October 17, 2015

Fungal infection in brains of Alzheimer patients (already generating a lot of discussion on Twitter), solving a bloody mess in leeches, crosstalk in sewage cleaning plant roots, stromatolite microbiomes, halophilic viruses, and a new tool called Schmutzi.

General human microbiome

Different Brain Regions are Infected with Fungi in Alzheimer’s Disease – Diana Pisa – Scientific Reports

Human (and dog) oral microbiome

Microbiological Analysis of Anaerobic Bacteria Isolated from Periodontal
Pockets in Cases of Periodontal Disease in Dogs and Humans – Magdalena Gołyńska – Dentistry

Human gut microbiome

Review: Changes seen in gut bacteria content and distribution with obesity: causation or association? – David S. H. Bell – Postgraduate Medicine

Review: Obesity, Diet and the Gut Microbiota – Anthony R. Bird – Current Nutrition Reports

Animal models

Divergent responses of viral and bacterial communities in the gut microbiome to dietary disturbances in mice – Adina Howe – The ISME Journal

Bacterial community response to changes in a tri-trophic cascade during a whole-lake fish manipulation – Jatta Saarenheimo – Ecology

Animal microbiome

Solving a bloody mess: B-vitamin independent metabolic convergence among gammaproteobacterial obligate endosymbionts from blood-feeding arthropods and the leech Haementeria officinalis – Alejandro Manzano-Marín – Genome Biology and Evolution

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Beneficial Bacteria Isolated from Grapevine Inner Tissues Shape Arabidopsis thaliana Roots – Enrico Baldan – PLOS ONE

Relating belowground microbial composition to the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional trait distributions of trees in a tropical forest – Albert Barberán – Ecology Letters

Revealing crosstalk of plant and fungi in the symbiotic roots of sewage-cleaning Eichhornia crassipes using direct de novo metatranscriptomic analysis – Bin Luo – Scientific Reports

Impacts of root symbiotic associations on interspecific variation in sugar exudation rates and rhizosphere microbial communities: a comparison among four plant families – Atushi Okubo – Plant and Soil

Nitrogen fertilization directly affects soil bacterial diversity and indirectly affects bacterial community composition – Jun Zeng – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Influence of Microbial Composition on the Carbon Storage capacity of the Mangrove soil at the land-ocean boundary in the Sundarban Mangrove Ecosystem, India – Subhajit Das – Geomicrobiology Journal

Extremophile microbiome

Analysis of metagenomic data reveals common features of halophilic viral communities across continents – S. Roux – Environmental Microbiology

Characterization of the stromatolite microbiome from Little Darby Island, The Bahamas using predictive and whole shotgun metagenomic analysis – Giorgio Casaburi – Environmental Microbiology

Metagenomic analysis provides insights into functional capacity in a hyperarid desert soil niche community – Surendra Vikram – Environmental Microbiology

Plants impact structure and function of bacterial communities in Arctic soils – Manoj Kumar – Plant and Soil

Novel and Unexpected Microbial Diversity in Acid Mine Drainage in Svalbard (78° N), Revealed by Culture-Independent Approaches – Antonio García-Moyano – Microorganisms

Waste treatment microbiology

Assessment of human virus removal during municipal wastewater treatment in Edmonton, Canada – Yuanyuan Qiu – Journal of Applied Microbiology

The change of microbial community from chlorinated solvent-contaminated groundwater after biostimulation using the metagenome analysis – Chih-Ming Kao – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Pathway Tools version 19.0 update: software for pathway/genome informatics and systems biology – Peter D. Karp – Briefings in Bioinformatics

Jflow: a workflow management system for web applications – Jérôme Mariette – Bioinformatics

Schmutzi: estimation of contamination and endogenous mitochondrial consensus calling for ancient DNA – Gabriel Renaud – Genome Biology

Microbes in the news

Inside the Grim World of the Phytoplasmas ‘Zombie’ Plant Bacteria – Michael Byrne – Motherboard

The Future of Dieting Is Personalized Algorithms Based on Your Gut Bacteria – Melissa Dahl – Huffington Post

From migraine to microbiome, 20 companies to watch at big BIO investor event – Ron Leuty – San Francisco Business Times

Microbial considerations in rosacea treatment: Greater understanding of that demodex mites play may uncover new therapeutic options – Lisette Hilton – Dermatology Times

Science, publishing, and career
Men set their own cites high: Gender and self-citation across fields and over time – Molly M. King
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October 16, 2015

Chronic wound microbiota of almost 3000 patients, two periodontitis papers, biography among Agave microbiotas, and microbial ecology of Antarctic aquatic systems.

