazan‐containing triple therapy on gut microbiota in Helicobacter pylori infection: A randomized controlled trial – Kakiuchi et al. – Helicobacter

Rosuvastatin alters the genetic composition of the human gut microbiome – Kummen, M., Solberg, O.G., Storm-Larsen, C. et al. – Scientific Reports

Microbiome and Cancer

Metaproteomics characterizes human gut microbiome function in colorectal cancer – Long, S., Yang, Y., Shen, C. et al. – npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

Plant microbiome

Genome‐resolved metagenomics to study co‐occurrence patterns and intraspecific heterogeneity among plant pathogen metapopulations – Newberry et al. – Environmental Microbiology

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation and endophytic bacterial community structure in Bt-transgenic chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) – Alok, D., Annapragada, H., Singh, S. et al. – Scientific Reports

Soil microbiome

Soil Microbial Diversity Affects the Plant-Root Colonization by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi – Ferreira et al. – Microbial Ecology

Bioinformatics/Sequencing analysis methods

Joining Illumina paired-end reads for classifying phylogenetic marker sequences – Liu et al. – BMC Bioinformatics

M2IA: a Web Server for Microbiome and Metabolome Integrative Analysis – Ni et al. – Bioinformatics

Culturomics

Alcohol pretreatment of stools effect on culturomics – Afouda, P., Hocquart, M., Pham, T. et al. – Scientific Reports

Pre-prints on bioRxiv to look forward to

Infant gut microbiome

Genetic and behavioral adaptation of Candida parapsilosis to the microbiome of hospitalized infants revealed by in situ genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics – West et al. (Side note: The Banfield lab produces a lot of good work!)

Laboratory work on bacterial motility in the gut

Bacterial Swarmers exhibit a Protective Response to Intestinal Stress – Chen et al.

Long-read sequencing of gut mycobiome

Assessing anaerobic gut fungal (Neocalliamstigomycota) diversity using PacBio D1/D2 LSU rRNA amplicon sequencing and multi-year isolation – Hanafy et al.

Databases

HumGut: A comprehensive Human Gut prokaryotic genomes collection filtered by metagenome data

 

March 24, 2020

Today’s Digest features a study to use engineered Acinetobacter to boost host immunity against bacterial pneumonia, and a review on the relationship between plant-microbe symbiosis and agriculture.The coronavirus is probably on the mind of all of us. Listen to Dr. Blaser talk about it. Stay well and keep reading.

Job

Research Tech II – CHOP Microbiome Center

COVID-19

Editorial: Coronavirus: three things all governments and their science advisers must do now – Nature

World View: Don’t rush to deploy COVID-19 vaccines and drugs without sufficient safety guarantees – Shibo Jiang – Nature

Q&A: The novel coronavirus outbreak causing COVID-19 – Dale Fisher & David Heymann – BMC Medicine

** Dr. Martin Blaser answers coronavirus questions from Twitter (full video available) – mlive.com

General microbiology

Regulation of fungal decomposition at single-cell level – Michiel Op De Beeck et al. – The ISME Journal

Antimicrobial resistance

** Broad-spectrum suppression of bacterial pneumonia by aminoglycoside-propagated Acinetobacter baumannii – M. Indriati Hood-Pishchany et al. – PLoS Pathogens

Vulnerability and resistance in the spatial heterogeneity of soil microbial communities under resource additions – Kelly Gravuer et al. – PNAS

Discovery of a novel integron-borne aminoglycoside resistance gene present in clinical pathogens by screening environmental bacterial communities – Maria-Elisabeth Böhm et al. – Microbiome

Characterization of antibiotic resistance and host-microbiome interactions in the human upper respiratory tract during influenza infection – Lingdi Zhang et al. – Microbiome

Human gut microbiome

The role of gut microbiota in bone homeostasis – Jyotirmaya Behera et al. – Bone

Animal experiments

Docosahexaenoate-enriched fish oil and medium chain triglycerides shape the feline plasma lipidome and synergistically decrease circulating gut microbiome-derived putrefactive postbiotics – Matthew I. Jackson & Dennis E. Jewell – PLoS One

