Category Archives: Phages and viruses

December 21, 2016

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Fluorescence in the mouth, stool transplant with own stool sometimes works too, Clostridium difficile and nutritional niches in the mouse, bacterioplankton metabolism in the Dead Zone, and the invisible Esther Lederberg.

General microbiome

Review: The microbiome in health and disease: a new role of microbes in molecular medicine – Ingo B. Autenrieth – Journal of Molecular Medicine

Human mouth microbiome

Red and Green Fluorescence from Oral Biofilms – Catherine M. C. Volgenant – PLOS ONE

Characterization of saliva microbiota’s functional feature based on metagenomic sequencing – Fang Yang – SpringerPlus

Human respiratory microbiome

Characterization of microbiome in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with lung cancer comparing with benign mass like lesions – Sang Hoon Lee – Lung Cancer

Human gut microbiome

Complete Microbiota Engraftment Is Not Essential for Recovery from Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection following Fecal Microbiota Transplantation – Christopher Staley – mBio

Press: Study provides clues to improving fecal microbiota transplantation – MedicalXpress

Review: Fecal microbiota transplantation for multiple organ dysfunction syndrome – Nathan J. Klingensmith – Critical Care

Review: Tuning constitutive and pathological inflammation in the gut via the interaction of dietary nitrate and polyphenols with host microbiome – Bárbara S. Rocha – The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology

Review: Redox signaling mediated by the gut microbiota – Rheinallt M. Jones – Free Radical Biology and Medicine

Editorial: The gut microbiota and immune-regulation: the fate of health and disease –
Eliana Mariño – Clinical Translational Immunology

Animal experiments

Collateral Damage: Detrimental Effect of Antibiotics on the Development of Protective Immune Memory – Joseph M. Benoun – mBio

Clostridium difficile colonizes alternative nutrient niches during infection across distinct murine gut environments – Matthew L Jenior – bioRxiv

Water microbiome

Decoding bacterioplankton metabolism in the northern Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone – J. Cameron Thrash – bioRxiv

Built environment microbiome

Resilient microorganisms in dust samples of the International Space Station—survival of the adaptation specialists – Maximilian Mora – Microbiome

Phages and viruses

Not sure if this is such a good idea…. Application of Bacteriophage-containing Aerosol against Nosocomial Transmission of Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in an Intensive Care Unit – Yu-Huai Ho – PLOS ONE

Microbial ecology

Disturbance Regimes Predictably Alter Diversity in an Ecologically Complex Bacterial System – Sean M. Gibbons – mBio

Microbes in the news

Will Microbiome Board Game Become Infectious? – Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News

Appointment of New Features Editor: Melanie Blokesch – Molecular Microbiology

Microbiomes mix it up – Larrie Stone – Washington County Enterprise

Invisible Esther: the ‘Other’ Lederberg – Walt Nakonechny

DNA markers distinguish between harmless, deadly bacteria. Large genome study IDs potential virulence factors to discriminate new species – Science Daily

Researchers Use Genomic Analysis to Study the Deadly Bacteria Responsible for “Rabbit Fever” – David Jennings – Natural Science News

Prostate cancer drug based on sea-bed bacteria brings complete remission for half of patients – Sarah Knapton – Telegraph

New Laser Treatment Based On Deep-Sea Bacteria Effectively Treats Prostate Cancer – IFL Science

Laser therapy leaves no sign of prostate cancer in 50% of trial patients – John von Radowitz – Independent

How bacteria survive antibiotic treatment – Science Daily

Mouthwash May Kill Gonorrhea Bacteria – Sara G. Miller – LiveScience

Video about resistant starch with nice visualizations: The Hungry Microbiome – Data61

Video: Saving Atlantis: The global coral microbiome project in the Red Sea – Science 360

Happy Holidays from Microbiology Lab – Maria Anne – Clinical Laboratory Blogspot

Microbes on the market

Evolve BioSystems Successfully Defends European Patent Opposition by Danone, Maintaining Their Position as Leaders in the Infant Gut Microbiome Space – Market Wired

December 18, 2016

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Virome of the human respiratory tract, vendor effects on mouse gut, soils under beech and spruce, variations in Scottish soils, portable pathogen detection.

Events

Poster submission started: 3rd Annual Translational Microbiome Conference – April 11-13, 2017, Boston, USA

Pregnancy and early life

Microbiota network and mathematic microbe mutualism in colostrum and mature milk collected in two different geographic areas: Italy versus Burundi – Lorenzo Drago – The ISME Journal

Review: Pathogenesis of NEC: Impact of an altered intestinal microbiome – Josef Neu – Seminars in Perinatology

Human oral microbiome

Changes in the oral ecosystem induced by the use of 8% arginine toothpaste – British Dental Journal

Human respiratory microbiome

* Review: The Virome of the Human Respiratory Tract – Kristine M. Wylie – Clinics in Chest Medicine

Human vaginal microbiome

Comparison of Culture-dependent and Culture-Independent Molecular Methods for Characterisation of Vaginal Microflora – Shirali Pandya – Journal of Medical Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

Distinct microbiome-neuroimmune signatures correlate with functional abdominal pain in children with autism spectrum disorder – Ruth Ann Luna – CMGH Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Alterations of the gut microbiome in Chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus
Zhixing He – Gut Pathogens

Altered Gut Microbiota in Patients With Chronic Pancreatitis is Associated With Gut Barrier Dysfunction and Metabolic Abnormalities – Rupjyoti Talukdar

Dietary Changes Impact the Gut Microbe Composition in Overweight and Obese Men with Prostate Cancer Undergoing Radical Prostatectomy – Andrew D. Frugé – Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

The human intestinal microbiota of constipated-predominant irritable bowel syndrome patients exhibits anti-inflammatory properties – Alain P. Gobert – Scientific Reports

The Interactions Between Gut Microbiota and Lynch Syndrome – Xiao-juan Lu – Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Review: Enterosalivary nitrate metabolism and the microbiome: intersection of microbial metabolism, nitric oxide and diet in cardiac and pulmonary vascular health – Carl D Koch – Free Radical Biology and Medicine

Review: Community metabolic modeling approaches to understanding the gut microbiome: bridging biochemistry and ecology – Helena Mendes-Soares – Free Radical Biology and Medicine

Review: Microbiota Small RNAs in Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Anca T. Filip – Journal of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases

Review: Intestinal Microbiome, Akkermansia muciniphila, and Medicinal Nutrition Therapy – Jeffrey Bland – integrative Medicine

