Category Archives: Phages and viruses

January 14, 2017

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So it is technically already January 15 most countries, but I have been busy today preparing to transfer Microbiome Digest to an eager group of 20 new contributors. It takes a lot of time to hopefully be able to safe some time – if that makes sense.

My inbox is still full of new alerts, but here is what I have been able to “digest” so far. It’s already a lot!

General human microbiome

Navigating social and ethical challenges of biobanking for human microbiome research –
Kim H. Chuong – BMC Medical Ethics

Editorial: Influence of the microbiota on host physiology – moving beyond the gut
– Kim E. Barrett – The Journal of Physiology

Pregnancy and early life

* Pregnant women carrying microcephaly foetuses and Zika virus contain potentially pathogenic microbes and parasites in their amniotic fluid – Diogo Antonio Tschoeke – BMC Medical Genomics

Growth and Morbidity of Gambian Infants are Influenced by Maternal Milk Oligosaccharides and Infant Gut Microbiota – Jasmine C. C. Davis – Scientific Reports

Identical bacterial populations colonize premature infant gut, skin, and oral microbiomes and exhibit different in situ growth rates – Matthew R Olm – Genome Research

The Microbiome and Complement Activation A Mechanistic Model for Preterm Birth – Alexis B. Dunn – Biological Research for Nursing

Review: Asthma and the microbiome: defining the critical window in early life – Leah T. Stiemsma – Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology

Human gut microbiome

Alcohol, microbiome, life style influence alcohol and non-alcoholic organ damage – Manuela G. Neuman – Experimental and Molecular Pathology

Serum Trimethylamine N-oxide, Carnitine, Choline and Betaine in Relation to Colorectal Cancer Risk in the Alpha Tocopherol and Beta Carotene Study – Kristin A. Guertin – Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention

Laboratory Testing of Donors and Stool for Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Recurrent C. difficile Infection – Michael H. Woodwort – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Editorial: Gut microbiota: implications for sports and exercise medicine – Owen Cronin – British Journal of Sports Medicine

Review/Addendum: Pathogen control at the intestinal mucosa – H2O2 to the rescue
Ulla G. Knaus – Gut Microbes

Editorial: Tune into the rhythm of your bugs – Purna Kashyap – Science Translational Medicine

Preview: Are Gut Microbes Responsible for Post-dieting Weight Rebound? – Julien Chilloux – Cell Metabolism

Review: Involvement of Reduced Microbial Diversity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Dawei Gong – Gastroenterology Research and Practice

Year in Review: Gut microbiota in 2016: A banner year for gut microbiota research – Wendy S. Garrett – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Review: Gut microbiota disturbance during helminth infection: can it affect cognition and behaviour of children? – Vanina Guernier – BMC Infectious Diseases

Review: An expanding stage for commensal microbes in host immune regulation – Yan Shi – Cellular & Molecular Immunology

Perspective: Decoding host–microbiota communication in the gut – now we’re flying!
– Stephen J. Keely – The Journal of Physiology

Just based on the abstract, this appears a wild hypothesis potentially ignoring economic status, fiber consumption etc:  Latitude as a co-driver of human gut microbial diversity? – Emma Dikongué – Ideas that Push the Boundaries

Book: Gut Microbiome and Behavior, Volume 131 – John F. Cryan, Gerard Clarke – Elsevier

Animal experiments

Intestinal microbiota as a tetrahydrobiopterin exogenous source in hph-1 mice – Jaques Belik – Scientific Reports

Oral treatment with Lactobacillus rhamnosus attenuates behavioural deficits and immune changes in chronic social stress – Aadil Bharwani – BMC Medicine

Year in review: Microbiome in 2016: T follicular helper cells and the gut microbiome in arthritis – Veena Taneja – Nature Reviews Rheumatology

Animal microbiome

* Bacterial Communities Associated with Houseflies (Musca domestica L.) Sampled within and between Farms – Simon Bahrndorff – PLOS ONE

Microbiome variation in corals with distinct depth distribution ranges across a shallow–mesophotic gradient (15–85 m) – Bettina Glasl – Coral Reefs

Symbiont-induced odorant binding proteins mediate insect host hematopoiesis – Joshua B Benoit – eLIFE

Drivers of variation in species impacts for a multi-host fungal disease of bats  –
Kate E. Langwig – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B

Sponges: Evaluating the core microbiota in complex communities: A systematic investigation – Carmen Astudillo-Garcia – Environmental Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Bacterial community composition in costal dunes of the Mediterranean along a gradient from the sea shore to the inland – Haggai Wasserstrom – Scientific Reports

Phylogenetic relatedness, phenotypic similarity and plant–soil feedbacks – Connor R. Fitzpatrick

Review: Microbiome and the future for food and nutrient security – Brajesh K. Singh – Microbial Biotechnology

Water microbiome

Similar community assembly mechanisms underlie similar biogeography of rare and abundant bacteria in lakes on Yungui Plateau, China – Jingqiu Liao – Limnology and Oceanography

Built environment microbiome

Microbial diversity in different compartments of an aquaponics system – Zala Schmautz – Archives of Microbiology

Food microbiology

The influence of thiamine and riboflavin on various spoilage microorganisms commonly found in beer – Barry Hucker – The Journal of The Institue of Brewing

Waste and pollution microbiology

Microbial flora analysis for the degradation of beta-cypermethrin – Zhang Qi – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Fungi (also see Animal Microbiome)

Medical mycology and fungal immunology: new research perspectives addressing a major world health challenge – Neil A. R. Gow – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B

Proteomics and metabolomics

MAHMI database: a comprehensive MetaHit-based resource for the study of the mechanism of action of the human microbiota – Aitor Blanco-Míguez – Database

Perspective: Progress in the biology and analysis of short chain fatty acids – Roel J. Vonk – The Journal of Physiology

Bioinformatics and biostatistics

Using Machine Learning to Identify Major Shifts in Human Gut Microbiome Protein Family Abundance in Disease – Mehrdad Yazdani – IEEE

