Category Archives: Science – Career – Publishing

August 3, 2015

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Comparing bifidobacterial strains from mom and baby using metagenomics, finding good markers for human fecal matter, the microbiome of a meat processing facility, and a review on community assembly.

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Metagenomics: Exploring vertical transmission of bifidobacteria from mother to child – Christian Milani – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Comparison of sewage and animal fecal microbiomes using oligotyping reveals potential human fecal indicators in multiple taxonomic groups – Jenny C. Fisher – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Nitrogen Cycling Potential of a Grassland Litter Microbial Community – Michaeline B. Nelson – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Water microbiome

Impact of silver nanoparticles on benthic prokaryotes in heavy metal-contaminated estuarine sediments in a tropical environment – B. Antizar-Ladislao – Marine Pollution Bulletin

Built environment and food microbiology

Meat processing plant microbiome and contamination patterns of cold-tolerant bacteria causing food safety and spoilage risks in the manufacture of vacuum-packaged, cooked sausages – Jenni Hultman – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Microbial Ecology

An Economic Framework of Microbial Trade – Joshua Tasoff – PLOS ONE

Review: Historical Contingency in Community Assembly: Integrating Niches, Species Pools, and Priority Effects – Tadashi Fukami – Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics

Microbes in the news

These Bizarre Fungi Resemble Corpse Fingers, UFOs, Tongues – Liz Langley – National Geographic

Alarming survey of NYC subway bacteria gets corrected – CBS News

WHO and Sailing Body Seek Virus Tests in Rio Olympic Venues – Stephen Wade – ABC News

Grocers Are Taking Their Anti-Antibiotic Stance to the High Seas:Costco will buy more farmed salmon from Norway, which is raised with far fewer drugs than Chilean fish. – Willy Blackmore – Take Part

There may be a complex market living in your gut: Researchers apply economic concepts to explore the mysteries of the microbial world – Science Daily

Alum helps ASU microbiology students realize their dreams – Arizona State University

India’s Youngest PG To Do Doctorate In Environmental Microbiology – Tehelka

Bacteria pieces in Royal Jelly: No shot needed, bees vaccinate their babies naturally – Arizona State University

Science, publishing, and career

The silent revolution in peer review – The Loop – Frontiers

Bik’s Picks

Women’s immune system genes operate differently from men’s – Stanford Medicine

Study Shows Plants Exhibit ‘Animal-Like’ Signals Despite Lack Of Nervous System – Rhodi Lee – Tech Times

Florida’s giant snails prove to be a slippery foe: Plant detectives and Sierra, the lab, are on their trail – AFP News

July 31, 2015

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Microbiome antibodies prevented an HIV vaccine from working, effect of antibiotics during rhinosinusitis, microbiome and tuberculosis, how mussels get colonized, and a fruit based nutrient bar’s effect on human metabolism.

Human respiratory microbiome

The Microbiome at the Pulmonary Alveolar Niche: How It Affects the Human Innate Response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis – Alexander J. Adami – Tuberculosis

The effect of antibiotics on the microbiome in acute exacerbations of chronic rhinosinusitis – Mark A. Merkley – International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology

Review: Microbiome influences on allergy in mice and humans – Benjamin J Marsland – Current Opinion in Immunology

Human gut microbiome

Diversion of HIV-1 vaccine-induced immunity by gp41-microbiota cross-reactive antibodies – Wilton B. Williams – Science

Not microbiota, but of interest: Go with the Flow: Regional gastrointestinal transit and pH studied in 215 healthy volunteers using the wireless motility capsule: influence of age, gender, study country and testing protocol – Y. T. Wang – Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Commentary: You Lose Some, You Win Some: Weight Loss Induces Microbiota and Metabolite Shifts – Elisabeth M. Bik – EBioMedicine

Review: The role of the gut microbiota in metabolic health – Aafke W. F. Janssen and Sander Kersten – The FASEB Journal

Microbiome models

MyD88 Adaptor-Dependent Microbial Sensing by Regulatory T Cells Promotes Mucosal Tolerance and Enforces Commensalism – Sen Wang – Immunity

