March 3, 2022

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Kara

Today’s digest is heavy on studies focused on the gut and soil microbiomes. It also includes articles focused on microbial indoor air quality as well as bacterial vaginosis and aerobic vaginitis among pregnant women. If you’d still like more, I’ve also included several preprints.

Happy reading!

Human vaginal microbiome

Prevalence of bacterial vaginosis and aerobic vaginitis and their associated risk factors among pregnant women from northern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study – Yalew et al. – PLOS One

Human gut microbiome

Systematically assessing microbiome–disease associations identifies drivers of inconsistency in metagenomic research – Tierney et al. – PLOS Biology

Preprint: Gut microbiome dysbiosis during COVID-19 is associated with increased risk for bacteremia and microbial translocation – Venzon et al. – bioRxiv

Hydrogen-producing small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is associated with hepatic encephalopathy and liver function – Yokoyama et al. – PLOS One

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Preprint: Deciphering the potential niche of two novel black yeast fungi from a biological soil crust based on their genomes, phenotypes, and melanin regulation – Carr et al. – bioRxiv

Bacterial age distribution in soil—Generational gaps in adjacent hot and cold spots – Borer & Or – PLOS Computational Biology

Deciphering the influence of Bacillus subtilis strain Ydj3 colonization on the vitamin C contents and rhizosphere microbiomes of sweet peppers – Liang et al. – PLOS One

Antimicrobial effect and mechanism of bovine lactoferrin against the potato common scab pathogen Streptomyces scabiei – Nakamura et al. – PLOS One

Preprint: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal composition across US citrus orchards, management strategies, and disease severity spectrum – Xi et al. – bioRxiv

Built environment

Comprehensive health risk assessment of microbial indoor air quality in microenvironments – Kumar et al. – PLOS One

Phages and viruses

Preprint: Modelling the synergistic effect of bacteriophage and antibiotics on bacteria: killers and drivers of resistance evolution – Leclerc et al. -bioRxiv

Bioinformatics

Preprint: Structure-informed microbial population genetics elucidate selective pressures that shape protein evolution – Kiefl et al. – bioRxiv

March 02, 2022

Posted on March 1, 2022 by Axel Künstner

General microbiome

Bacterial-Fungal Interactions and Their Impact on Microbial Pathogenesis – MacAlpine, Robbins & Cowen – Molecular Ecology

Pregnancy and early life

Influence of timing of maternal antibiotic administration during caesarean section on infant microbial colonisation: a randomised controlled trial – Dierikx et al. – Gut

Human skin microbiome

Predominance of Staphylococcus correlates with wound burden and disease activity in dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa: a prospective case-control study – Reimer-Taschenbrecker et al. – Journal of Investigative Dermatology

[REVIEW]Towards standardized and reproducible research in skin microbiomes – Ruuskanen et al. – Environmental Microbiology

Human oral microbiome

Comparability of microbiota of swabbed and spit saliva – Kaan et al. – Oral Sciences

Human gut microbiome

A multiple-dimension model for microbiota of patients with colorectal cancer from normal participants and other intestinal disorders – Shen et al. – Applied Microbial and Cell Physiology

Associations between Drinking Water Source and Gut Microbiota Composition in the American Gut Project Database – Vanhaecke – Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism

Rethinking Parkinson Disease: Exploring Gut-Brain Interactions and the Potential Role of Exercise – Zapanta et al. – Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal

[PREPRINT]Mucosal microbiomes and Fusobacterium genomics in Vietnamese colorectal cancer patients – Tran et al. – bioRxiv

How to Maintain a Healthy Gut Microbiome in Children with Cancer? Gut Microbiome Association with Diet in Children with Solid Tumors Postchemotherapy – Zhou et al. – OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology

[REVIEW]The potential utility of fecal (or intestinal) microbiota transplantation in controlling infectious diseases – Ghani et al. – Gut Microbes

Cross-cohort gut microbiome associations with immune checkpoint inhibitor response in advanced melanoma – Lee et al. – Nature Medicine