Microscale Insight into Microbial Seed Banks – Kenneth J. Locey – Frontiers in Microbiology

* EMPeror: Bringing the Dynamic Microbiome to Life with Animations – Yoshiki Vázquez-Baeza – Cell Host & Microbe

Parallel-META 3: Comprehensive taxonomical and functional analysis platform for efficient comparison of microbial communities – Gongchao Jing – Scientific Reports

Identifying Host Genetic Variants Associated with Microbiome Composition by Testing Multiple Beta Diversity Matrices – Hua X. – Human Heredity

MetaDP: a comprehensive web server for disease prediction of 16S rRNA metagenomic datasets – Xilin Xu – Biophysics Reports

Techniques

Methodological flaws introduce strong bias into molecular analysis of microbial populations – N. Krakat – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Editorial: Microbial Nanoscopy: Breakthroughs, Challenges, and Opportunities – Yves F. Dufrêne – ACS Nano

More microbes

* Asgard archaea illuminate the origin of eukaryotic cellular complexity – Katarzyna Zaremba-Niedzwiedzka – Nature

* Species-Independent Attraction to Biofilms through Electrical Signaling – Jacqueline Humphries – Cell

A bacterial global regulator forms a prion – Andy H. Yuan – Science

A periplasmic polymer curves Vibrio cholerae and promotes pathogenesis – Thomas M. Bartlett – Cell

Assembly of a nucleus-like structure during viral replication in bacteria – Vorrapon Chaikeeratisak – Science

Microbes in the news

Man’s best friend, bacteria’s worst enemy: dog sniffs out superbug in Canadian hospital – Ashifa Kassam – The Guardian

This article is not as bad as the title suggests but with photoshopped images:
Revealed: The millions of stomach-churning bacteria lurking in YOUR hair, skin, lungs, gut and mouth – and why – Mary Kekatos – Daily Mail

Video: Career profiles: Program Director at National Science Foundation Matthew Kane – American Society for Microbiology

A clear picture of bacteria: A new study has frozen bacteria extremely fast to gain a true-to-nature image of the internal and external structure – Science Daily

January 13, 2017

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Nutrient acquisition by gut microbes, handling stress and gut microbiota changes in mice, evaluation of the MinION for microbiome studies.

Human gut microbiome

* Structural basis for nutrient acquisition by dominant members of the human gut microbiota – Amy J. Glenwright – Nature

New light shed on functioning of human gut bacteria – Science Daily

Metabolic adaptation of colonic microbiota to galactooligosaccharides: a proof-of-concept-study – M. Mego – Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Gut microbiota-dependent trimethylamine N-oxide in acute coronary syndromes: a prognostic marker for incident cardiovascular events beyond traditional risk factors – Xinmin S. Li, Slayman Obeid – European Heart Journal

Review: Basic Definitions and Concepts: Organization of the Gut Microbiome – Eamonn M.M. Quigley – Gastroenterology Clinics of North America

Animal experiments

* Handling stress may confound murine gut microbiota studies – Cary R. Allen-Blevins – PeerJ

Water microbiome

Effect of marker choice and thermal cycling protocol on zooplankton DNA metabarcoding studies – Laurence J. Clarke – Ecology and Evolution

Food microbiology

Cultivable microbiome of fresh white button mushrooms – W. Rossouw Letters in Applied Microbiology

Phages and viruses

Acquisition of Phage Sensitivity by Bacteria through Exchange of Phage Receptors – Elhanan Tzipilevich – Cell

For viral predators of bacteria, sensitivity can be contagious. New modes of bacteriophage spread discovered – ScienceDaily

Techniques

Evaluation of Oxford Nanopore MinION Sequencing for 16S rRNA Microbiome Characterization – Xiao Ma – bioRxiv

Lifetime of Phosphorescence from Nanoparticles Yields Accurate Measurement of Concentration of Oxygen in Microdroplets, Allowing One To Monitor the Metabolism of Bacteria – Michał Horka – Analytical Chemistry

Press: New type of monitoring provides information about the life of bacteria in microdroplets – Science Daily

Microbes in the news

Self-Experimenting Scientist Receives uBiome Grant to Investigate Consequences of Long-Term Antibiotic Use for Skin Conditions – PR Web

The art within Microbiology, and a coloring book – Chloe Schmidt – Frontiers Blog

Mapping the Microorganisms Behind Hospital-Borne Infections – Allison Bond – The Atlantic

Springfield Science Museum Explores the Human Microbiome – Business West

Researchers receive Moore Foundation grant to study the global ocean microbiome – Alan Flurry – University of Georgia

Scientists pave the way for enhanced detection and treatment of vascular graft infections – Science Daily

The Metabolome: The Missing Link that Binds the Microbiome with Human Health – Mike Milburn – GenEngNews

Proceed with caution: The Key to Reversing Autism May Be in the Microbiome – Emeran Mayer – Big Think

Microbes on the market

Carmel biotech firm scores major deal with pharmaceutical giant – Indianapolis Business Journal

Mawi DNA Technologies Launches ISWAB-Microbiome Sample Collection System – BusinessWire

Science, publishing, and career

Beware! Academics are getting reeled in by scam journals – The number of predatory publishers is skyrocketing – and they’re eager to pounce on unsuspecting scholars – Alex Gillis

January 12, 2017

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uBiome blog

Losing Weight is the Most Popular New Year’s Resolution – Could Probiotics Help? – Julie Taylor – uBiome

Video: Young Microbiome Researchers: Celsius & Beyond – uBiome
For the uBiome team, working with other scientists is always rewarding, but we particularly enjoyed our recent collaboration with a team of researchers, many of whom were swamped by their lab coats and blue nitrile gloves.