Review: Using the Human Gastrointestinal Microbiome to Personalize Nutrition Advice: Are Registered Dietitian Nutritionists Ready for the Opportunities and Challenges? – Ruth Harvie – Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Review: Bacterial Biofilms in Colorectal Cancer Initiation and Progression – Shan Li – Trends in Molecular Medicine

Animal experiments

* Vendor Effects on Murine Gut Microbiota Influence Experimental Abdominal Sepsis – Tobias Hilbert – Journal of Surgical Research

The critical role of microbiota within cecal crypts on the regenerative capacity of the intestinal epithelium following surgical stress – Alexander Zaborin – American Journal of Physiology Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology

Source of supplemental dietary copper, zinc, and manganese affects fecal microbial relative abundance in lactating dairy cows – M.J. Faulkner – Journal of Dairy Science

Deciphering upper respiratory tract microbiota complexity in healthy calves and calves that develop respiratory disease using shotgun metagenomics – Natália C. Gaeta – Journal of Dairy Science

Animal microbiology

Riptortus pedestris and Burkholderia symbiont: an ideal model system for insect–microbe symbiotic associations – Kazutaka Takeshita – Research in Microbiology

Bird: Helminth burden and ecological factors associated with alterations in wild host gastrointestinal microbiota – Lindsay K Newbold – The ISME Journal

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

* Fine Spatial Scale Variation of Soil Microbial Communities under European Beech and Norway Spruce – Heiko Nacke – Frontiers in Microbiology

Nutrient availability shapes the microbial community structure in sugarcane bagasse compost-derived consortia – Bruno L. Mello – Scientific Reports

The biogeography of soil archaeal communities on the eastern Tibetan Plateau – Yu Shi – Scientific Reports

Depth-resolved microbial community analyses in two contrasting soil cores contaminated by antimony and arsenic – Enzong Xiao – Environmental Pollution

Comprehensive Virus Detection Using Next Generation Sequencing in Grapevine Vascular Tissues of Plants Obtained from the Wine Regions of Bohemia and Moravia (Czech Republic) – Aleš Eichmeier – PLOS ONE

* Scottish soil: It is elemental: Soil nutrient stoichiometry drives bacterial diversity – Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo – Environmental Microbiology

Microbial soil community analyses for forensic science: Application to a blind test – Sandrine Demanèche – Forensic Science International

Review: Mycorrhiza: The Oldest Association Between Plant and Fungi – Jagnaseni Barman – Resonance

Book Chapter: Bioprospecting Soil Metagenomes for Antibiotics – Chiara Borsetto – Bioprospecting

Water and extremophile microbiome

The Distribution Pattern of Sediment Archaea Community of the Poyang Lake, the Largest Freshwater Lake in China – Yantian Ma – Archaea

Characterization of the first cultured representative of a Bacteroidetes clade specialized on the scavenging of cyanobacteria – Wajdi Ben Hania – Environmental Microbiology

Book chapter: Bioprospecting Archaea: Focus on Extreme Halophiles – André Antunes – Bioprospecting

Food microbiology

Analysis of the bacterial biodiversity of peaches under refrigerated storage after treatment by high hydrostatic pressure – Maria José Grande Burgos – Food and Bioproducts Processing

Bioreactor, biotechnology, and pollution microbiology

Correlating methane production to microbiota in anaerobic digesters fed synthetic wastewater – K. Venkiteshwaran – Water Research

Profiling bacterial communities associated with sediment-based aquaculture bioremediation systems under contrasting redox regimes – Georgina Robinson – Scientific Reports

Trace Elements Induce Predominance among Methanogenic Activity in Anaerobic Digestion – Babett Wintsche – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Quantitative Comparison of Abundance Structures of Generalized Communities: From B-Cell Receptor Repertoires to Microbiomes – Mohammadkarim Saeedghalati – arXiv

A simple statistical test of taxonomic or functional homogeneity using replicated microbiome sequencing samples – Daniel H. Huson – Journal of Biotechnology

Inferring Aggregated Functional Traits from Metagenomic Data Using Constrained Non-negative Matrix Factorization: Application to Fiber Degradation in the Human Gut Microbiota – Sébastien Raguideau – PLOS Computational Biology

Now published: IMP: a pipeline for reproducible reference-independent integrated metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses – Shaman Narayanasamy – Genome Biology

Metabolomics

Evaluating metabolic response to light exposure in Lactobacillus species via targeted metabolic profiling – Mengyang Xu – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Review: Phytanic acid consumption and human health, risks, benefits and future trends: A review – P. Roca-Saavedra – Food Chemistry

Viruses and phages

Perspective: Viruses and the origin of microbiome selection and immunity – Steven D Quistad – The ISME Journal

Techniques

* Detection of ESKAPE bacterial pathogens at the point-of-care using isothermal DNA-based assays in a portable, de-gas microfluidic diagnostic assay platform
Lars D. Renner – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Press: Portable detection system can rapidly identify virulent, multi-drug resistant pathogens in remote areas – News-Medical

Synthetic spike-in standards for high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing – Dieter M. Tourlousse – Nucleic Acids Research

Microbes in the news

Gardening Etcetera: Life down under in northern Arizona – Cindy Murray – AZ Daily Sun

CSI: Chem trail: a new way for investigators to narrow down suspect pools using chemical traces found on cellphones – Kelly Kasulis – Boston Globe

China expresses alarm as chilli ‘conspiracy’ heats up Indonesians – South China Morning Post

Adapting and adopting microbiome data into clinical practice – Silvio Pitlik & Omry Koren- BioMed Central

Bacteria that boost insulin-producing cells could yield new diabetes approaches – Arlene Weintraub – Fierce Biotech

Microbes in the market

Research focused on the human microbiome market worth 658 million USD by 2023 – Whatech

AOBiome Launches Phase 2 Clinical Trial Using Novel Bacterial Platform for Treatment of Hypertension – PR Newswire

Live Stock Coverage: What’s Ahead for Seres Therapeutics Inc After Today’s Huge Increase? – Linda Rogers- Frisco Fastball

 

December 12, 2016

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Review on human milk microbiome, oral microbiome changes in seasonal athletes, gut microbiome and bipolar disorder.