Intestinal microbiota signatures of clinical response and immune-related adverse events in melanoma patients treated with anti-PD-1 – McCulloch et al. – Nature Medicine

Establishing the role of the gut microbiota in susceptibility to recurrent urinary tract infections – Worby et al. – JCI

Animal experiments (mouse/rat experiments, chickens/pigs on different diets)

High environmental temperature: Insights into behavioural, neurodevelopmental and gut microbiome changes following gestational exposure in rats – Adebiyi – Neuroscience

Animal microbiome (for animals in the wild)

Unraveling the microbiota of the fish parasite Pseudoterranova decipiens in codfish (Gadus morhua) reveals a fish-related bacterial community – Saelens & Houf – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Microbial biogeography of the wombat gastrointestinal tract – Eisenhofer et al. – PeerJ

Intrinsic variation in the vertically transmitted core virome of the mosquito Aedes aegypti – Coatsworth et al. – Molecular Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Multiomics Reveals the Effect of Root Rot on Polygonati Rhizome and Identifies Pathogens and Biocontrol Strain – Pang et al. – Microbiology Spectrum

Long-term effect of epigenetic modification in plant–microbe interactions: modification of DNA methylation induced by plant growth-promoting bacteria mediates promotion process – Chen et al. – Microbiome

Bioinformatics

[PREPRINT]Achieving pan-microbiome biological insights via the dbBact knowledge base – Amir et al. – bioRxiv

January 18, 2022

Posted on January 18, 2022 by Feargal

Today’s digest contains interesting gut-brain axis articles, developments in bioinformatic multi-omic analyses, and some recent developments in long COVID research highlighted under non microbiome picks below.

General microbiome

Substantial overlap between symptomatic and asymptomatic genitourinary microbiota states – Adu oppong et al. – Microbiome

Human gut microbiome

Gut Ruminococcaceae levels at baseline correlate with risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea – Gu et al. – iScience

Home or hospital birth: the neonatal microbiota perspective – Stojanov et al. – The Lancet Microbe

A pilot exploration of multi-omics research of gut microbiome in major depressive disorders – Zhao et al – Translational Psychiatry

Post-ischemic protein restriction induces sustained neuroprotection, neurological recovery, brain remodeling, and gut microbiota rebalancing – de Carvalho et al. – Brain Behavior and Immunity

Bifidobacterium breve CCFM1025 attenuates major depression disorder via regulating gut microbiome and tryptophan metabolism: A randomized clinical trial – Tian et al. – Brain Behavior and Immunity

Gestational insulin resistance is mediated by the gut microbiome-indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase axis – Priyadarshini et al. – Gastroenterology

A natural polyphenol exerts antitumor activity and circumvents anti-PD-1 resistance through effects on the gut microbiota – Messaoudene et al. – Cancer Discovery

Virome

[Research Highlight] Virome holds back a vaccine – York – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Plant & Soil microbiome

Genome-Resolved Metagenomics Reveals Distinct Phosphorus Acquisition Strategies between Soil Microbiomes – Wu et al. – mSystems

Bioinformatics

M&Ms: a versatile software for building microbial mock communities – García-García et al. – Bioinformatics

GraphOmics: an interactive platform to explore and integrate multi-omics data – Wandy & Daly – BMC Bioinformatics

Aristotle: stratified causal discovery for omics data – Mansouri et al. – BMC Bioinformatics

Non Microbiome Picks

The last few weeks has seen several big studies of ‘long COVID’ published, as well as a letter in The Guardian, which I wanted to highlight

Immunological dysfunction persists for 8 months following initial mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection – Phetsouphanh et al. – Nature Immunology

Long-term perturbation of the peripheral immune system months after SARS-CoV-2 infection – Ryan et al. BMC Medicine

Post-acute neurological consequences of COVID-19: an unequal burden – Nolen et al. – Nature Medicine

Long COVID in children – Gurdasani et al. – The Lancet Child Adolescent Health
I’m leading a long Covid trial – it’s clear Britain has underestimated its impact – Amitava Banerjee – The Guardian