Jobs

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Microbiology – California Academy of Sciences

Pregnancy and early life

* A molecular portrait of maternal sepsis from Byzantine Troy – Alison M Devault – eLIFE

The Generation R Study: design and cohort update 2017 – Marjolein N. Kooijman – European Journal of Epidemiology

Human oral microbiome

On the ecosystemic network of saliva in healthy young adults – Egija Zaura – The ISME Journal

Human gut microbiome

Seven brief reviews: Topical Issue of the Journal of Immunology: The Macro Influence of the Microbiome – Pamela J. Fink – The Journal of Immunology

Review: Microbiome and the future for food and nutrient security – Brajesh K. Singh – Microbial Biotechnology

Animal experiments

Neuroblastoma causes alterations of the intestinal microbiome, gut hormones, inflammatory cytokines, and bile acid composition – Christoph Castellani – Pediatric Blood & Cancer

Routine assessment of the gut microbiome to promote preclinical research reproducibility and transparency – Hannah R Wardill – Gut

Animal microbiome

Postnatal changes in the relative abundance of intestinal Lactobacillus spp. in newborn calves – Tadashi Takino – Journal of Veterinary Medical Science

Population- and growth-related differences in helminthic fauna of finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) in five Japanese populations – Akira Shiozaki – Journal of Veterinary Medical Science

Antifeedants Produced by Bacteria Associated with the Gut of the Pine Weevil Hylobius abietis – Karolin Axelsson – Microbial Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Trends in Taxonomic and Functional Composition of Soil Microbiome Along a Precipitation Gradient in Israel – Binu M. Tripathi – Microbial Ecology

Diel-scale temporal dynamics recorded for bacterial groups in Namib Desert soil – Eoin Gunnigle – Scientific Report

Foliar application of the leaf-colonizing yeast Pseudozyma churashimaensis elicits systemic defense of pepper against bacterial and viral pathogens – Gahyung Lee – Scientific Reports

Response of microbial communities colonizing salt marsh plants rhizosphere to copper oxide nanoparticles contamination and its implications for phytoremediation processes – Joana P. Fernandes – Science of the Total Environment

Biodegradation of the veterinary antibiotics enrofloxacin and ceftiofur and associated microbial community dynamics – Diogo A.M. Alexandrino – Science of the Total Environment

* Redox conditions and marine microbial community changes during the end-Ordovician mass extinction event – Justyna Smolarek – Global and Planetary Change

Use of plant growth promoting bacterial strains to improve Cytisus striatus and Lupinus luteus development for potential application in phytoremediation – María Balseiro-Romero – Science of the Total Environment

Response of microbial communities colonizing salt marsh plants rhizosphere to copper oxide nanoparticles contamination and its implications for phytoremediation processes -Joana P. Fernandes – Science of the Total Environment

Communication of Sedentary Plant-Parasitic Nematodes With Their Host Plants – T. Hewezi – Advances in Botanical Research

Book chapter: Application of Microbiology in Dryland Agriculture – Minakshi Grover – Innovations in Dryland Agriculture

Water and extremophile microbiome

Potential Activity of Subglacial Microbiota Transported to Anoxic River Delta Sediments – Karen A. Cameron – Microbial Ecology

Microbial community dynamics in Inferno Crater Lake, a thermally fluctuating geothermal spring – Laura Ward – The ISME Journal

* Determining virus-host interactions and glycerol metabolism profiles in geographically diverse solar salterns with metagenomics – Abraham G. Moller – PeerJ

Abundance of microorganisms and enzyme activity in the rapids-pool-benchland systems in natural Douliu River of China – Zhen Hong Wang – PeerJ Preprint

Distinct sensitivity of fungal freshwater guilds to water quality – Oliver Röhl – Mycological

Food microbiology

Bacterial microbiota of Kazakhstan cheese revealed by single molecule real time (SMRT) sequencing and its comparison with Belgian, Kalmykian and Italian artisanal cheeses – Jing Li – BMC Microbiology

A combined meta-barcoding and shotgun metagenomic analysis of spontaneous wine fermentation – Peter R Sternes – bioRxiv

Waste and pollution microbiology

Microbial community structure in a full-scale anaerobic treatment plant during start-up and first year of operation revealed by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing – Else Marie Fykse – Bioresource Technology

Bioinformatics

* MicroPattern: a web-based tool for microbe set enrichment analysis and disease similarity calculation based on a list of microbes – Wei Ma – Scientific Reports

Microbial ecology

Review: Where less may be more: how the rare biosphere pulls ecosystems strings – Alexandre Joussett – ISME Journal

Microbes in the news

Gut science is radically changing what we know of the human body – Pat Rich – University Affairs Canada

Renowned microbiology expert to visit West Florida. Claire Fraser will present, “The Human Gut Microbiome in Health and Disease” – SR Press Gazette

Microbiomes Move Standard Plate Count One Step Forward – Gregory Siragusa – Food Safety Tech

Researchers develop new compound to fight cytomegalovirus – EurekAlert

Eating red meat six times a week could increase chances of getting painful bowel disease – Daisy Dunne – Mirror

This looks intriguing: Microbiota and the masses: a love story – S. B. Divya – MacMillan

Microbes on the market

Gut microbiome profiling tests propelled by customer demand – Vijay Shankar – Nature Biotechnology

Bruker Announces Acquisition of CMO InVivo Biotech to Expand Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Pathology Consumables and Assay Business

Bik’s non-microbiology picks

UCSF Receives Historic Half-Billion-Dollar Donation – Lindsey Hoshaw – KQED

This is a tragic/comic read, but note that the original post contained some offending language, that was removed after protests on e.g. Twitter. The Rise and Fall of a Shrimp Biologist – David Scholnick – Scientific American

January 7, 2017

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3D modeling of endometrial interaction with vaginal bacteria, insect symbiont determined by host plants, 2011 tsunami effects on  phytoplankton, virus taxonomy, Microbiome Helper and microRNA sensitivity in intestinal stem cells.