Pregnancy and birth

Commentary: Metaproteomic analysis adds a functional glimpse into host–microbe succession in an infant’s GI – Joshua E. Elias – Proteomics

Editorial: Microbiomes – Embracing complexity – Pratik Jagtap – Proteomics

Human oral microbiome

Oral Microbiota, Periodontal Status and Osteoporosis in Postmenopausal Women – Scarlette Hernández-Vigueras – Journal of Periodontology

Relationship between periodontitis-associated subgingival microbiota and clinical inflammation by 16S pyrosequencing – A Camelo-Castillo – Journal of Clinical Periodontology

Plastic teeth that don’t allow bacteria to grow on them3D-Printable Antimicrobial Composite Resins – Jun Yue – Advanced Functional Materials

Human skin microbiome

Analysis of the chronic wound microbiota of 2,963 patients by 16S rDNA pyrosequencing – Randall D. Wolcott – Wound Repair and Regeneration

Human gut microbiome

A Gut Odyssey: The Impact of the Microbiota on Clostridium difficile Spore Formation and Germination – Aimee Shen – PLOS Pathogens

Review: Gut microbiota and obesity – Philippe Gérard – Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences
Animal microbiome

Evaluation of feed grade sodium bisulfate impact on gastrointestinal tract microbiota ecology in broilers via a pyrosequencing platform – Si Hong Park – Poultry Science

Birds: Cecal bacterial communities in wild Japanese rock ptarmigans and captive Svalbard rock ptarmigans – Kazunari Ushida – Journal of Veterinary Medical Science

First Evidence of an Important Organic Matter Trophic Pathway between Temperate Corals and Pelagic Microbial Communities – J. A. Fonvielle – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Plant compartment and biogeography affect microbiome composition in cultivated and native Agave species – Devin Coleman-Derr – New Phytologist

Diversity of Bacterial Communities in a Profile of a Winter Wheat Field: Known and Unknown Members – Aurore Stroobants – Soil Microbiology

Molecular assessment of bacterial community dynamics and functional endpoints during sediment bioaccumulation tests – Noël J. Diepens – Environmental Science & Technology

Letter to the Editor: Plant microbiota: implications for human health – Leena von Hertzen – British Journal of Nutrition

Water microbiome

Impact of multiple anthropogenic stressors on freshwater: how do glyphosate and the invasive mussel Limnoperna fortunei affect microbial communities and water quality? – Haydée Pizarro – Ecotoxicology

Bacterial and protist community changes during a phytoplankton bloom – John K. Pearman – Limnology and Oceanography

Research Highlight: Wired communities – Denise Waldron – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Extremophile microbiome

Review: Microbial ecology of Antarctic aquatic systems – Ricardo Cavicchioli – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Built environment microbiome

Revealing the microbial community structure of clogging materials in dewatering wells differing in physico-chemical parameters in an open-cast mining area – Juanjuan Wang – Water Research

Microbes in the news

Crohn’s disease causes, symptoms, treatments and role of gut bacteria – Rebecca Bowslaugh – Bel Marra Health

Microbial Signatures Predict Post-op Recurrence in Crohn’s – David Wild – GastroEndoNews
Deep-sea corals in the Red Sea: reservoirs of hope – Sedeer El-Showk – Nature Asia

Guest Post — The Emergent Microbiome: A Revolution for the Life Sciences – Part III, Psychobiotics – Jessica Miles and Anthony D. Sabatelli – JD Supra

Researchers find an answer to invasive cheatgrass: Will this native bacteria finally thwart one of the most invasive weeds in North America? – Gloria Dickie – High Country News

Not a great title: 3D printed teeth to keep your mouth free of bacteria – Jacob Aron – New Scientist

Not for the faint of heart: Bacteria of maggots causes fatal septicemia in man – Chris Whitehouse – Outbreak News Today – Refers to this article in Emerging Infectious Diseases

Microbiology and Art

This is the Most Beautiful View of Poo You’re Ever Going to See – Jamie Condliffe – Gizmodo

Science, publishing, and career

How do we define and measure scientific literacy? – Joseph Timpona – Blogs at Plos

Your Data to Explore: An Interview with Anne Wojcicki from 23andMe – Jane Gitschier – PLOS Genetics
After sexual harassment reports, famed astronomer resigns from UC Berkeley – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

Geoff Marcy incident indicative of larger problem – Ellen Simms – The Daily Cal

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October 9, 2015

Microbes and midwives, gut-brain axis, gluten immunopathology, viruses from farm to fork, and handwashing in students.