Jobs

Assistant Professor In Quantitative Ecology or Evolution of Microbes – UCLA – MicroBEnet

Pregnancy and early life

Effect of probiotics in prevention of atopic dermatitis is dependent on the intrinsic microbiota at early infancy – Ekaterina Avershina – Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

* Review: Got bacteria? The astounding, yet not-so-surprising, microbiome of human milk – Michelle K McGuire – Current Opinion in Biotechnology

Human respiratory microbiome

Review: Viral–bacterial co-infections in the respiratory tract – Lauren O Bakaletz – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Human oral microbiome

* I was wondering if testing same group of athletes participating in 2 different sports could not be confounded with seasonal effects of maybe different study loads during the different year. But no access to the paper, so can not see details. Elevated salivary IgA, decreased anxiety, and an altered oral microbiota are associated with active participation on an undergraduate athletic team – Ashley L. Lamb – Physiology & Behavior

Human gut microbiome

* The gut microbiome composition associates with bipolar disorder and illness severity – Simon J. Evans – Journal of Psychiatric Research

Letter of the Editor: A Microbiome Assessment of Medical Marijuana – George Thompson III – Clinical Microbiology and Infection

Review: Archaea: essential inhabitants of the human digestive microbiota – Vanessa Demonfort Nkamga – Human Microbiome Journal

Animal experiments

Application of a dynamic gastrointestinal in vitro model combined with a rat model to predict the digestive fate of barley dietary fibre and evaluate potential impact on hindgut fermentation – Cristina Teixeira – Bioactive Carbohydrates and Dietary Fibre

Animal microbiome

Characterization and identification of microbial communities in bovine necrotic vulvovaginitis – N.Y. Shpigel – The Veterinary Journal

Crab: Gut Microbiota and Metabolic Phenotype of Portunus Trituberculatus – Ting-Lan Zeng – Chinese Journal of Analytical Chemistry

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Arsenic-enrichment enhanced root exudates and altered rhizosphere microbial communities and activities in hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata – Suvendu Das – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Food microbiology

Impact of NaCl reduction on lactic acid bacteria during fermentation of Nocellara del Belice table olives – Paola Zinno – Food Microbiology

Impact of NaCl reduction on lactic acid bacteria during fermentation of Nocellara del Belice table olives – Paola Zinno – Food Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Bioinformatics strategies for taxonomy independent binning and visualization of sequences in shotgun metagenomics – Karel Sedlar – Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal

Microbes in the news

Predatory bacteria used to release bioplastics – Tim Sandle – Digital Journal

The Secret Soviet Virus That Helps Kill Bacteria. Antibiotic resistance is threatening to render antibiotics useless, but scientists may have found their answer in bacteria-eating viruses. – Trace Dominguez – Seeker

Bacteria found in close to two-thirds of NZ supermarket chicken – TV New Zealand

Science, publishing, and career

This would not be my headline choice: Trump says ‘nobody really knows’ if climate change is real – Juliet Eilperin – Washington Post

December 10, 2016

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Airway microbiota of infants with cystic fibrosis, an X-linked IBD risk gene in mice, Colorado flood impact, and metabolic profiling of men eating pasta and bread.

General microbiome

Review: Arguments Reinforcing the Three-Domain View of Diversified Cellular LifeArguments Reinforcing the Three-Domain View of Diversified Cellular Life – Arshan Nasir – Archaea

Opinion: Koch’s Postulates to Metagenome and NextGeneration Sequencing, But what is Next? – Santanu Chattopadhyay – Journal of Gastrointestinal Disorders and Liver Function

Human oral microbiome

Review: Gram-Positive Anaerobes in Periodontal Pathogenesis: New Kids on the Block? – A Mini Review – Journal of Bacteriology & Mycology:

Human respiratory microbiome

* Airway Microbiota in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid from Clinically Well Infants with Cystic Fibrosis – Theresa A. Laguna – PLOS ONE

The Microbiome and the Pathophysiology of Asthma – Ashley Sullivan – Respiratory Research

Human gut microbiome

Review: Intestinal Immunity and Gut Microbiota in Atherogenesis – Tomoya Yamashita – Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis

Review: Microbiome, Growth Retardation, and Metabolism: Are they related? – Daniel J. Hoffman – Annals of Human Biology

Animal experiments

Cosmc is an X-linked inflammatory bowel disease risk gene that spatially regulates gut microbiota and contributes to sex-specific risk – Matthew R. Kudelka – PNAS

Depletion of Gut Microbiota Protects against Renal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury – Diba Emal – Journal of the American Society of Nephrology

Probiotic Roles of Lactobacillus spp. in Swine: Insights from Gut Microbiota – Valerie Diane V. Valeriano – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Gut microbiota from metabolic disease-resistant, macrophage-specific RIP140 knockdown mice improves metabolic phenotype and gastrointestinal integrity – Yi-Wei Lin – Scientific Reports

Antimicrobial growth promoters modulate host responses in mice with a defined intestinal microbiota – Kirsty Brown – Scientific Reports

High Fibre Diet and Acetate Supplementation Change the Gut Microbiota and Prevent the Development of Hypertension and Heart Failure in DOCA-Salt Hypertensive Mice
Francine Z. Marques – Circulation

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Microbial remediation of aromatics-contaminated soil – Ying Xu – Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering

Plant pathogens but not antagonists change in soil fungal communities across a land abandonment gradient in a Mediterranean landscape – L. Bosso – Acta Oecologica

High taxonomic variability despite stable functional structure across microbial communities – Stilianos Louca – Nature Ecology & Evolution

Repeated glyphosate exposure induces shifts in nitrifying communities and metabolism of phenylpropanoids – Marco Allegrini – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Water microbiology

Regional variations in the diversity and predicted metabolic potential of benthic prokaryotes in coastal northern Zhejiang, East China Sea – Kai Wang – Scientific Reports

Influence of the Po River runoff on the bacterioplankton community along trophic and salinity gradients in the Northern Adriatic Sea – Ilaria Pizzetti – Marine Ecology

Dynamic metabolic exchange governs a marine algal-bacterial interaction – Einat Segev – eLIFE
Research highlight: When a relationship turns ugly – Andrea Du Toit – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Food microbiology and functional foods

Cultivable microbiome of fresh white button mushrooms – Werner Rossouw

A MeSH-based text mining method for identifying novel prebiotics – Shan, Guangy – Medicine

Waste and pollution microbiology

Effect of structural carbohydrates and lignin content on the anaerobic digestion of paper and paper board materials by anaerobic granular sludge – Jorge Gonzalez-Estrella – Biotechnology and Bioengineering

* Metagenomic profiling of historic Colorado Front Range flood impact on distribution of riverine antibiotic resistance genes – Emily Garner – Scientific Reports

Sequential bioleaching of copper from brake pads residues using encapsulated bacteria – François Vermeulen – Minerals Engineering

Feed it some of your old protein gels: Isolation and Characterization of Acrylamidase from Arthrobacter sp. DBV1 and Its Ability to Biodegrade Acrylamide – Dattatray K. Bedade – Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology

Copper exposure to soil under single and repeated application: Selection for the microbial community tolerance and effects on the dissipation of antibiotics – Bei Liu – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Resistome