Human vaginal microbiome

* Human three-dimensional endometrial epithelial cell model to study host interactions with vaginal bacteria and Neisseria gonorrhoeae – Paweł Łaniewski – Infection and Immunity

Human gut microbiome

Workshop Proceedings: Nutrition Across the Lifespan for Healthy Aging – Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief – NAS

Review: Gut–brain axis in 2016: Brain–gut–microbiota axis — mood, metabolism and behaviour – Timothy G. Dinan & John F. Cryan – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Animal experiments

Respiration of Microbiota-Derived 1,2-propanediol Drives Salmonella Expansion during Colitis – Franziska Faber – PLOS Pathogens

Comparative Analysis of Drosophila melanogaster Gut Microbiota with Respect to Host Strain, Sex, and Age – Gangsik Han – Microbial Ecology

Impact of birth weight and postnatal diet on the gut microbiota of young adult guinea pigs – Kait Al – PeerJ

* Host plant species determines symbiotic bacterial community mediating suppression of plant defenses – Seung Ho Chung – Scientific Reports

Animal microbiome

Insights into the lifestyle of uncultured bacterial natural product factories associated with marine sponges – Gerald Lackner – PNAS

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Regulation of root development in Arabidopsis thaliana by phytohormone-secreting epiphytic methylobacteria – Jana Klikno – Protoplasma

Diversity and composition of rhizospheric soil and root endogenous bacteria in Panax notoginseng during continuous cropping practices – Yong Tan – Journal of Basic Microbiology

Subsurface Microbial Ecosystems: A Photon Flux and a Metabolic Cascade – Alexander P. Petroff – Journal of Statistical Physics

Water microbiome

* Retrospective analysis of phytoplankton assemblages on the Iwate coast before and after the 2011 tsunami using cryopreserved DNA samples – Yutaka Okumura

Effects of iron deficiency on the growth and photosynthesis of three bloom-forming cyanobacterial species isolated from Lake Taihu – Kui Xu – Phycological Research

Patterns of bacterial diversity in the marine planktonic particulate matter continuum –
Mireia Mestre – The ISME Journal

Bioreactor, waste, and pollution microbiology

Biofilm composition and threshold concentration for growth of Legionella pneumophila on surfaces exposed to flowing warm tap water without disinfectant – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Enhanced methane production via repeated batch bioaugmentation pattern of enriched microbial consortia – Zhiman Yang – Bioresource Technology

Accelerated acidification by inoculation with a microbial consortia in a complex open environment – Jiadong Yu – Bioresource Technology

Effects of a bacterial consortium from acid mine drainage on cadmium phytoextraction and indigenous soil microbial community – Jin-tian Li – Plant and Soil

Can DNA sequencing show differences between microbial communities in Polish and Danish wastewater treatment plants? – A. Miłobędzka – Water Science & Technology

Frequency dependent microbial growth during cycles of feast and famine – Jason Merritt – arXiv

Viruses and phages

* Consensus statement: Virus taxonomy in the age of metagenomics – Peter Simmonds – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Genomic evolution of bacterial populations under coselection by antibiotics and phage
– Johannes Cairns – Molecular Ecology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

* Microbiome Helper: a Custom and Streamlined Workflow for Microbiome Research – André M. Comeau – mSystems

Transcriptomics

* Functional transcriptomics in diverse intestinal epithelial cell types reveals robust microRNA sensitivity in intestinal stem cells to microbial status – Bailey C.E. Peck – Journal of Biological Chemistry

Biofilms

Tackling Fungal Resistance by Biofilm Inhibitors – Shanchao Wu – Journal of Medical Chemistry

Microbes in the news

Featuring our research: The Secret Lives of Marine Mammal Microbes – Probing the mystery of what goes on inside the guts of dolphins and whales – Emma Hiolski – Scientific American

That cold you have might actually be the worst Bay Area flu outbreak in a decade – Kristin Hanes – SF Gate

Microbiomes in far-flung places: characterizing the arctic Inuit gut microbiome – Stephen Ornes – ASM

Microbes on the market

MoBio’s Microbiome News is back!

OptiBiotix Release: Microbiome Technology Powers The Healthy Weight Loss Company Expansion – BioSpace

Bik’s Non-Microbiology Picks

The crack in this Antarctic ice shelf just grew by 11 miles. A dramatic break could be imminent – Chris Mooney – Washington Post

Citizen Science: It’s that time of year: the annual bird count – Shawn Price – Los Angeles Times

January 5, 2017

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Microbiome of Inuit, centenarians, microbes showing differential expression when they are grown with sound, taxonomy of prokaryotic viruses.

Human gut microbiome

* Gut Microbiome of the Canadian Arctic Inuit – Catherine Girard – mSphere

* The gut microbiota of centenarians: Signatures of longevity in the gut microbiota profile – Biagi Elena – Mechanisms of Ageing and Development

Review: Understanding the Molecular Mechanisms of the Interplay Between Herbal Medicines and Gut Microbiota – Jun Xu – Medicinal Research Reviews

Editorial: The microbiome as a source of new enterprises and job creation: Considering clinical faecal and synthetic microbiome transplants and therapeutic regulation – Daniel van der Lelie – Microbial Biotechnology

Animal experiments

Effect of dietary kefir on the growth performance, feed utilization and fatty acid profile of juvenile rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss – E. Gümüş – Aquaculture Nutrition

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

The Pseudomonas putida T6SS is a plant warden against phytopathogens – Patricia Bernal – The ISME Journal

Mycorrhizal Colonization Status and Rhizosphere Soil Properties of BCSIR Reserve Forest Rajshahi, Bangladesh – M. Halder – Current World Environment

Waste and pollution microbiology

Batch and continuous removal of heavy metals from industrial effluents using microbial consortia – F. Migahed – International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology

Musical microbes

* Frequency-dependent response of Chromobacterium violaceum to sonic stimulation, and altered gene expression associated with enhanced violacein production at 300 Hz – Chinmayi Joshi – bioRxiv

Bioinformatics

Book: Molecular Data Analysis Using R – Csaba Ortutay

Viruses and phages

* Taxonomy of prokaryotic viruses: 2016 update from the ICTV bacterial and archaeal viruses subcommittee – Evelien M. Adriaenssens – Archives of Virology

Metabolomics

Optimal allocation of metabolic functions among organisms in a microbial ecosystem – Qi Zhao – Decision and Control (CDC), 2016 IEEE 55th Conference on