January 4, 2022

Posted on January 4, 2022 by Feargal

Happy new year! Today’s digest is jam packed with articles published over the Christmas period. This includes the Skin Microbial Genome Collection (SMGC), a fascinating study linking the gut virome to rotavirus vaccine response, multiple cancer-microbiome papers and a catalogue of the human gut archaeome

General microbiome

The Metaproteomics Initiative: a coordinated approach for propelling the functional characterization of microbiomes – Bossche et al. Microbiome

Directional Gaussian Mixture Models of the Gut Microbiome Elucidate Microbial Spatial Structure – Pasarkar et al. mSystems

Human gut microbiome

Human gut-microbiome-derived propionate coordinates proteasomal degradation via HECTD2 upregulation to target EHMT2 in colorectal cancer – Ryu et al. ISME

Gut microbiomes from Gambian infants reveal the development of a non-industrialized Prevotella-based trophic network – Goffau et al. Nature Microbiology.

Reuterin in the healthy gut microbiome suppresses colorectal cancer growth through altering redox balance – Bell et al. Cancer Cell.

Population study of the gut microbiome: associations with diet, lifestyle, and cardiometabolic disease – Walker et al. Genome Medicine

Enteric virome negatively affects seroconversion following oral rotavirus vaccination in a longitudinally sampled cohort of Ghanaian infants – Kim et al. Cell Host & Microbe

Maternal gut bacteria drive intestinal inflammation in offspring with neurodevelopmental disorders by altering the chromatin landscape of CD4+ T cells – Kim et al. Immunity

Lactobacillus gallinarum modulates the gut microbiota and produces anti-cancer metabolites to protect against colorectal tumourigenesis – Sugimura et al. Gut

A catalogue of 1,167 genomes from the human gut archaeome – Chibani et al. Nature Microbiology

Variation and transmission of the human gut microbiota across multiple familial generations – Valles-Colomer et al. Nature Microbiology.

The Mouse Gastrointestinal Bacteria Catalogue enables translation between the mouse and human gut microbiotas via functional mapping – Beresford-Jones et al. Cell Host & Microbe

Human skin & oral microbiome

Integrating cultivation and metagenomics for a multi-kingdom view of skin microbiome diversity and functions – Kashaf et al. Nature Microbiology.

Alterations of human skin microbiome and expansion of antimicrobial resistance after systemic antibiotics – Jo et al. Science Translational Medicine

Microbiome-mediated incapacitation of interferon lambda production in the oral mucosa – Rodriguez-Hernandez et al. PNAS

Plant microbiome

Glutamic acid reshapes the plant microbiota to protect plants against pathogens – Kim et al. Microbiome.

Water microbiome

Metagenomics of Antarctic Marine Sediment Reveals Potential for Diverse Chemolithoautotrophy – Garber et al. mSphere

Dissecting the dominant hot spring microbial populations based on community-wide sampling at single-cell genomic resolution – Bowers et all. ISME

Bioinformatics

Fast and accurate metagenotyping of the human gut microbiome with GT-Pro – Shi et al. Nature Biotechnology

Rapid screening and identification of viral pathogens in metagenomic data – Song et al. BMC Medical Genomics.

December 20, 2021

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Kara

Today’s digest is a grab bag that includes research articles on the vaginal microbiota, the gut microbiota of dairy calves, microbial loads in medical waste, and more! I’ve also highlighted a non-microbiology article that found that pet dog owners were significantly less depressed than non-pet owners during the pandemic. So if you’re looking for more reasons to adopt a new furry friend, you can add this one to the list!