Animal microbiome

The rodent vaginal microbiome across the estrous cycle and the effect of genital nerve electrical stimulation – Micah Levy et al. – PLoS One

The different dietary sugars modulate the composition of the gut microbiota in honeybee during overwintering – Hongfang Wang et al. – BMC Microbiology

Most dominant roles of insect gut bacteria: digestion, detoxification, or essential nutrient provision? – Tian-Zhong Jing et al. – Microbiome

Predictive ability of host genetics and rumen microbiome for subclinical ketosis – Grum Gebreyesus et al. – Journal of Dairy Science

Plant, root and soil microbiome

** Review: Agriculture and the Disruption of Plant–Microbial Symbiosis – Stephanie S. Porter & Joel L. Sachs – Trends in Ecology & Evolution

Taxon-specific microbial growth and mortality patterns reveal distinct temporal population responses to rewetting in a California grassland soil – Steven J. Blazewicz et al. – The ISME Journal

Reusing oil and gas produced water for agricultural irrigation: Effects on soil health and the soil microbiome – Hannah Miller et al. – Science of the Total Environment

Network analysis reveals the strengthening of microbial interaction in biological soil crust development in the Mu Us Sandy Land, northwestern China – Hong Zhou et al. – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Water and extremophile microbiome

Performance and functional microbial communities of denitrification process of a novel MFC-granular sludge coupling system – Qiujin Deng et al. – Bioresource Technology

Microbial community structure and functional properties in permanently and seasonally flooded areas in Poyang Lake – Yang Liu et al. – Scientific Reports

Associations between redox-sensitive trace metals and microbial communities in a Proterozoic ocean analogue – Kathryn I. Rico et al. – Geobiology

Reactor configuration influences microbial community structure during high-rate, low-temperature anaerobic treatment of dairy wastewater – Paul G McAteer et al. – Bioresource Technology

Bioinformatics

Multiple-Disease Detection and Classification across Cohorts via Microbiome Search – Xiaoquan Su et al. – mSystems

Microbes in the news

How the mi­cro­biome is in­volved in the de­vel­op­ment of can­cer – Christian Urban – MedicalXpress

How a Fiber-Rich Plant-Based Diet Keeps Your Gut Microbiome Happy and Healthy – Chelsea Debret – One Green Planet

Gerhart: Keeping well during a pandemic – Timothy Gerhart – Your Valley

Study shows positive effect of cover crops on soil microbiome – AgriNews

Microbiome search engine can increase efficiency in disease detection and diagnosis – Chinese Academy of Sciences – EurekAlert

7 Ways A Gastroenterologist Supports His Microbiome & Overall Health – Marvin Singh – mbg Health

Infliximab Helps Gut Microbiome in Children with Crohn’s, Study Finds – Ana Pena – IBD News Today

Microbes on the market

DuPont, APC Microbiome Ireland link up for babies – Melody M. Bomgardner – C&EN

March 14, 2020

Events

NYSCC Microbiome Program Postponed – Happi

General microbiome

Weakest link dynamics predict apparent antibiotic interactions in a model cross-feeding community – EM Adamowicz – bioRxiv

Simultaneous copper removal and electricity production and microbial community in microbial fuel cells with different cathode catalysts – Y Wu – Bioresource Technology

Multi-site human microbiome

Disrupted tongue microbiota and detection of nonindigenous bacteria on the day of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation – S Oku – PLoS Pathogens

Human vaginal microbiome

Changes in key vaginal bacteria among postpartum African women initiating intramuscular depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate – BM Whitney – PLoS One

Human gut microbiome

Gut Microbial Protein Expression in Response to Dietary Patterns in a Controlled Feeding Study: A Metaproteomic Approach – S Pan – Microorganisms