Microbes in the news

CDC keeps secret its mishaps with deadly germs: CDC blacked-out information from lab incident reports – Alison Young – USA Today

Single fecal transplant no more effective than standard of care in treating C. diff – MedicalXpress

Alaska gulls are picking up antibiotic-resistant bacteria that could infect humans – Yereth Rosen – ADN

Man-made lake near Linganore drained to kill toxic pink bacteria: pink-colored cyanobacterium releases a toxin – Samantha Hogan – The Frederick News Post

Bacteria Hysteria

Dirty Money. The public health case for a cashless society – Dina Fine Maron – Scientific American
The Money in Your Wallet Might Be Covered With Poop, Mold, and Cocaine – Brad
– Money
The 5 Dirtiest Things You Touch Every Day – Markham Heid – Time

Microbes in the market

Israeli Gut Microbiome Startup Lands Mayo Clinic Venture Backing – TwinCities Business

Ritter Pharmaceuticals Phase 2a Lactose Intolerance Clinical Trial Microbiome Data, Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences – Yahoo

Cambridge BioMarketing Announces Five Predictions for 2017 – Yahoo

Bruker Announces Acquisition of CMO InVivo Biotech to Expand Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Pathology Consumables and Assay Business – PR Newswire

Science integrity

Bavarian court sentences me to prison if I dare repeat unwelcome facts of Walles’ trachea transplants – Leonid Schneider – For Better Science

 

January 4, 2017

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Short-chain sugars and lactose intolerance, NEC and bile salts, gut microbiome in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Brucella in frogs. And since this is a quiet time on the microbiome literature front,  I also included some other interesting microbes in the news.

Pregnancy and early life

* Fecal Bile Salts and the Development of Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Preterm Infants – Christian V. Hulzebos – PLOS ONE

Human respiratory microbiome

Effects of Propidium Monoazide (PMA) Treatment on Mycobiome and Bacteriome Analysis of Cystic Fibrosis Airways during Exacerbation – Linh Do Ngoc Nguyen – PLOS ONE

Human gut microbiome

* Impact of short-chain galactooligosaccharides on the gut microbiome of lactose-intolerant individuals – M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril – PNAS

* Alterations in Gut Microbiome Composition and Barrier Function Are Associated with Reproductive and Metabolic Defects in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): A Pilot Study – Lisa Lindheim – PLOS ONE

Review: Modulation of alloimmune response by commensal gut microbiota and potential new avenues to influence the outcome of allogeneic transplantation by modification of the ‘gut culture’ – S. Kanangat – International Journal of Immunogenetics

Editorial: Gut Microbiota, Diet and Health. (We and our gut microbes) – Juan Carlos Espín – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

Editorial: Hot Topics in 2017 – Gut Microbiota, Whole Grains and Health – Hans-Ulrich Humpf – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

Microbiology of nearly sterile sites

Pseudomonas aeruginosa Microcolonies in Coronary Thrombi from Patients with ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction – Gorm Mørk Hansen – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

* The Change of a Medically Important Genus: Worldwide Occurrence of Genetically Diverse Novel Brucella Species in Exotic Frogs – Holger C. Scholz – PLOS ONE

Synbiotics for Broiler Chickens—In Vitro Design and Evaluation of the Influence on Host and Selected Microbiota Populations following In Ovo Delivery – Aleksandra Dunislawska – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Frontiers for research on the ecology of plant-pathogenic bacteria: fundamentals for sustainability. Challenges in Bacterial Molecular Plant Pathology – Cindy E. Morris – Molecular Plant Pathology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Microbial Diversity and Cyanobacterial Production in Dziani Dzaha Crater Lake, a Unique Tropical Thalassohaline Environment – Christophe Leboulanger – PLOS ONE

Food microbiology

Crystal Ball: Exciting strain-level resolution studies of the food microbiome – Danilo Ercolini – Microbial Biotechnology

Viruses / phages / bioinformatics / metagenomics

Metavisitor, a Suite of Galaxy Tools for Simple and Rapid Detection and Discovery of Viruses in Deep Sequence Data – Guillaume Carissimo – PLOS ONE

Microbial Ecology

Effects of Spatial Localization on Microbial Consortia Growth – Michael Venters – PLOS ONE

More microbiology / Microbes in the news

RelA Mutant Enterococcus faecium with Multiantibiotic Tolerance Arising in an Immunocompromised Host– Erin S. Honsa – mBio

Inhibition of CRISPR-Cas9 with Bacteriophage Proteins – Benjamin J. Rauch – Cell

50 Years of Journal of Virology: Classic Spotlight, 1969 and 1970: Articles of Significant Interest Selected from the Journal of Virology Archives by the Editors – Journal of Virology

Research Highlight: Building a bacterial ribosome – Ashley York – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Sepsis and Hemocyte Loss in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) Infected with Serratia marcescens Strain Sicaria – Nancy L. Burritt – PLOS ONE

Switching of metabolic programs in response to light availability is an essential function of the cyanobacterial circadian clock – Anna M Puszynska – bioRxiv

Microbiomes Move Standard Plate Count One Step Forward – Gregory Siragusa – Food Safety Tech

Bisphenol-A Linked to Endocrine Disorders in Pets, Humans – CBS Local

Microbes on the market

Alimentary discoveries produce a gut reaction among investors – Companies aim to exploit one of the 21st century’s big advances – Clive Cookson – Financial Times

Marina Biotech Granted European Claims Covering Bacteria Mediated Gene Silencing – Market Wired

A Bright Future for Bacteria – Betsy Davis – Pharma Elsevier

Synthetic Biologics to Present at the Biotech Showcase™ 2017 Conference – PR Newswire

Bacteria Hysteria

The Bacteria We’ve Got to Beat: Nasty germs lurk on cell phones, doorknobs, ketchup bottles — here’s how to fight ’em this flu season – Carleen Wild – Lifezette

January 3, 2017

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Denture microbiome, insulin resistance and appendix microbiome in obesity, raw milk microbiome, subtropical forest soils, biofilms in drinking water systems, metabolomics of a Mediterranean diet, cell shape and biofilms.

