August 9, 2016

Climate change and increasing Vibrio species in North Atlantic, microbiome of the aging mouth, Antarctic soil around Little Auk colony.

Events

5th Exploring Human Host-Microbiome Interactions in Health and Disease – Welcome Genome Campus, Cambridge, UK, 7-9 September 2016

4th World Congress on Targeting Microbiota – Institut Pasteur, France, October 17-19, 2016

Hot topics in microbiology: Campden BRI conference – Campden BRI, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, UK, October 13-14

Today & tomorrow – live webcast – Standards for Microbiome Measurements @NIST – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

General microbiome

Note: includes 16S rRNA gene studies as well, so not metagenomic sensu stricto: An overview of major metagenomic studies on human microbiomes in health and disease – Hongfei Cui – Quantitative Biology

Brazil: A Step Forward to Empower Global Microbiome Research Through Local Leadership – Victor S. Pylro – Trends in Microbiology

Human oral microbiome

Distinct interacting core taxa in co-occurrence networks enable discrimination of polymicrobial oral diseases with similar symptoms – Takahiko Shiba – Scientific Reports

Oral microbial community typing of caries and pigment in primary dentition – Yanhui Li – BMC Genomics

Review: The subgingival periodontal microbiota of the aging mouth – Magda Feres – Periodonotology 2000

Human respiratory microbiome

Review: The microbiome in chronic inflammatory airway disease: A threatened species – Robin John Green – The South African Medical Journal

Review: Lung microbiome in human immunodeficiency virus infection – Homer L. Twigg IIIa – Translational Research

Human vaginal microbiome

Evaluation of the vaginal flora in pregnant women receiving opioid maintenance therapy: a matched case-control study – Alex Farr – BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

Human gut microbiome

Microbial Factors Associated with Postoperative Crohn’s Disease Recurrence – Emily K. Wright – Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis

The mucosal microbiota in a young child with severe non-Helicobacter gastritis – Geoffrey A. Preidis – Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology

Profile of Gut Microbiota Associated With the Presence of Hepatocellular Cancer in Patients With Liver Cirrhosis – M. Grąt – Transplantation Proceedings

Comparison of the gut microbial community between obese and lean peoples using 16S gene sequencing in a Japanese population – Akira Andoh – Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition

Book Chapter: The Second Brain and Possible Interactions with the Heart – Rosa Sollazzo – Psychotherapy for Ischemic Heart Disease

Infection microbiology

Comparison of methods for the identification of microorganisms isolated from blood cultures – Aydir Cecília Marinho Monteiro – Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials

Animal experiments

Disturbance in the Mucosa-Associated Commensal Bacteria Is Associated with the Exacerbation of Chronic Colitis by Repeated Psychological Stress; Is That the New Target of Probiotics? – Sohei Arase – PLOS ONE

Role of the Gut Microbiome in Modulating Arthritis Progression in Mice – Xiaofei Liu – Scientific Reports

Salmonella Typhimurium utilizes a T6SS-mediated antibacterial weapon to establish in the host gut – Thibault G. Sana – PNAS

Animal microbiome

Does adaptive radiation of a host lineage promote ecological diversity of its bacterial communities? A test using gut microbiota of Anolis lizards – Tiantian Ren – Molecular Ecology

The gut microbiota of the pine weevil is similar across Europe and resembles that of other conifer-feeding beetles – Aileen Berasategui – Molecular Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

The Arctic soil bacterial communities in the vicinity of a little auk colony – Sylwia Zielinska – Frontiers in Microbiology

Soil Fungal:Bacterial Ratios Are Linked to Altered Carbon Cycling – Ashish A. Malik – Frontiers in Microbiology

Ancient landscapes and the relationship with microbial nitrification – Sasha N. Jenkins – Scientific Reports

Long-term antibiotic exposure in soil is associated with changes in microbial community structure and prevalence of class 1 integrons – David W. Cleary – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Are Epiphytic Microbial Communities in the Carposphere of Ripening Grape Clusters (Vitis vinifera L.) Different between Conventional, Organic, and Biodynamic Grapes? – Elizabeth Kecskeméti – PLOS ONE

Bacterial communities in Antarctic lichens – Chae Haeng Park – Antarctic Science

Water and extremophile microbiome

Climate influence on Vibrio and associated human diseases during the past half-century in the coastal North Atlantic – Luigi Vezzulli – PNAS

Press: We’re trashing the oceans — and they’re returning the favor by making us sick – Chris Mooney – The Washington Post
Deadly Bacteria Spread across Oceans as Water Temperatures Rise. Cholera bacteria and others arise in more places and in greater abundance – Umair Irfan – Scientific American
Warming seas linked to rise in cholera bacteria in Europe and US – Brian Owens – New Scientist

Microbial community structure in hypolentic zones of a brine lake in a desert plateau, China – Wenzhen Yuan – Environmental Earth Sciences

Microbial diversity in sediment ecosystems (evaporites domes, microbial mats and crusts) of hypersaline Laguna Tebenquiche, Salar de Atacama, Chile – Ana B. Fernandez – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioreactor microbiome

