Category Archives: Microbial Ecology

Non-human microbiome digest, July 3

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Parasites, effect of antibiotics in pigs, microbiome of birds, Drosophila, microbiome of plant crops, Hawai’i waters, and bacteria to preserve stone monuments.

Parasites and microbiome

Cooperation and conflict in host manipulation: interactions among macro-parasites and micro-organisms – Frank Cézilly – Frontiers in Microbiology

“Here, we review the empirical evidence in favor of the existence of synergistic or antagonistic interactions between co-occurring parasites, and highlight the neglected role of micro-organisms. “

holobiontHolobiont–Holobiont Interactions: Redefining Host–Parasite Interactions – Nolwenn Marie Dheilly – PLOS Pathogens

“It has been established in different model species that immune system maturation requires the presence of mutualistic bacteria”

Marine mammal microbiome

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 04.24PM, Jul 03Intestinal helminth fauna of striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) in the western Mediterranean: No effects of host body length, age and sex – Paula Mateu – Marine Mammal Science

“The intestine of 52 (28 males and 24 females) striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) from western Mediterranean waters was examined for helminths. Animals were found stranded along the Spanish coasts during the morbillivirus epizootic in 1990.”

Pig microbiome

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.17PM, Jul 03Carbadox has both temporary and lasting effects on the swine gut microbiota – Torey Looft – Frontiers in Microbiology

“Carbadox is an in-feed antibiotic that is widely used in swine production to prevent dysentery and to improve feed efficiency. The goal of this study was to characterize the effects of carbadox and its withdrawal on the swine gut microbiota. ”

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.18PM, Jul 03Learning from agriculture: understanding low-dose antimicrobials as drivers of resistome expansion – Yaqi You – Frontiers in Microbiology

“Unconfined storage or land deposition of a large volume of animal waste causes its wide contact with the environment and drives the expansion of the environmental resistome through mobilome facilitated horizontal genet (sic, EB) transfer. “

Bird microbiome

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.18PM, Jul 03Interspecific variations in the faecal microbiota of Procellariiform seabirds – Meagan L. Dewar – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“Examining the faecal microbiota of three Procellariiform species (short-tailed shearwater, common diving petrel and fairy prion) provided a unique opportunity to not only characterise the gastrointestinal (GI) microbial composition of seabirds but to also examine the influence of stomach oils on the microbial community.”

Insect microbiome

Drosophila modelTransient adult microbiota, gut homeostasis and longevity: Novel insights from the Drosophila model – Berra Erkosar, Francois Leulier – FEBS Letters

“In the last decade, Drosophila has emerged as a useful model to study host–microbiota interactions, creating an active research field with prolific publications.”

Plant microbiome

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.21PM, Jul 03Building the crops of tomorrow: advantages of symbiont-based approaches to improving abiotic stress tolerance – Devin Coleman-Derr – Frontiers in Microbiology

“In recent years, studies have attempted to identify microbial symbionts capable of conferring the same stress-tolerance to their plant hosts, and new developments in genomic technologies have greatly facilitated such research. “

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.21PM, Jul 03Convergence in mycorrhizal fungal communities due to drought, plant competition, parasitism, and susceptibility to herbivory: consequences for fungi and host plants – Catherine A. Gehring – Frontiers in Microbiology

“We found that drought and all three of the biotic interactions studied resulted in similar shifts in ectomycorrhizal fungal community composition, demonstrating a convergence of the community towards dominance by a few closely related fungal taxa.”

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.22PM, Jul 03Nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium-legume symbiosis: are polyploidy and host peptide-governed symbiont differentiation general principles of endosymbiosis? – Gergely Maróti- Frontiers in Microbiology

“This review focuses on symbiotic plant cell development and terminal bacteroid differentiation and demonstrates the crucial roles of symbiotic peptides”

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.22PM, Jul 03Disparate origins of Bradyrhizobium symbionts for invasive populations of Cytisus scoparius (Leguminosae) in North America – Kevin Horn – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“To identify the geographic origin of nodule bacteria associated with invasion of the European legume Cytisus scoparius in the United States, isolates from 15 sites in six states were compared to > 200 Bradyrhizobium strains from indigenous legumes in the U.S., Mexico, Europe (six countries), Morocco, and Australia. “

Food microbiology

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.24PM, Jul 03Weissella confusa: problems with identification of an opportunistic pathogen that has been found in fermented foods and proposed as a probiotic – Marilynn R. Fairfax – Frontiers in Microbiology

“Weissella confusa is found in fermented foods and has been suggested as a probiotic, but also causes sepsis and other serious infections in humans and animals.”

Stone microbiology

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.24PM, Jul 03 1Application of calcifying bacteria for remediation of stones and cultural heritages – Navdeep Kaur Dhami – Frontiers in Microbiology

“The present review emphasizes about different causative agents leading to deterioration and application of microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation as a novel and potential technology for dealing with these problems. “

Soil microbiology

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.25PM, Jul 03Volatile-mediated interactions between phylogenetically different soil bacteria
Paolina Garbeva – Frontiers in Microbiology

“Here we report that volatile compounds emitted by different soil bacteria can affect the growth, antibiotic production and gene expression of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf0–1. “

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.27PM, Jul 03Land-use influences the distribution and activity of high affinity CO-oxidizing bacteria associated to type I-coxL genotype in soil – Liliana Quiza – Frontiers in Microbiology

“The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of land-use and soil properties on coxL gene diversity and identify molecular indicators for the soil uptake of atmospheric CO.”

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.26PM, Jul 03Abundance and community structure of ammonia-oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria in response to fertilization and mowing in a temperate steppe in Inner Mongolia –
Yong-Liang Chen – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“… we investigated the effects of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilization and mowing on the abundance and community compositions of ammonia-oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) and Archaea (AOA) upon early (May) and peak (August) plant growth using quantitative PCR (qPCR), terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), cloning and sequencing. “

Water microbiology

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.27PM, Jul 03Biogeography of planktonic and benthic cyanobacteria in coastal waters of the Big Island, Hawai’i – Samuel D. Chamberlain – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“To understand the patterns of cyanobacterial biogeography in relation to coastal environmental factors, we examined the diversity of planktonic and benthic cyanobacteria at 12 sites along the west coast of Hawaii’s Big Island.”

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.29PM, Jul 03Rhizosphere heterogeneity shapes abundance and activity of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in vegetated salt marsh sediments – François Thomas – Frontiers in Microbiology

“We combined next-generation amplicon sequencing of 16S rDNA and rRNA libraries with phylogenetic analyses of marker genes for two S-oxidation pathways (soxB and rdsrAB). Gene and transcript numbers of soxB and rdsrAB phylotypes were quantified simultaneously, using newly designed (RT)-qPCR assays.”

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.28PM, Jul 03Neotropical Andes hot springs harbor diverse and distinct planktonic microbial communities – Luisa Delgado-Serrano – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“In this study, we describe and compare the planktonic microbial communities present in five high-mountain hot springs with distinct geochemical characteristics, at varying altitudes and geographical locations in the Colombian Andes. “

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.29PM, Jul 03Occurrence and activity of anammox bacteria in surface sediments of the southern North Sea – Nicole J. Bale – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“The presence of anammox bacteria was established through the detection of specific phosphocholine-monoether ladderane lipids, 16S rRNA gene, and hydrazine synthase (hzsA) genes. “

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.29PM, Jul 03 1Bacterial community structure and dissolved organic matter in repeatedly flooded subsurface karst water pools – Tanja Shabarova – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“Bacterial diversity, community assembly, and the composition of the dissolved organic matter (DOM) were studied in three temporary subsurface karst pools with different flooding regimes.”