A diverse intrinsic antibiotic resistome from a cave bacterium – Andrew C. Pawlowski – Nature Communications

Million-Year-Old ‘Hero Bug’ Emerges From Cave – Michaeleen Doucleff – NPR

Metabolomics

* Metabolic Profiling Reveals Differences in Plasma Concentrations of Arabinose and Xylose after Consumption of Fiber-Rich Pasta and Wheat Bread with Differential Rates of Systemic Appearance of Exogenous Glucose in Healthy Men – Andre J Pantophlet – The Journal of Nutrition

Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 metabolises the human milk oligosaccharides lacto-N-tetraose and lacto-N-neo-tetraose through overlapping, yet distinct pathways – Kieran James – Scientific Reports

Viruses and phages

Towards quantitative viromics for both double-stranded and single-stranded DNA viruses – Simon Roux – PeerJ

Microbial ecology

Paradoxes in Leaky Microbial Trade – Yoav Kallus – bioRxiv

Microbes in the news

Video: Living together: the symbiosis of host-microbial interactionsVideo: Living together: the symbiosis of host-microbial interactions – Margaret McFall-Ngai – iBiology

Scientist Studies the Infant Resistome to Combat Superbugs – Infection Control Today

Diet, the gut microbiome, and colorectal cancer: are they linked? – EurekAlert

 

Microbes on the market

Medical Game-Changers Beckon. On #1 of the Top 10: Using the Microbiome to Prevent, Diagnose, and Treat Disease –  Casey McDonald

VC-backed Enterome hires Patel as chief medical officer and adds Garceau to board – PE Hub

Second Genome Announces Appointments in Human Resources, Finance to Support Corporate Growth – Yahoo.com

As school gardens spread, so do the teaching moments – Adrian Higgins – Washington Post

Twitter as a Tool for Teaching and Communicating Microbiology: The #microMOOCSEM Initiative – EHU

New evidence shows how bacterium in undercooked chicken causes GBS – EurekAlert

Science, publishing, and career

The Microbiology Effect: A Call for Education Research – Samantha L. Elliott – J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ.
The Necessity of Prerequisite Undergraduate Microbiology Courses for Pre-Allied Health Professionals – Andrea M. Rediske – J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ.
Supporting Microbiology in the Nursing Curriculum – Bethany Adamec – ASM

On the origin of nonequivalent states: how we can talk about preprints – Cameron Neylon – bioRxiv

Why a First Amendment win is good for science – Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky – STATNews

December 9, 2016

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Human oral microbiome

Chapter Four – The Oral Microbiome in Health and Its Implication in Oral and Systemic Diseases – B. Sampaio-Maia – Advances in Applied Microbiology

Protocol: Methods to Study Antagonistic Activities Among Oral Bacteria – Fengxia Qi – Oral Biology

Protocol: The Oral Microbiota in Health and Disease: An Overview of Molecular Findings – José F. Siqueira Jr. – Oral Biology

Human skin microbiome

The protective effect of microbiota on S. aureus skin colonization depends on the integrity of the epithelial barrier – Marc Burian – Journal of Investigative Dermatology

Human respiratory microbiome (also Early Life)

Differences in the Nasopharyngeal Microbiome During Acute Respiratory Tract Infection With Human Rhinovirus and Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Infancy – Christian Rosas-Salazar – The Journal of Infectious Diseases

Reemergence of Lower-Airway Microbiota in Lung Transplant Patients with Cystic Fibrosis – Saad A. Syed – Annals of the American Thoracic Society

Editorial: Changes in the Cystic Fibrosis Airway Microbiome after Lung Transplant: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same – Shawn D. Aaron – Annals of the American Thoracic Society

Human gut microbiome

Blautia massiliensis sp. nov., isolated from a fresh human fecal sample and emended description of the genus Blautia – Guillaume A. Durand – Anaerobe

Review: Formation of propionate and butyrate by the human colonic microbiota – Petra Louis – Environmental Microbiology

Review: Exercise-induced stress behavior, gut-microbiota-brain axis and diet: a systematic review for athletes – Allison Clark – Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition

Animal experiments

Analysis of the intestinal microbial community and inferred functional capacities during the host response to Pneumocystis pneumonia – Derrick R. Samuelson – Experimental Lung Research

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

The prey’s scent – Volatile organic compound mediated interactions between soil bacteria and their protist predators – Kristin Schulz-Bohm – The ISME Journal

How miniature predators get their favorite soil bacteria. Sniffing out your dinner in the dark – Science Daily

Food microbiology

Dynamics of microbial community during the extremely long-term fermentation process of a traditional soy sauce – Yang Yang – Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

Water microbiology

Diversity and Abundance of the Denitrifying Microbiota in the Sediment of Eastern China Marginal Seas and the Impact of Environmental Factors – Minghong Gao – Microbial Ecology

Phages and viruses

Exploring the contribution of bacteriophages to antibiotic resistance – Itziar Lekunberri – Environmental Pollution

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

K-shuff: A Novel Algorithm for Characterizing Structural and Compositional Diversity in Gene Libraries – Kamlesh Jangid – PLOS ONE

More microbiology

17th Century Variola Virus Reveals the Recent History of Smallpox – Ana T. Duggan – Current Biology

A Mummy’s DNA May Help Solve The Mystery Of The Origins Of Smallpox – Nell Greenfieldboyce – NPR

Drug resistant pathogens and travel: No road map but a new initiative from Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease – Patricia Schlagenhauf – Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease

Microbes in the news

uBiome Joins Google, SpaceX, and Oculus as 2016 World Technology Award Finalist – PR Web

Paul Schreckenberger, microbiology lab director at Loyola, dies at 69 – Chicago Tribune

Antibacterial products may help bacteria beat antibiotics – Bob Holmes

Corticosteroid Success Linked to Differences in Bronchial Microbiome – Kenneth Bender – HCP live

Guest Post — The Emergent Microbiome: A Revolution for the Life Sciences — Part IX, The Microbiome and Immunotherapy II – David Puelo – JDSupra

Scientist Studies the Infant Resistome to Combat Superbugs – Infection Control Today

The Microbiome and Risk for HIV: Research in South Africa shows how the balance of bacteria in a woman’s vagina can raise or lower her risk for HIV – Columbia

December 7, 2016

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Microbiota of migratory birds, blue fungus living in snow, migrating from SSU rRNAs to metagenomics.