Commentary: A Toolbox for Microbiome Engineering – Mohamed S. Donia – Cell Systems

Animal microbiome

The nasopharyngeal microbiota of feedlot cattle that develop bovine respiratory disease – Devin B. Holman – Veterinary Microbiology

Adapted to change: the rapid development of symbiosis in newly settled, fast-maturing chemosymbiotic mussels in the deep sea – Laming Sven R – Marine Environmental Research

Plant, soil, and root microbiology

Roots from distinct plant developmental stages are capable of rapidly selecting their own microbiome without the influence of environmental and soil edaphic factors – Jun Yuan – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Environmental Filtering of Microbial Communities in Agricultural Soil Shifts with Crop Growth – Sarah K. Hargreaves – PLOS ONE

Interactions between a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium and smoke-derived compounds and their effect on okra growth – Heino B. Papenfus – Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science

Food microbiology

Diversity and dynamics of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in cheese as determined by PCR denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis – Ana Belén Flórez – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Proteomics and metabolomics

A human gut metaproteomic dataset from stool samples pretreated or not by differential centrifugation – Alessandro Tanca – Data in Brief

A multicomponent nutrient bar promotes weight loss and improves dyslipidemia and insulin resistance in the overweight/obese: chronic inflammation blunts these improvements – Joyce C. McCann – The FASEB Journal

Microbes in the news

Gut microbiome may have interfered with experimental HIV vaccines – Rachel Tompa – Fred Hutch

Vacation souvenirs can be crappy, but rarely are they actual crap: Ilana Brito, the Biologist Who Flew to Fiji for Feces – Rachel Becker – Ozy

Science, publishing, and career

Why not have a life? I only stay late if I’m actually doing an experiment – Gary McDowell – Science

Bik’s Picks

Deadly Fungus Could Threaten U.S. Salamanders – Stephanie Pappas – Discover / LiveScience

Plants send out stress signals just like animals, scientists find – Robert Gebelhoff – Washington Post

Vaccine Success Holds Hope For End To Deadly Scourge Of Ebola – Kate Kelland – Huffington Post

The world’s best whiskey is being sent into space for the sake of science – Gabriel Fisher – Quartz

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July 29, 2015

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Pack hunting by soil amoeba, microbiota of meconium and uterus, transcriptomics of oral phages, no differences in antibiotic resistance gene content in organic or regular pigs, and effects of IBD associated microbes on mouse physiology.

General microbiome

Editorial: News Feature: Microbes on the mind – Helen H. Shen – PNAS

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

Note: just one sample was PCR positive: First-Pass Meconium Samples from Healthy Term Vaginally-Delivered Neonates: An Analysis of the Microbiota – Richard Hansen – PLOS ONE

Understanding the Biologic Therapies of Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Synbiotics: Exploring Current Evidence for Use in Premature Infants for the Prevention of Necrotizing Enterocolitis – Asmerom, Mussie – Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing

Human oral microbiome

Transcriptome analysis of bacteriophage communities in periodontal health and disease – Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez – BMC Genomics

Human respiratory microbiome

Paired analysis of the microbiota of surface mucus and whole-tissue specimens in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis – Raymond J.T. Kim – International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology

Human genital microbiome

Characterisation of the human uterine microbiome in non-pregnant women through deep sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene – Hans Verstaelen – PeerJ

Human skin microbiome

Review: Regulation of T cell immunity in atopic dermatitis by microbes: the Yin and Yang of cutaneous inflammation – Tilo Biedermann – Frontiers in Immunology

Human gut microbiome

Ruminococcal cellulosomes: molecular Lego to deconstruct microcrystalline cellulose in human gut – Gurvan Michel – Environmental Microbiology

Influence of galacto-oligosaccharide mixture (B-GOS) on gut microbiota, immune parameters and metabonomics in elderly persons – Jelena Vulevic – British Journal of Nutrition

Review: Microbiome influences on allergy in mice and humans – Benjamin J Marsland – Current Opinion in Immunology

Editorial: Gut microbiota: Microbiota and neuroimmune signalling—Metchnikoff to microglia – John F. Cryan & Timothy G. Dinan