Screen shot 2014-07-03 at 03.30PM, Jul 03Abundance, diversity and seasonal dynamics of predatory bacteria in aquaculture zero discharge systems – Prem P. Kandel – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“The dynamics of populations belonging to the obligate predators Bdellovibrio and like organisms (BALOs) were analyzed in freshwater and saline ZDS over a 7-month period using QPCR targeting the Bdellovibrionaceae, and the Bacteriovorax and Bacteriolyticum genera in the Bacteriovoracaeae”

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General microbiology and science digest, July 2

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Genome assembly, metabolomics of Salmonella infection, a brief history of women in science (but in Nature!), and Nature’s retraction of the STAP papers.

Metagenomics

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.13.28 PMBayesian Genome Assembly and Assessment by Markov Chain Monte Carlo Sampling – Mark Howison – PLOS ONE

“We present a Markov chain Monte Carlo approach to sequence assembly that instead generates distributions of assembly hypotheses with posterior probabilities, providing an explicit statistical framework for evaluating alternative hypotheses and assessing assembly uncertainty. “

Infection and host response

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.14.12 PMSalmonella Typhi and Salmonella Paratyphi – A elaborate distinct systemic metabolite signatures during enteric fever – Elin Näsström – eLife

“To investigate metabolite signals associated with enteric fever we performed two dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC/TOFMS) on plasma from patients with S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A infections and asymptomatic controls, identifying 695 individual metabolite peaks.”

and: Host-pathogen interactions: Honing in on enteric fever – Lyle R McKinnon, Quarraisha Abdool Karim – eLife

“The use of metabolomics could lead to improved diagnostics for enteric fever. “

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.14.58 PMHuman Genetic Variation and Yellow Fever Mortality during 19th Century U.S. Epidemics – Lauren E Blake, Mariano A Garcia-Blanco – mBio

“Caucasians diagnosed with YF were 6.8 times more likely to succumb than non-Caucasians with the disease. No other major causes of death during the 19th century demonstrated a similar mortality skew toward Caucasians. “

Bacterial and viral detection in clinical samples

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.15.58 PMThe Microbial Detection Array for Detection of Emerging Viruses in Clinical Samples – A Useful Panmicrobial Diagnostic Tool – Maiken W. Rosenstierne – PLOS ONE

“We report a modified Whole Transcriptome Amplification (WTA) method that increases unbiased amplification, particular of RNA viruses.”

The Sooner, The Better – Nicholette Zeliadt – The Scientist

“New approaches to diagnosing bacterial infections may one day allow the identification of pathogens and their antibiotic susceptibility in a matter of hours or minutes.”

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.16.45 PMReview: Biosensors for Whole-Cell Bacterial Detection – Asif Ahmed – Clinical Microbiology Reviews

” In this review, we discuss recent progress in the use of biosensors for the detection of whole bacterial cells for sensitive and earlier identification of bacteria without the need for sample processing.”

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.17.23 PMIsolation of Microorganisms Using Sub-Micrometer Constrictions – Nil Tandogan – PLOS ONE

“We present an automated method for isolating pure bacterial cultures from samples containing multiple species that exploits the cell’s own physiology to perform the separation.”

Phages and viruses

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.18.17 PMFour Escherichia coli O157:H7 Phages: A New Bacteriophage Genus and Taxonomic Classification of T1-Like Phages – Yan D. Niu – PLOS ONE

“Comparative genomic, proteomic and phylogenetic analysis suggested that the four phages along with 17 T1-like phage genomes from database of National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) can be assigned into a proposed subfamily “Tunavirinae” with further classification into five genera”

Dengue

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.18.45 PMClinical and Virological Descriptive Study in the 2011 Outbreak of Dengue in the Amazonas, Brazil – Valquiria do Carmo Alves Martins – PLOS ONE

“The aim of the study was to describe the clinical epidemiology of dengue in Manaus, the capital city of the state of the Amazonas, where all the four DENV serotypes were co-circulating simultaneously.”

Phylogeny and taxonomy

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.12.14 PMComparative Genomics of the Bacterial Genus Streptococcus Illuminates Evolutionary Implications of Species Groups – Xiao-Yang Gao – PLOS ONE

“We use comparative genomic approaches to yield a better understanding of the evolution of Streptococcus through genome dynamics, population structure, phylogenies and virulence factor distribution of species groups. “

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.12.46 PMLivestock-Associated MRSA Carriage in Patients without Direct Contact with Livestock – Miranda M. L. van Rijen – PLOS ONE

“Fifty-six individuals (20.7%) without animal contact carried MC398. In hospitals with high pig-densities in the adherence area, the proportion of MC398 of all MUO was higher than this proportion in hospitals without pigs in the surroundings.”

 Arsenic metabolism

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.02.56 PMMichigan’s arsenic problem is among the worst in the nation. Here’s why that matters – Rebecca Williams – Michigan Radio

“If you’re on city water, your drinking water has to comply with a federal regulation that limits the amount of arsenic in it, but if you’re on a private well, the federal and state governments do not limit the amount of arsenic in your well.”

Women in Science

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 9.59.45 PMWomen in science: A temporary liberation – Patricia Fara – Nature

“The First World War ushered women into laboratories and factories. In Britain, it may have won them the vote, argues Patricia Fara, but not the battle for equality.”

Science and Ethics

Nature Editorial: STAP retracted – Nature

“This week, Nature publishes retractions of two high-profile papers that claimed a major advance in the field of stem cells… We — research funders, research practitioners, institutions and journals — need to put quality assurance and laboratory professionalism ever higher on our agendas, to ensure that the money entrusted by governments is not squandered, and that citizens’ trust in science is not betrayed.”

Dr. Bik’s Picks

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.11.31 PMPLOS ONE Publishes its 100,000th Article – Damian Pattinson – PLOS Blogs

“PLOS ONE publishes its 100,000th article – a pretty major milestone for a journal that has seen its fair share of momentous events, and a perfect opportunity to reflect on this journey.”

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 10.08.37 PMLeprosy, Still Claiming Victims – Natalie Angier, New York Times

““I’m absolutely convinced that leprosy must be thought of as a genetic disease as well as an infectious one,” Dr. Schurr said. In the end, he added wryly, “understanding it may help cure diseases of rich people, too.””

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General microbiome and science, June 30

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Monday is always a busy day, so lots of papers today. Phages, CRISPRs, antibiotic resistance, probiotics, archaea, biofilms and a Goldilocks planet.

Antibiotics and resistance

Horizontal gene transfer in the human gastrointestinal tract: potential spread of antibiotic resistance genes – JR Huddleston – Infection and Drug Resistance

“This review aims to give an overview of the major horizontal transfer mechanisms and their evolution and then demonstrate the human lower gastrointestinal tract as an environment in which horizontal gene transfer of resistance determinants occurs.”

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.47PM, Jun 30Bacterial persisters: formation, eradication, and experimental systems
Sophie Helaine, Elisabeth Kugelberg – Trends in Microbiology

“Toxin–antitoxin (TA) modules have an important role in the formation of persisters and several studies show that they can form in response to different triggers.”

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.48PM, Jun 30Antibiotic Treatment Suppresses Rotavirus Infection and Enhances Specific Humoral Immunity – Robin Uchiyama – Journal of Infectious Diseases

“Microbiota ablation resulted in reduced rotavirus infection/diarrhea and a more durable rotavirus antibody response, suggesting that antibiotic administration before rotavirus vaccination could raise low seroconversion rates that correlate with the vaccine’s inefficacy in developing regions.”

And:  Antibiotics Help Control Rotavirus Infections and Enhance Antirotaviral Immunity: Are You Serious? – Luther A. Bartelt and Richard L. Guerrant – Journal of Infectious Diseases

“Yes, we must understand intriguing new findings; but no, we are far from serious about widespread use of antimicrobials with routine immunizations.”

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.44PM, Jun 30Transferrin Iron Starvation Therapy for Lethal Bacterial and Fungal Infections – Lin Lin – Journal of Infectious Diseases

“These results provide proof of principle that bacterial infections can be treated in vivo by attacking host targets (ie, trace metal availability) rather than microbial targets.”