Pregnancy and birth

Conference abstract: Seeding the infant microbiome: The midwife’s role – Asha McCurley – Women and Birth

Human skin microbiome

Poor hand hygiene by college students linked to more occurrences of infectious diseases, medical visits, and absence from classes – Kayla J. Prater – American Journal of Infection Control

Human gut microbiome

Gut microbiota interacts with brain microstructure and function – José-Manuel Fernandez-Real – The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis: Yeast Species Isolated from Stool Samples of Children with Suspected or Diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorders and In Vitro Susceptibility Against Nystatin and Fluconazole – A. Serda Kantarcioglu

Animal models

Intestinal Microbiota Modulates Gluten-Induced Immunopathology in Humanized Mice – Heather J. Galipeau – American Journal of Pathology

Animal microbiome

Habitat fragmentation is associated to gut microbiota diversity of an endangered primate: implications for conservation – Claudia Barelli – Scientific Reports

Profiling the Succession of Bacterial Communities throughout the Life Stages of a Higher Termite Nasutitermes arborum (Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae) Using 16S rRNA Gene Pyrosequencing – Michel Diouf – PLOS ONE

Built Environment microbiome

Microbial control of dental unit water: Feedback on different disinfection methods experience – Julie Lizon – American Journal of Infection Control

Food microbiology

Review: Fate of Foodborne Viruses in the “Farm to Fork” Chain of Fresh Produce – Dan Li – Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety

Metagenomics

Strain recovery from metagenomes – C Titus Brown – Nature Biotechnology

Science, publishing, and career

Peer Review Resources: tips and suggestions from experienced reviewers as well as externally prepared resources for the beginning peer reviewer – Publons

Funny and informative: So you think you want to run an environmental conservation meeting? Advice on the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that accompany academic conference planning – E. C. M. Parsons – Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences

Microbes in the news

UNC-Chapel Hill researchers reveal type of vaginal bacteria that protects women from HIV – EurekAlert

When Evolution Is Infectious – How “probiotic epidemics” help wildlife—and us—survive – Moises Velasquez-Manoff – Nautilus
It takes a village of bacteria to help frogs fight deadly disease, Virginia Tech researchers say – Augusta Free Press

Dirty hospital equipment causes 11 people to become infected with bacteria that could lead to pneumonia – Daily Mail

Cat poop coffee goes biotech – Nature Biotechnology

Bad times for good bacteria: how modern life has damaged our internal ecosystems – The Conversation

Gut microorganisms cause gluten-induced pathology in mouse model of celiac disease – MedicalXpress

Bacteria Hysteria

Sponsored by Dettol: Most teddy bears are covered in food poisoning bacteria, tests reveal – Plymouth Herald
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October 7, 2015

Human oral microbiome

The Microbiome in Populations with a Low and High Prevalence of Caries – I. Johansson – Journal of Dental Research

Human gut microbiome

Use of the second-generation antipsychotic, risperidone, and secondary weight gain are associated with an altered gut microbiota in children – S. M. Bahr – Translational Psychiatry

Geriatric respondents and non-respondents to probiotic intervention can be differentiated by inherent gut microbiome composition – Suja Senan – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Intestinal microbiota and the innate immune system – a crosstalk in Crohn’s disease pathogenesis – Lea-Maxie Haag – Frontiers in Immunology

Review: The human gut virome: a multifaceted majority – Lesley A. Ogilvie – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: Microbiota and host immune responses: a love-hate relationship –
Sarah Tomkovich – Immunology

Conference report: Gut microbiota and brain function: An evolving field in neuroscience – Jane A. Foster – International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology

Animal microbiome

French invasive Asian tiger mosquito populations harbor reduced bacterial microbiota and genetic diversity compared to Vietnamese autochthonous relatives – G. Minard – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Deterministic processes vary during community assembly for ecologically dissimilar taxa – Jeff R. Powell – Nature Communications

A meta-analysis approach for assessing the diversity and specificity of belowground root and microbial volatiles – Denis Schenkel – Frontiers in Plant Science

Mining the phytomicrobiome to understand how bacterial coinoculations enhance plant growth – Maskit Maymon – Frontiers in Plant Science

Water microbiome

Contribution of cyanobacterial alkane production to the ocean hydrocarbon cycle
David J. Lea-Smith – PNAS

Review: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) for assessment of microbial water quality: current progress, challenges, and future opportunities – BoonFei Tan – Frontiers in Microbiology

Extremophile microbiome

Metagenomic analysis reveals that modern microbialites and polar microbial mats have similar taxonomic and functional potential – Richard Allen White III – Frontiers in Microbiology

Built environment microbiology

Typo in title, some plagiarized text, and poor English but still including here: Metagenomic Human Repiratory Air in a Hospital Environment – Yi Yu Lai – PLOS ONE