General microbiome

Genomic comparison and phenotypic profiling of small colony variants of Burkholderia pseudomallei – Zulkefli et al. – PLOS One

Human vaginal microbiome

Vaginal microbiota of American Indian women and associations with measures of psychosocial stress – Borgogna et al. – PLOS One

Human gut microbiome

Gut microbiota features associated with Clostridioides difficile colonization in dairy calves – Redding et al. – PLOS One

Animal microbiome

Culicoides Latreille (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) as potential vectors for Leishmania martiniquensis and Trypanosoma sp. in northern Thailand – Sunantaraporn et al. – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Migratory wild birds carrying multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli as potential transmitters of antimicrobial resistance in China – Yuan et al. – PLOS One

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Characterization of soils conducive and non-conducive to Prunus replant disease – Khan et al. – Plos One

Built environment

Disposal habits and microbial load of solid medical waste in sub-district healthcare facilities and households in Yilo-Krobo municipality, Ghana – Egbenyah et al. – PLOS One

Phages and viruses

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the potential non-human animal reservoirs and arthropod vectors of the Mayaro virus – Celone et al. – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Bioinformatics

Genomic prediction using low-coverage portable Nanopore sequencing – Lamb et al. – PLOS One

Development of an efficient Sanger sequencing-based assay for detecting SARS-CoV-2 spike mutations – Lim et al. – PLOS One

Kara’s non-microbiology pick

***Depression, anxiety, and happiness in dog owners and potential dog owners during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States – Martin et al. – PLOS One

December 2, 2021

Posted on December 2, 2021 by Kara

Happy December from Pittsburgh!

Today’s digest includes original research on the impacts of fungal entomopathogens on Wolbacia infections and the influence of nutrient status on the response of a diatom to oil and dispersant. I have also included a study protocol for oral microbiome transplant for the treatment of dental caries and periodontal disease as well as preprints on a variety of topics. Finally, I want to highlight two articles I included that are little different from my usual content: the first is on predictors of willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccination and the second is focused on transparency in peer review.

Enjoy!

COVID-19

***To vaccinate or not to vaccinate!? Predictors of willingness to receive Covid-19 vaccination in Europe, the U.S., and China – Brailovskaia et al. – PLOS One

General microbiome

Preprint: Copper nanoparticles as modulator of active bacterial population and their physiology in ecosphere – Alboloushi et al. – bioRxiv

Preprint: Metabolite Damage and Damage-Control in a Minimal Genome – Haas et al. – bioRxiv

Development and characterization of an oral microbiome transplant among Australians for the treatment of dental caries and periodontal disease: A study protocol – Nath et al. – PLOS One

Preprint: Heat activation and inactivation of bacterial spores. Is there an overlap? – Wen et al. – bioRxiv

Animal experiments

Inferring Mycobacterium bovis transmission between cattle and badgers using isolates from the Randomised Badger Culling Trial – van Tonder et al. – PLOS Pathogens

Animal microbiome

Impacts of fungal entomopathogens on survival and immune responses of Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens mosquitoes in the context of native Wolbachia infections – Ramirez et al. – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Water and extremophile microbiome

Influence of nutrient status on the response of the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum to oil and dispersant – Kamalanathan et al. – PLOS One

Preprint: Community-wide epigenetics provides novel perspectives on the ecology and evolution of marine microbiome – Seong et al. – bioRxiv

Preprint: Microbial cysteine degradation is a source of hydrogen sulfide in oxic freshwater lakes – Tran et al. – bioRxiv

Bioinformatics

When and why direct transmission models can be used for environmentally persistent pathogens – Benson – PLOS Computational Biology

Techniques

Preprint: The processing of staphylococcal biofilm images from Fluorescence and Confocal Microscopy to assess in vitro efficacy of antiseptic molecules – Krasowski et al. – bioRxiv

Science, publishing, and career

***Transparency in peer review: Exploring the content and tone of reviewers’ confidential comments to editors – O’Brien et al. – PLOS One

November 15, 2021

Posted on November 15, 2021 by Kara

Today’s digest contains an article about the effect of shale flowback fluid on the polluted soil microbiome. It also includes multiple preprints on topics such as long-read sequencing on the Oxford Nanopore, arctic marine protists, rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing for mixed infections, and more.

Happy reading!