A Story of Liver and Gut Microbes: How Does the Intestinal Flora Affect Liver Disease? A Review of the Literature – M Giuffrè – American Journal of Physiology

Fecal microbiota transplantation for the improvement of metabolism in obesity: The FMT-TRIM double-blind placebo-controlled pilot trial – EW Yu – PLoS Medicine

Animal experiments 

Early-life microbial intervention reduces colitis risk promoted by antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis – J Miyoshi – bioRxiv

Low mutational load and high mutation rate variation in gut commensal bacteria – RS Ramiro – PLoS Biology

Response to mechanical loading in rat Achilles tendon healing is influenced by the microbiome – F Dietrich-Zagonel – PLoS One

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Testing the two-step model of plant root microbiome acquisition under multiple plant species and soil sources – HR Barajas – bioRxiv

A survey of invasive plants on grassland soil microbial communities and ecosystem services – JK Bell – Scientific Data

Host identity is more important in structuring bacterial epiphytes than endophytes in a tropical mangrove forest – H Yao – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Water and extremophile microbiome 

Metagenomic Insights into Microbial Metabolisms of a Sulfur-Influenced Glacial Ecosystem – CB Trivedi – bioRxiv

Diel, daily, and spatial variation of coral reef seawater microbial communities – L Weber – PLoS One

Food microbiology

Shotgun Metagenomic Analysis Reveals New Insights on Bacterial Community Profiles in Tempeh – A Yulandi – bioRxiv

Phages and viruses

Identification of viruses belonging to the family Partitiviridae from plant transcriptomes – Y Jo – bioRxiv

The Restrictome of Flaviviruses – L Berthoux – Virologica Sinica

Plasma virome of 781 Brazilians with unexplained symptoms of arbovirus infection include a novel parvovirus and densovirus – E Fahsbender – PLoS One

Techniques

Intestinal Organoids: A Tool for Modelling Diet–Microbiome–Host Interactions – J Rubert – Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism

Microbes in the news

Microbiome studies may require correction for PPI use – MD edge

As You Age, So Does Your Microbiome – Technology Networks

DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences and APC Microbiome Ireland on infant gut health project – Nutra Ingredients

The Role of Zinc: It’s More Important than You Think –  UMass Lowell

Microbiome Therapeutics Market to Make Great Impact in near Future by 2026 – Nyse News Times

Mapping Bacterial Neighborhoods in Gut – Mirage News

Non-microbe picks

Sorry, we’re open: Golden Open Access and inequality in the natural sciences – RJ Gray – bioRxiv

Quantifying and contextualizing the impact of bioRxiv preprints through automated social media audience segmentation – J Carlson – bioRxiv

Comparing quality of reporting between preprints and peer-reviewed articles in the biomedical literature – CFD Carneiro – bioRxiv

Studying the dynamics of the gut microbiota using metabolically stable isotopic labeling and metaproteomics – P Smyth – bioRxiv

March 5, 2020

Today’s Digest is heavy, so you might want to pace yourself. It’s hard to pick the highlights, but I’m biased towards fungal research, so first about a wake-up call to look at the fungi seriously. The insects might provide for remedy against antibiotic resistance and is the dust settled on the sparse fetal intestinal microbiota? Stay healthy and keep reading.

Event

Call for papers – Global Outbreaks and Responses – BMC Medicine

General microbiology

** Viewpoints: Fungal diseases as neglected pathogens: A wake-up call to public health officials – Marcio L. Rodrigues & Joshua D. Nosanchuk – PLoS NTD

Inducible cell-to-cell signaling for tunable dynamics in microbial communities – Arianna Miano et al. – Nature Communications

Antimicrobial resistance

** The insect antimicrobial peptide cecropin A disrupts uropathogenic Escherichia coli biofilms – Miriam Kalsy et al. – npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

Using comparative genomics to understand molecular features of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii from South Korea causing invasive infections and their clinical implications – Min Hyung Kim – PLoS One