Jobs

Awesome job at awesome institute: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Microbiology – California Academy of Sciences

Human gut microbiome

Special issue of Trends in Food Science & Technology; several papers have appeared here before but worth checking out: Unravelling the role of the gut microbiome in energy balance and brain development and function: the European project MyNewGut

Review: Homeostasis of the Gut Barrier and Potential Biomarkers – Jerry M Wells – American Journal of Physiology, Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology

Review: Challenges in simulating the human gut for understanding the role of the microbiota in obesity – M. Aguirre – Beneficial Microbes

Animal models

Integrated Role of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Supplementation in Gut Microbiota, Immunity, and Metabolism of Infant Rhesus Monkeys – Xuan He – mSystems

Review: Dissecting the interplay between intestinal microbiota and host immunity in health and disease: Lessons learned from germfree and gnotobiotic animal models – Ulrike Fiebiger – European Journal of Microbiology and Immunology

Animal microbiome

* Changes in gut microbiota of migratory passerines during stopover after crossing an ecological barrier – William B. Lewis – The Auk

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

* Microbial Community Structure and Function of Soil following Ecosystem Conversion from Native Forests to Teak Plantation Forests – Vidya De Gannes – Frontiers in Microbiology

Drought tolerance of bioenergy grass Saccharum spontaneum L. enhanced by arbuscular mycorrhizae – P.P. Mirshad – Rhizosphere

Perspective: Microbiome selection could spur next-generation plant breeding strategies – Murali Gopal – Frontiers in Microbiology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Siderophore-based microbial adaptations to iron scarcity across the eastern Pacific Ocean – Rene M. Boiteau – PNAS

Phylogenetic diversity of microbial communities of the Posolsk Bank bottom sediments, Lake Baikal – S. M. Chernitsyna – Microbiology

Dampened copepod-mediated trophic cascades in a microzooplankton-dominated microbial food web: A mesocosm study – Bernadette Pree – Limnology and Oceanography

* Antarctomyces pellizariae sp. nov., a new, endemic, blue, snow resident psychrophilic ascomycete fungus from Antarctica – Graciéle C. A. de Menezes – Extremophiles

Temporal variability of bacterial communities in cryoconite on an Alpine glacier – Andrea Franzetti – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Intraclade Heterogeneity in Nitrogen Utilization by Marine Prokaryotes Revealed Using Stable Isotope Probing Coupled with Tag Sequencing (Tag-SIP) – Michael Morando – Frontiers in Microbiology

Pollution microbiology

Effect of metal concentration on the microbial community in acid mine drainage of a polysulfide ore deposit – V. V. Kadnikov – Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics (viruses too)

MEGARes: an antimicrobial resistance database for high throughput sequencing – Steven M. Lakin – Nucleic Acids Research

Improvements to PATRIC, the all-bacterial Bioinformatics Database and Analysis Resource Center – Alice R. Wattam – Nucleic Acids Research

Alignment-free d2* oligonucleotide frequency dissimilarity measure improves prediction of hosts from metagenomically-derived viral sequences – Nathan A. Ahlgren – Nucleic Acids Research

*  Crystal Ball: Migrating SSU rRNA gene surveys to the metagenomics era – Josh D. Neufeld – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Techniques

DNA extraction from benthic Cyanobacteria: comparative assessment and optimization – V. Gaget – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Microbial ecology

Microbial Community Coalescence for Microbiome Engineering – Matthias C. Rillig – Frontiers in Microbiology

More microbiology

How to Define Pathogenicity, Health, and Disease? – Mauno Vihinen – Human Mutation-Variation, Informatics, and Disease

Crystal Ball: Accessories make the microbe – Lisa Y. Stein – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Validating Regulatory Predictions from Diverse Bacteria with Mutant Fitness Data – Shiori Sagawa – bioRxiv

Microbes in the news

With my former Stanford co-worker Fiona Strouts: New farmers’ market baker knows art, science of bread-making. Stanford fellow brings baking know-how to Portola Valley farmers’ market – Dave Boyce – Mountain View Voice

New Mechanism to Control Human Viral Infections Discovered – Sean Nealon – University of California Riverside

Uterine microbiota play a key role in implantation and pregnancy success in in vitro fertilization – EurekAlert (see digest October 12)

Understanding microbiome impact on pig health – National Hog Farmer

Syphilis is coming back – Juha Wahlstedt – Clinical Laboratory Blogspot

December 5, 2016

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Contraceptives and the vaginal microbiome, Ralstonia and CF outcome, Alzheimer’s, helminths in cats, the Mississippi River.

General microbiome and ecology

Review: Disentangling Interactions in the Microbiome: A Network Perspective – Mehdi Layeghifard – Trends in Microbiology

Book Chapter: Chapter 4 – The Human Microbiome – Jacquelyn S. Meisel – Genomic and Precision Medicine (Third Edition): Foundations, Translation, and Implementation – Chp

Pregnancy and early life

Maternal health and the placental microbiome – Elise Pelzer – Placenta

Human vaginal microbiome

* Effects of Combined Oral Contraceptives, Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate, and the Levonorgestrel-releasing Intrauterine System on the Vaginal Microbiome – J. Paul Brooks – Contraception

Review: Lactobacillus iners: Friend or Foe? – Mariya I. Petrova – Trends in Microbiology

Human skin microbiome

The protective effect of microbiota on S. aureus skin colonization depends on the integrity of the epithelial barrier – Marc Burian – Journal of Investigative Dermatology

Human respiratory microbiome

* Ralstonia mannitolilytica in cystic fibrosis: A new predictor of worse outcomes – I. Coman – Respiratory Medicine Case Reports

Staphylococcal species heterogeneity in the nasal microbiome following antibiotic prophylaxis revealed by tuf gene deep sequencing – Claire L. McMurray – Microbiome

Human oral microbiome (also: gut / viruses)

Transmission of viruses via our microbiomes – Melissa Ly – Microbiome

Review: Endodontic Microbiology and Pathobiology : Current State of Knowledge – Ashraf F. Fouad – Dental Clinics of North America

Human gut microbiome

Extending colonic mucosal microbiome analysis—assessment of colonic lavage as a proxy for endoscopic colonic biopsies – Euan Watt – Microbiome

Review: Crohn’s disease – Joana Torres – The Lancet

Review: The Microbiome in Neurogastroenterology – Geoffrey A. Preidis – Pediatric Neurogastroenterology

Review: The endocrine vitamin D system in the gut – Antonio Barbáchano – Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology

Microbes at nearly sterile sites

* Gram-negative bacterial molecules associate with Alzheimer disease pathology – Xinhua Zhan – Neurology

Press: Gram-negative bacteria may influence Alzheimer’s disease pathology – ScienceDaily