Bacterial detection in blood and other sites

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.45PM, Jun 30Identification of pathogens from blood culture bottles in spiked and clinical samples using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass-spectrometry analysis – Simone Konnerth – BMC Research Notes

“MALDI-TOF MS using the SARAMIS database was applied to 37 spiked blood culture samples. Identification rates of spiked samples were as follows: The species level was determined in 16 of 21 (76.2%) Gram negative bacteria and in 11 of 13 (84.6%) Gram positive bacteria. “

Infection and host response

Type I and III Interferon Production in Response to RNA Viruses – Elizabeth Reid and Bryan Charleston – Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research

“There are now many examples of RNA viruses inducing type I and type III IFNs, and although these IFNs act through different receptors, in many systems studied, they induce a similar spectrum of genes. “

CRISPRs

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.50PM, Jun 30Review: Adapting to new threats: the generation of memory by CRISPR-Cas immune systems – Robert Heler – Molecular Microbiology

“Recent studies have begun to elucidate the genetic requirements for adaptation and have demonstrated that rather than being a stochastic process, the selection of new spacers is influenced by several factors. We review here our current knowledge of the CRISPR adaptation mechanism”

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.53PM, Jun 30The three major types of CRISPR-Cas systems function independently in CRISPR RNA biogenesis in Streptococcus thermophilus – Jason Carte – Molecular Microbiology

“Our findings indicate that multiple CRISPR-Cas systems can function independently in crRNA biogenesis within a given organism – an important consideration in engineering coexisting CRISPR-Cas pathways”

Viruses and phages

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.53PM, Jun 30Exploiting gut bacteriophages for human health – Marion Dalmasso – Trends in Microbiology

“We emphasise the complexity and individuality of the phageome, and the link to the health state of the host. We highlight the practical applications of bacteriophages in medicine and in the food chain.”

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.52PM, Jun 30Environmental bacteriophages : viruses of microbes in aquatic ecosystems – Télesphore Sime – Ngando – Frontiers in Microbiology

“The present chapter sought to review the literature on the diversity and functional roles of viruses of microbes in environmental microbiology, focusing primarily on prokaryotic viruses (i.e. phages) in aquatic ecosystems, which form the bulk of our knowledge in modern environmental viral ecology.”

Archaea

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.55PM, Jun 30Taxonomic database and cut-off value for processing mcrA gene 454 pyrosequencing data by MOTHUR – Sizhong Yang – Journal of Microbiological Methods

“The functional mcrA gene of methanogens can generate phylogeny as congruent as the 16S rRNA gene phylogeny. “

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.59PM, Jun 30Biofilm formation of mucosa-associated methanoarchaeal strains
Corinna Bang – Frontiers in Microbiology

“Here, the ability of three methanoarchaeal strains, Methanobrevibacter smithii and Methanosphaera stadtmanae, which form part of the human gut microbiota, and the Methanosarcina mazei strain Gö1 to grow on different surfaces and form biofilms was investigated.”

Biofilms (see also Archaea above and Probiotics below)

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 07.02PM, Jun 30Development of an in vitro periodontal biofilm model for assessing antimicrobial and host modulatory effects of bioactive molecules
Emma Millhouse – BMC Oral Health

“Multi-species biofilms were either treated with either molecule, or alternatively epithelial cells were treated with these prior to biofilm co-culture. Biofilm composition was evaluated and inflammatory responses quantified at a transcriptional and protein level.“

Probiotics

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.43PM, Jun 30Review: Enumeration of probiotic strains: Review of culture-dependent and alternative techniques to quantify viable bacteria – Catherine Davis – Journal of Microbiological Methods

“Consensus on an operational definition of viability and systematic efforts to validate these alternative techniques ultimately will strengthen the accuracy and reliability of probiotic strain enumeration.”

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

“We analyzed 64 L. salivarius strains and found that two, K35 and K43, significantly inhibited S. mutans biofilm formation with inhibitory activities more pronounced than those of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG), a prototypical probiotic that shows anti-caries activity.

General taxonomy and phylogeny

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 07.04PM, Jun 30Considering external information to improve the phylogenetic comparison of microbial communities: a new approach based on constrained Double Principal Coordinates Analysis (cDPCoA) – S Dray – Molecular Ecology Resources

“In this work, we extend DPCoA to integrate the information of external variables measured on communities. The constrained Double Principal Coordinates Analysis (cDPCoA) is able to enforce a priori classifications to retrieve subtle differences and(or) remove the effect of confounding factors. “

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.43PM, Jun 30Understanding molecular identification and polyphasic taxonomic approaches for genetic relatedness and phylogenetic relationships of microorganisms – Surajit Das – Journal of Microbiological Methods

“In this regard, a polyphasic taxonomic approach is advantageous because it exploits simultaneously both conventional as well as molecular identification techniques.”

Metabolomics

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 07.01PM, Jun 30Nutrient sharing in the microbial world – Erica C. Seth and Michiko E. Taga – Frontiers in Microbiology

“Cofactor cross-feeding can contribute to both the health and nutrition of a host organism, the virulence and persistence of pathogens, and the composition and function of environmental communities. “

Metagenomics

Combination of Metagenomics and Culture Based Methods to Study the Interaction Between Ochratoxin A and Gut Microbiota – Mingzhang Guo – Toxicological Sciences

“Changes in functional genes of gut microbiota including signal transduction, carbohydrate transport, transposase, amino acid transport system and mismatch repair were observed.”

Chromosomal organization

NuChart-II: a graph-based approach for the analysis and interpretation of Hi-C data (PDF) – Fabio Tordini – Proceedings of the CIBB 2014

“NuChart-II is a highly optimized implementation of a previous prototype package developed in R, in which the graph-based representation of Hi-C data was tested, but that also showed inevitable problems of scalability while working genome-wide on large datasets.”

Science and education

Screen shot 2014-06-30 at 06.58PM, Jun 30Starting small: using microbiology to foster scientific literacy
Amy F. Savage, Brooke A. Jude – Trends in Microbiology

“In order to achieve scientific literacy for all students, Bard College recently implemented Citizen Science, a common January course for all first-year students. Structured around the question ‘how do we reduce the global burden of disease?’, this course uses microbiological tools to develop an understanding of potential answers.”

 

Dr. Bik’s Picks

Screen Shot 2014-07-01 at 12.06.17 AMBird brains: Public asked to look out for clever rooks – Victoria Gill – BBC News

“The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is asking the public to take part in a national survey of bird intelligence. From 1 July, the charity is asking people to submit video clips or descriptions of the behaviour or rooks – some of our cleverest garden birds.”

Screen Shot 2014-07-01 at 12.06.52 AMPotentially habitable Earth-like planet discovered; May have similar temperatures to our planet – Science Daily

“A potentially habitable Earth-like planet that is only 16 light years away has been discovered. The “super-Earth” planet, GJ 832 c, takes 16 days to orbit its red-dwarf star, GJ 832, and has a mass at least five times that of Earth.”

Screen Shot 2014-07-01 at 12.07.35 AMStudy Implicates Smog In Autism And Schizophrenia – Science 2.0

“A recent paper found that exposure to air pollution early in life produces harmful changes in the brains of mice, including an enlargement of part of the brain that is seen in humans who have autism and schizophrenia, and that led them to conclude that smog causes autism.”

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Non-human microbiome, June 30

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Primate vaginal microbiome, birds painting eggs with bacteria, MHC and microbiota in fish, onions and tomato, bacteria on the beach, and (#BacteriaHysteria alert) “fecal veneer on climbing walls”.