Review: A Survey on the Developmental Intestinal Microbiota Research in China: the history, funding, and frontiers of gut bacteria – Hui Min Chen – Journal of Digestive Diseases

Editorial: Stool microbiome changes in VEGF-TKI-induced diarrhoea – Nature Reviews Urology

Models of microbiome research

Microorganisms linked to inflammatory bowel disease-associated dysbiosis differentially impact host physiology in gnotobiotic mice – Thomas W Hoffmann – ISME Journal

The Role of Curcumin in Modulating Colonic Microbiota During Colitis and Colon Cancer Prevention – Rita-Marie McFadden – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Intestinal microbiota of mice influences resistance to Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia –
Stefanie Gauguet – Infection and Immunity

Oral Administration of P. gingivalis Induces Dysbiosis of Gut Microbiota and Impaired Barrier Function Leading to Dissemination of Enterobacteria to the Liver – Mayuka Nakajima – PLOS ONE

Fecal microbiota transplantation and bacterial consortium transplantation have comparable effects on the re-establishment of mucosal barrier function in mice with intestinal dysbiosis – Ming Li – Frontiers in Microbiology

Symbiotic maple saps minimize disruption of the mice intestinal microbiota after oral antibiotic administration – Riadh Hammami – International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition

Animal microbiome

Characterization of Antibiotic Resistance Gene Abundance and Microbiota Composition in Feces of Organic and Conventional Pigs from Four EU Countries – Lenka Gerzova – PLOS ONE

Symbiotic bacteria enable olive fly larvae to overcome host defences – Michael Ben-Yosef – Royal Society Open Science

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Not sure where to file this one under, but pretty cool: Pack hunting by a common soil amoeba on nematodes – Stefan Geisen – Environmental Microbiology

Anaerobic degradation pathway of the novel chiral insecticide Paichongding and its impact on bacterial communities in soils – Zhiqiang Cai – Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Exploiting topic modeling to boost metagenomic reads binning – Ruichang Zhang – BMC Bioinformatics

Metabolomics and Proteomics

Effects of Dietary Different Doses of Copper and High Fructose Feeding on Rat Fecal Metabolome – Xiaoli Wei – Journal of Proteome Research

Science, publishing, and career

Let’s Make Gender Diversity in Data Science a Priority Right from the Start – Francine D. Berman – PLOS Biology

Microbes in the news

What are ‘eye crusties’ made of? uBiome asking for participants to use their eye kit

Bacteria Hysteria

Germaphobes look away! Your gym bag might contain high levels of bacteria usually found in faeces – Irish Examiner

Bik’s Picks

A Skeleton, a Catholic Relic, and a Mystery About American Origins – Adrienne Lafrance – The Atlantic

The confounding case of the missing carbon – Michael Casey – CBS News

Washington Is Finally Getting What It Deserves As It Sinks Into The Sea – Kate Sheppard – Huffington Post

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July 24, 2015

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A review about small molecules produced by human microbiota, layers of microbial life in Dead Sea sediments, fungus making “hair ice”, exploring deep microbial life in the sea, and bacterial diversity at the North Pole.

Events

3rd Microbiome R&D and Business Collaboration Forum: USA, San Diego, September 10-11, 2015

WAO Symposium on Food Allergy & the Microbiome – 5-6 December 2015, Miami, FL

Microbiome reviews

Small molecules from the human microbiota – Mohamed S. Donia, Michael A. Fischbach – Science

Editorial: Microbiota-induced T cells block allergic inflammation – Yvonne Bordon – Nature Reviews Immunology

Perspective: Promise and pragmatism in clinical microbiome research – Nadim J. Ajami – Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry

Review: The Role of Intestinal Microbiota in Graft versus Host Disease – no authors listed – Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry

Editorial: Protective role of gut microbial SCFAs – Ellen F. Carney – Nature Reviews Nephrology

Human oral microbiome

In vitro work: Low-dose irradiation affects the functional behavior of oral microbiota in the context of mucositis – Barbara WA Vanhoecke – Experimental Biology and Medicine

Human gut microbiome

Agave Inulin Supplementation Affects the Fecal Microbiota of Healthy Adults Participating in a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Trial – Hannah D Holscher – Journal of Nutrition