Animal and in vitro models

Modulation of a Circulating Uremic Solute via Rational Genetic Manipulation of the Gut Microbiota – A. Sloan Devlin – Cell Host & Microbe

Animal microbiome

* Helminth infections and gut microbiota – a feline perspective – Ana M. Duarte – Parasites & Vectors

Review: Defining the Core Microbiome in Corals’ Microbial Soup – Alejandra Hernandez-Agreda – Trends in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Bacterial consortia inoculation mitigates the water shortage and salt stress in an avocado (Persea americana Mill.) nursery – Patricio J. Barra – Applied Soil Ecology

Heavy Metal Pollution Structures Soil Bacterial Community Dynamics in SW Spain Polluted Salt Marshes – Jennifer Mesa – Water, Air, & Soil Pollution

The Cucurbita pepo seed microbiome: genotype-specific composition and implications for breeding – Eveline Adam – Plant and Soil

Tolerance of the forest soil microbiome to increasing mercury concentrations – Aline Frossard – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Repeated glyphosate exposure induces shifts in nitrifying communities and metabolism of phenylpropanoids – Marco Allegrini – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Seasonal induced changes in spinach rhizosphere microbial community structure with varying salinity and drought – A. Mark Ibekwe – Science of the Total Environment

Cross-compatibility evaluation of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria of coconut and cocoa on yield and rhizosphere properties of vegetable crops – T.H Khadeejath Rajeela – Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology

Effect of rhizobacterial consortia from undisturbed arid- and agro-ecosystems on wheat growth under differing conditions – N.G. Inostroza – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Differences among Soil-Inhabiting Microbial Communities in Poa annua Turf throughout the Growing Season – Lisa A. Beirn – Corp Science

Increasing the Size of the Microbial Biomass Altered Bacterial Community Structure which Enhances Plant Phosphorus Uptake – Pu Shen – PLOS ONE

Water and extremophile microbiome

* Microbial regime changes and indicators of eutrophication on the Mississippi River identified via a human-powered 2900 km transect – Michael W Henson – bioRxiv

Whole-Genome Enrichment Provides Deep Insights into Vibrio cholerae Metagenome from an African River – L. Vezzulli – Microbial Ecology

Identity, ecology and ecophysiology of planktic green algae dominating in ice‑covered lakes on James Ross Island (northeastern Antarctic Peninsula) – Linda Nedbalová

Built environment microbiome

Analysis of dark crusts on the church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, using chemical, microscope and metabarcoding microbial identification techniques – Christine Gaylarde – International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation

Impact of wastewater treatment plant discharge on the contamination of river biofilms by pharmaceuticals and antibiotic resistance – Elodie Aubertheau – Science of the Total Environment

More microbiology

Human to human transmission of arthropod-borne pathogens – Byron E Martina – Current Opinion in Virology

Techniques

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

Microbes in the news

uBiome Awards Microbiome Impact Grant to Explore Effects of Heavy Drinking and Smoking on Oral Microbiome – PR Web

Missing Link in Malaria Evolution Discovered in Historical Specimens – Ben Andrew Henry – The Scientist

Book review: The Human Microbiome Handbook, Jason Tetro, Emma Allen-Vercoe (Eds.). DEStech Publications (March 2016)– Laura M. Cox – Anaerobe

Our ideas about bacteria evolution are wrong – scientists make new discovery – Sandra Hajda – Inquisitr

Bacteria Hysteria

Soap company uses bacteria-coated billboards to prove how dirty your stuff is – Mashable

December 3, 2016, part 2

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Recognition of extremophilic archaeal viruses by eukaryotic cells, special issue about the holobiont concept, sleep deprivation, respiratory viruses in infants. So many new papers that I had to spend another couple of hours on the digest today!

General microbiome and ecology

* Themed issue with papers about the holobiont and endosymbionts: Biological Individuality – Biology & Philosphophy

Review: Making a microbiome: the many determinants of host-associated microbial community composition – Karen L Adair – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Pregnancy and early life

* Interactions of Respiratory Viruses and the Nasal Microbiota during the First Year of Life in Healthy Infants – Insa Korten – mSphere

Does vaginal delivery mitigate or strengthen the intergenerational association of overweight and obesity? Findings from the boston birth cohort – N T Mueller – International Journal of Obesity

The oral cavities of healthy infants harbor high proportions of Streptococcus salivarius strains with phenotypic and genotypic resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics – Thaís H. Palma – Journal of Medical Microbiology

Human respiratory microbiome

Bacterial community collapse: A meta-analysis of the sinonasal microbiota in chronic rhinosinusitis – Brett Wagner Mackenzie – Environmental Microbiology

Review: Viral-Bacterial interactions in the respiratory tract – Carla Bellinghausen – Journal of General Virology

Human skin microbiome

Dysbiotic Bacterial and Fungal Communities Not Restricted to Clinically Affected Skin Sites in Dandruff – Renan C. Soares – Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

Gene Function Analysis in the Ubiquitous Human Commensal and Pathogen Malassezia Genus – Giuseppe Ianiri – mBio

Review: Microbial biofilms and the human skin microbiome – Michael Brandwein – NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes

Human gut microbiome

Clostridium difficile carriage in adult cystic fibrosis (CF); implications for patients with CF and the potential for transmission of nosocomial infection – D.G. Burke – Journal of Cystic Fibrosis

* Gut microbiota and glucometabolic alterations in response to recurrent partial sleep deprivation in normal-weight young individuals – Christian Benedict – Molecular Metabolism

Community-Metabolome Correlations of Gut Microbiota from Child-Turcotte-Pugh of A and B Patients – Xiao Wei – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Role of gut microbiota in atherosclerosis – Annika Lindskog Jonsson- Nature Reviews Cardiology

Review: The role of diet on gut microbiota composition – S. Bibbò – European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences

Review: Gut barrier structure, mucosal immunity and intestinal microbiota in the pathogenesis and treatment of HIV infection – Camilla Tincati – AIDS Research and Therapy

Review: Microbiome and metabolic disease: revisiting the bacterial phylum Bacteroidetes – Elizabeth L. Johnson – Journal of Molecular Medicine

Review: Gut Homeostasis, Microbial Dysbiosis, and Opioids – Fuyuan Wang – Toxicologic Pathology

Animal and in vitro experiments

Sensitive and Simplified Detection of Antibiotic Influence on the Dynamic and Versatile Changes of Fecal Short-Chain Fatty Acids – Xiaoya Zhao – PLOS ONE

* Recognition of extremophilic archaeal viruses by eukaryotic cells: a promising nanoplatform from the third domain of life – Kristine Buch Uldahl – Scientific Reports