Factors associated with sufficient knowledge of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance in the Japanese general population – Shinya Tsuzuki et al. – Scientific Reports

Faeces and vaccines could be the key to tackling antimicrobial resistance – Elisabeth Mahase – BMJ

A survey of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in urban wetlands in southwestern Nigeria as a step towards generating prevalence maps of antimicrobial resistance – Olawale Olufemi Adelowo et al. – PLoS One

Pregnancy and early life

** Viable bacterial colonization is highly limited in the human intestine in utero – E. Rackaityte et al. – Nature Medicine

Perinatal Antibiotic Exposure Affects the Transmission between Maternal and Neonatal Microbiota and Is Associated with Early-Onset Sepsis – Ping Zhou et al. – mSphere

Combined analysis of microbial metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing data to assess in situ physiological conditions in the premature infant gut – Yonatan Sher et al. – PLoS One

Human skin microbiome

A microbiome and metabolomic signature of phases of cutaneous healing identified by profiling sequential acute wounds of human skin: An exploratory study – Mohammed Ashrafi et al. – PLoS One

Human oral microbiome

Review: Single-Cell Genomics and the Oral Microbiome – M. Balachandran et al. – Journal of Dental Research

Insights Obtained by Culturing Saccharibacteria With Their Bacterial Hosts – B. Bor et al. – Journal of Dental Research

Electronic Cigarette Aerosol Modulates the Oral Microbiome and Increases Risk of Infection – Smruti Pushalkar et al. – iScience

Press: Oral Microbiome Changes Implicated in Gum Inflammation in E-Cigarette Users – GenomeWeb

In vitro: A salivary metabolite signature that reflects gingival host-microbe interactions: instability predicts gingivitis susceptibility – Marcela M. Fernandez-Gutierrez et al. – Scientific Reports

Human respiratory microbiome

Review: The Role of Lung and Gut Microbiota in the Pathology of Asthma – Weronika Barcik et al. – Immunity

Cancer and microbiome

Endogenous murine microbiota member Faecalibaculum rodentium and its human homologue protect from intestinal tumour growth – Elena Zagato et al. – Nature Microbiology

Escherichia coli adhesion portion FimH functions as an adjuvant for cancer immunotherapy – Wei Zhang et al. – Nature Communications

Temporal changes in gut microbiota profile in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia prior to commencement-, during-, and post-cessation of chemotherapy – Ling Ling Chua et al. – BMC Cancer

Review: Interplay between Dietary Polyphenols and Oral and Gut Microbiota in the Development of Colorectal Cancer – Carolina Cueva & Mariana Silva – Nutrients

Human gut microbiome

In vitro: Short-term supplementation of celecoxib-shifted butyrate production on a simulated model of the gut microbial ecosystem and ameliorated in vitro inflammation – Emma Hernandez-Sanabria et al. – npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

Review: Crosstalk Between Gut Microbiota and Innate Immunity and Its Implication in Autoimmune Diseases – Yuhao Jiao et al. – Frontiers in Immunology

An empirically derived method for measuring human gut microbiome alpha diversity: Demonstrated utility in predicting health-related outcomes among a human clinical sample – Sarah L. Hagerty et al. – PLoS One

Proof-of-concept study of the efficacy of a microbiota-directed complementary food formulation (MDCF) for treating moderate acute malnutrition – Ishita Mostafa et al. – BMC Public Health

Microbiota as Predictor of Mortality in Allogeneic Hematopoietic-Cell Transplantation – Jonathan U. Peled et al. – New England Journal of Medicine

Human multi-site microbiome

Age-Related Variation of Bacterial and Fungal Communities in Different Body Habitats across the Young, Elderly, and Centenarians in Sardinia – Lu Wu et al. – mSphere

Response of the human gut and saliva microbiome to urbanization in Cameroon – Ana Lokmer et al. – Scientific Reports