Food microbiology

Lactic acid bacterium and yeast microbiotas of sixteen French traditional sourdoughs – Emilie Lhomme – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Waste microbiology

Assessment of Bacterial Community Assembly Patterns and Processes in Pig Manure Slurry – Priyanka Kumari – PLOS ONE

Phages and viruses

Mammalian Host-Versus-Phage immune response determines phage fate in vivo – Katarzyna Hodyra-Stefaniak – Scientific Reports

Microbial Ecology

Review: Microbiomes: unifying animal and plant systems through the lens of community ecology theory – Natalie Christian – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Host-Associated Metagenomics: A Guide to Generating Infectious RNA Viromes
Sarah Temmam – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the news

“revolutionary poop platform”: Biomiic’s Platform Will Give People Microbiome Data From Crap: How Joseph Moon, Koji Yasuda and Soohong Kim are changing genomics Harvard iLab – Bostinno

Get To Know Your Poop Bacteria With This New iPhone App – Stephanie M. Lee – BuzzFeed

Could This Tough Bacteria Survive on Mars? – Irene Klot – Discovery

Bacteria in the world’s oceans produce millions of tonnes of hydrocarbons each year – Phys.org

Archaea: A headline on the front page of the New York Times for November 3, 1977, read “Scientists Discover a Way of Life That Predates Higher Organisms”. – Laura Eme, W. Ford Doolittle – Current Biology

The science of retweets – Science Daily
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October 2, 2015

Human gut microbiome

Mucosa-Associated Faecalibacterium prausnitzii Phylotype Richness Is Reduced in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Mireia Lopez-Siles – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Comparison of Fecal Microbiota in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Neurotypical Siblings in the Simons Simplex Collection – Joshua S. Son – PLOS ONE

Specific members of the predominant gut microbiota predict pouchitis following colectomy and IPAA in UC – Kathleen Machiels – Gut

Review: The Intestinal Microbiome in Bariatric Surgery Patients – Christine M. Peat – European Eating Disorders Review

Human urinary tract microbiome

Incontinence medication response relates to the female urinary microbiota – Krystal J. Thomas-White – International Urogynecology Journal

Animal models

In rats: N-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs) Reverse the Impact of Early-Life Stress on the Gut Microbiota – Matteo M. Pusceddu – PLOS ONE

Table grape consumption reduces adiposity and markers of hepatic lipogenesis and alters gut microbiota in butter fat-fed mice – Jessie Baldwin – The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry

In mice: Metagenomic insights into tetracycline effects on microbial community and antibiotic resistance of mouse gut – Jinbao Yin – Ecotoxicology

Review: Changes to the Intestinal Microbiome With Parenteral Nutrition – Review of a Murine Model and Potential Clinical Implications – Farokh R. Demehri – Nutrition in Clinical Practice

Plant, root, and soil microbiology

Profile Changes in the Soil Microbial Community When Desert Becomes Oasis – Chen-hua Li – PLOS ONE

Water microbiology

The Ocean as a Global Reservoir of Antibiotic Resistance Genes – Stephen M. Hatosy – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Diversity of Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotic Group archaea in freshwater karstic lakes and their segregation between planktonic and sediment habitats – Mireia Fillol – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

DGGE: Bacterial Diversity in Bohai Bay Solar Saltworks, China – Jiaojiao Zhang – Current Microbiology

Techniques

Quantitative Microbial Ecology through Stable Isotope Probing – Bruce A. Hungate – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Bioinformatics

Robust species taxonomy assignment algorithm for 16S rRNA NGS reads: application to oral carcinoma samples – Nezar Noor Al-Hebshi – Journal of Oral Microbiology

Science, publishing, and career

Predatory publishers earned $75 million last year, study finds – John Bohannon – Science

‘Predatory’ open access: a longitudinal study of article volumes and market characteristics – Cenyu Shen and Bo-Christer Björk – BMC Medicine

Ten Simple Rules for Protecting Research Integrity – David M. Shaw, Thomas C. Erren – PLOS Computational Biology

Microbes in the news

How gut health affects cycling performance – Cycling Weekly

Microbial sampling starts in Cherokee Homes – Jordan Peccia – MicroBEnet

Why It Was Easier to Be Skinny in the 1980s – Olga Khazan – The Atlantic

How do we protect ourselves from Martian bacteria? – Anjana Ahuja – World Economic Forum
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September 30, 2015

Gut virome in infants, metabolome of Mediterranean diet, zebrafish gut assembly, antibiotic use and psoriasis risk, Roseobacter proteomics, and MetaPhlAn2.