General microbiome

Preprint: Rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing and species identification for mixed infections – Kandavalli et al. – bioRxiv

Preprint: Bacterial quorum sensing allows graded and bimodal cellular responses to variations in population density – Rattray et al. – bioRxiv

Preprint – Phage-encoded sigma factors alter bacterial dormancy – Schwartz et al. – bioRxiv

Human respiratory microbiome

Preprint: Aspergillus fumigatus drives tissue damage via iterative assaults upon mucosal integrity and immune homeostasis – Okaa et al. – bioRxiv

Human skin microbiome

Preprint: Cobamide sharing drives skin microbiome dynamics – Swaney et al. – bioRxiv

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Toxic effects of shale gas fracturing flowback fluid on microbial communities in polluted soil – Zudong Mei et al. – Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

Water and extremophile microbiome

Preprint: Colonial choanoflagellate isolated from Mono Lake harbors a microbiome – Hake et al. – bioRxiv

Preprint: Linking extreme seasonality and gene expression in arctic marine protists – Wutkowska et al. – bioRxiv

Preprint: Biosorption potential and molecular characterization of metal resistant autochthonous microbes from tannery solid waste – Younas et al. – bioRxiv

Techniques

Preprint: Oxford Nanopore R10.4 long-read sequencing enables near-perfect bacterial genomes from pure cultures and metagenomes without short-read or reference polishing – Sereika et al. – bioRxiv

Preprint: Going through phages: A Computational approach to Revealing the role of prophage in Staphylococcus aureus – Sweet et al. – bioRxiv

October 29, 2021

Posted on October 29, 2021 by Ariane Panzer

Sorry for the delayed post, WordPress was playing some mean tricks on me today and there were no treats! Good morning all and happy spooky season! It’s been a moment since I’ve written a post and I write to you now as a freshly (pepper)minted PhD! I’m feeling gourd and can’t wait to pumpkin spice things up with some fangtastic papers.

Some of the highlights include a paper by McAlpine et al. examining interkingdom relationships between bacteria and fungi. Specifically, they found that the gut commensal species Lactobacillus can produce a small molecule that blocks filamentous growth of the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans. Another interesting paper comes from Michael Adams lab at the University of Georgia, Athens which showed that members of the gut microbiota have the capacity to assimilate the metal tungsten which, in turn, allows these microbes to oxidize a broad range of aldehydes in the gut. Additionally, a paper by Plummer et al. looked at the vaginal microbiota of women who have recurrent bacterial vaginosis as well as the penile microbiota of their partners, and found that when males also underwent antibiotic treatment it led to a decrease in bacterial vaginosis in their female partners.

Hope you enjoy reading these fa-boo-lous papers and may you eat, drink, and be scary this Halloween!

General Microbiome
A small molecule produced by Lactobacillus species blocks Candida albicans filamentation by inhibiting a DYRK1-family kinase. – MacAlpine, J. et al., Nature Communications.

Pregnancy and Early-Life
Bifidobacterium species associated with breastfeeding produce aromatic lactic acids in the infant gut. – Laursen, M.F. et al., Nature Microbiology.

Bifidobacterium catabolism of human milk oligosaccharides overrides endogenous competitive exclusion driving colonization and protection. – Heiss, B.E. et al., Gut Microbes.

Mother’s Milk Microbiome Shaping Fecal and Skin Microbiota in Infants with Food Allergy and Atopic Dermatitis: A Pilot Analysis. – Gołębiewski. M. et al., Nutrients.

Early-life formula feeding is associated with infant gut microbiota alterations and an increased antibiotic resistance load. – Pärnänen, K.M.M. et al., The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Human Vaginal Microbiome
A Prospective, Open-Label Pilot Study of Concurrent Male Partner Treatment for Bacterial Vaginosis. – Plummer, E.L. et al., mBio.

Human Gut Microbiome
Tungsten enzymes play a role in detoxifying food and antimicrobial aldehydes in the human gut microbiome. – Schut, G.J. et al., PNAS.

Commensal bacteria promote endocrine resistance in prostate cancer through androgen biosynthesis. – Pernigoni, N. et al., Science.