The gut-microbiota-brain axis

Therapeutic Effects of the In Vitro Cultured Human Gut Microbiota as Transplants on Altering Gut Microbiota and Improving Symptoms Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder – Kainan Chen et al. – Microbial Ecology

Built environment microbiome

A preliminary study on the potential of Nanopore MinION and Illumina MiSeq 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize building-dust microbiomes – Anders B. Nygaard et al. – Scientific Reports

Metabolomics

Spatial metabolomics of in situ host–microbe interactions at the micrometre scale – Benedikt Geier et al. – Nature Microbiology

Global chemical effects of the microbiome include new bile-acid conjugations – Robert A. Quinn et al. – Nature

Animal experiments

PM2.5 exposure perturbs lung microbiome and its metabolic profile in mice – Jingli Li et al. – Science of the Total Environment

Growth hormone deficiency and excess alter the gut microbiome in adult male mice – Elizabeth A Jensen et al. – Endocrinology

Dissociation of Adaptive Thermogenesis from Glucose Homeostasis in Microbiome-Deficient Mice – Tibor L. Krisko et al. – Cell Metabolism

Fecal IgA Levels Are Determined by Strain-Level Differences in Bacteroides ovatus and Are Modifiable by Gut Microbiota Manipulation – Chao Yang et al. – Cell Host & Microbe

Animal microbiome

Can rumen bacteria communicate to each other? – Mi-Young Won et al. – Microbiome

Entomopathogenic nematode-associated microbiota: from monoxenic paradigm to pathobiome – Jean-Claude Ogier et al. – Microbiome

The canine oral microbiome: variation in bacterial populations across different niches – Avika Ruparell et al. – BMC Microbiology

Evolutionary analysis of Mycobacterium bovis genotypes across Africa suggests co-evolution with livestock and humans – Osvaldo Frederico Inlamea et al. – PLoS NTD

Nanopore sequencing of microbial communities reveals the potential role of sea lice as a reservoir for fish pathogens – Ana Teresa Gonçalves et al. – Scientific Reports

Plant, root and soil microbiome

Insights on aquatic microbiome of the Indian Sundarbans mangrove areas – Paltu Kumar Dhal et al. – PLoS One

Ganoderma lucidum cultivation affect microbial community structure of soil, wood segments and tree roots – Fei Ren et al. – Scientific Reports

Effect of long-term destocking on soil fungal functional groups and interactions with plants – Jie Wang et al. – Plant and Soil

Comparative Analysis of Root Microbiomes of Rice Cultivars with High and Low Methane Emissions Reveals Differences in Abundance of Methanogenic Archaea and Putative Upstream Fermenters – Zachary Liechty et al. – mSystems

Fungal diversity and community composition of wheat rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils from three different agricultural production regions of South Africa – Magalane Pheladi Gqozo et al. – Applied Soil Ecology

Microbial and volatile profiling of soils suppressive to Fusarium culmorum of wheat – Adam Ossowicki & Vittorio Tracanna et al. – Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Industrial development as a key factor explaining variances in soil and grass phyllosphere microbiomes in urban green spaces – Zhen-Zhen Yan et al. – Environmental Pollution

Plant communities mediate the interactive effects of invasion and drought on soil microbial communities – Catherine Fahey et al. – The ISME Journal

Water and extremophile microbiome

Methyl t-butyl ether-degrading bacteria for bioremediation and biocontrol purposes – Giada d’Errico et al. – PLoS One

Uncovering microbial responses to sharp geochemical gradients in a terrace contaminated by acid mine drainage – Rui Xu et al. – Environmental Pollution

Snapshot: Microbial Extremophiles – Amy K. Schmid et al. – Cell

Denitrification performance and microbial communities of solid-phase denitrifying reactors using poly (butylene succinate)/bamboo powder composite – Wanhe Qi et al. – Bioresource Technology

Meta-omics Provides Insights into the Impact of Hydrocarbon Contamination on Microbial Mat Functioning – Johanne Aubé et al. – Microbial Ecology