Pregnancy and birth

The gut virome and bacterial microbiome—the early years – Katrina Ray – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Early life dynamics of the human gut virome and bacterial microbiome in infants
Efrem S Lim – Nature Medicine

Human oral microbiome

Functional biomarkers for chronic periodontitis and insights into the roles of Prevotella nigrescens and Fusobacterium nucleatum; a metatranscriptome analysis – Szymon P Szafrański – NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes

Urease and Dental Plaque Microbial Profiles in Children – Evangelia Morou-Bermudez – PLOS ONE

High prevalence of colonization of oral cavity by respiratory pathogens in frail older patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia – O. Ortega – Neurogastroenterology & Motility

Periodontal-disease-associated biofilm: A reservoir for pathogens of medical importance – Ana Paula Vieira Colombo – Microbial Pathogenesis

Human gut microbiome

High-level adherence to a Mediterranean diet beneficially impacts the gut microbiota and associated metabolome – Francesca De Fillippis – Gut

Review: Clinical and Pathophysiological Consequences of Alterations in the Microbiome in Cirrhosis – Jane Macnaughtan – American Journal of Gastroenterology

Animal models

Ontogenetic Differences in Dietary Fat Influence Microbiota Assembly in the Zebrafish Gut – Sandi Wong – mBio

Antibiotics in neonatal life increase murine susceptibility to experimental psoriasis
Peter Zanvit – Nature Communications

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Plant diversity shapes microbe-rhizosphere effects on P mobilisation from organic matter in soil – Nina Hacker – Ecology Letters

Oily waste containing natural radionuclides: does it cause stimulation or inhibition of soil bacterial community? – Polina Galitskaya – Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science

Plant diversity shapes microbe-rhizosphere effects on P mobilisation from organic matter in soil – Nina Hacker – Ecology Letters

Water microbiome

Proteomics of the Roseobacter clade, a window to the marine microbiology landscape – Joseph A. Christie-Oleza – Proteomics

Extremophile microbiome

Perspective: The discovery of Antarctic RNA viruses: a new game changer – Ricardo Cavicchioli – Molecular Ecology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

MetaPhlAn2 for enhanced metagenomic taxonomic profiling – Duy Tin Truong – Nature Methods

Metabolomics, proteomics

An automated Genomes-to-Natural Products platform (GNP) for the discovery of modular natural products – Chad W. Johnston – Nature Communications

Proteomics of the Roseobacter clade, a window to the marine microbiology landscape – Joseph A. Christie-Oleza – Proteomics

CRISPRs

Multiple mechanisms for CRISPR–Cas inhibition by anti-CRISPR proteins – Joseph Bondy-Denomy – Nature

Review: CRISPR-Cas immunity in prokaryotes – Luciano A. Marraffini – Nature

Microbes in the news

Study Links Skin Microbiome to Infections – Skin Inc

Ancient ‘Superman’ microbe’s ability to withstand damage to its DNA could be key to unlocking cancer cure, Chinese scientists say – Stephen Chen – South China Morning Post

Another Frontier in Microbiome Research: Preterm Birth – Julie A. Jacob – JAMA

Science, publishing, and career

A taxonomy of authorship roles – Credit Casrai

Bik’s Picks

What if everyone lived to 100? – Georgina Peters – London Business School Review

Gene-Edited “Micropigs” to Be Sold as Pets: The institute in Shenzhen, China, that creates the pigs quoted an initial price tag of $1,600 – David Cyranoski – Scientific American / Nature

1500-Year-Old Mosaic Map Found – Rossella Lorenzi – Discovery

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September 25, 2015

A crowd funding project to study mind and microbes, impact of early life gut colonization, microbial aspect to terroir, and khmer sequence analysis.

Crowd funding project: Are our bacteria making us depressed or anxious? – Philip Strandwitz – Experiment.com

Pregnancy and birth

Review: The impact of early life gut colonization on metabolic and obesogenic outcomes: what have animal models shown us? – J. G. Wallace – Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

Human gut microbiome

Chronic Kidney Disease: The Influence of CKD on Colonic Microbial Metabolism – Ruben Poesen – Journal of the American Society of Nephrology

Review: Could the beneficial effects of dietary calcium on obesity and diabetes control be mediated by changes in intestinal microbiota and integrity? – J. M. G. Gomes – British Journal of Nutrition

Animal models

The microbiota shifts the iron sensing of intestinal cells – Jean-Christophe Deschemin – The FASEB Journal

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Trophic network architecture of root-associated bacterial communities determines pathogen invasion and plant health – Zhong Wei – Nature Communications

Regional microbial signatures positively correlate with differential wine phenotypes: evidence for a microbial aspect to terroir – Sarah Knight – Scientific Reports