Vertebrate host phylogeny influences gut archaeal diversity. – Youngblut, N.D. et al., Nature Microbiology.

Gut microbiota dysbiosis contributes to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. – Li, N. et al., Respiratory Research.

Oral Administration of Latilactobacillus sakei ADM14 Improves Lipid Metabolism and Fecal Microbiota Profile Associated With Metabolic Dysfunction in a High-Fat Diet Mouse Model. – Won, S.-M. et al., Frontiers in Microbiology.

Human Oral Microbiome
Discrimination of Bacterial Community Structures among Healthy, Gingivitis, and Periodontitis Statuses through Integrated Metatranscriptomic and Network Analyses. – Nemoto, T. et al., mSystems.

Animal Experiments
Commensal segmented filamentous bacteria-derived retinoic acid primes host defense to intestinal infection. – Woo, V. et al., Cell Host & Microbe.

Intestinal microbiota shapes gut physiology and regulates enteric neurons and glia. – Vicentini, F.A. et al., Microbiome.

Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG Derived Extracellular Vesicles Modulate Gut Microbiota and Attenuate Inflammatory in DSS-Induced Colitis Mice. – Tong, L. et al., Nutrients.

Animal Microbiome
Phage Treatment Trial to Eradicate LA-MRSA from Healthy Carrier Pigs. – Tuomala, H. et al., Viruses.

Characterization of the Eukaryotic Virome of Mice from Different Sources. – Zhang, C. et al., Microorganisms.

Supplemental L-Arginine Improves the Embryonic Intestine Development and Microbial Succession in a Chick Embryo Model. – Dai, D. et al., Frontiers in Nutrition.

Water and Extremophile Microbiome
Plastic-Degrading Potential across the Global Microbiome Correlates with Recent Pollution Trends. – Zrimec, J. et al., mBio.

Acrylate protects a marine bacterium from grazing by a ciliate predator. – Teng, Z.-J. et al., Nature Microbiology.

Plant, Root, and Soil Microbiome
The fungal root endophyte Serendipita vermifera displays inter-kingdom synergistic beneficial effects with the microbiota in Arabidopsis thaliana and barley. – Mahdi, L.K. et al., ISME Journal.

Spatial Characterization of Microbial Communities on Multi-Species Leafy Greens Grown Simultaneously in the Vegetable Production Systems on the International Space Station. – Hummerick, M.E. et al., Life (Basel).

Relationships between community composition, productivity and invasion resistance in semi-natural bacterial microcosms. – Jones, M.L. et al., Elife.

Probiotics
High-efficiency delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 by engineered probiotics enables precise microbiome editing. – Neil, K. et al., Molecular Systems Biology.

Techniques
Visualizing transfer of microbial biomolecules by outer membrane vesicles in microbe-host-communication in vivo. – Bittel, M. et al., Journal of Extracellular Vesicles.

October 27, 2021

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Axel Künstner

COVID19

Severe dysbiosis and specific Haemophilus and Neisseria signatures as hallmarks of the oropharyngeal microbiome in critically ill COVID-19 patients – de Castilhos et al – Clinical Infectious Diseases

General microbiome

The Role of Microbiota in Infant Health: From Early Life to Adulthood – Yao et al. – Front. Immunol.

The microbiome impacts host hybridization and speciation – Miller et al. – PLOS Biology

Pregnancy and early life

Gut Dysbiosis, Bacterial Colonization and Translocation, and Neonatal Sepsis in Very-Low-Birth-Weight Preterm Infants – Lee et al. – Front. Microbiol.