Human oral microbiome

* The Denture-Associated Oral Microbiome in Health and Stomatitis – Baochen Shi – mSphere

Commentary: A novel strategy for diagnosing viral versus bacterial infection: implications for oral diseases – Nataly Kravchenko-Balasha – Oral Diseases

Human gut microbiome

*  Insulin resistance is associated with specific gut microbiota in appendix samples from
morbidly obese patients – Isabel Moreno-Indias – American Journal of Translational Research

Microbiology of nearly sterile sites

Improving molecular diagnosis of neonatal septicaemia: Comparative evaluation of different protocols for extraction of bacterial and fungal DNA from blood samples – Gargi Dangre-Mudey – International Journal of Current Research in Medical Sciences

Animal microbiome

* Impacts of Seasonal Housing and Teat Preparation on Raw Milk Microbiota: a High-Throughput Sequencing Study – Conor J. Doyle – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Biogeography and molecular diversity of coral symbionts in the genus Symbiodinium around the Arabian Peninsula – Maren Ziegler – Journal of Biogeography

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Colonization and community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in maize roots at different depths in the soil profile respond differently to phosphorus inputs on a long-term experimental site – Chao Wang – Mycorrhiza

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community composition is altered by long-term litter removal but not litter addition in a lowland tropical forest – Merlin Sheldrake – New Phytologist

Modeling of mineral nutrient uptake of spruce tree roots as affected by the ion dynamics in the rhizosphere: Upscaling of model results to field plot scale – H. Nietfeld – Ecological Modelling

Competition between rhizobia under different environmental conditions affects the nodulation of a legume – Zhao Jun Ji – Systematic and Applied Microbiology

 

* Altered precipitation seasonality impacts the dominant fungal but rare bacterial taxa in subtropical forest soils – Qian Zhao – Biology and Fertility of Soils

Cultivable bacterial communities associated with roots of rose-scented geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) with the potential to contribute to plant growth – Thais Freitas da Silva – Applied Soil Ecology

Isolation of Soil and Endophytic Fungi from Rice (Oryza sativa L.) – Thianrat Leewijit – Journal of Agricultural Technology

Effects of Dry and Wet Sieving of Soil on Identification and Interpretation of Microbial Community Composition – A. Blaud – Advances in Agronomy

Book chapter: The Significance of Plant-Associated Microbial Rhizosphere for the Degradation of Xenobiotic Compounds – Durgesh Kumar Jaiswal – Plant Responses to Xenobiotics

Review: Plant Communication With Associated Microbiota in the Spermosphere, Rhizosphere and Phyllosphere – P. Lemanceau – Advances in Botanical Research

Review: Plant growth promoting Rhizobacteria: Biocontrol potential for pathogens – Roomina Mazhar – Pure Appl Biol

Water and extremophile microbiome

* Spatial and temporal analogies in microbial communities in natural drinking water biofilms – I. Douterelo – Science of The Total Environment

Metagenomic Analysis of Hot Springs in Central India Reveals Hydrocarbon Degrading Thermophiles and Pathways Essential for Survival in Extreme Environments – Rituja Saxena – Frontiers in Microbiology

Response of the microbial community to bioturbation by benthic macrofauna on intertidal flats – Hui Shen – Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

Review: Biotechnological Applications of Marine Enzymes From Algae, Bacteria, Fungi, and Sponges – S. Parte – Advances in Food and Nutrition Research

Waste and pollution microbiology

Inhibitory effects of sodium azide on microbial growth in experimental resuspension of marine sediment – Cabrol Léa – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Effect of various chemical oxidation agents on soil microbial communities – Eva Kakosová – Chemical Engineering Journal

Shifts in microbial community structure and function in surface waters impacted by unconventional oil and gas wastewater revealed by metagenomics – N.L. Fahrenfeld – Science of the Total Environment

Changes in the microbial community during bioremediation of gasoline-contaminated soil – Aline Jaime Leal – Brazilian Journal of Microbiology

Performance and microbial communities of completely autotrophic denitrification in a bioelectrochemically-assisted constructed wetland system for nitrate removal – Dan Xu – Bioresource Technology

Screening selectively harnessed environmental microbial communities for biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in moving bed biofilm reactors – Marc A. Demeter – Bioresource Technology

Review: Resource recovery from wastewater by biological technologies: opportunities, challenges and prospects – Daniel Puyol – Frontiers in Microbiology

Fungi

A Review of the Ubiquity of Ascomycetes Filamentous Fungi in Relation to Their Economic and Medical Importance – Mary Augustina Egbuta – Advances in Microbiology

Phages

Editorial: Filamentous Bacteriophage in Bio/Nano/Technology, Bacterial Pathogenesis and Ecology – Jasna Rakonjac – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metabolomics

* Adherence to a Mediterranean diet influences the fecal metabolic profile of microbial-derived phenolics in a Spanish cohort of middle-age and older people – Isabel Gutiérrez-Díaz – Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

MASTR-MS: a web-based collaborative laboratory information management system (LIMS) for metabolomics – Adam Hunter – Metabolomics

More microbiology

* Cell morphology drives spatial patterning in microbial communities – William P. J. Smith – PNAS

Microbes in the news

A Gut Makeover for the New Year – Roni Caryn Rabin – The New York Times

Keys plan field trial for bacteria-infected mosquitoes – Associated Press

Salmonella bacteria threatens Mudumalai: cattle and elephants died – Times of India

How your gut’s circadian rhythm affects your whole body – Richard G. “Bugs” Stevens – The Conversation

Eat Dirt… It’s Good For You (So Are Worms) – Tanya Mead – The Alternative Daily

December 29, 2016

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A foundational coral, bacteria in tree hollows, mining and visualizing microbiome data with Calypso, viral metagenomics in aquaculture.