Role of microbial diversity for sustainable pyrite oxidation control in acid and metalliferous drainage prevention – Omy T. Ogbughalu et al. – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Phages and viruses

** Coronavirus research highlights – BMC

Fecal Viral Community Responses to High-Fat Diet in Mice – Anjelique Schulfer et al. – mSphere

Technology

Rapid MinION profiling of preterm microbiota and antimicrobial-resistant pathogens – Richard M. Leggett et al. – Nature Microbiology

Assembly-free single-molecule sequencing recovers complete virus genomes from natural microbial communities – John Beaulaurier et al. – Genome Research

Bioinformatics

Rapid inference of antibiotic resistance and susceptibility by genomic neighbour typing – Karel Břinda et al. – Nature Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Tough microbe’s DNA could be a lasting archive – Steve Nadis – Science

How Bacteria Can ‘Sculpt The Gut’ – Maya Trabulsi – KPBS

The bee microbiome can fight back against fungi that cause Colony Collapse Disorder – Lauren Sara McKee – Massive Science

Ancient gut microbiomes shed light on human evolution – Newswise

Launch of the Marine Microbiome Roadmap – NIOZ

Understanding Microbiome Resilience on a Changing Planet – Michigan State University

Adaptations in gut microbes helped our ancestors thrive in new geographical territories: Study – New Kerala

Scientists Announce VIRGO, First Comprehensive Gene Catalog To Decode the Vaginal Microbiome – PR Newswire

Metabolomics Reveals Connection Between Gut Microbiome and Blood – Metabolon

Study shows universally positive effect of cover crops on soil microbiome – Phys.org

New Center of Microbiome Science is in the works at Ohio State – Emily Caldwell – Ohio State University News

Common diseases may be communicable through microbiome, says UBC researcher – Stephanie Blain – The Ubyssey

The microbes in your mouth, and a reminder to floss and go to the dentist – Science Daily

For Your Microbiome, How You Eat Could Be As Important As What You Eat – Technology Networks

Study: Infectious gut bacteria may predict UTI risk – Sue Treiman – Cornell Chronicle

The Best Way to Avoid Getting Sick Is to Wash Your Hands — But You’re Probably Doing It Wrong – Bojana Galic – Live Strong

Microbes on the market

DuPont carries on microbiome momentum with metabolic disease collaboration – Will Chu – Nutraingredients

Non-microbiology picks

Invest 5% of research funds in ensuring data are reusable – Barend Mons – Nature

 

February 21, 2020

This Friday, read about the potential influence of microbiomes in hominin evolution, gut microbiome in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome, new antibiotics discovered through comparative genomics, and more. Happy reading!

General microbiome

*The Internal, External and Extended Microbiomes of Hominins – Robert R. Dunn – Front. Ecol. Evol.

A Deep Learning Approach to Antibiotic Discovery– Jonathan M. Stokes – Cell

Review: Next-generation physiology approaches to study microbiome function at single cell level – Roland Hatzenpichler – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Patterns of partnership: surveillance and mimicry in host-microbiota mutualisms – Travis J Wiles & Karen Guillemin – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Review: Innovative and rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing systems – Alex van Belkum – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Gut microbiome

*Gut dysbiosis is prevailing in Sjögren’s syndrome and is related to dry eye severity– Jayoon Moon – PlosOne

Review: Healthy Human Gastrointestinal Microbiome: Composition and Function After a Decade of Exploration – Wenly Ruan – Digestive Diseases and Sciences

Review: Gut microbiota-derived metabolites as key actors in inflammatory bowel disease– Aonghus Lavelle & Harry Sokol – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Review: Microbiome in Colorectal Cancer: How to Get from Meta-omics to Mechanism?–Dominik Ternes – Trends in Microbiology

Urinary microbiome

Review: Urinary tract infections: microbial pathogenesis, host–pathogen interactions and new treatment strategies – Roger D. Klein & Scott J. Hultgren – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Vaginal microbiome