Primate microbiome (also see Human digest)

Screen Shot 2014-06-30 at 11.23.32 PMPrimate vaginal microbiomes exhibit species specificity without universal Lactobacillus dominance – Suleyman Yildirim – ISME J (uncorrected proof, link to Chapman Research)

“Our results indicated that all primates exhibited host-specific vaginal microbiota and that humans were distinct from other primates in both microbiome composition and extent of diversity”

Bird microbiome

Screen Shot 2014-06-30 at 11.43.49 PMSpecial structures of hoopoe eggshells enhance the adhesion of symbiont-carrying uropygial secretion that increase hatching success – Manuel Martín-Vivaldi – Journal of Animal Ecology

“The findings of specialized crypts on the eggshells of hoopoes, and of video-recorded females smearing secretion containing symbiotic bacteria at a high density onto the eggshells strongly support a link between secretion and bacteria on eggs. “

and:  The Bird That Paints Its Eggs With Bacteria – Ed Yong – National Geographic

“Now, they’ve found evidence that these birds use the same bacteria to protect their young before they’re even born. By filming nesting females, they confirmed that the birds actively paint their eggs with their uropygial secretions.”

Fish microbiology

Screen Shot 2014-06-30 at 11.45.12 PMMajor Histocompatibility Complex class II polymorphism influences gut microbiota composition and diversity – Daniel I. Bolnick – Molecular Ecology

“Here, we show that MHC II polymorphism is associated with among-individual variation in gut microbiota within a single wild vertebrate population of a small fish, the threespine stickleback. “

Insect microbiome

WolbachiaThe Coevolutionary Period of Wolbachia pipientis Infecting Drosophila ananassae and its Impact on the Evolution of the Host Germline Stem Cell Regulating Genes – Jae Young Choi and Charles F. Aquadro – Molecular Biology and Evolution

“Phylogenetic analysis of D. ananassae mitochondrial DNA and W. pipientis DNA sequence diversity revealed the current W. pipientis infection is not recent. In addition, we examined the population genetics and molecular evolution of several Germline Stem Cell (GSC) regulating genes of D. ananassae”

Plant microbiome

Screen Shot 2014-06-30 at 11.43.01 PMIdentification of bacteria pathogenic to or associated with onion (Allium cepa) based on sequence differences in a portion of the conserved gyrase B gene – Jean M. Bonasera – Journal of Microbiological Methods

“We have developed a method for the identification of Gram-negative bacteria, particularly members of the Enterobacteriaceae, based on sequence variation in a portion of the gyrB gene. Thus, we identified, in most cases to species level, over 1000 isolates from onion bulbs and leaves and soil in which onions were grown.”

Occurrence and distribution of tomato seed-borne mycoflora in Saudi Arabia and its correlation with the climatic variables – Abdulaziz A. Al-Askar – Microbial Biotechnology

“One hundred samples of tomato seeds were collected in 2011 and 2012 from tomato-cultivated fields in Saudi Arabia and screened for their seed-borne mycoflora. A total of 30 genera and 57 species of fungi were recovered from the collected seed samples using agar plate and deep-freezing blotter methods. “

WasabiManagement of Meloidogyne incognita on tomato with endophytic bacteria and fresh residue of Wasabia japonica – Guang-Ju Li – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“By in vitro bioassay, 53 NEB strains showing nematicidal efficacies of >50% against J2 of M. incognita were isolated from wasabi. Basing on 16S rRNA gene sequences, these NEB were identified into 18 species of 11 genera.”

Lichen and fungi

Screen Shot 2014-06-30 at 11.46.20 PMA single macrolichen constitutes hundreds of unrecognized species – Robert Lücking – PNAS

“This lichen was long believed to represent a single species, but after revising this number to 16 in two genera (Cora and Corella), here we show that at least 126 phylogenetically and morphologically distinct species are contained within this group, with statistical analysis predicting more than 400. “

Soil, sand, and slurry microbiome

The Ecological Controls on the Prevalence of Candidate Division TM7 in Polar Regions – Tristrom Winsley – Frontiers in Microbiology

“We correlated chemical, physical and biological parameters of each soil with the relative abundance of the two major classes of the phylum to deduce factors that influence the groups’ seemingly ubiquitous nature. “

Review: Present status of effect of microorganisms from sand beach on public
health – Emmanuel Velonakis – Journal of Coastal Life Medicine

“Relatively, recent epidemiological studies in the USA revealed positive correlation between time spent at the beach and gastroenteritis. New parameters such as wind blowing and beach users’ density are also introduced for discussion in association with the sand microbial load”

Crusts slurryMethanotrophs, methanogens, and microbial community structure in livestock slurry surface crusts – Yun-Feng Duan – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“Microbial communities in four crusts from cattle and swine slurries were investigated using DGGE and tag-encoded amplicon pyrosequencing. All crusts had distinct compositions of bacteria and archaea.”

Water microbiology

Biosynthesis of polybrominated aromatic organic compounds by marine bacteria
Vinayak Agarwal – Nature Chemical Biology

“Herein we report the discovery of a conserved biosynthetic gene cluster in marine bacteria responsible for the synthesis of widespread polybrominated aromatic compounds”

Environmental bacteriophages : viruses of microbes in aquatic ecosystems – Télesphore Sime – Ngando – Frontiers in Microbiology

“The present chapter sought to review the literature on the diversity and functional roles of viruses of microbes in environmental microbiology, focusing primarily on prokaryotic viruses (i.e. phages) in aquatic ecosystems, which form the bulk of our knowledge in modern environmental viral ecology.”

Built Environment

I really dislike this title …
Screen Shot 2014-06-30 at 11.47.38 PMMicrobial Sequencing Analyses Suggest the Presence of a Fecal Veneer on Indoor Climbing Wall Holds – S. L. Bräuer – Current Microbiology

“In contrast to many other studies of built environments, the majority of microorganisms on holds were most closely related to microbes annotated as being recovered from environmental sources, such as soil, with human skin also representing an important source.”

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General microbiology and science, June 27

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Viruses in primate genomes, viruses altering shrimp metabolome, transposable elements and repeats, dengue, other infectious diseases in developing countries and Dr. Bik’s Picks.

Metagenomics / viruses

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 9.21.29 PMCute animal alert! A tarsier is a tiny primate with huge eyes.
The First Endogenous Herpesvirus, Identified in the Tarsier Genome, and Novel Sequences from Primate Rhadinoviruses and Lymphocryptoviruses – Amr Aswad, Aris Katzourakis – PLOS Genetics

“We describe the first endogenous herpesvirus from the genome of the Philippine tarsier, belonging to the Roseolovirus genus, and characterize its highly defective genome that is integrated and flanked by unambiguous host DNA. From a draft assembly of the aye-aye genome, we use bioinformatic tools to reveal over 100,000 bp of a novel rhadinovirus that is the first lemur gammaherpesvirus, closely related to Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated virus.”

 Metabolomics

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 9.32.37 PMAn Invertebrate Warburg Effect: A Shrimp Virus Achieves Successful Replication by Altering the Host Metabolome via the PI3K-Akt-mTOR Pathway – Mei-An Su – PLOS Pathogens

“We show that the PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway was of central importance in triggering this WSSV-induced Warburg effect. Although dsRNA silencing of the mTORC1 activator Rheb had only a relatively minor impact on WSSV replication, in vivo chemical inhibition of Akt, mTORC1 and mTORC2 suppressed the WSSV-induced Warburg effect and reduced both WSSV gene expression and viral genome replication.”