Unconjugated Bile Acids Influence Expression of Circadian Genes: A Potential Mechanism for Microbe-Host Crosstalk – Kalaimathi Govindarajan – PLOS ONE

Viral Metagenomic Analysis Displays the Co-Infection Situation in Healthy and PMWS Affected Pigs – Anne-Lie Blomström – PLOS ONE

Intraluminal Flagellin Differentially Contributes to Gut Dysbiosis and Systemic Inflammation following Burn Injury – Logan Grimes – PLOS ONE

Early-Life Sugar Consumption Affects the Rat Microbiome Independently of Obesity –
Emily E Noble – Journal of Nutrition

Obese Mice Fed a Diet Supplemented with Enzyme-Treated Wheat Bran Display Marked Shifts in the Liver Metabolome Concurrent with Altered Gut Bacteria – Dorothy A Kieffer – Journal of Nutrition

Dietary fat and gut microbiota interactions determine diet-induced obesity in mice – Raphaela Kübeck – Molecular Metabolism

Animal microbiome

Deconstructing the Bat Skin Microbiome: Influences of the Host and the Environment –
Christine V. Avena – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

A temporal assessment of nematode community structure and diversity in the rhizosphere of cisgenic Phytophthora infestans-resistant potatoes – Vilma Ortiz – BMC Ecology

Diversity of Bacillus-like bacterial community in the sediments of the Bamenwan mangrove wetland in Hainan, China – Min Liu – Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Environmental and Geographical Factors Structure Soil Microbial Diversity in New Caledonian Ultramafic Substrates: A Metagenomic Approach – Véronique Gourmelon – PLOS ONE

Plants, microorganisms, and soil temperatures contribute to a decrease in methane fluxes on a drained Arctic floodplain – Min Jung Kwon – Global Change Biology

Comparative Investigation of Bacterial, Fungal, and Archaeal Community Structures in Soils in a Typical Oilfield in Jianghan, China – Zhi-Feng Zhou – Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology

Method: Assessing Bacterial and Fungal Diversity in the Plant Endosphere – Bernd Wemheuer – Methods in Molecular Biology: Metagenomics

Water microbiome

Method: Extraction of Total DNA and RNA from Marine Filter Samples and Generation of a cDNA as Universal Template for Marker Gene Studies – Dominik Schneider – Methods in Molecular Biology: Metagenomics

Method: Construction and Screening of Marine Metagenomic Large Insert Libraries – Nancy Weiland-Bräuer – Methods in Molecular Biology: Metagenomics

Food microbiology

Microbiological Quality and Variability of Natural Microbiota in Croatian Cheese Maturing in Lambskin Sacks – Jadranka Frece – Food Technology and Biotechnology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

MeFiT: merging and filtering tool for illumina paired-end reads for 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing – Hardik I. Parikh – BMC Bioinformatics

Microbes in the news

Podcast (17 min) – Tracking the Daily Rhythms of the Microbiome – Science Friday

ASM delivers “Gift of Knowledge” to Ethiopia with Microbiology Mentoring Program – ASM

Science, publishing, and career
How Trump Could Wage a War on Scientific Expertise. The mechanics of stripping empiricism out of America’s regulatory systems – Ed Yong – The Atlantic

November 25, 2016

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Human multisite microbiome (of dead bodies)

Thesis: Understanding the relationship between the human microbiome and urban decay/recovery among autopsied adults in Detroit, Michigan – Amanda T. Rzotkiewicz – Michigan State University

Human oral microbiome

The autoimmunity–oral microbiome connection – NG Nikitakis – Oral Diseases

Human reproductive and urinary tract microbiome

Potential contribution of the uterine microbiome in the development of endometrial cancer – Marina R. S. Walther-António – Genome Medicine

Proinflammatory Cytokines as Regulators of Vaginal Microbiota – E. A. Kremleva – Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine

Seven Bacteriophages Isolated from the Female Urinary Microbiota – Kema Malkia – Genome Announcements

Human gut microbiome

Altered intestinal microbiota–host mitochondria crosstalk in new onset Crohn’s disease – Walid Mottawea – Scientific Reports

Metagenomics of two severe foodborne outbreaks provides diagnostic signatures and signs of co-infection not attainable by traditional methods – Andrew D. Huang – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Review: Gut Microbiota and Autism: Key Concepts and Findings – Helen T. Din – Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Review: Intestinal Microbiota as an Alternative Therapeutic Target for Epilepsy – Jiaying Wu – Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology

Review: Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A gut microbiota-related disorder? – Yogesh Bhattarai – American Journal of Physiology – Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology

Review: Gut Microbiota, Bacterial Translocation, and Interactions with Diet: Pathophysiological Links between Major Depressive Disorder and Non-Communicable Medical Comorbidities – Slyepchenko A. – Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics

Review: Microbiome, metabolites and host immunity – Maayan Levy – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Animal and in vitro models

* Persistent microbiome alterations modulate the rate of post-dieting weight regain – Christoph A. Thaiss – Nature

Press: Yo-yo weight gain driven by gut bacteria’s ‘memory’ of obesity, says study – Hannah Devlin – The Guardian
Breakthrough in Dieting Science: Gut Bacteria Are Behind Relapsing Obesity – Ido Efrati and Ruth Schuster – Haaretz

Effects of a gut pathobiont in a gnotobiotic mouse model of childhood undernutrition – Vitas E. Wagner – Science Translational Medicine

Antibiotics impair murine hematopoiesis by depleting intestinal microbiota – Kamilla S. Josefsdottir – Blood

Pre- and post-weaning diet alters the faecal metagenome in the cat with differences vitamin and carbohydrate metabolism gene abundances – Wayne Young – Scientific Reports

Mucosa-associated biohydrogenating microbes protect the simulated colon microbiome from stress associated with high concentrations of poly-unsaturated fat – Rosemarie De Weirdt – Environmental Microbiology

Differential fecal microbiota are retained in broiler chicken lines divergently selected for fatness traits – Qiangchuan Hou – Scientific Reports

Evolutionary biologic changes of gut microbiota in an ‘adenoma-carcinoma sequence’ mouse colorectal cancer model induced by 1, 2-Dimethylhydrazine – Teng Sun – Oncotarget

Mini review: All Together Now: Experimental Multispecies Biofilm Model Systems – Chuan Hao Tan – Environmental Microbiology

Animal microbiome

The stable microbiome of inter and sub-tidal anemone species under increasing pCO2 – Erinn M. Muller – Scientific Reports