Methanogenic degradation of lignin-derived monoaromatic compounds by microbial enrichments from rice paddy field soil – Souichiro Kato – Scientific Reports

Food microbiology

A diagnosis of the microbiological quality of dehydrated bee-pollen produced in Brazil
A.A.M. De-Melo – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Waste microbiology

The biotransformation of brewer’s spent grain into biogas by anaerobic microbial communities – Dina V. Malakhova – World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

The khmer software package: enabling efficient nucleotide sequence analysis – Michael R. Crusoe – F1000 research

Microbes in the news

That Stinky Cheese Is a Result of Evolutionary Overdrive – Carl Zimmer – New York Times

Bacteria are making it harder for would-be murderers – Alexandra Petri – Washington Post

Bacteria Hysteria

Note: research sponsored by Dettol: How your child’s teddy could trigger food poisoning: 80% of cuddly toys harbour harmful bacteria – while one in four are contaminated with faeces – Lizzie Parry – Daily Mail

Science, publishing, and career

How science fairs shaped my career – Rachel Yoho – Science

Bik’s Picks

Scientists discover new system for human genome editing – Phys.org

The truth about pigs – Henry Nicholls – BBC

1 1/2-pound baby born to Utah woman on cruise ship beats odds to survive – Lindsey Whitehurst – Associated Press
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September 23, 2015

Animal models

In mice: The outer mucus layer hosts a distinct intestinal microbial niche – Hai Li – Nature Communications

Animal microbiome

Baleen whales host a unique gut microbiome with similarities to both carnivores and herbivores – Jon G. Sanders – Nature Communications

Differences in Bacterial Community Structure in Two Color Morphs of the Hawaiian Reef Coral Montipora capitata – Amanda Shore-Maggio – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Macaque feces: Non-random patterns in viral diversity – Simon J. Anthony – Nature Communications

Stable Associations Masked by Temporal Variability in the Marine Copepod Microbiome – Pia H. Moisander – PLOS ONE

Bacterial Diversity and Community Structure in the Pine Wood Nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and B. mucronatus with Different Virulence by High-Throughput Sequencing of the 16S rDNA – Yang Xiang – PLOS ONE

Survey of Ixodes pacificus Ticks in California Reveals a Diversity of Microorganisms and a Novel and Widespread Anaplasmataceae Species – Mark W. Eshoo – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Plant diversity drives soil microbial biomass carbon in grasslands irrespective of global environmental change factors – Madhav Prakash Thakur – Global Change Biology

Trait-based partner selection drives mycorrhizal network assembly – Pierre-Luc Chagnon – Oikos

Antifungal Rhizosphere Bacteria Can increase as Response to the Presence of Saprotrophic Fungi – Wietse de Boer – PLOS ONE

Exometabolite niche partitioning among sympatric soil bacteria – Richard Baran – Nature Communications

Water microbiome

The dynamical landscape of marine phytoplankton diversity – Marina Lévy – Journal of the Royal Society/Interface

Bioinformatics

PhyloMeasures: a package for computing phylogenetic biodiversity measures and their statistical moments – Constantinos Tsirogiannis and Brody Sandel – Ecography

RAMBO-K: Rapid and Sensitive Removal of Background Sequences from Next Generation Sequencing Data – Simon H. Tausch – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the news

You Produce a Microbial Cloud That Can Act Like an Invisible Fingerprint – Brian Handwerk – Smithsonian

Baleen Whale Shares Gut Microbiome Features with Land Herbivores, Carnivores – Genome Web

Bacteria Turns Santa Barbara Bird Refuge Pink – Alys Martinez – KEYT.com

Microbiome Diversity Affects Chemotherapy-Related Infection – Kate Johnson – Medscape

NASA’s Human Research Program studies how Microbes interact with Astronauts during Spaceflight – Amy Blanchett and Laurie Abadie – NASA

Stanford team re-engineers virus to deliver therapies to cells – Tom Abate – Stanford News

Science, publishing, and career

Four Proposals to Help Improve the Medical Research Literature – David Moher , Douglas G. Altman – PLOS Medicine

Gender contributes to personal research funding success in The Netherlands – Romy van der Lee and Naomi Ellemers – PNAS

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September 22, 2015

Effect of hookworm infection on microbiome of celiac subjects, neutrophil ageing, altering the bone niche, and a personal microbial cloud.