Biofilms

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 9.33.21 PMFilaments in curved streamlines: rapid formation of Staphylococcus aureus biofilm streamers – Minyoung Kevin Kim – New Journal of Physics

“We discovered that S. aureus rapidly forms flow-induced, filamentous biofilm streamers, and furthermore if surfaces are coated with human blood plasma, streamers appear within minutes and clog the channels more rapidly than if the channels are uncoated. “

Chromosomal organization

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 9.34.04 PMDigital Genotyping of Macrosatellites and Multicopy Genes Reveals Novel Biological Functions Associated with Copy Number Variation of Large Tandem Repeats – Manisha Brahmachary – PLOS Genetics

“Here, we demonstrate the utility of Nanostring technology as a targeted approach to perform accurate measurement of tandem repeats even at extremely high copy number, and apply this technology to genotype 165 HapMap samples from three different populations and five species of non-human primates. “

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 9.34.37 PMLarge-Scale Genomic Analysis Suggests a Neutral Punctuated Dynamics of Transposable Elements in Bacterial Genomes – Jaime Iranzo – PLOS Computational Biology

“In this work, we take advantage of the large amount of genomic data currently available and study the abundance distributions of 33 IS families in 1811 bacterial chromosomes. This allows us to test simple models of IS dynamics and estimate their key parameters by means of a maximum likelihood approach. “

Microbial Ecology

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 9.35.00 PMEx Uno Plures: Clonal Reinforcement Drives Evolution of a Simple Microbial Community – Margie Kinnersley – PLOS Genetics

“We previously showed that a population of E. coli that originated from a single clone and was cultured in the presence of a single limiting resource, evolves into a stable, three-membered community, wherein one clone excretes metabolites that the others utilize as carbon sources. To discern the genetic factors at work in producing this outcome and to illuminate the community’s physiology, we sequenced the genomes of the ancestral and evolved clones.”

Infectious diseases in developing countries

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 9.35.43 PMExploring the Relationship between Access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and Soil-Transmitted Helminth Infection: A Demonstration of Two Recursive Partitioning Tools – Katherine Gass – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

“Improvements to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) likely provide sustained benefit, but few rigorous studies have evaluated the specific WASH components most influential in reducing infection. “

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 9.36.14 PMSocial Sciences Research on Infectious Diseases of Poverty: Too Little and Too Late? – José Azoh Barry – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

“Besides the vicious circle these diseases maintain with dire conditions of poverty, an increased microbial resistance to some therapeutic drugs adds to the complexity of health disparities and human suffering among the socially disadvantaged, marginalized, and prejudiced against.”

Dengue

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 9.36.37 PMVariability in Dengue Titer Estimates from Plaque Reduction Neutralization Tests Poses a Challenge to Epidemiological Studies and Vaccine Development – Henrik Salje – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

“We used repeated assays on the same two pools of serum using five different viruses (2,319 assays) to characterize the variability in the technique under identical experimental conditions. We also assessed the performance of multiple statistical models to interpolate continuous values of neutralization titer from discrete measurements from serial dilutions.”

Science and career

PLOSTen Simple Rules for Approaching a New Job – Philip E. Bourne – PLOS Computational Biology

“Thinking both as a job applicant and a job interviewer about how I have approached job situations over the years before, during, and after the interview and how those situations have turned out, I can offer the following ten simple rules as you prepare.”

A New Online Computational Biology Curriculum – David B. Searls – PLOS Computational Biology

“A recent proliferation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other web-based educational resources has greatly increased the potential for effective self-study in many fields. This article introduces a catalog of several hundred free video courses of potential interest to those wishing to expand their knowledge of bioinformatics and computational biology. “

Arsenic metabolism

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 10.00.06 PMAssociations between Arsenic Species in Exfoliated Urothelial Cells and Prevalence of Diabetes among Residents of Chihuahua, Mexico – Jenna M. Currier – Environ Health Perspect

“We measured concentrations of trivalent and pentavalent iAs, methyl-As (MAs), and dimethyl-As (DMAs) species in EUC from 374 residents of Chihuahua, Mexico, who were exposed to iAs in drinking water.”

Dr. Bik’s Picks

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 10.09.01 PMWith pictures and videos: Duration of urination does not change with body size – Patricia J. Yang – PNAS

“In this study, we report a mathematical model that clarifies misconceptions in urology and unifies the results from 41 independent urological and anatomical studies. The theoretical framework presented may be extended to study fluid ejection from animals, a universal phenomenon that has received little attention.”

Screen Shot 2014-06-27 at 10.01.44 PMFrom Gemstones to Arsenic: How the Development of Pigment Colored Art – Allison Meier

“A new exhibition at London’s National Gallery — Making Colour — looks at the development of color in art, from the Middle Ages to 1900. “

[hr]

General microbiology and science, June 25

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Arsenic profiling in rats, Bacillus in space, and antibiotic resistance in populations. And Dr. Bik’s Picks featuring butterflies, mummies and unfeelability cloaks.

Microbes in space

Screen Shot 2014-06-25 at 10.31.28 PMBacillus anthracis-Like Bacteria and Other B. cereus Group Members in a Microbial Community Within the International Space Station: A Challenge for Rapid and Easy Molecular Detection of Virulent B. anthracis – Sandra P. van Tongeren – PLOS ONE

“In this study we show the presence of B. anthracis-like bacteria and other members of the B. cereus group in a microbial community within the human environment of the International Space Station and their preliminary identification by using conventional culturing as well as molecular techniques including 16S rDNA sequencing, PCR and real-time PCR. “

Metagenomics

Screen Shot 2014-06-25 at 10.31.54 PMElucidation of Operon Structures across Closely Related Bacterial Genomes – Chuan Zhou – PLOS ONE

“Here we developed a graph-based model to elucidate the diversity of operon structures across a set of closely related bacterial genomes.”

Antibiotic resistance

Screen Shot 2014-06-25 at 10.32.23 PMOptimization of lag time underlies antibiotic tolerance in evolved bacterial populations – Ofer Fridman – Nature

“Here we followed the evolution of bacterial populations under intermittent exposure to the high concentrations of antibiotics used in the clinic and characterized the evolved strains in terms of both resistance and tolerance. “

Arsenic metabolism

Screen Shot 2014-06-25 at 10.32.54 PMThe metabolomic profiling of serum in rats exposed to arsenic using UPLC/Q-TOF MS – Cheng Wang – Toxicology Letters

“The aim of this study is to determine the impact of chronic arsenic exposure on the metabolism of organism, and find the metabolites changes by using metabolomic techniques. “

Screen Shot 2014-06-25 at 10.33.15 PMInvestigation of arsenic species stability by HPLC-ICP-MS in plants stored under different conditions for 12 months – Clarice D.B. Amaral – Microchemical Journal

“For the As species here studied it can be concluded that lyophilization and cryogenic grinding strategies were the most suitable sample pretreatments for As speciation in plant tissue.”

Science and careers

Screen Shot 2014-06-25 at 10.33.54 PMLove in the lab: Close collaborators – Kerri Smith – Nature

“Romance often sparks between colleagues, and scientists are no different. Nature profiles four super-couples who have combined love and the lab.”

Dr. Bik’s Picks

Screen Shot 2014-06-25 at 10.35.06 PMMetagenomic Analysis Reveals Presence of Treponema denticola in a Tissue Biopsy of the Iceman – Frank Maixner – PLOS ONE

“Initially, the metagenomic data of the Iceman’s genomic survey was screened for bacterial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) specific reads. Through ranking the reads by abundance a relatively high number of rRNA reads most similar to T. denticola was detected. “

Screen Shot 2014-06-25 at 10.35.42 PMA magnetic compass aids monarch butterfly migration – Patrick A Guerra – Nature Communications

“Here we use flight simulator studies to show that migrants indeed possess an inclination magnetic compass to help direct their flight equatorward in the fall. “

Screen Shot 2014-06-25 at 10.36.07 PMAn elasto-mechanical unfeelability cloak made of pentamode metamaterials –
T. Bückmann – Nature Communications

“Here, inspired by invisible core-shell nanoparticles in optics, we design an approximate elasto-mechanical core-shell ‘unfeelability’ cloak based on pentamode metamaterials. “

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General microbiology and science, June 24

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Metabolomics, metagenomics, phages in the human gut, arsenic poisoning in China, and a big award for Dengue research.

Metabolomics

Metaproteomics: Extracting and Mining Proteome Information to Characterize Metabolic Activities in Microbial Communities – Paul E. Abraham – Current Protocols in Bioinformatics

“In this article, we provide an overview of current bioinformatic approaches and software implementations in metaproteome studies in order to highlight the key considerations needed for successful implementation of this powerful community-biology tool. “

Review: The human volatilome: volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath, skin emanations, urine, feces and saliva – Anton Amann – Journal of Breath Research

“Fecal volatiles have been implicated in differentiating certain infectious bowel diseases such as Clostridium difficile, Campylobacter, Salmonella and Cholera. They have also been used to differentiate other non-infectious conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease.”