The full-scale anaerobic digestion microbiome is represented by specific marker populations – Jo De Vrieze – Water Research

Viruses and phages

Challenges in the analysis of viral metagenomes – Rebecca Rose – Virus Evolution

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Bipartite graph analyses reveal inter-domain LGT involving ultrasmall prokaryotes and their divergent, membrane-related proteins – Alexander L. Jaffe – Environmental Microbiology

FARAO – The Flexible All-Round Annotation Organizer – Rickard Hammarén – Bioinformatics

Identifying wrong assemblies in de novo short read primary sequence assembly contigs – Vandna Chawla – Journal of Biosciences

A Bayesian Framework for the Classification of Microbial Gene Activity States – Craig Disselkoen – Frontiers in Microbiology

Techniques

Evaluation of 16S rRNA gene primer pairs for monitoring microbial community structures showed high reproducibility within and low comparability between datasets generated with multiple archaeal and bacterial primer pairs – Martin A. Fischer – Frontiers in Microbiology

More microbiology

Editorial: New insights into microbial ecology through subtle nucleotide variation – A M. Eren – Frontiers in Microbiology

Neisseria meningitides Can Survive in Corpses for At Least Eleven Days – Antonio Osculati – Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Microbes in the news

List of papers about bias in microbiome techniques: The unbearable madness of microbiome – Mick Watson – Opiniomics

Book Review: Follow your gut – The Enormous Impact of Tiny Microbes – Daniel K. Morais – Frontiers in Microbiology

Brito went to Fiji to study mobile genes in human microbiome – Tom Fleischman – Cornell Chronicle

MSU graduate awarded NSF fellowship to study disease affecting world’s citrus crops – Denise Hoepfner – Montana State University

Bacteria Could Aid Search for Creatures On Other Planets – Elizabeth Howell – Astrobiology Magazine

U.Va. scientists make important discovery about dangerous bacteria strains
Researchers pinpoint mechanisms of C. difficile strains – Daisy Xu – Cavalier Daily

Did farming practices in China create an antibiotic resistant bacteria that’s spreading around the world? – Alanna Shaikh – United Nations Dispatch

Science, publishing, and career

Dog eat dog: is a troubled expedition to Kenya causing the Smithsonian to devour its young?
A star scientist stands accused of misconduct, but colleagues say he’s being railroaded
– Michael Balter – The Verge

A “Scientific Diversity” Intervention to Reduce Gender Bias in a Sample of Life Scientists – Corinne A. Moss-Racusin – CBE Life Sciences Education

Bik’s non-microbiology Picks

Innate Immunity and Asthma Risk in Amish and Hutterite Farm Children – Michelle M. Stein – New England Journal of Medicine

July 19, 2016

Gut microbial translocation and liver cirrhosis, cockatiel microbiome, human thanatomicrobiome, and the Pokémon microbiome.

Human gut microbiome

Gut microbial translocation corrupts myeloid cell function to control bacterial infection during liver cirrhosis – Carl-Philipp Hackstein – Gut

Press: Fighting life-threatening bacteria without antibiotics. Researchers discover the cause of infections in patients with cirrhosis of the liver – Science Daily

Review: Emerging Technologies for Gut Microbiome Research – Jason W. Arnold – Trends in Microbiology

Review: Gut Microbiome and Liver Disease – Naga S. Betrapally – Translational Research

Human vaginal microbiome

Review:  Does the vaginal microbiota play a role in the development of cervical cancer?
Maria Kyrgiou – Translational Research

Animal experiments

Arsenic Dysbiosis to the Zebrafish Microbiome: An Ecological or Physiological Response?
Jonathan Michael Von Reusner – Bard College

Commensal Bacteria Aid Mate-selection in the Fruit Fly, Bactrocera dorsalis – Kamala Jayanthi Pagadala Damodaram – Microbial Ecology

Animal microbiome

Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) gut microbiomes, bacterial inhabitants of a worldwide distributed pet – Luis David Alcaraz – PeerJ Preprint

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Long-term effects of imbalanced fertilization on the composition and diversity of soil bacterial community – Jinu Eo – Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

Built environment microbiome

Protocol: Protocols for Investigating the Microbial Communities of Oil and Gas Reservoirs – Nicolas Tsesmetzis – Springer Protocols Handouts

Thesis: A Metagenomic Analysis of Hurricane Sandy Flood-Borne Bacteria – Isabel Anna Keddy-Hector – Bard College

Microbiome of death

Human Thanatomicrobiome Succession and Time Since Death – Gulnaz T. Javan – Scientific Reports

Techniques

Impact of Sample Type and DNA Isolation Procedure on Genomic Inference of Microbiome Composition – Berith E Knudsen – bioRxiv

Microbes in the news

Pokébiome: A call for Research Participants – Sea Germ – Megabiome (satire)

