Microbial dysbiosis in familial Crohn’s Disease, probiotic treatment of captive Colorado Toads, microbiome forecasting in the ocean, a new r package for phylogenetic trees, and MacArthur winner Dianne Newman.

General microbiome

Classic Spotlight: 16S rRNA Redefines Microbiology – Igor B. Zhulin – Journal of Bacteriology

Human vaginal microbiome

Microbiome Composition and Function Drives Wound-Healing Impairment in the Female Genital Tract – Alexander S. Zevin – PLOS Pathogens

Human respiratory microbiome

Clinical implications of microbial biofilms in chronic rhinosinusitis and orbital cellulitis – Niranjan Nayak – BMC Ophthalmology

Human gut microbiome

Bacteriome and Mycobiome Interactions Underscore Microbial Dysbiosis in Familial Crohn’s Disease – G. Hoarau – mBio

Prebiotic Effects of Xylooligosaccharides on the Improvement of Microbiota Balance in Human Subjects – Shyh-Hsiang Lin – Gastroenterology Research and Practice

Metformin and the Gut Microbiome in Diabetes – Sridevi Devaraj – Clinical Chemistry

Classic Spotlight: Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Starch Utilization, and the Birth of the Microbiome Era – George A. O’Toole – Journal of Bacteriology

Review: The human microbiome and juvenile idiopathic arthritis – Anouk Verwoerd – Pediatric Rheumatology

Animal experiments

A secreted bacterial peptidoglycan hydrolase enhances tolerance to enteric pathogens – Kavita J. Rangan – Science

Animal microbiome

Probiotic treatment restores protection against lethal fungal infection lost during amphibian captivity – Jordan G. Kueneman – Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Press: Probiotic treatment protects endangered Colorado toads from lethal fungal infection – University of Colorado Boulder

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Microbial nitrification in throughfall of a Japanese cedar associated with archaea from the tree canopy – Keiji Watanabe – Springer Plus

Spatial heterogeneity of physicochemical properties explains differences in microbial composition in arid soils from Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico – Silvia Pajares – PeerJ

Taxonomic resolution is a determinant of biodiversity effects in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities – Haishui Yang – Journal of Ecology

Water microbiome

Integrating biogeochemistry with multiomic sequence information in a model oxygen minimum zone – Stilianos Louca – PNAS

New model could point way to microbiome forecasting in the ocean – Science Daily

Built environment microbiome

Buzz Off! An Evaluation of Ultrasonic Acoustic Vibration for the Disruption of Marine Microorganisms on Sensor Housing Materials – Jonathan S. McQuillan – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

MetaMLST: multi-locus strain-level bacterial typing from metagenomic samples – Moreno Zolfo – Nucleic Acids Resarch

ggtree: an r package for visualization and annotation of phylogenetic trees with their covariates and other associated data – Guangchuang Yu – Methods in Ecology and Evolution

Techniques

This article is not about primer barcodes, but compares 16S rRNA V6 PCR/454 sequencing to V4 PCR/Illumina sequencing:
Choice of molecular barcode will affect species prevalence but not bacterial community composition – Karen Lebret – Marine Genomics

Webinar | Combating the “garbage-in-garbage-out” paradigm: The importance of library prep in next-gen sequencing workflows – Maura Costello – Science

Microbes in the news

Bacteria have sculpted the world we live in, and that’s why MacArthur winner Dianne Newman studies them – Deborah Netburn – LA Times

Book Review: “Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child from an Oversanitized World” provides suggestions for a microbially rich and healthy childhood – Anne Estes – Mostly Microbes

Professionally printed version of Gut Check:The Microbiome Game available for a limited time from MOBIO. See below for a chance to win a free copy! – Anne Estes – Mostly Microbes

New Research Collaboration Explores Microbiome of the Space Station – Astrobiology Magazine

Swarms of magnetic bacteria could be used to deliver drugs to tumors – Science Daily

How do antibiotic-resistant bacteria get into the environment? – Suzanne Young and Valerie Harwood – The Conversation

Using bacteria to clean up oil – Anmar Frangoul – CNBC

Penn: Plant-made Antimicrobial Peptide Targets Dental Plaque and Gum Tissues – Penn News

Bacteria Hysteria

Note: little science here other than a 1997 paper, but lots of promotion for a certain manufacturer of stainless steel coffee mugs. Proceed with caution:
You should be washing your coffee mug way more than you think – Melia Robinson – Business Insider

And this one quotes a study from 1994, which looked at plant-based, not plastic sponges that were deliberately inoculated with pathogens. Proceed with caution:
Loofahs Have More Bacteria Than You Think — In Fact, You Should Probably Throw Yours Out – Lily Feinn – Bustle

Science, publishing, and career

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan announce $3 billion effort aimed at curing disease – Shayla Love – STAT News

With some of my tweets!
A future without women – no female Future Prize nominees – Carla Bleiker – Deutsche Welle