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Impact of paleoclimate on the distribution of microbial communities in the subsurface sediment of the Dead Sea – C. Thomas – Geobiology

Evidence for biological shaping of hair ice – D. Hofmann – Biogeosciences

Water and extremophile microbiome

Exploring deep microbial life in coal-bearing sediment down to ~2.5 km below the ocean floor – F. Inagaki – Science

Morphological and phylogenetic diversity of thermophilic cyanobacteria in Algerian hot springs – Samia Amarouche-Yala – Extremophiles

Bacterial diversity in snow on North Pole ice floes – Aviaja L. Hauptmann – Extremophiles

Identifying the sources of nitrate contamination of groundwater in an agricultural area (Haean basin, Korea) using isotope and microbial community analyses – Heejung Kim – Science of the Total Environment

Selection Maintains Low Genomic GC Content in Marine SAR11 Lineages – Haiwei Luo – Molecular Biology and Evolution

Built environment microbiome

Microbiological characterization of 3193 French dwellings of Elfe cohort children – S. Rocchi – Science of The Total Environment

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

For plant/animal assemblages, but might be of interest: cati: an R package using functional traits to detect and quantify multi-level community assembly processes – Adrien Taudiere – Ecography

Metabolomics and proteomics

Metaproteomics and metabolomics analyses of chronically petroleum-polluted sites reveal the importance of general anaerobic processes uncoupled with degradation – Rafael Bargiela – Proteomics

Microbes in the news

‘It’s like going to Pluto and seeing McDonald’s: ‘These microbes live more than 2 kilometers below the sea floor off the coast of Japan – Mitch Leslie – Science

It takes a village… to ward off dangerous infections? New microbiome research suggests so – MedicalXpress

Pathogenic microbiome bacteria change shape to adapt to nasopharyngeal environment – American Microbiome Institute

Rotting Fungus Creates Beautiful, Glistening ‘Hair Ice’ – Elizabeth Goldbaum – LiveScience

Not endorsing this one, full of errors and false claims: Discovery of Microbiome “Third Brain” Confirmed by Scientific Research in Japan – BusinessWire

Science, publishing, and career

New life for old bones: inventing ways to apply the DNA sequencing revolution to tissues ravaged by time. – Elizabeth Culotta – Science

Songwriting and science: Pitching songs, however, has taught me a few practical lessons about pitching papers and grant proposals: – C. Neal Stewart Jr. – Science

Bik’s Picks

Comparisons of life-history parameters between free-ranging and captive killer whale (Orcinus orca) populations for application toward species management – Todd R. Robeck – Journal of Mammalogy

Kiwi genome provides insights into evolution of a nocturnal lifestyle – Diana Le Duc – Genome Biology

A medical-toxicological view of tattooing – Peter Laux – The Lancet

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July 17, 2015

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Laser Capture Microdissection of tissue from infants with NEC, skin microbiome from Chinese subjects, paromomycin treatment effects on human gut microbiome.

General human microbiome

Prenatal exposure to systemic antibacterials and overweight and obesity in danish schoolchildren: A prevalence study – A Mor – International Journal of Obesity

Review: Humans as Superorganisms: How Microbes, Viruses, Imprinted Genes, and Other Selfish Entities Shape Our Behavior – Peter Kramer – Perspectives on Psychological Science

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Application of Laser Capture Microdissection and 16S rRNA Gene PCR in the Analysis of Bacteria Colonizing the Intestinal Tissue of Neonates with Necrotizing Enterocolitis – Jingli Yang – The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal

Human oral microbiome

Checkerboard Assay: Advanced Caries Microbiota in Teeth with Irreversible Pulpitis –
Isabela N. Rôças – Journal of Endodontics

Human skin microbiome

Insights into the pan-microbiome: skin microbial communities of Chinese individuals differ from other racial groups – Marcus H. Y. Leung – Scientific Reports

Human gut microbiome

Dynamic changes of the luminal and mucosa-associated gut microbiota during and after antibiotic therapy with paromomycin – Femke-Anouska Heinsen – Gut Microbes