Metagenomics and DNA structure

Sequencing the Strange Communities: Taking on Metagenomics – Aaron Krol – Bio-IT World

““Communities are made up of organisms that interact,” says Jonathan Eisen, a professor at the School of Medicine and the College of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Davis. “They’re not made up of short reads of Illumina sequences. And we need to stitch those together into organisms in order to make useful predictions, and interpretation of experimental data.””

Gene positioning and genome function – Nidhi Vishnoi, Jie Yao – Frontiers in Biology

” In this review, we discuss some recent findings as well as experimental tools to investigate subnuclear gene positioning and to explore its implications in genome functions.”

Phages and viruses

Classification and quantification of bacteriophage taxa in human gut metagenomes – Alison S Waller – ISME Journal 

“Using taxon-specific marker genes, we identified and monitored 20 viral taxa in 252 human gut metagenomic samples, mostly at the level of genera. “

Techniques

Enzymatic Treatment of Specimens before DNA Extraction Directly Influences Molecular Detection of Infectious Agents – Pablo Goldschmidt – PLOS ONE

“The goal of the present work was to assess the efficiency of enzymatic pretreatments on infectious agents to make DNA available for further extraction and amplification.”

Dengue

Sustainable Sciences Institute (SSI) Awarded $1 Million to Battle Growing Threat to Global Public Health: Mosquito-borne Dengue Virus – PR Web

“SSI, a San Francisco nonprofit founded by Eva Harris, UC Berkeley Professor of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology and former MacArthur “Genius” award winner, has worked to minimize the threat of potentially fatal Dengue disease for 15 years. With the latest award of $1 million dollars, Harris and other SSI investigators will be able to extend their reach and speed up their efforts.”

Infection and host response

Early MicroRNA Expression Profile as a Prognostic Biomarker for the Development of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease in a Mouse Model of Chlamydial Genital Infection – Laxmi Yeruva – mBio

“To determine if chemokine and cytokine production within 24 h of infection is associated with the outcome of pathology, levels of 15 chemokines and cytokines were measured. “

Immunity to gastrointestinal nematodes: mechanisms and myths – Richard K. Grencis – Immunological Reviews

“This review aims to discuss the recent discoveries in both host protection and immunoregulation against gastrointestinal nematodes, placing the data in context of the specific life cycles imposed by the different parasites studied and the future challenges of considering the mucosal/immune axis to encompass host, parasite, and microbiome in its widest sense.”

Tailored immunity at mucosae – Yasmine Belkaid – Immunological Reviews

“This issue of Immunological Reviews presents articles from investigators involved in the exploration of the mechanisms by which mucosal barrier sites induce and control innate and adaptive immune responses.”

Detection of bacteria in blood and other sites

Rapid Detection of Enterobacteriaceae Producing Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamases Directly From Positive Blood Cultures by Matrix-Assisted Laser-Desorption-Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) – Marina Oviaño – Clinical Microbiology and Infection

“In the assay, 141 blood cultures were tested, 13 out of them were real bacteremias and 128 corresponded to blood culture bottles seeded with bacterial clinical isolates. Bacteremias were analyzed by MALDI-TOF after a positive growth result and the 128 remaining blood cultures 24 hours after the bacterial seeding. “

General microbiology and ecology

The quest for a unified view of bacterial land colonization – Hao Wu – ISME Journal

“Here, we perform comprehensive analyses based on a large variety of bacteria by integrating taxonomic, phylogenetic and metagenomic data, in the quest for a unified view that elucidates genomic, evolutionary and ecological dynamics of the marine progenitors in adapting to nonaquatic environments. “

Lateral transfer of eukaryotic ribosomal RNA genes: an emerging concern for molecular ecology of microbial eukaryotes – Akinori Yabuki – ISME Journal

“Two distinct sequences of the 18S rRNA gene were detected from a clonal culture of the stramenopile, Ciliophrys infusionum. One was clearly derived from Ciliophrys, but the other gene originated from a perkinsid alveolate.”

Arsenic metabolism

Arsenic Pollution Sows Despair in Chinese Cancer Village (slideshow)- Yahoo News

“Xiong Demin could not have foreseen that the mine he worked at for 32 years would leave his home village poisoned and hundreds of residents, including himself and his wife, stricken with cancer.”

Dr. Bik’s Picks – Evolution Edition

Molecular Phylogeny, Biogeography, and Habitat Preference Evolution of Marsupials – Kieren J. Mitchell – Molecular Biology and Evolution

“We use 101 mitochondrial genomes and data from 26 nuclear loci to reconstruct a dated phylogeny including 97% of extant genera and 58% of modern marsupial species”

Parallel sites implicate functional convergence of the hearing gene prestin among echolocating mammals – Zhen Liu – Molecular Biology and Evolution

“By functional assays, we show that a key parameter of prestin function, 1/α, is increased in all echolocating mammals and that the N7T parallel substitution accounted for this functional convergence. Moreover, another parameter, V1/2, was shifted toward the depolarization direction in a toothed whale, the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and a constant-frequency bat, Stoliczka’s trident bat (Aselliscus stoliczkanus). “

Evolutionary developmental transcriptomics reveals a gene network module regulating interspecific diversity in plant leaf shape – Yasunori Ichihashi – PNAS

“Utilizing the natural variation in leaf morphology between tomato and two related wild species, we identified a gene network module that leads to a dynamic rewiring of interactions in the whole leaf developmental gene regulatory network. “

[hr]

General microbiology and science, June 23

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Amplification of 18S rRNA genes, metabolomics, phages, and the scientific way to cut a cake.

Bacteria are everywhere

This article is citing a study that was published in 1992, not sure why they reporting about it now, but here it is:
Earpieces can multiply bacteria 11 times in ear – Tribune

“Besides concerns about deafness, there are also issues regarding use of earpieces and bacteria. A study which measured bacteria levels on audio headsets provided on commercial airline flights entitled “Changes in the microbial flora of airline headset devices after their use,” published in the journal, The Laryngoscope, brings interesting conclusions. “

Anti-bacterial bag-for-life could prevent rise in food poisoning when 5p plastic bag charge comes into force – Independent UK

“Paul Morris, the managing director, said: “Multi-use bags which can carry raw meat one week and vegetables or clothing the next is a concern of many industry experts; this bag provides a solution to the problem.””

Amplification and sequencing techniques 

Investigating Microbial Eukaryotic Diversity from a Global Census: Insights from a Comparison of Pyrotag and Full-Length Sequences of 18S rRNA Genes – Alle A. Y. Lie – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

“Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) derived from full-length (Sanger sequencing) and pyrotag (454 sequencing of the V9 hypervariable region) sequences of 18S rRNA genes from 10 global samples were analyzed in order to compare the resulting protistan community structures and species richness. “

Targeted and Highly Multiplexed Detection of Microorganisms by Employing an Ensemble of Molecular Probes – Weihong Xu – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

“To profile the microbial diversity in environmental and clinical samples, we have devised and employed molecular probe technology, which detects and identifies bacteria that do and do not grow in culture.”

Metabolomics and mass spectrometry

This one is published by the not-so-trustworthy Omics group, but it sounds interesting:
Optimisation of Sample Preparation for Direct SPME-GC-MS Analysis of Murine and Human Faecal Volatile Organic Compounds for Metabolomic Studies (links to PDF)
– Reade S – Analytical & Bioanalytical Techniques

“We evaluated different aspects of sample preparation when processing murine and human faecal samples through a pipeline involving solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)”

Shigella reroutes host cell central metabolism to obtain high-flux nutrient supply for vigorous intracellular growth – David Kentner – PNAS

“Here, we show that infected host cells maintain normal central metabolism for energy production and host cell survival. However, Shigella captures the entire host metabolism output and degrades it further to acetate.”