Understanding the microbiome of the Boston subway – BioBE

Studies Offer Fresh Hope in Fight Against HIV/AIDS in South AfricaCertain bacteria put some women at greater risk of infection and make treatment less effective – Betsy McKay – The Wall Street Journal
How vaginal bacteria could be stoking HIV cases and blocking prevention – Heather Boerner – PBS Newshour
Vaginal bacteria species can raise HIV infection risk and undermine prevention – Jon Cohen – Science

The Wild Life of Showerheads: Another great #CitizenMicrobiology project from ‏@RobRDunn – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

How Bacteria May Have Jumpstarted the First Animal Life – Heather Goldstone – Cape and Islands

Scientists grow bacteria that breathe greenhouse gases – Christoph Keuschnig – Science Nordic

QIIME 2 alpha release is now live! – Greg Caporaso – MicroBEnet

Bacteria Hysteria

How much faecal bacteria is on YOUR shopping trolley? Tests reveal unhealthy levels on trolleys and baskets at Coles and Aldi – Daily Mail

July 13, 2016

So many great new papers that it’s hard to choose! Liver quickly clears bacteria from blood, microbiology of death, mobile genes in human microbiomes from Fiji and the USA, Splenda makes fly more hungry, feather degrading bacilli, underwater microscopy, and what is being transferred in a stool transplant.

Events and jobs

Annual Meeting of the Microbial Ecology Division – November 4, 2016, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Senior/Tenure Track scientists for the Department of Marine Microbiology and Biochemistry – NIOZ The Netherlands

Microbiome of Death

“Biology of Death” Special Issue – Current Biology
Microbiology of death – Jessica L. Metcalf
Also read (non-microbiology but sadly beautiful): Death and the octopus – Florian Maderspacher

Also appropriate in this category is this video protocol: Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored Inside – Robyn A. Barbato – JOVE

Pregnancy and birth

Early Life Antibiotic Exposure and Weight Development in Children – Catherine A. Mbakwa – The Journal of Pediatrics

Preview: Tummy Time: The Infant Microbiota–IgA Connection – Tyler A. Rice – Cell Host & Microbe

Review: The microbiome in early life: implications for health outcomes – Sabrina Tamburini – Nature Medicine

Special issue with abstracts from the 3rd International Congress on Pre- and Probiotics
in Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition

A Prebiotic Formula Improves the Gastrointestinal Bacterial Flora in Toddlers – Ya-Ling Chen – Gastroenterology Research and Practice

Human blood “microbiome”

Editorial: Fast-Track Clearance of Bacteria from the Liver – Cristina Llorente – Cell Host & Microbe
Dual-Track Clearance of Circulating Bacteria Balances Rapid Restoration of Blood Sterility with Induction of Adaptive Immunity – Steven P. Broadley – Cell Host & Microbe
CRIg Functions as a Macrophage Pattern Recognition Receptor to Directly Bind and Capture Blood-Borne Gram-Positive Bacteria – Zhutian Zeng – Cell Host & Microbe

Human skin microbiome

What if scalp flora was involved in sensitive scalp onset? – A. Guichard – International Journal of Cosmetic Science

Human gut microbiome

Mobile genes in the human microbiome are structured from global to individual scales – I. L. Brito – Nature

Press: Microbiome ‘social network’ revealed by gene swaps
Movement of genes across and between microorganism species could influence humans’ susceptibility to disease – Peter Andrey Smith – Nature News

Fecal Transplants: What Is Being Transferred? – Diana P. Bojanova – PLOS Biology

Press: Poo transplants transfer much more than bacteria. Viruses, fungi – even sloughed colon cells – may affect how well a faecal transplant works – Belinda Smith – Cosmos

Animal experiments

Sucralose Promotes Food Intake through NPY and a Neuronal Fasting Response – Qiao-Ping Wang – Cell Metabolism

Press: Artificial sweeteners trick flies into thinking they’re starving – Lindzi Wessel – STAT News

Investigation into Host Selection of the Cecal Acetogen Population in Rabbits after Weaning – Chunlei Yang – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Genome evolution in the obligate but environmentally active luminous symbionts of flashlight fish – Tory A. Hendry – Genome Biology and Evolution

Deep divergence and rapid evolutionary rates in gut-associated Acetobacteraceae of ants – Bryan P. Brown – BMC Microbiology

Feather-degrading bacilli in the plumage of wild birds: Prevalence and relation to feather wear – Cody M. Kent – The Auk Ornithological Advances

Press: Feather-munching bacteria damage wild bird plumage – EurekAlert

Multi-scale ecological filters shape the crayfish microbiome – James Skelton – PeerJ Preprint

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Rapid response of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities to short-term fertilization in an alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau – Xingjia Xiang – PeerJ

High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA Gene Reveals Substantial Bacterial Diversity on the Municipal Dumpsite – Kilaza Samson Mwaikono – BMC Microbiology

Temporal and Spatial Variation of Soil Bacteria Richness, Composition, and Function in a Neotropical Rainforest – Stephanie N Kivlin – PLOS ONE

Land use intensification in the humid tropics increased both alpha and beta diversity of soil bacteria – Teotonio Soares de Carvalho = Ecology