General microbiome

Editorial: You are not alone – M. Ludwig – Acta Physiologica

Human ear microbiome

The Relationship of the Middle Ear Effusion Microbiome to Secretory Mucin Production in Pediatric Patients with Chronic Otitis Media – Krueger, Anna – The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal

Animal experiments

Improvement of Intestinal Immune Cell Function by Lactic Acid Bacteria for Dairy Products – Tomonori Kamiya – Microorganisms

In poultry: Zeolite food supplementation reduces abundance of enterobacteria – Tanka P. Prasai – Microbiological Research

Animal microbiome

* Effects of predation and nutrient enrichment on the success and microbiome of a foundational coral – Elizabeth C. Shaver – Ecology

By their own devices: invasive Argentine ants have shifted diet without clear aid from symbiotic microbes – Yi Hu – Molecular Ecology

Gut content microbiota of introduced bigheaded carps (Hypophthalmichthys spp.) inhabiting the largest shallow lake in Central Europe – Andrea K. Borsodi – Microbiological Research

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Ericoid Roots and Mycospheres Govern Plant-Specific Bacterial Communities in Boreal Forest Humus – Sari Timonen – Microbial Ecology

Benzo(a)pyrene degradation and microbial community responses in composted soil – Fengxiao Zhu – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

* Bacteria and Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) in Tree Hollows From the Iberian Mediterranean Forest – I. R. Sánchez-Galván – Environmental Entomology

Cd immobilization and reduced tissue Cd accumulation of rice (Oryza sativa wuyun-23) in the presence of heavy metal-resistant bacteria – Ya Li – Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

Water microbiome

* Environmental Viral Metagenomics Analyses in Aquaculture: Applications in Epidemiology and Disease Control – Hetron M. Munang’andu – Frontiers in Microbiology

Food microbiology

Microbial Ecology Dynamics in Portuguese Broa Sourdough – João M. Rocha – Journal of Food Quality

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

* Calypso: a user-friendly web-server for mining and visualizing microbiome–environment interactions – Martha Zakrzewski – Bioinformatics

DACE: A Scalable DP-means Algorithm for Clustering Extremely Large Sequence Data – Linhao Jiang – Bioinformatics

A novel approach based on KATZ measure to predict associations of human microbiota with non-infectious diseases – Xing Chen – Bioinformatics

Measuring the diversity of the human microbiota with targeted next-generation sequencing – Francesca Finotello – Briefings in Bioinformatics

More microbiology

Collective Resistance in Microbial Communities by Intracellular Antibiotic Deactivation – Robin A. Sorg – PLOS Biology
Microbes in the news

Circadian rhythms and the microbiome – Cosmos Magazine

You Don’t Even Want To Know About Bacteria On The Space Station – Trace Dominguez – Seeker

Rabbits, Bacteria and Calcium – Carl Palazzolo – Long Beach Post

Bacteria evolving more sophisticated antibiotic resistance – Brooks Hays – UPI

December 28, 2016

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Human gut microbiome

Tissue-Associated Bacterial Alterations in Rectal Carcinoma Patients Revealed by 16S rRNA Community Profiling – Andrew M. Thomas – Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Gastrointestinal neuromuscular apparatus: An underestimated target of gut microbiota – Michele Pier Luca Guarino – World Journal of Gastroenterology

Immune Response of Healthy Adults to the Ingested Probiotic Lactobacillus casei Shirota
– L. S. Harbige – Scandinavian Journal of Immunology

Review: Host-Microbiome Interaction and Cancer: Potential Application in Precision Medicine – Alejandra V. Contreras – Frontiers in Physiology

Review: IL-17: overview and role in oral immunity and microbiome – L Abusleme – Oral Diseases

Animal experiments

Bacillus sp. QSI-1 Modulate Quorum Sensing Signals Reduce Aeromonas hydrophila Level and Alter Gut Microbial Community Structure in Fish – Shuxin Zhou – Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Use of Asian selected agricultural byproducts to modulate rumen microbes and fermentation – Yasuo Kobayashi – Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology

Correlation of Gut Microbiota Composition with Resistance to Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis in Rats – Suzana Stanisavljević – Frontiers in Microbiology

Comparative Analysis of the Rats’ Gut Microbiota Composition in Animals with Different Ginsenosides Metabolizing Activity – Wei-Wei Dong – Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry

Animal microbiome

Potential for Nitrogen Fixation in the Fungus-Growing Termite Symbiosis – Panagiotis Sapountzis – Frontiers in Microbiology

Impact and Influence of the Natural Vibrio-Squid Symbiosis in Understanding Bacterial–Animal Interactions – Mark J. Mandel and Anne K. Dunn – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

The Relationship between pH and Bacterial Communities in a Single Karst Ecosystem and Its Implication for Soil Acidification – Yuan Yun – Frontiers in Microbiology

Parasites and competitors suppress bacterial pathogen synergistically due to evolutionary trade-offs – Xiaofang Wang – Evolution

Review: The Plant as Metaorganism and Research on Next-Generation Systemic Pesticides – Prospects and Challenges – Zisis Vryzas – Frontiers in Microbiology

Extremophile microbiome

Cryo-protective effect of an ice-binding protein derived from Antarctic bacteria – Marco Mangiagalli – The FEBS Journal

Outdoor and indoor microbiome

Bacterial characterization in ambient submicron particles during severe haze episodes at Ji’nan, China – Caihong Xu – Science of The Total Environment

An emerging paradox: Toward a better understanding of the potential benefits and adversity of microbe exposures in the indoor environment – J. Mensah-Attipoe – Indoor Air

Waste and pollution microbiome

Effect of the chemical composition of filter media on the microbial community in wastewater biofilms at different temperatures – Iffat Naz – RSC Advances

Phages and viruses

Inferring phage–bacteria infection networks from time-series data – Luis F. Jover – Royal Society Open Science

Microbes in the news

How hospitals, nursing homes keep lethal ‘superbug’ outbreaks secret – Deborah J. Nelson, David Rohde, Benjamin Lesser and Ryan McNeill – Reuters

Causes Of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Gum Disease Bacteria Triggers Joint Inflammation, Latest Research Suggests – Lizette Borreli – Medical Daily

Genome Sequencing Sheds Light On Shigella Outbreaks In California – Saranya Palanisamy – Tech Times

Now, dental implants that kill bacteria and anchor to bone – The Tribune India

Antibiotic resistance just became more complex – EurekAlert

How Germs, Dirt and Hookworms Can Boost Your Health – Ruben Castaneda – US News

December 27, 2016

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Cockatiel microbiome, a hibernating frog, Baltic Sea, a book about starter cultures, microbial divisions of labor.