Pregnancy and birth

Influence of a combination of probiotics on bacterial infections in very low birthweight newborns – Zlatka Kanic – Wiener klinische Wochenschrift

Microbiome of death

High-throughput nucleotide sequence analysis of diverse bacterial communities in leachates of decomposing pig carcasses – Seung Hak Yang – Genetics and Molecular Biology

Human respiratory tract microbiome

Investigation of bacterial repopulation after sinus surgery and perioperative antibiotics – Leah J. Hauser – International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology

Human oral microbiome

Comparison of Subgingival and Peri-implant Microbiome in Chronic Periodontitis – Zhang, Qian – Chinese Journal of Dental Research

The novel association between red complex of oral microbe and body mass index in healthy Japanese: a population based cross-sectional study – Kanae Matsushita – Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition

Human gut microbiome

The relationship between faecal-associated and mucosal-associated microbiota in irritable bowel syndrome patients and healthy subjects – I. Rangel – Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Experimental hookworm infection and escalating gluten challenges are associated with increased microbial richness in celiac subjects – Paul Giacomin – Scientific Reports

Effect of administering a multi-species probiotic mixture on the changes in fecal microbiota and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial – Hyuk Yoon – Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition

Review: Improving healthspan via changes in gut microbiota and fermentation – Michael J. Keenan – AGE

Review: Gastric Microbiota – Gianluca Ianiro – Helicobacter

Thesis: High-resolution analysis of the human intestinal microbiota stability landscape – Tineka Blake – Aalto University

Animal models

An integrated metabonomics and microbiology analysis of host-microbiota metabolic interactions in rats with Coptis chinensis-induced diarrhea – Yemeng Li – RCS Advances

Microbiota from Obese Mice Regulate Hematopoietic Stem Cell Differentiation by Altering the Bone Niche – Yubin Luo – Cell Metabolism

The levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system is associated with delayed endocervical clearance of Chlamydia trachomatis without alterations in vaginal microbiota – E.R. Liechty – Pathogens and Disease

Goldfish: Correlations of Gut Microbial Community Shift with Hepatic Damages and Growth Inhibition of Carassius auratus Induced by Pentachlorophenol Exposure – Haifeng Kan – Environmental Science & Technology

Neutrophil ageing is regulated by the microbiome – Dachuan Zhang – Nature

Animal microbiome

Diversity analysis of diazotrophs associated with corals from Xisha and Sanya, South China Sea – Qingsong Yang – Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management

Characterization of the Skin Microbiota in Italian Stream Frogs (Rana italica) Infected and Uninfected by a Cutaneous Parasitic Disease – Ermanno Federici – Microbes and Environments

Microbial diversity and activity in the Nematostella vectensis holobiont: insights from 16S rRNA gene sequencing, isolate genomes, and a pilot-scale survey of gene expression
Jia Y. Har – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Endophytic bacterial communities associated with two explant sources of Eucalyptus benthamii Maiden & Cambage – Natalia Pimentel Esposito-Polesi – World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Endospores, prokaryotes, and microbial indicators in arable soils from three long-term experiments – Paulina Tamez-Hidalgo – Biology and Fertility of Soils

Namib Desert dune/interdune transects exhibit habitat-specific edaphic bacterial communities – Sandra Ronca – Frontiers in Microbiology

Responses of aromatic-degrading microbial communities to elevated nitrate in sediments
Meiying Xu – Environmental Science & Technology

Climate change and physical disturbance cause similar community shifts in biological soil crusts – Scott Ferrenberg – PNAS

Water / Extremophile microbiome

Patchy-distributed ciliate (Protozoa) diversity of eight polar communities as determined by 454 amplicon pyrosequencing – Jae-Ho Jung – Animal Cells and Systems

Protist communities in a marine oxygen minimum zone off Costa Rica by 454 pyrosequencing – H. Jing – Biogeosciences Discussions

Built environment microbiome

Humans differ in their personal microbial cloud – James F. Meadow – PeerJ

Waste microbiology

Relationship between bacterial diversity and environmental parameters during composting of different raw materials – Xueqin Wang – Bioresource Technology

The sociality of bioremediation: Hijacking the social lives of microbial populations to clean up heavy metal contamination – Siobhan O’Brien, Angus Buckling – EMBO Reports

Culturing oil sands microbes as mixed species communities enhances ex situ model naphthenic acid degradation – Marc A. Demeter – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial Ecology

Predicting microbial traits with phylogenies – Marta Goberna and Miguel Verdú – The ISME Journal

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Metagenomic reconstructions of bacterial CRISPR loci constrain population histories – Christine L Sun – The ISME Journal

CCLasso: correlation inference for compositional data through Lasso – Huaying Fang – Bioinformatics

Computational methodology for predicting the landscape of the human–microbial interactome region level influence – Edgar D. Coelho – Journal of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