The role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in plant uptake, fractions, and speciation of antimony – Yuan Wei – Applied Soil Ecology

Review: Bidirectional Interaction between Phyllospheric Microbiotas and Plant Volatile Emissions – Gerard Farré-Armengol – Trends in Plant Science

Water microbiome

Underwater microscopy for in situ studies of benthic ecosystems – Andrew D. Mullen – Nature Communications

Press: Underwater microscope provides new views of ocean-floor sea creatures in their natural setting – Jules Jaffe – The Conversation

Identifying the key taxonomic categories that characterize microbial community diversity using full-scale classification: a case study of microbial community in the sediments of Hangzhou Bay – Tianjiao Dai – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Novel acsF gene primers revealed a diverse phototrophic bacterial population including Gemmatimonadetes in the Lake Taihu – Yili Huang – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Allelopathic interactions involving benthic phototrophic microorganisms – Joey L. Allen – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Metagenomics and Bioinformatics in Microbial Ecology: Current Status and Beyond – Satoshi Hiraoka – Microbes and Environments

Metabolites

Research Highlight: Keeping microbial metabolites at bay – Andrea Du Toit – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Techniques

New Primers for Discovering Fungal Diversity Using Nuclear Large Ribosomal DNA – Asma Asemaninejad – PLOS ONE

Not sure what is new here, but: Multiplex amplicon sequencing for microbe identification in community-based culture collections – Jaderson Silveira Leite Armanhi – Scientific Reports

Applying CRISPR–Cas9 tools to identify and characterize transcriptional enhancers – Rui Lopes – Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology

Phages and viruses

Perspective: Piggyback-the-Winner in host-associated microbial communities – Cynthia B Silveira – NPJ Biofilms

Microbes in the news

Fill Your House With Microbes and Live With an Animal, Say Yale Researchers – Drake Baer

Unfortunately, no update from his DIY stool transplant with Hadza feces: The Human Microbiome as Road Kill in the Age of the Anthropocene – Jeff Leach – Human Food Project

Studies find that manipulating gut microbes may reverse the negative effect of a high fat – EurekAlert

ArchaeaBreakthrough in Reconstruction of Warm Climate Phases – Marine Technology News

Alarming Antibiotic-Resistant Superbug Discovered In NYer’s Bacteria Sample – Miranda Katz – Gothamist

How bacteria can help prospectors find oil – Fram Dinshaw – The Chronicle Herald

With link to videoTiny ‘racetracks’ show how bacteria get organized – EurekAlert

Microbes and Money

uBiome and University of Oxford Investigate the Relationship Between the Human Microbiome and Personality – PR web

Commercializing the Microbiome: No Guts, No Glory – Michael Darcy – DRG

Evelo and Epiva Merge to Become a Leading Immuno-Microbiome Platform Company – BioSpace

Merck to open new Cambridge facility for microbiome research this year – Boston Business Journal

Science, publishing, and career

How Australia fails mid-career scientists – Catherine Osborne – ABC Australia

How President Obama could really lead on open access – Michael Eisen – it is NOT junk

Where are all the award winning women scientists? – Tenure, she wrote

Bik’s Picks

Organ delivery by 1,000 drones – Michael Francisco – Nature Biotechnology

 

April 8, 2016

Bacterial mucin degradation in CF, gastric mucosa vs gastric juice, cockroaches, penguins, estimating post-mortem interval, and effects of sound on growth of E. coli.

Pregnancy and birth

Perinatal microbial exposure may influence aortic intima-media thickness in early infancy – Kate McCloskey – International Journal of Epidemiology

Human skin microbiome

A method for culturing Gram-negative skin microbiota – Ian A. Myles – BMC Microbiology

Human respiratory microbiome

Haemophilus parainfluenzae as a marker of the upper respiratory tract microbiota changes under the influence of preoperative prophylaxis with or without postoperative treatment in patients with lung cancer
Urszula Kosikowska – BMC Microbiology

Evidence and role for bacterial mucin degradation in cystic fibrosis airway disease – Jeffrey M Flynn – BioRxiv

Human oral microbiome

Identification of microorganisms in biofluids of individuals with periodontitis and chronic kidney disease using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry – Levy Anderson César Alves – Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry

Review: Host-Microbiome Cross-talk in Oral Mucositis – RM Vasconcelos – Journal of Dental Research

Human stomach microbiome

Comparison of Gastric Microbiota Between Gastric Juice and Mucosa by Next Generation Sequencing Method – Jihee Sung – Journal of Cancer Prevention

Human gut microbiome

Long-Term Green Tea Supplementation Does Not Change the Human Gut Microbiota – Pilou L. H. R. Janssens – PLOS ONE

Fecal bacterial microbiome diversity in chronic HIV-infected patients in China – Yang Sun – Emerging Microbes & Infections

Review: Gut microbiome and lipid metabolism: from associations to mechanisms – Wang, Zheng – Current Opinion in Lipidology

Review: Mood by microbe: towards clinical translation – Timothy G. Dinan – Genome Medicine