Short-term High Fat Diet Increases Postprandial Trimethylamine-N-Oxide in Humans – Nabil E. Boutagy – Nutrition Research

In Brief/ Editorial: Modifying the gut to treat liver diseases – Cláudio Nunes-Alves – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Review: Talking microbes: when gut bacteria interact with diet and host organs – Patrice D. Cani – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

Review: Metagenomic Surveys of Gut Microbiota – Rahul Shubhra Mandal – Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics

Review: The bilateral responsiveness between intestinal microbes and IgA – Andrew J. Macpherson – Trends in Immunology

Animal and other models

How free of germs is germ-free? Detection of bacterial contamination in a germ free mouse unit – Clinton A Fontaine – Gut Microbes

Microbes & Neurodevelopment – Absence of Microbiota during Early Life Increases Activity-Related Transcriptional Pathways in the Amygdala – Roman M. Stilling – Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

Exoelectrogenic capacity of host microbiota predicts lymphocyte recruitment to the gut – Aaron Conrad Ericsson – Physiological Genomics

Polyphenols-rich fruit in maternal diet modulates inflammatory markers and the gut microbiota and improves colonic expression of ZO-1 in offspring – Carina Almeida Morais – Food Research International

Defined Nutrient Diets Alter Susceptibility to Clostridium difficile Associated Disease in a Murine Model – John H. Moore – PLOS ONE

Soluble Dextrin Fibers Alter Intestinal Microbiota and Reduce Proinflammatory Cytokine Secretion in Male IL-10–Deficient Mice – Rosica Valcheva – The Journal of Nutrition

Kiwifruit fermentation drives positive gut microbial and metabolic changes irrespective of initial microbiota composition – Paul Blatchford – Bioactive Carbohydrates and Dietary Fibre

Animal microbiome

The potential roles of bacterial communities in coral defence: A case study at Talang-talang reef – Felicity W. I. Kuek – Ocean Science Journal

Soil

Land-use system shapes soil bacterial communities in Southeastern Amazon region – Lucas William Mendes – Applied Soil Ecology

Water microbiome

Seasonal progression of microbial communities on the Faroe shelf – Anni Djurhuus – Marine Biology Research

Waste treatment microbiology

Understanding the linkage between elevation and activated sludge bacterial community along a 3600 m elevational gradient in China – Lihua Niu – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Techniques

Back to Basics – The Influence of DNA Extraction and Primer Choice on Phylogenetic Analysis of Activated Sludge Communities – Mads Albertsen – PLOS ONE

Microbial ecology

Interaction networks for identifying coupled molecular processes in microbial communities – Magnus Bosse – BioData Mining

Microbes in the news

10 Ways to Cultivate Good Gut Bacteria and Reduce Depression – Therese Borchard – Everyday Health

Science, publishing, and career

Hundreds sign letter criticizing Science for reinforcing “damaging stereotypes” – Shannon Palus – Retraction Watch

Bik’s Picks

International report confirms: 2014 was Earth’s warmest year on record – NOAA

A second FDA approval frees Theranos to do a blood test outside lab – Roger Parloff – Fortune

Mosquitoes first sniff then attack their host – Dispatch Times

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July 15, 2015

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Microbiome and weight loss with genetic and “simple” obesity, gut microbiome in coffee beetle detoxifies caffeine,  and a plant-fungal-bacterial symbiosis.

Jobs

Tenure Track position Environmental Microbiology at Montana State University- Bozeman

Pregnancy and birth microbiome

Late-Onset Bloodstream Infection and Perturbed Maturation of the Gastrointestinal Microbiota in Premature Infants – Alexander G. Shaw – PLOS ONE

Human skin microbiome

Identification of axillary Staphylococcus sp. involved in the production of the malodorous thioalcohol 3-methyl-3-sufanylhexan-1-ol – Daniel Bawdon – FEMS Microbiology Letters

Human gut microbiome

Dietary modulation of gut microbiota contributes to alleviation of both genetic and simple obesity in children – Chenhong Zhang – EBioMedicine

Stool bacteriomic profiling in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma receiving vascular endothelial growth factor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors – Sumanta K. Pal – Clinical Cancer Research