Techniques

Targeted single molecule mutation detection with massively parallel sequencing – Mark T. Gregory – Nucleic Acids Research

Micelle PCR reduces chimera formation in 16S rRNA profiling of complex microbial DNA mixtures – Stefan A. Boers – Scientific Reports

Virome Capture Sequencing Enables Sensitive Viral Diagnosis and Comprehensive Virome Analysis – Thomas Briese – mBio

Microbes in the news

Wherever You Go, Your Personal Cloud Of Microbes Follows – Rob Stein – NPR

Former CEO knew about contamination, wrote “Just ship it”: 28 years for salmonella: Peanut exec gets groundbreaking sentence – Moni Basu – CNN

UGA microbiology researchers identify potential mechanism for neurodegenerative diseases – News Medical

Researchers find novel signature in the brains of children with cerebral malaria – EurekAlert

Science, publishing, and career

About annoying invitations to write papers in questionable journals and strategies how to handle those: You are invited to submit… – David Moher and Anubhav Srivastava – BMC Medicine

Bik’s Picks

8 trillion microbeads pollute U.S. aquatic habitats daily – Jareen Imam – CNN

Science Says This Is the Sound Giraffes Make – Alexandra Sifferlin – Time

I Am the Walrus: What 35,000 Walruses Tell Us About Our Future in Warming World – Miyoko Sakashita – Huffington Post

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September 12, 2015

Human gut microbiome reshaping by antibiotics, human gut microbiome and  blood lipids, periodontal disease in dogs, and microbial diversity in the presence of sequencing errors.

Human skin microbiome

Very small and not quite original study: Microbial Forensic Analysis of Bacterial Fingerprint by Sequence Comparison of 16S rRNA Gene – So-Yeon Lee – Forensic Research

Human gut microbioma

The initial state of the human gut microbiome determines its reshaping by antibiotics – Frédéric Raymond – The ISME Journal

The Gut Microbiome Contributes to a Substantial Proportion of the Variation in Blood Lipids – Jingyaun Fu – Circulation Research

Microbiome and Potential Targets for Chemoprevention of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma – Antonio Galvao Neto, M – Seminars in Oncology

Review: Gut Microbiome and the Development of Food Allergy and Allergic Disease – Benjamin T. Prince – Pediatrics Clinics of North America

Review: The Microbiome and Its Potential as a Cancer Preventive Intervention
Scott J. Bultman – Seminars in Oncology

Animal microbiome

A longitudinal assessment of changes in bacterial community composition associated with the development of periodontal disease in dogs – Corrin Wallis- Veterinary Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Microbiote shift in the Medicago sativa rhizosphere in response to cyanotoxins extract exposure – Fatima El Khalloufi – Science of the Total Environment

Bacterial endophytes of sweet potato tuberous roots affected by the plant genotype and growth stage – Joana Montezano Marques – Applied Soil Ecology

Impact of grazing abandonment on plant and soil microbial communities in an Atlantic mountain grassland – A. Aldezabal – Applied Soil Ecology

Phyllosphere and carposphere bacterial communities in olive plants subjected to different cultural practices – Silvia Pascazio

Maize biochar addition rate influences soil enzyme activity and microbial community composition in a fluvo-aquic soil – Xiubin Wang – Applied Soil Ecology

Water microbiome

Microscopy- or DNA-based analyses: Which methodology gives a truer picture of stream-dwelling decomposer fungal diversity? – Isabel Fernandes – Fungal Ecology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Ten Simple Rules for a Computational Biologist’s Laboratory Notebook – Santiago Schnell – PLOS Computational Biology

Estimating and comparing microbial diversity in the presence of sequencing errors – Chun-Huo Chiu, Anne Chao – PeerJ Preprint

Poster abstract: How to design an efficient and robust pipeline for 16S rRNA-gene sequence analysis to improve our understanding on microbial communities? – Lucas Auer – Journées Ouvertes Biologie Informatique Mathématiques

Techniques

Another blast from the past: Simple fools guide to PCR v1 – Jonathan Eisen – Microbenet

Microbes in the news

Link between microbiota 
and piglet performance – All About Feed

Researchers compare the gut viromes of Malawian children with severe acute malnutrition – Christopher Packham – Medical Xpress

Keeping gut bacteria in balance could help delay age-related diseases, study finds – Stuart Wolpert – Medical Xpress

Gut Microbes Associated With HDL, Triglycerides, and BMI – Becky McCall – MedScape

How Bacteria Control Your Cholesterol – Alice Park – Time

Why You Should Not Wear Contact Lenses – Health Impact News

Science, publishing, and career

Eva Harris: making science democratic, and sustainable – The Lancet

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