Animal models

Microbial-Derived Metabolites Reflect an Altered Intestinal Microbiota during Catch-Up Growth in Undernourished Neonatal Mice – Geoffrey A Preidis – Journal of Nutrition

Reduced Epithelial Na+/H+ Exchange Drives Gut Microbial Dysbiosis and Promotes Inflammatory Response in T Cell-Mediated Murine Colitis – Daniel Laubitz – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Gut Bacterial Community of the Xylophagous Cockroaches Cryptocercus punctulatus and Parasphaeria boleiriana – Mercedes Berlanga – PLOS ONE

Age-Related Differences in the Gastrointestinal Microbiota of Chinstrap Penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) – Andrés Barbosa – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Functional breadth and home-field advantage generate functional differences among soil microbial decomposers – Nicolas Fanin – Ecology

Greater carbon allocation to mycorrhizal fungi reduces tree nitrogen uptake in a boreal forest – Niles J. Hasselquist – Ecology

Shifts in plant foliar and floral metabolomes in response to the suppression of the associated microbiota – Albert Gargallo-Garriga – BMC Plant Biology

Does arsenic play an important role in the soil microbial community around a typical arsenic mining area? – Fan Wu – Environmental Pollution

Groundwater–surface water mixing shifts ecological assembly processes and stimulates organic carbon turnover – James C. Stegen – Nature Communications

Waste and pollution microbiology

Altitude-scale variation in nitrogen-removal bacterial communities from municipal wastewater treatment plants distributed along a 3600-m altitudinal gradient in China – Lihua Niu – Science of The Total Environment

Performance Assessment of Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Plants Based on Seasonal Variability of Microbial Communities via High-Throughput Sequencing – Tang Liu – PLOS ONE

Review: Microbial Ecology and Evolution in the Acid Mine Drainage Model System – Li-Nan Huang – Trends in Microbiology

Forensic microbiology

Potential use of bacterial community succession for estimating post-mortem interval as revealed by high-throughput sequencing – Juanjuan Guo – Scientific Reports

Musical microbes

Effects of sound exposure on the growth and intracellular macromolecular synthesis of E. coli k-12 – Shaobin Gu – PeerJ

Functional foods

Special issue on Pre- and Probiotics in Gastroenterology Practice – Clinical Gastroenterology

Microbes in the news

Saving the Tasmanian devil with microbiome research – Yuanyuan Cheng, Carolyn Hogg & Kathy Belov – BioMedCentral Blog

Bacteria used to extract precious metals from e-waste in NUS study – Straits Times

Fighting Indoor Air Pollution with Plant Root Bacteria – Launch UMD

Latest #spacemicrobes Paper is Out… Built Environment Strains Grown on the ISS – David Coil – MicroBEnet

UChicago and Evelo Biosciences sign licensing deal for microbiome-based cancer immunotherapy – PR Newswire

Journal Club: Crowdfunding Science: all that we learned during our first crowdfunding campaigns – Katherine Dahlhausen – MicroBEnet

Maldonado-Contreras recognized by American Gastroenterological Association for gut microbiome research – Megan Bard – University of Massachusetts

SatirePope Francis To Award Sainthood To All Microbiome Researchers – The Allium HT: Tomer Altman

Microbes and art

Celling point: scientist makes Darwin’s Origin of Species with bacteria. Molecular biologist Dr Simon Park has made a very unusual edition of the classic text, using bacteria to create the cover – The Guardian

The Microverse: Children books about microbes. Cool titles, such as Escher Surfs the Sewer, and Vibri Finds Her Glow.

April 2, 2016

Yes, it is technically already April 3, but I only got to do the daily roundup late tonight, so I did not quite get it done in time. C-section and weight influence on infant colonization, dachshunds, crops selecting fungi, post-mortem microbial transmigration

Pregnancy and birth

Birth mode-dependent association between pre-pregnancy maternal weight status and the neonatal intestinal microbiome – Noel T. Mueller – Scientific Reports

Study provides evidence that “vaginal seeding” of infants born by caesarean partially restores microbiota – Amali Lokugamage – BMJ

Relationship between milk microbiota, bacterial load, macronutrients and human cells during lactation – Alba Boix-Amoros – Frontiers in Microbiology

Mode of Delivery Determines Neonatal Pharyngeal Bacterial Composition and Early Intestinal Colonization – David E. Brumbaugh – Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition

Effect of Formula Containing Lactobacillus Reuteri DSM 17938 on Fecal Microbiota of Infants Born by Cesarean-Section – Rodenas, Clara L. Garcia – Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition

Human oral microbiome

Mucosal and salivary microbiota associated with recurrent aphthous stomatitis – Yun-ji Kim- BMC Microbiology

Assessment of oral malodor and tonsillar microbiota after gargling with benzethonium chloride – Yuki Iwamura – Journal of Oral Science

Potential screening and early diagnosis method for cancer: Tongue diagnosis – Shuwen Han – International Journal of Oncology