Human oral/respiratory microbiome

Mycobiome in the Lower Respiratory Tract – a Clinical Perspective – Robert Krause – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: A Review of Analytical Techniques and Their Application in Disease Diagnosis in Breathomics and Salivaomics Research – David J. Beale – Int J Mol Sci

Human gut microbiome

Impact of Amoxicillin/Clavulanate and Autologous Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) on the Fecal Microbiome and Resistome – Christopher Bulow – Open Forum Infectious Diseases

Review: The Development of Our Organ of Other Kinds—The Gut Microbiota – Shirong Liu – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Food Additives and Contaminants: Effects on Human Gut Microbiota—A Review – Paula Roca-Saavedra – Preprints

Animal experiments

Generation of Germ-Free Ciona intestinalis for Studies of Gut-Microbe Interactions – Brittany A. Leigh – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Emerging Sponge Models of Animal-Microbe Symbioses – Lucia Pita – Frontiers in Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Exploring the methanogen and bacterial communities of rumen environments: solid adherent, fluid and epimural – Thijs De Mulder – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Diversity of the Bacterial Microbiota of Anopheles Mosquitoes from Binh Phuoc Province, Vietnam – Chung T. Ngo – Frontiers in Microbiology

Evaluating the Contribution of Gut Microbiota to the Variation of Porcine Fatness with the Cecum and Fecal Samples – Maozhang He – Frontiers in Microbiology

* Exploring the cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) fecal microbiome, bacterial inhabitants of a worldwide pet – Luis David Alcaraz – PeerJ

* Functional analysis for gut microbes of the brown tree frog (Polypedates megacephalus) in artificial hibernation – Francis Cheng-Hsuan Weng – BMC Genomics

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Long-term effects of aided phytostabilization on microbial communities of metal-contaminated mine soil– Olatz Garaiyurrebaso – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Dynamics in the Strawberry Rhizosphere Microbiome in Response to Biochar and Botrytis cinerea Leaf Infection – Caroline De Tender – Frontiers in Microbiology

Expanding the Repertoire of Carbapenem-Hydrolyzing Metallo-ß-Lactamases by Functional Metagenomic Analysis of Soil Microbiota – Dereje D. Gudeta – Frontiers in Microbiology

High Diversity of Planctomycetes in Soils of Two Lichen-Dominated Sub-Arctic Ecosystems of Northwestern Siberia – Anastasia A. Ivanova – Frontiers in Microbiology

Editorial: Microbiota of Grapes: Positive and Negative Role on Wine Quality – Giuseppe Spano – Frontiers in Microbiology

Aspect has a greater impact on alpine soil bacterial community structure than elevation – Jieyun Wu – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Water and extremophile microbiome

* Local Environmental Conditions Shape Generalist But Not Specialist Components of Microbial Metacommunities in the Baltic Sea – Markus V. Lindh – Frontiers in Microbiology

A High-Level Fungal Diversity in the Intertidal Sediment of Chinese Seas Presents the Spatial Variation of Community Composition – Wei Li – Frontiers in Microbiology

Viral induced microbial mortality in Arctic hypersaline spring sediments – Jesse Colangelo-Lillis – Frontiers in Microbiology

Stable and Variable Parts of Microbial Community in Siberian Deep Subsurface Thermal Aquifer System Revealed in a Long-Term Monitoring Study – Yulia A. Frank – Frontiers in Microbiology

Marine Subsurface Microbial Community Shifts Across a Hydrothermal Gradient in Okinawa Trough Sediments – Leah D. Brandt – Archaea

Waste and pollution microbiology

Temporal dynamics of microbial communities in microcosms in response to pollutants – Shuo Jiao – Molecular Ecology

Cultural heritage microbiology

Sloth: Survey of the state of conservation of the Mylodon listai (Xenarthra-Mylodontidae) skin fragment from the Pleistocene of Argentina kept at the Museum of La Plata (Argentina) – Daniela Silvana Nitiu – Ge-conservación

Food microbiology

* Book: Starter Cultures in Food Production – Barbara Speranza

Biofilm microbiome

Molecular methods resolve the bacterial composition of natural marine biofilms on galvanically coupled stainless steel cathodes – Athenia L. Oldham – Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Characterization of Uncultured Genome Fragment from Soil Metagenomic Library Exposed Rare Mismatch of Internal Tetranucleotide Frequency – Yunpeng Liu – Frontiers in Microbiology

RiboTagger: fast and unbiased 16S/18S profiling using whole community shotgun metagenomic or metatranscriptome surveys – Chao Xie – BMC Bioinformatics

More microbiology

Review: Chronic infections with viruses or parasites: breaking bad to make good – Andrew Godkin – Immunology

Biocontrol of Burkholderia cepacia complex bacteria and bacterial phytopathogens by Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus – Damian McNeely – Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Fitness Impact of Obligate Intranuclear Bacterial Symbionts Depends on Host Growth Phase – Chiara Bella – Frontiers in Microbiology

* Review: Understanding Microbial Divisions of Labor – Zheren Zhang – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbes in the news

How Does a Fatty Acid Protect Pathogenic Bacteria Against Antibiotics? – Nicola M. Parry – Contagion Live

How Microcosms help us understand ecology – James MacDonald – JSTOR Daily

Takuji Yamada – Early cancer intervention with gut bacteria – Tokyo Tech Researchers

How Probiotics Could Help Prevent Atopic Dermatitis – Kenneth Bender – Specialty Pharmacy Times