The microbiome and gynaecological cancer development, prevention and therapy – Paweł Łaniewski – Nature Reviews Urology

Animal microbiome

Coordinated transformation of the gut microbiome and lipidome of bowhead whales provides novel insights into digestion – Carolyn A. Miller – The ISME Journal

Animal experiment

*Evolution-guided discovery of antibiotics that inhibit peptidoglycan remodelling – Elizabeth J. Culp – Nature

The Gene Expression Profile of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli in Women with Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections Is Recapitulated in the Mouse Model – Arwen E. Frick-Cheng – bioRxiv

Sustained IFN-I stimulation impairs MAIT cell responses to bacteria by inducing IL-10 during chronic HIV-1 infection – X. Tang – Science Advance

Bioinformatics

Microbial resolution of whole genome shotgun and 16S amplicon metagenomic sequencing using publicly available NEON data– Kyle D. Brumfield – PlosOne

Viruses & Phages

Respiratory viruses in mechanically ventilated patients: a pilot study – Raquel Nazareth – BMC Pulmonary Medicine

February 12, 2020

This Wednesday, read about the microbiome in “flammable ice”, gastric bypass surgery in a rat model, virulence genes of the coral reef phage, and more. Happy reading!

Gut microbiome

Changes in microbiome and metabolomic profiles of fecal samples stored with stabilizing solution at room temperature: a pilot study– Mi Young Lim — Scientific Reports

Fecal microbiota transplantation to maintain remission in Crohn’s disease: a pilot randomized controlled study – Harry Soko – Microbiome

Identification of Clostridioides difficile-Inhibiting Gut Commensals Using Culturomics, Phenotyping, and Combinatorial Community Assembly – Sudeep Ghimire – mySystems

Neonatal microbiota development and the effect of early life antibiotics are determined by two distinct settler types – Anat Eck – plosOne

Oral Microbiome

Patterns of Oral Microbiota Diversity in Adults and Children: A Crowdsourced Population Study – Zachary M. Burcham – Scientific Reports

Sub-species niche specialization in the oral microbiome is associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma risk – Justine W. Debelius – bioRxiv

Animal experiments

*Gastric bypass surgery in a rat model alters the community structure and functional composition of the intestinal microbiota independently of weight loss – Sven-Bastiaan Haange – Microbiome

Growth phase-dependent responses of an in vitro gut microbiome to metformin – Zikai Hao – bioRxiv

Ursolic acid improves the bacterial community mapping of the intestinal tract in liver fibrosis mice – Sizhe Wan – bioRxiv

Animal microbiome

Beef cattle that respond differently to fescue toxicosis have distinct gastrointestinal tract microbiota – Lucas R Koester – bioRxiv

Variation in gut bacterial composition is associated with Haemonchus contortus parasite infection of sheep – Md. Abdullah Al Mamun – Animal microbiome

Water microbiome

Microbial diversity, ecological networks and functional traits associated to materials used in drinking water distribution systems – Isabel Douterelo – Water Research

Diverse Arctic lake sediment microbiota shape methane emission temperature sensitivity – Joanne B. Emerson – bioRxiv

Coral microbiome composition along the northern Red Sea suggests high plasticity of bacterial and specificity of endosymbiotic dinoflagellate communities – Eslam O. Osman – Microbiome

Extremophile microbiome

*Evidence in the Japan Sea of microdolomite mineralization within gas hydrate microbiomes – Glen T. Snyder – Scientific Reports

Textile waste and microplastic induce activity and development of unique hydrocarbon-degrading marine bacterial communities – Elsa B. Girard – bioRxiv

Plant/root/soil microbiome

Maize (Zea mays L. Sp.) varieties significantly influence bacterial and fungal community in bulk soil, rhizosphere soil, and phyllosphere – Xiao Kong – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

A Small Effort for Researchers, a Big Gain for Soil Metaproteomics– Marco Chiapello – Frontiers in Microbiology