Beyond the Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI) Biotyping Workflow: in Search of Microorganism-Specific Tryptic Peptides Enabling Discrimination of Subspecies – Maria-Theresia Gekenidis – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

“Here, it is shown that combining tryptic digestion of the acid/organic solvent extracted (classical biotyping preparation) and resolubilized proteins, nano-liquid chromatography (nano-LC), and subsequent identification of the peptides by MALDI-tandem TOF (MALDI-TOF/TOF) mass spectrometry increases the discrimination power to the level of subspecies.”

Phages and viruses

Modeling the Infection Dynamics of Bacteriophages in Enteric Escherichia coli: Estimating the Contribution of Transduction to Antimicrobial Gene Spread –
Victoriya V. Volkova – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

“Using the model and the most liberal assumptions about transduction efficiency and resistance gene frequency, we approximated the upper numerical limits (“worst-case scenario”) of gene transfer through specialized and generalized transduction in E. coli by enteric coliphages when the transduced genetic segment is picked at random. “

Tolerance of a Phage Element by Streptococcus pneumoniae Leads to a Fitness Defect during Colonization – Hilary K. DeBardeleben – Journal of Bacteriology

“Here, we examined a clinical isolate that carries a novel prophage element, designated Spn1, which was detected in both integrated and episomal forms. Surprisingly, both lytic and lysogenic Spn1 genes were expressed under routine growth conditions.”

Comparison of Five Bacteriophages as Models for Viral Aerosol Studies – Nathalie Turgeon – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

“The presence of viruses in collected air samples was detected by culture and quantitative PCR (qPCR). Our results showed that these selected five phages behave differently when aerosolized and sampled. “

Microbial detection in blood and normally sterile sites

Molecular revolution in the diagnosis of microbial brain abscesses – AK Mishra – European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases

“This article reviews the applications of the currently available tools for the etiological diagnosis of a brain abscess.”

General microbiology

Nitrogen stress response and stringent response are coupled in Escherichia coli – Daniel R. Brown – Nature Communications

“Here, we show that transcription of relA, a key gene responsible for the synthesis of ppGpp, is activated by NtrC during nitrogen starvation.”

Stenotrophomonas comparative genomics reveals genes and functions that
differentiate beneficial and pathogenic bacteria – Peyman Alavi – BMC Genomics

“We used comparative genomics as well as transcriptomic and physiological approaches to detect significant borders between the Stenotrophomonas strains: the multi-drug resistant pathogenic S. maltophilia and the plant-associated strains S. maltophilia R551-3 and S. rhizophila DSM14405T (both are biocontrol agents)”

Emergence of bacterial vortex explained – Science Daily

“When a bunch of B. subtilis bacteria are confined within a droplet of water, a very strange thing happens. The chaotic motion of individual swimmers spontaneously organizes into a swirling vortex, with bacteria on the outer edge of the droplet moving in one direction while those on the inside move the opposite direction. “

Dr. Bik’s Picks

Screen Shot 2014-06-23 at 11.53.49 PMScientists tie social behavior to activity in specific brain circuit – Stanford University

“The new findings, published June 19 in Cell, may throw light on psychiatric disorders marked by impaired social interaction such as autism, social anxiety, schizophrenia and depression, said the study’s senior author, Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD, a professor of bioengineering and of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. “

Scientists use X-rays to look at how DNA protects itself from UV light – Science Daily

“The molecular building blocks that make up DNA absorb ultraviolet light so strongly that sunlight should deactivate them — yet it does not. Now scientists have made detailed observations of a ‘relaxation response’ that protects these molecules, and the genetic information they encode, from UV damage.”

Cut your cake and keep it (fresh), too – Eliza Barclay – NPR

““The ordinary method of cutting out a wedge is very faulty,” wrote Sir Francis Galton, a British mathematician, in a 1906 letter to the journal Nature concerning the scientific principles of cake-cutting.”

[hr]

General microbiology and science, June 18

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Learn about dengue at the World Cup, a deadly lake, 3D structures of genomes, OTUs and tables, musical kids, and why your iPhone headphones are always in a knot.

Dengue

Evaluation of single-round infectious, chimeric dengue type 1 virus as an antigen for dengue functional antibody assays – Atsushi Yamanaka – Vaccine

“In the present study, SRIPs of DENV-1 (D1-SRIPs) were evaluated as an antigen for functional antibody assays.”

An inhibition model of BPTI to unlinked dengue virus NS2B-NS3 protease – Hua Li – FEBS Letters

“BPTI shows strong competitive inhibitory activity (Ki = 6.5 nM) against this unlinked protease, which adopts a closed conformation.”

The role of cell proteins in dengue virus infection – Ma. Isabel Salazar – Journal of Proteomics

“This review focuses on recent reports about cellular proteins involved along the dengue virus replication cycle, in prime cellular targets during the infection of both humans and mosquito hosts and also on the proteomics and other approaches that are being used to reveal the entire orchestration and most significant processes altered during infection.”

Dengue outlook for the World Cup in Brazil – Eduardo Massad – The Lancet Infectious Diseases

Correspondence on: Dengue outlook for the World Cup in Brazil: an early warning model framework driven by real-time seasonal climate forecasts

Arsenic metabolism

43,000 die annually in Bangladesh: Study – The Daily Star

“This rate is 25 percent all over Bangladesh, said Dr Kazi Matin Ahmed, geology professor of Dhaka University. He presented the paper at a seminar titled “Arsenic Activities, Research and Outcomes” organised by the Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) in its auditorium in the capital yesterday.”

Arsenic speciation in rice-based food for adults with celiac disease – Sandra Munera-Picazo – Food Additives and Contaminants

“…the objective of this study was to analyze the occurrence of arsenic (As) in gluten-free products, basically those rice-based, intended for celiac adult consumers.”

Could This Acid Lake Hold the Elixir of Life for Cancer Patients? – Ryot.org

“The Berkeley Acid Pit is a giant hole filled with arsenic and sulfuric acid, and has a history of causing disturbing deaths… and it’s making its way into the city’s water supply, according to PitWatch.”

Chromosomal Organization

Targeted chromatin capture (T2C): a novel high resolution high throughput method to detect genomic interactions and regulatory elements – Petros Kolovos – Epigenetics &

“We applied T2C on well-known model regions, the mouse beta-globin locus and the human H19/IGF2 locus. In both cases we identified all known chromatin interactions”

A statistical approach for inferring the 3D structure of the genome – Nelle Varoquaux – Bioinformatics

“We propose a novel approach to infer a consensus 3D structure of a genome from Hi-C data. The method incorporates a statistical model of the contact counts, assuming that the counts between two loci follow a Poisson distribution whose intensity decreases with the physical distances between the loci.”

Spatial organization of interphase chromosomes and the role of chromatin fibril dynamics in the positioning of genome elements – E. S. Gushchanskaya – Molecular Biology

“In this review, we discuss the results of these projects, which allow us to explain the functional basis of nucleus multilevel compartmentalization and to identify the principles of high-level chromatin organization. “

Computational ecology

A fast and unbiased procedure to randomize ecological binary matrices with fixed row and column totals – Giovanni Strona – Nature Communications

“A well-known problem in numerical ecology is how to recombine presence-absence matrices without altering row and column totals. “

Consistent, comprehensive and computationally efficient OTU definitions – Jai Ram Rideout – PeerJ PrePrints

“We present a performance-optimized algorithm, subsampled open-reference OTU picking, for assigning marker gene (e.g., 16S rRNA) sequences generated on next-generation sequencing platforms to operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for microbial community analysis.”

 

Bacteria in blood and sterile sites

Rapid and direct MALDI-MS identification of pathogenic bacteria from blood using ionic liquid-modified magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2) – Mukesh L. Bhaisare – Journal of Materials Chemistry B

“A novel method for pathogenic bacteria identification directly from blood samples using cationic ionic liquid-modified magnetic nanoparticles (CILMS) is reported.”