Multi-site human microbiome

Oral, nasal, and gut microbiota in Parkinson’s disease – Li et al. – Neuroscience

Human respiratory microbiome

[REVIEW]Emerging cellular and molecular interactions between the lung microbiota and lung diseases – Xiang & Meng – Critical Reviews in Microbiology

Human gut microbiome/mycobiome

[REVIEW]Drugs and Bugs: The Gut-Brain Axis and Substance Use Disorders – Simpson et al. – Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology

Metagenomic analysis reveals the signature of gut microbiota associated with human chronotypes – Carasso et al. – The FASEB Journal

Intestinal mycobiota composition and changes in children with thalassemia who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation – Yalcin et al. – Pediatric Blodd & Cancer

Gut microbiota analyses of Saudi populations for type 2 diabetes-related phenotypes reveals significant association – AlAli et al. – bioRxiv

Animal experiments (mouse/rat experiments, chickens/pigs on different diets)

Consistent gut bacterial and short-chain fatty acid signatures in hypoabsorptive bariatric surgeries correlate with metabolic benefits in rats – Mukorako et al. – International Journal of Obesity

Microbiota instruct IL-17A-producing innate lymphoid cells to promote skin inflammation in cutaneous leishmaniasis – Singh et al – PLOS Pathogens

Anti-inflammatory effects of purple sweet potato anthocyanin extract in DSS-induced colitis: modulation of commensal bacteria and attenuated bacterial intestinal infection – Mu et al. – Food & Function

Plant, root, and soil microbiome/virome

Active virus-host interactions at sub-freezing temperatures in Arctic peat soil – Trubl et al. – Microbiome

Arabidopsis assemble distinct root-associated microbiomes through the synthesis of an array of defense metabolites – Kudjordjie, Sapkota & Nicolaisen – PLOS One

Microbiome of Pukzing Cave in India shows high antimicrobial activity against plant and animal pathogens – Iquebal et al. – Genomics

[REVIEW]Phyllosphere microbiome: Diversity and functions – Bashir et al. – Microbiological Research

[REVIEW]Rhizospheric microbiome: Bio-based emerging strategies for sustainable agriculture development and future perspectives – Kumawat, Razdan & Saharan – Microbiological Research

Phages and viruses

[REVIEW]The intestinal virome: lessons from animal models – Chaffringeon et al. – Current Opinion in Virology

Bioinformatics

[REVIEW]Application of Deep Learning in Plant–Microbiota Association Analysis – Deng et al. – Frontiers in Genetics

Techniques

Simple solution to preserve plant samples for microbiome analyses – Carvalhais et al. – Molecular Ecology Resources

[REVIEW]Novel methods of microbiome analysis in the food industry – Sabater et al. – nternational Microbiology

October 12th, 2021

Posted on October 12, 2021 by Alise Ponsero

Bonjour from Paris, France ! Today’s digest contains a selection of really interesting preprints and published studies. In their review, Heilbronner and collaborators explore the role of bacteriocins, small antibacterial molecules produced by many commensal bacteria in human-associated microbiomes. The role of the bacteriocins in the human microbiome is of particular importance since they could be leveraged to specifically target colonizing pathogens while sparing mutualistic patners.

If you are interested in exploring new bioinformatic methods, I recommend taking a look at the study from Cheng and collaborators, who applied a novel iterative random forest approach to explore marine microbiome during algal blooms. They show how this model allow to identify conditions that are important causal factors of algal bloom dynamics.

Today’s non-microbiology pick is an opinion piece reflecting on the possible methods to develop the field of computational biology, ensure proper training and career development in this discipline and allow a greater collaboration between domain biologist and data scientists in multidisciplinary teams.

Have a great Tuesday!

Events and jobs

Virtual conference: Harnessing the plant microbiome – October 22-24, 2021
University of California, Davis, USA

Virtual conference: Reshaping the Microbiome through nutrition – November 17-19, 2021

General microbiome

Review: The microbiome-shaping roles of bacteriocins – Heilbronner et al. – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Preprint: Gut Bacterial Dysbiosis and Instability is Associated with the Onset of Complications and Mortality in COVID-19 – Schult et al. – BioRXiv

Review: Nurturing the Early Life Gut Microbiome and Immune Maturation for Long Term Health – Dogra et al. – microorganisms

Animal experiments

Preprint: Mice with a humanized immune system are resilient to transplantation of human microbiota – Zhou et al. – BioRXiv

Animal microbiome