Proton Pump Inhibitors Alter Specific Taxa in the Human Gastrointestinal Microbiome: A Crossover Trial – Daniel E. Freedberg – Gastroenterology

Review: The bilateral responsiveness between intestinal microbes and IgA – Andrew J. Macpherson – Trends in Immunology

Animal models

Editorial: Medicinal mushroom reduces obesity by modulating microbiota – David Holmes – Nature Reviews Endocrinology

Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum CECT 7765 Reduces Obesity-Associated Inflammation by Restoring the Lymphocyte-Macrophage Balance and Gut Microbiota Structure in High-Fat Diet-Fed Mice – Angela Moya-Pérez – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Gut microbiota mediate caffeine detoxification in the primary insect pest of coffee – Javier A. Ceja-Navarro – Nature Communications

Seasonal and ontogenetic variation of skin microbial communities and relationships to natural disease dynamics in declining amphibians – Ana V. Longo – Royal Society Open Science

Most of the dominant members of amphibian skin bacterial communities can be readily cultured – Jenifer B. Walke – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Effects of Host Phylogeny and Habitats on Gut Microbiomes of Oriental River Prawn (Macrobrachium nipponense) – Tzong-Der Tzeng – PLOS ONE

Potassium permanganate elicits a shift of the external fish microbiome and increases host susceptibility to columnaris disease – Haitham H. Mohammed – Veterinary Research

Microenvironment and Phylogenetic Diversity of Prochloron Inhabiting the Surface of Crustose Didemnid Ascidians – Daniel A. Nielsen – Environmental Microbiology

Deep Characterization of the Microbiomes of Calophya spp. (Hemiptera: Calophyidae) Gall-Inducing Psyllids Reveals the Absence of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria and Three Dominant Endosymbionts – Will A. Overholt – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Review: What’s inside that seed we brew? A new approach to mining the coffee microbiome – Michael Joe Vaughan

A widespread plant-fungal-bacterial symbiosis promotes plant biodiversity, plant nutrition and seedling recruitment – Marcel GA van der Heijden – The ISME Journal

Terroir is a key driver of seed-associated microbial assemblages – Stephanie Klaedtke – Environmental Microbiology

Water microbiome

Enhanced salinities, as a proxy of seawater desalination discharges, impact coastal microbial communities of the eastern Mediterranean Sea – Natalia Belkin – Environmental Microbiology

Top-down and bottom-up control on bacterial diversity in a western Norwegian deep silled fjord – Julia E. Storesund – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Built environment microbiome

Using amplicon sequencing to characterize and monitor bacterial diversity in drinking water distribution systems – Jennifer L. A. Shaw – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Microbes in the news

This Beetle is Ruining Your Coffee With the Help of Bacteria – Ed Yong- National Geographic
Gut microbes enable coffee pest to withstand extremely toxic concentrations of caffeine – Phys.org

Microbiologists Hold the Secrets to Making Perfect Cheese – Sophia Chen – Wired.com

About a study conducted in our lab: Citizen Science: How to be Your Own Research Project – Sally James – Seattle Mag

How To Make Better Health Predictions From Our Gut Microbes – Ed Yong – National Geographic

 

Microbiome Teams Up Against C. diff – Researchers build a mathematical model that can predict whether a mouse will be infected by Clostridium difficile based on the microbes found in its GI tract – Jef Akst – The Scientist

Research Finds Diversifying Your Diet May Make Your Gut Healthier – News Wise

Your Gut and Heart Health Connection – Carra Richling – Huffington Post

Prozac In The Yogurt Aisle: Can ‘Good’ Bacteria Chill Us Out? – Allison Aubrey – NPR

Bacteria could improve cancer detection: University lab is researching cancer utilizing intestinal microbial biomes – Sarah Thamer – MN Daily

Science, publishing, and career

Lifelong learning: Science professors need leadership training – Charles E. Leiserson & Chuck McVinney – Nature

PLOS Ecology Community Needs 2 Community Editors – PLOS

Bik’s Picks

Finally, here are the stunning pictures of Pluto NASA has waited a decade to capture – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post
Alzheimer’s Dementia Pathologies Differ by Race – Nancy A. Melville – Medscape

Oldest sperm ever is discovered in Antarctica, by accident – Will Greenberg – Washington Post

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July 14, 2015

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Antibiotic-induced changes in mouse gut microbiome, the lichen microbiome, and what’s floating in the airplane toilet?