Metagenomics

GroopM: An automated tool for the recovery of population genomes from related metagenomes – Michael Imelfort – PeerJ PrePrints

“Here we introduce GroopM, an automated binning tool that primarily uses differential coverage to obtain high fidelity population genomes from related metagenomes. “

DNA-dependent RNA polymerase detects hidden giant viruses in published databanks – Vikas Sharma – Genome Biology and Evolution

“To explore the dark matter, we used viral RNAP2 and reconstructed putative ancestral RNAP2, which were significantly superior in detecting distant clades than current sequences, and we revealed two additional unknown mimiviruses, misclassified as an euryarchaeote and a oomycete plant pathogen, and detected unknown putative viral clades”

Metabolomics

Comparative Metabolomics and Structural Characterizations Illuminate Colibactin Pathway-Dependent Small Molecules – Maria I. Vizcaino – Journal of the American Chemical Society

“Here we implemented a comparative metabolomics and targeted structural network analyses approach to identify a catalog of small molecules dependent on the colibactin pathway from the meningitis isolate E. coli IHE3034 and the probiotic E. coli Nissle 1917.”

Scientific writing and publishing

Screen Shot 2014-06-18 at 11.01.34 PMColour blindness: Still too many red–green figures – S. Colby Allred – Nature

“People with red–green colour blindness cannot interpret figures in research papers that use these colours. We call for all journals to provide alternative versions of figures that are more accessible to such individuals.”

Open access: Sharing your data is easier than you think – Stephen Eglen – Nature

“Storing large volumes of raw data is costly, but many items destined for sharing are highly processed and relatively small. “

Dr. Bik’s Picks

The Irish potato famine pathogen Phytophthora infestans originated in central Mexico rather than the Andes – Erica M. Goss – PNAS

“We sequenced four nuclear genes in representative samples from Mexico and the South American Andes. An Andean origin of P. infestans does not receive support from detailed analyses of Andean and Mexican populations. “

Behavioral and Neural Correlates of Executive Functioning in Musicians and Non-Musicians – Jennifer Zuk – PLOS ONE

“Overall, musicians show enhanced performance on several constructs of EF, and musically trained children further show heightened brain activation in traditional EF regions during task-switching.”

There’s a scientific reason your iPhone headphones are always tangled – Fiona MacDonald – Science Alert

“But between 46 centimeters and 150 centimeters (about five feet), the probability of a knot forming rises dramatically.”

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Non-human microbiome, June 17

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You waited for it: the Cannabis microbiome! But also microbiotas of salmon, a quail, coral, sponges, water, and ice.

Bird microbiome

Cultivable Bacterial Microbiota of Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus): A New Reservoir of Antimicrobial Resistance? – Hongwen Su – PLOS ONE

“Firmicutes was the most commonly encountered phylum (57%) followed by Actinobacteria (24%), Proteobacteria (17%) and Bacteroidetes (0.02%). Extensive diversity in the species composition of quail microbiota was observed among individual birds and anatomical locations.”

Fish microbiome

Pyrosequencing-based characterization of gastrointestinal bacteria of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) within a commercial mariculture system – K.Z. Zarkasi – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“Salmon GI tract bacterial communities commercially farmed in south-eastern Tasmania were analysed, over a 13-month period across a standard commercial production farm cycle, using 454 16S rRNA-based pyrosequencing. “

Coral and sponge microbiome

Community Shifts in the Surface Microbiomes of the Coral Porites astreoides with Unusual Lesions – Julie L. Meyer – PLOS ONE

“The presence of lesions in P. astreoides coincided with a decrease in the relative abundance of Endozoicomonas, rather than the appearance of specific pathogenic taxa.”

Bacterial suspects identified in Caribbean coral deaths – NewScientist

“Three bacteria seem to be responsible for a disease that has killed most of the Caribbean’s reef-building corals.”

Effects of salinity on antibiotic production in sponge-derived Salinispora actinobacteria – Y.K. Ng – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“Fingerprint data were generated from extracts of S. arenicola broth cultures grown in media of varying salt (NaCl) concentrations.”

Plants microbiome

Understanding Cultivar-Specificity and Soil Determinants of the Cannabis Microbiome – Max E. Winston – PLOS ONE

“Here we present the first description of the endorhiza-, rhizosphere-, and bulk soil-associated microbiome of five distinct Cannabis cultivars. Bacterial communities of the endorhiza showed significant cultivar-specificity.”

The Role of Abiotic Environmental Conditions and Herbivory in Shaping Bacterial Community Composition in Floral Nectar – Michal Samuni-Blank – PLOS ONE

“ We studied culturable bacterial communities in Asphodelus aestivus floral nectar and in its typical herbivorous bug Capsodes infuscatus, along an aridity gradient.”

Microbial community structure during fluoranthene degradation in the presence of plants – S. Storey – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“Bacterial and fungal community composition in the rhizosphere was significantly different from that in nonrhizospheric and unplanted samples.”

Soil microbiome

Omics-based interpretation of synergism in a soil-derived cellulose-degrading microbial community – Yizhuang Zhou – Scientific Reports

“Analyses of reconstructed bacterial draft genomes from all seven uncultured phylotypes in F1RT indicate that its constituent microbes cooperate in both cellulose-degrading and other important metabolic processes.”

Structure, Composition and Metagenomic Profile of Soil Microbiomes Associated to Agricultural Land Use and Tillage Systems in Argentine Pampas – Belén Carbonetto – PLOS ONE

“The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of agricultural land use on community structure, composition and metabolic profiles on soil microbiomes of Argentine Pampas.”

 

Dust microbiome

Richness and Diversity in Dust Stormborne Biomes at the Southeast Mediterranean – Itzhak Katra – Scientific Reports

“In addition to the physico-chemical compositions, organismal diversities of dust from two storm events in southern Israel, December 2012 (Ev12) and January 2013 (Ev13), were determined by pyro-sequencing using primers universal to 16S and 18S rRNA genes and compared.”

Bioreactors

The maximum specific hydrogen-producing activity of anaerobic mixed cultures: definition and determination – Yang Mu – Scientific Reports

“ Our results demonstrate that this novel SHAm assay was a rapid, accurate and simple methodology for determining the hydrogen-producing activity of anaerobic mixed cultures.”

Methanogenic community changes, and emissions of methane and other gases, during storage of acidified and untreated pig slurry – S.O. Petersen – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“Pig slurry from two farms, acidified by different techniques or untreated, was stored for 83 days in a pilot-scale facility. Methanogens were characterized before and after storage by T-RFLP and qPCR targeting mcrA.”

Water and ice

The Characterization of RNA Viruses in Tropical Seawater Using Targeted PCR and Metagenomics – Alexander I. Culley – mBio

“In this study, we investigated the diversity of the RNA virus assemblages in tropical coastal seawater samples using targeted PCR and metagenomics.”

Variations of algal communities cause darkening of a Greenland glacier – Stefanie Lutz – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“We have assessed the microbial ecology on the surface of Mittivakkat glacier in SE-Greenland during the exceptional high melting season in July 2012 when the so far most extreme melting rate for the Greenland Ice Sheet has been recorded.”

Pyrosequencing reveals correlations between extremely acidophilic bacterial communities with hydrogen sulphide concentrations, pH and inert polymer coatings at concrete sewer crown surfaces – E. Pagaling – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“Pyrosequencing and cloning showed that Mycobacterium and Acidithiobacillus dominated the acidophilic microbial communities. Methylacidiphilum was also dominant in samples where methane was detected.”

Bacterial community dynamics during the early stages of biofilm formation in a chlorinated experimental drinking water distribution system: implications for drinking water discolouration – I. Douterelo – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“Selected samples were analysed by cloning and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Fingerprinting analysis revealed significant changes in the bacterial community structure over time (P < 0·05). “

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