In vitro: A dual-species microbial model for studying the dynamics between oral streptococci and periodontal pathogens during biofilm development on titanium surfaces by flow cytometry – Anita Manti – Research in Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Changes in fecal microbiota and metabolomics in a child with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) responding to two treatment periods with exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) – Lillemor Berntson – Clinical Rheumatology

Renal Failure due to Excessive Intake of Almonds in the Absence of Oxalobacter formigenes – Yngvar Lunde Haaskjold – The American Journal of Medicine

Reanalysis of published data, no apparent new findings: Host genetics is associated with the gut microbial community membership rather than the structure – Peihua Zhao – Molecular BioSystems

Review: Modulatory Effects of Gut Microbiota on the Central Nervous System: How Gut Could Play a Role in Neuropsychiatric Health and Diseases – Shadi S Yarandi – Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility

Commentary: Can microbiota research change our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases? – Filip Scheperjans – Neurodegenerative Disease Management

ReviewMicrobes and the mind: emerging hallmarks of the gut microbiota–brain axis
– Kylynda C. Bauer – Cellular Microbiology

Animal models

Distinctly altered gut microbiota in the progression of liver disease – Guoxiang Xie – Oncotarget

Wolbachia confers sex-specific resistance and tolerance to enteric but not systemic bacterial infection in Drosophila – Radhakrishnan B Vasanthakrishnan – BioRxiv

Gut Microbiota and a Selectively Bred Taste Phenotype: A Novel Model of Microbiome-Behavior Relationships – Lyte, Mark – Psychosomatic Medicine

Periodontal dysbiosis linked to periodontitis is associated with cardio-metabolic adaptation to high-fat diet in mice – Maxime Branchereau – American Journal of Physiology Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology

Protocol: The Gut Microbiome in the NOD Mouse – Jian Peng – Part of the series Methods in Molecular Biology

Animal microbiome

Fecal dysbiosis in miniature dachshunds with inflammatory colorectal polyps – Hirotaka Igarashi – Research in Veterinary Science

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Differential response of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria to the wetting of salty arid soil – Yonatan Sher – Journal of Basic Microbiology

Selection of fungi by candidate cover crops – Maria-Soledad Benitez – Applied Soil Ecology

Unravelling Linkages between Plant Community Composition and the Pathogen-Suppressive Potential of Soils – Ellen Latz – Scientific Reports

Water and extremophile microbiome

Characterization of the prokaryotic diversity through a stratigraphic permafrost core profile from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau – Weigang Hu – Extremophiles

Seasonal and Spatial Changes of Planktonic Bacterial Communities Inhabiting the Natural Thermal Lake Hévíz, Hungary – Gergely Krett – Acta Microbiologica et Immunologica Hungarica

Microbiome of Death

Fluorescently labeled bacteria provide insight on post-mortem microbial transmigration
Z.M. Burcham – Forensic Science International

Food microbiology

Review: Hygienic characteristics and microbiological hazard identification in horse and donkey raw milk – Giampaolo Colavita – Veterinaria Italiana

Waste and pollution microbiology

Microbial communities in riparian soils of a settling pond for mine drainage treatment – Miaochun Fan – Water Research

Metagenomic analysis shows diverse, distinct bacterial communities in biofilters among different marine recirculating aquaculture systems – Zhitao Huang – Aquaculture International

More microbiology

Evaluation of genetic diversity among strains of the human gut commensal Bifidobacterium adolescentis – Sabrina Duranti – Scientific Reports

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Not sure if this is a good approach; ignores variation between individual human microbiome strains: Reconstruction of bacterial and viral genomes from multiple metagenomes – Vineet K. Sharma – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metabolomics

Harnessing the power of microbial metabolism – Eduardo Santero – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Microbiology and art

BioArt: Joana Ricou shows the Beautiful Similarities of the Microbiome – Labiotech

Rap song: CosmosID Metagenomics: Exploring the Universe of Microbes – CosmosID – YouTube

Microbes in the news

Mythbusters: Human Microbiota – Caroline Ayinon – Yale Scientific

Introducing the “HomeGenome”. Not endorsing this. Exploring the Microcosm Within. Adventures and insights from the microbiome – Conan Milner – Epoch Times

April Fool’s Day microbiome jokes

Thanks to Microbiome Boost, Donuts May Be Beneficial: when paired with P. tursiops – Tim De Chant – PBS

A microbiology of the built environment April Fools’ joke – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

And of course my own selection: Human-derived microbial strains used for food and beverage production – Elisabeth Bik – Microbiome Digest

Science, publishing, and career

‘Lab Girl’ Is a Fierce, Uplifting, Must-Read Memoir – Hope Jahren is an acute observer, prickly, and funny as hell. – Elizabeth Royte – Elle

March 24, 2016

Two papers on antibiotics in early childhood and obesity, diabetic foot ulcers, vertebrate animal microbiomes, cattle hides, kimchi, human archaeological remains, and high inter-center variability in microbiome results.