Viruses and phages

*Genomic and ecological attributes of marine bacteriophages encoding bacterial virulence genes – Cynthia B. Silveira – BMC Genomics

Profiling of Human Gut Virome with Oxford Nanopore Technology – Jiabao Cao – bioRxiv

Bioinformatics

MICHELINdb: a web-based tool for mining of helminth-microbiota interaction datasets, and a meta-analysis of current research – Riccardo Scotti – Microbiome

January 22, 2020

In today’s digest read about Lactobacillus mulieris sp. nov. isolated from healthy female urinary tract, diversity of Escherichia coli phages in the Danish wastewater, PLate Coverage Algorithm (PLCA) in culture-enriched metagenomics, and more. Happy reading!

General microbiome

Microbiomes Reduce Their Host’s Sensitivity to Interspecific Interactions – Sara L. Jackrel – mBio

Gut microbiome

Klebsiella michiganensis transmission enhances resistance to Enterobacteriaceae gut invasion by nutrition competition – Rita A. Oliveira – Nature Microbiology

Long-term impact of fecal transplantation in healthy volunteers – Oleg V. Goloshchapov – BMC Microbiology

Efficacy of faecal microbiota transplantation in Crohn’sdisease: a new target treatment?– Liyuan Xiang – Microbial Biotechnology

Resident microbial communities inhibit growth and antibiotic resistance evolution of Escherichia coli in human gut microbiome samples – Michael Baumgartner – bioRxiv

Microreview: Causalities of war: The connection between type VI secretion system and microbiota – Luke P. Allsopp – Cellular Microbiology

Urinary microbiome

*Lactobacillus mulieris sp. nov., a new species of Lactobacillus delbrueckii group – Joana Rocha – International Journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology

Vaginal microbiome

Vaginal Microbiota Transplantation: The Next Frontier – Kevin DeLong – The Journal of Law, Medicine, & Ethics

Respiratory microbiome

*Culture-enriched metagenomic sequencing enables in-depth profiling of the cystic fibrosis lung microbiota – Fiona J. Whelan – Nature Microbiology

A Refined View of Airway Microbiome in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease at Species and Strain-levels– Zhang Wang – bioRxiv

Eye microbiome

The closed eye harbors a unique microbiome in dry eye disease – Kent A. Willis – medRxiv

Plant/root/soil microbiome

Root ethylene mediates rhizosphere microbial community reconstruction when chemically detecting cyanide produced by neighbouring plants – Yan Chen – Microbiome

Warming-induced permafrost thaw exacerbates tundra soil carbon decomposition mediated by microbial community– Jiajie Feng – Microbiome

Microbiome composition differs in hybrid and inbred maize – Maggie R. Wagner – bioRxiv

Diversity and plant growth-promoting functions of diazotrophic/N-scavenging bacteria isolated from the soils and rhizospheres of two species of Solanum – Zuluaga Mya – PlosOne

Water microbiome

Molecular Characteristics of Dissolved Organic Nitrogen and Its Interaction with Microbial Communities in a Prechlorinated Raw Water Distribution System – Hang Xu – Environmental Science and Technology

Effects of geographic location and water quality on bacterial communities in full-scale biofilters across North America – Ben Ma – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Phages and viruses

*Exploring the remarkable diversity of Escherichia coli Phages in the Danish Wastewater Environment, Including 91 Novel Phage Species – Nikoline S. Olsen – bioRxiv

Bioinformatics

Piphillin predicts metagenomic composition and dynamics from DADA2-corrected 16S rDNA sequences – Nicole R. Narayan – BMC Genomics

Network-Based Prediction of Novel CRISPR-Associated Genes in Metagenomes – Jake L. Weissman and Philip L. F. Johnson – mSystems

Review: Integrating Computational Methods to Investigate the Macroecology of Microbiomes – Rilquer Mascarenhas – Frontiers in Genetics

Assessment of single cell RNA-seq statistical methods on microbiome data – Matteo Calgaro – bioRxiv