Human oral microbiome

Abstract 4834: Microbiome in Oral Epithelial Dysplasia and Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Deepak Saxena – Cancer Research

“PCR amplicons targeting V3-V5 region of 16S rRNA gene were sequenced by 454 pyrosequencing. “

Human respiratory microbiome

Microbial Communities in the Upper Respiratory Tract of Patients with Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – HeeKuk Park – PLOS ONE

“To account for the qualitative and quantitative diversity of the 16S rRNA gene in the oropharynx, the microbiomes of 18 asthma patients, 17 COPD patients, and 12 normal individuals were assessed using a high-throughput next-generation sequencing analysis.”

Human gut microbiome

Decreased bacterial diversity characterizes an altered gut microbiota in psoriatic arthritis and resembles dysbiosis of inflammatory bowel disease – Jose U. Scher – Arthritis & Rheumatology

“High-throughput 16S rRNA pyrosequencing was utilized to compare community composition of gut microbiota in PsA patients, subjects with psoriasis of the skin and healthy, matched-controls. “

Pregnancy and birth

The Salivary Scavenger and Agglutinin in Early Life: Diverse Roles in Amniotic Fluid and in the Infant Intestine – Martin Parnov Reichhardt – Journal of Immunology

“The present study revealed that SALSA was present in the amniotic fluid (AF) and exceptionally enriched in both meconium and feces of infants. “

Animal microbiome

* Unique and shared responses of the gut microbiota to prolonged fasting: a comparative study across five classes of vertebrate hosts – Kevin D. Kohl – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“We used 16S rRNA sequencing to document changes in colonic and cecal microbiomes of animals representing five classes of vertebrates at four time points through prolonged fasting: tilapia, toads, geckos, quail, and mice. “

GeoChip-based insights into the microbial functional gene repertoire of marine sponges (HMA, LMA) and seawater – Kristina Bayer – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“By use of GeoChip, altogether 20,273 probes encoding for 627 functional genes and representing 16 gene categories were identified”

Natural volcanic CO2 seeps reveal future trajectories for host–microbial associations in corals and sponges – Kathleen M Morrow – ISME Journal

“The corals Acropora millepora and Porites cylindrica were less abundant and hosted significantly different microbial communities at the CO2 seep than at nearby control sites <500 m away.”
Plant microbiome

Phylogenetic conservatism in plant-soil feedback and its implications for plant abundance – Brian L. Anacke – Ecology Letters

“We conclude that soil biota influence the abundance of close plant relatives in nature.”

Bioreactor microbiome

Influence of Acidic pH on Hydrogen and Acetate Production by an Electrosynthetic Microbiome – Edward V. LaBelle – PLOS ONE

“Production of hydrogen and organic compounds by an electrosynthetic microbiome using electrodes and carbon dioxide as sole electron donor and carbon source, respectively, was examined after exposure to acidic pH (~5). “

Metagenomics / Transcriptomics / Bioinformatics

Census-based rapid and accurate metagenome taxonomic profiling – Amirhossein Shamsaddini – BMC Genomics

“We have developed a robust subsampling-based algorithm implemented in a tool called CensuScope meant to take a ‘sneak peak’ into the population distribution and estimate taxonomic composition as if a census was taken of the metagenomic landscape. “

Metatranscriptomes from diverse microbial communities: assessment of data reduction techniques for rigorous annotation – Andrew Toseland – BMC Genomics

“To investigate the effect of such techniques on the annotation of metatranscriptome data we assess two commonly employed methods: clustering and de-novo assembly. To do this, we also developed an approach to simulate 454 and Illumina metatranscriptome data sets with varying degrees of taxonomic diversity. “

Microbial Ecology

Mathematical Modeling of Microbial Community Dynamics: A Methodological Review – Hyun-Seob Song – Processes

“In this article, we provide an overview of mathematical tools that include not only current mainstream approaches, but also less traditional approaches that, in our opinion, can be potentially useful. “

A phylogenetic perspective on species diversity, β-diversity, and biogeography for the microbial world – Albert Barberán† and Emilio O. Casamayor – Molecular Ecology

“We explored links between evolution/phylogeny and community ecology using bacterial 16S rRNA gene information from a high altitude lakes district dataset to describe phylogenetic community composition, spatial distribution, and β-diversity and biogeographical patterns applying evolutionary relatedness without relying on any particular operational taxonomic unit definition.”

Distance-Decay and Taxa-Area Relationships for Bacteria, Archaea and Methanogenic Archaea in a Tropical Lake Sediment – Davi Pedroni Barreto – PLOS ONE

“The samples were analyzed using T-RFLP (Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism) targeting mcrA (coding for a subunit of methyl-coenzyme M reductase) and the genes of Archaeal and Bacterial 16S rRNA.”

More microbiology

From Denise Monack’s lab: Role of disease-associated tolerance in infectious superspreaders – Smita Gopinath – PNAS USA

“Using a mouse model of Salmonella infection, we show that levels of Salmonella are equivalent between antibiotic-treated superspreader and nonsuperspreader hosts; however, superspreader hosts are uniquely able to tolerate antibiotic treatment, unlike nonsuperspreader hosts. “

*Also see:  Antibiotics may help Salmonella spread in infected animals, scientists learn – Stanford Medicine News

Spatial organization of bacterial chromosomes – Xindan Wang, David Z Rudner – Current Opinion in Microbiology

“Here, we summarize these different patterns highlighting similarities and differences and discuss the protein factors that help establish and maintain them.”

Bacterial healers: Microbes can redeem themselves to fight disease – Susan Gaidos – Science News

“It’s just a matter of time before bacterial-based treatments become a routine part of a doctor’s toolkit, says microbiologist Robert Britton of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who is studying the relationship between microbes and human health. “

Techniques

Rapid fingerprinting of methanogenic communities by high-resolution melting analysis – Jaai Kim, Changsoo Lee – Bioresource Technology

“The new method produced robust community clustering and ordination results comparable to the results from the commonly used denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) performed in parallel.”

Microbes in the news

Our unique ‘microbial aura’ travels with us wherever we go – Science Friday – PRI

“Unless you lived exactly the same life as me, you would not have the same microbiome. You are, in essence, microbially unique,” explains Jack Gilbert

We’re making a Microbiome Documentary Series and could use your Help – Jamie – Reddit

“My name’s Jamie and I’m part of a team trying to crowdfund a documentary series on the human microbiome titled: ‘Redefining Human’.”

Building houses with bacteria – Euronews

“Houses of the future could be partially built with bacteria. It sounds like science fiction but researchers involved in an EU-backed project in Madrid are working towards making this a concrete reality.”

Bik’s Picks

The Role of Surface Chemistry in Adhesion and Wetting of Gecko Toe Pads – Ila Badge – Scientific Reports

“As expected, under wet conditions, adhesion on a hydrophilic surface (glass) was lower than that on a hydrophobic surface (alkyl-silane monolayer on glass).”

Scientists prepare for an 8-month mission to Mars – on Earth soil- BetaWired

“There’s a new experiment commencing in Hawaii, and the results will help NASA better prepare its astronauts for a lengthy mission to Mars.”

White rhino subspecies is down to one breeding male – Andrea James – BoingBoing

“Sad news from Kenya: the northern white rhino subspecies is down to one breeding male with the death of Suni this month. Only six remain.”

Scientists restore hearing in noise-deafened mice, pointing way to new therapies – ScienceDirect

“Scientists have restored the hearing of mice partly deafened by noise, using advanced tools to boost the production of a key protein in their ears.”

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