An Enrichment of CRISPR and Other Defense-Related Features in Marine Sponge-Associated Microbial Metagenomes – Hannes Horn – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Soil Bacterial Community Response to Short-Term Manipulation of the Nitrogen Deposition Form and Dose in a Chinese Fir Plantation in Southern China – Caixia Liu – Water, Air, & Soil Pollution

Microbial community composition but not diversity changes along succession in arctic sand dunes – Anbu Poosakkannu – Environmental Microbiology

Soil-covered strategy for ecological restoration alters the bacterial community structure and predictive energy metabolic functions in mine tailings profiles – Yang Li – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Contrasting effects of two mammalian soil engineers on microbial communities – David J. Eldridge – Austral Ecology

* Habitat-driven variation in mycorrhizal communities in the terrestrial orchid genus Dactylorhiza – Hans Jacquemyn – Scientific Reports

 * Are there keystone mycorrhizal fungi associated to tropical epiphytic orchids? – Stefania Cevallos – Mycorrhiza

Water and extremophile microbiome

Stromatolites from the Aptian Crato Formation, a hypersaline lake system in the Araripe Basin, northeastern Brazil – Lucas Veríssimo Warren – Facies

Diversity, abundance, and possible sources of fecal bacteria in the Yangtze River – Haohao Sun – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Climate-related changes of soil characteristics affect bacterial community composition and function of high altitude and latitude lakes – Carina Rofner – Global Change Biology

Viruses and phages

Ultrastructure and Viral Metagenome of Bacteriophages from an Anaerobic Methane Oxidizing Methylomirabilis Bioreactor Enrichment Culture – Lavinia Gambelli – Frontiers in Microbiology

Seven Bacteriophages Isolated from the Female Urinary Microbiota – Kema Malkia – Genome Announcements

Metabolomics

The role of metabolism (and the microbiome) in defining the clinical efficacy of dietary flavonoids – Aedín Cassidy – The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Alignment-free Transcriptomic and Metatranscriptomic Comparison Using Sequencing Signatures with Variable Length Markov Chains – Weinan Liao – Scientific Reports

Techniques

ITS all right mama: investigating the formation of chimeric sequences in the ITS2 region by DNA metabarcoding analyses of fungal mock communities of different complexities –
Anders Bjørnsgaard Aas – Molecular Ecology Resources

Microbes in the news

Stockholmers’ poop wanted in fight against drug-resistant bacteria – RT

The modern microbiome: Are we undoing evolution? – Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello – ASM Cultures

PhD student finds surprising secret to detecting staph infections earlier – Breanne Grady – USC News

November 24, 2016

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Happy Thanksgiving! My inbox was full of exciting new papers, so here is a digest before I start cooking.

Microbiota and epigenetics, predatory bacteria to control infection, bacteria control water levels in leaves, microbial volatile compounds affect plant growth, the invertebrate virome, and natural products as mediators of disease.

Human respiratory microbiome

Evidence of microbiota dysbiosis in chronic rhinosinusitis – Michael Hoggard – International Journal of Allergy & Rhinology

Human gut microbiome

ABO antigen and secretor statuses are not associated with gut microbiota composition in 1,500 twins – Emily R. Davenport – BMC Genomics

New treatment options for irritable bowel syndrome with predominant diarrhea – Weber, H. Christian – Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity

Animal models

* Diet-Microbiota Interactions Mediate Global Epigenetic Programming in Multiple Host Tissues – Kimberly A. Krautkramer – Molecular Cell

Press: Changes in the diet affect epigenetics via the microbiota – EurekAlert
Gut’s microbial community shown to influence host gene expression – EurekAlert

* Injections of Predatory Bacteria Work Alongside Host Immune Cells to Treat Shigella Infection in Zebrafish Larvae – Alexandra R. Willis – Current Biology

Harnessing the power of predatory bacteria as a ‘living antibiotic’ – Phys.org

Identifying species of symbiont bacteria from the human gut that, alone, can induce intestinal Th17 cells in mice – Tze Guan Tan – PNAS

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

+ Bacteria establish an aqueous living space in plants crucial for virulence – Xiu-Fang Xin – Nature

Press: Bacteria Spread Infection in Plants by Manipulating Water Level in Leaves – Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Plant domestication and the assembly of bacterial and fungal communities associated with strains of the common sunflower, Helianthus annuus – Jonathan W. Leff – New Phytologist

Host species and environmental variation can influence rhizobial community composition
– Holly B. Vuong – Journal of Ecology

* Arabidopsis Responds to Alternaria alternata Volatiles by Triggering Plastid Phosphoglucose Isomerase-Independent Mechanisms – Ángela María Sánchez-López – Plant Physiology
* Volatile compounds emitted by diverse phytopathogenic microorganisms promote plant growth and flowering through cytokinin action – Ángela María Sánchez-López – Plant, Cell & Environment
* Commentary: The methylerythritol 4-phosphate pathway as a metabolic crossroad for microbial and plant volatile organic compounds – Manuel Rodriguez-Concepcion – Plant, Cell & Environment

Press: Compounds produced by phytopathogenic microbes encourage plant growth – EurekAlert

Water and extremophile microbiome

An oligotrophic deep-subsurface community dependent on syntrophy is dominated by sulfur-driven autotrophic denitrifiers – Maggie C. Y. Lau – PNAS

Viruses and phages

* Redefining the invertebrate RNA virosphere – Mang Shi – Nature

World of viruses uncovered. Pioneering study of invertebrates discovers 1,445 viruses including several new families – EurekAlert

Metabolomics

* Review: Natural products as mediators of disease – Neha Garg – Natural Products Reports

Techniques

Genomic sequencing-based mutational enrichment analysis identifies motility genes in a genetically intractable gut microbe – Sena Bae – PNAS

Research highlight: Culturomics: illuminating microbial dark matter – Iain Dickson – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Microbes in the news

Small world: The hot field of the microbiome. Ever since the discovery that bacteria can be good for us, there’s been a race to get into the lab. With Christine Szymanski and Josh Neufeld – Sharon Oosthoek – Maclean’s

Allergies: D-tryptophan explains probiotic characteristics of bacteria – Health Canal

Bacteria-destroying robot could replace antibiotics: Dutch inventer (sic) – Janene Pieters – NLTimes

Molecular chameleons reveal bacterial biofilm – EurekAlert

QIAGEN and CosmosID Launch New Plugin for Metagenomics Analysis – BusinessWire

Milliken recalls carpet cleaning powder on bacteria fears – Reuters

Bik’s non-microbiology Picks

Influence of Pokémon Go on Physical Activity: Study and Implications – Tim Althoff – arXiv

Aspartame may prevent, not promote, weight loss by blocking intestinal enzyme’s activity – EurekAlert