General microbiome

Review: Stress as a Normal Cue in the Symbiotic Environment – Julia A. Schwartzman – Trends in Microbiology

Pregnancy and birth

Administration of Antibiotics to Children Before Age 2 Years Increases Risk for Childhood Obesity – Frank I. Scott – Gastroenterology

Antibiotic Exposure During the First 6 Months of Life and Weight Gain During Childhood – Jeffrey S. Gerber – JAMA

Editorial: From Bottles to Diapers: How Manipulating and Exploring the Microbiome Is Defining Newborn Care – Jill L. Maron – Clinical Therapeutics

Research highlight: Gut microbiota dysbiosis precedes NEC – Hugh Thomas – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Human skin microbiome

One step closer to understanding the role of bacteria in diabetic foot ulcers: characterising the microbiome of ulcers – Karen Smith – BMC Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Colonic Mucosal Epigenome and Microbiome Development in Children and Adolescents – R. Alan Harris – Journal of Immunology Research

Defining the microbial transcriptional response to colitis through integrated host and microbiome profiling – Nicholas Edward Ilott – The ISME Journal

Targeting colorectal cancer-associated bacteria: a new area of research for personalized treatments – T. Faïs – Gut Microbes

Relative Abundance in Bacterial and Fungal Gut Microbes in Obese Children: A Case Control Study – Borgo Francesca – Childhood Obesity

Review: Can attention to the intestinal microbiota improve understanding and treatment of anorexia nervosa? – Jacquelyn Carr – Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Editorial: Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Ulcerative Colitis: FoMenTing Change? – Flaviano S. Martins – Digestive Diseases and Sciences

Review: Does the Microbiome Cause B27-related Acute Anterior Uveitis? – James T. Rosenbaum – Ocular Immunology and Inflammation

Microbes in blood

The prognostic significance of bacterial DNA in patients with decompensated cirrhosis and suspected infection – Tony Bruns – Liver International

Animal models

The microbiota-derived metabolite indole decreases mucosal inflammation and injury in a murine model of NSAID enteropathy – Gut Microbes

TLR4-Dependent Secretion by Hepatic Stellate Cells of the Neutrophil-Chemoattractant CXCL1 Mediates Liver Response to Gut Microbiota – Amélie E. Bigorgne – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Vertebrate bacterial gut diversity: size also matters – Jean-Jacques Godon – BMC Ecology

Larval growth rate is associated with the composition of the gut microbiota in the Glanville fritillary butterfly – L. Ruokolainen – Oecologia

Host origin and tissue-microhabitat shaping the microbiota of the terrestrial isopod Armadillidium vulgare – Jessica Dittmer – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Presence of pathogenic Escherichia coli is correlated with bacterial community diversity and composition on pre-harvest cattle hides – Jessica Chopyk – Microbiome

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

High Diversity Revealed in Leaf Associated Protists (Rhizaria: Cercozoa) of Brassicaceae – Sebastian Ploch – The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology

Precipitation shapes communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in Tibetan alpine steppe – Jing Zhang – Scientific Reports

Spatial and seasonal influences on culturable endophytic mycobiota associated with different tissues of Eugenia jambolana Lam. and their antibacterial activity against MDR strains – Manila Yadav – BMC Microbiology

Response of enzyme activities and microbial communities to soil amendment with sugar alcohols – Huili Yu – Microbiology Open

Bioprospecting plant-associated microbiomes – Christina A. Müller – Journal of Biotechnology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Abundances, diversity and seasonality of (non-extremophilic) Archaea in Alpine freshwaters – Christoph Reitschuler – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Anthropogenic effects on bacterial diversity and function along a river-to-estuary gradient in Northwest Greece revealed by metagenomics – Alexandra Meziti – Environmental Microbiology

Heterotrophic Proteobacteria in the vicinity of diffuse hydrothermal venting – Dimitri Meier – Environmental Microbiology

Waste and pollution microbiology

Response and resilience of soil microbial communities inhabiting in edible oil stress/contamination from industrial estates – Vrutika Patel – BMC Microbiology

Built environment microbiology

Diversity of ribosomal 16S DNA- and RNA-based bacterial community in an office building drinking water system – Jenni Inkinen – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Forensic microbiology

Complications in the study of ancient tuberculosis: Presence of environmental bacteria in human archaeological remains – Romy Müller – Journal of Archaeological Science

Food microbiology

Lentibacillus kimchii sp. nov., an extremely halophilic bacterium isolated from kimchi, a Korean fermented vegetable – Young Joon Oh – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Computational modeling

Host Selection of Microbiota via Differential Adhesion – Kirstie McLoughlin – Cell Host & Microbe

Techniques

The real cost of sequencing: scaling computation to keep pace with data generation – Paul Muir – Genome Biology

Multicenter quality assessment of 16S ribosomal DNA-sequencing for microbiome analyses reveals high inter-center variability – Andreas Hiergeist –
International Journal of Medical Microbiology

Genotyping bacterial and fungal pathogens using sequence variation in the gene for the CCA-adding enzyme – Paul Franz – BMC Microbiology

Proteomics

Review: Tackling probiotic and gut microbiota functionality through proteomics – Lorena Ruiz – Journal of Proteomics

Microbes in the news

Can we model how viruses move between species? – Nancy Mendoza – Microbe Post

The Virus That Could Cure Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and More – Jon Palfreman – PBS

Report: Laminate wood flooring risk was underestimated by CDC – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

Microbiota profiles in patients with colorectal cancer differ from healthy individuals – Healio

Science, publishing and career

Set up a ‘self-retraction’ system for honest errors, says Daniele Fanelli – Nature

Incorporating Primary Scientific Literature in Middle and High School Education – Sarah C. Fankhauser – ASM Science

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March 5, 2016

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

Pregnancy and birth

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

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

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

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

Human respiratory microbiome

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

Human oral microbiome

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

Human gut microbiome

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Animal models

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

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

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

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

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

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

Animal microbiome

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

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

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

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Water, rain, and extremophile microbiome

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

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

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

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

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

Biodigester microbiology

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

Food microbiology

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

Built environment microbiology

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

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

Microbiome of death

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

Waste and pollution microbiology

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

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

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

Infection microbiology

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

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

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

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

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

Sequence techniques

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

Microbial Ecology

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

Microbes in the news

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

Science, publishing, and career

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

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

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

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

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March 1, 2016

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

Pregnancy and birth

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

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

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

Human skin microbiome

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

Human oral microbiome

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

Human gut microbiome

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

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

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

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

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

Animal models of microbiome research

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

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

Animal microbiome

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

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

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

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

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

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

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Water and extremophile microbiome

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

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

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

Waste and pollution microbiology

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

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

Food microbiology

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

Forensic microbiology

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

Bioinformatics, viruses, metagenomics

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

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

More microbiology

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

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

Microbes and infection

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

Microbes in the news

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Altering the Gut Microbiome with Early Life Exercise – HCP Live

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

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

Fighting Infections with Viruses, as Antibiotics Fail – NewsMax

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

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

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

Science, publishing, and career

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

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

Bik’s Picks

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

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February 18, 2016

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

Pregnancy and birth

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

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

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

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

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

Human gut microbiome

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Models of microbiome

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Animal microbiome

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

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

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

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

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

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

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

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

Water microbiome

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

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

Built environment microbiome

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

Food microbiology

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

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

Bioinformatics

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

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

Microbial ecology

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

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

Microbes in the news

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bacteria Hysteria

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

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

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January 11, 2016

Bacteriome of bat flies, phyllosphere of Espeletia plants, microbial eukaryotes in a fjord, and decomposing human bodies.

Human gut microbiome

Editorial: Gut microbiota cool-down burning fat! The immune hypothesis – Remy Burcelin – Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism

Animal models

The programming effects of nutrition-induced catch-up growth on gut microbiota and metabolic diseases in adult mice – Jia Zheng – Microbiology Open

Animal microbiome

The bacteriome of bat flies (Nycteribiidae) from the Malagasy region: a community shaped by host ecology, bacterial transmission mode, and host-vector specificity – David A Wilkinson – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Microbial and Functional Diversity within the Phyllosphere of Espeletia sp. in an Andean High Mountain Ecosystem – Carlos A. Ruiz-Pérez – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Strong seasonality of marine microbial eukaryotes in a high-Arctic fjord (Isfjorden, West Spitsbergen) – Miriam Marquardt – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Microbiome of death

Microbial Signatures of Cadaver Gravesoil During Decomposition – Sheree J. Finley – Microbial Ecology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Microvirga massiliensis sp. nov., the human commensal with the largest genome – Aurélia Caputo – Microbiology Open

Microbes in the news

Newborn Gut Bacteria Differs If Infants Breastfed Or Formula-Fed, Vaginal Or Cesarean Birthed – Tara Haelle – Forbes

Good Bacteria May Inhibit Growth Of Pathogen Causing Ear Infection And Pneumonia: Examples Of Food High In Good Bacteria – Katrina Pascual – Tech Times

College Town: WPI students literally get the dirt on bacteria-fighting viruses – Bonnie Russell – Telegram

Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook post on vaccines sparks huge response – Ashley Welch – CBS News

Gates-backed NYC startup plumbs soil bacteria for tuberculosis therapy – Meghana Keshavan – MedCityNews

Living Bacteria Are Riding Earth’s Air Currents – Jim Morrison – Smithsonian

QIAGEN completed the acquisition of MO BIO Laboratories Inc – PR Newswire

Dirty Work: The Magic of Microbes with Sandor Katz – Matthew Zuras – Munchies

Why The Microbiome Is So Vital To Your Health – Josh Axe – Conscious Life News

What have the Romans ever done for us? Parasites in Europe and the Middle East during Roman Rule – Elisabeth Bik – microBEnet

Microbes and art

Microbial muses: Michele Banks talks about her microbial art – Nature Microbiology

Science, publishing, and career

Student Evaluations of Teaching (Mostly) Do Not Measure Teaching Effectiveness – Anne Boring – Science Open
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