Human respiratory microbiome

Common Cell Shape Evolution of Two Nasopharyngeal Pathogens – Frédéric J. Veyrier – PLOS Genetics

Human gut microbiome

Trimethylamine-N -oxide: A Novel Biomarker for the Identification of Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Aze Wilson – Digestive Diseases and Sciences

Review: Roles of commensal microbiota in pancreas homeostasis and pancreatic pathologies – Camila Leal-Lopes – Journal of Diabetes Research

Animal models of microbiome research

Antibiotic-Induced Alterations of the Murine Gut Microbiota and Subsequent Effects on Colonization Resistance against Clostridium difficile – Alyxandria M. Schubert – mBio

Animal microbiome

The Apis mellifera Filamentous Virus Genome – Laurent Gauthier – Viruses

Concentrations of viable oil-degrading microorganisms are increased in feces from Calanus finmarchicus feeding in petroleum oil dispersions – Ingvild Fladvad Størdal – Marine Pollution Bulletin

Editorial: Microbial symbiosis of marine sessile hosts- diversity and function – Suhelen Egan – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Analyzing the antagonistic potential of the lichen microbiome against pathogens by bridging metagenomic with culture studies – Tomislav Cernava – Frontiers in Microbiology

Indigenous trees restore soil microbial biomass at faster rates than exotic species – Chun Li – Plant and Soil

MSc Thesis: Tree Islands of Fertility Structure Bacterial Community Assembly and Functional Genes Contributing to Ecosystem Processes – Tayte Paul Campbell – Brigham Young University

Rhizosphere microbiome selection by Epichloë endophytes of Festuca arundinacea – Elizabeth Lewis Roberts – Plant and Soil

Responses of soil microbial communities and enzyme activities to nitrogen and phosphorus additions in Chinese fir plantations of subtropical China – W. Y. Dong – Biogeosciences Discussions

Water microbiome

Ubiquitous healthy diatoms in the deep sea confirm deep carbon injection by the biological pump – S. Agusti – Nature Communications

Extremophile microbiome

Characterization of the Bacterial and Sulphate Reducing Community in the Alkaline and Constantly Cold Water of the Closed Kotalahti Mine – Malin Bomberg – Minerals

Co-occurrence patterns in aquatic bacterial communities across changing permafrost landscapes – J. Comte – Biogeosciences Discussions

Built environment and waste microbiome

Meta-genomic analysis of toilet waste from long distance flights; a step towards global surveillance of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance – Thomas Nordahl Petersen- Scientific Reports

Development of antibiotic resistance genes in microbial communities during long-term operation of anaerobic reactors in the treatment of pharmaceutical wastewater – Sevcan Aydin – Water Research

One-Time Addition of Nano-TiO2 Triggers Short-Term Responses in Benthic Bacterial Communities in Artificial Streams – Alexandra Ozaki – Microbial Ecology

Characterization of microbial community structure during continuous anaerobic digestion of straw and cow manure – Li Sun – Microbial Biotechnology

Characterization of the microbial community structure and the physicochemical properties of produced water and seawater from the Hibernia oil production platform – C. William Yeung – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Archaea

The distribution, diversity, and importance of 16S rRNA gene introns in the order Thermoproteales – Zackary J. Jay – Biology Direct

Bioinformatics

Estimating beta diversity for under-sampled communities using the variably weighted Odum dissimilarity index and OTUshuff – Daniel K. Manter – Bioinformatics

Swarm v2: highly-scalable and high-resolution amplicon clustering – Frederic Mahe – PeerJ

Cutting edge: Anatomy of BioJS, an open source community for the life sciences – Guy Yachdav – eLIFE

Metagenomics

Metagenomic insights into strategies of aerobic and anaerobic carbon and nitrogen transformation in boreal lakes – Sari Peura – Scientific Reports

Metabolic networks, proteomics

A Single Host-Derived Glycan Impacts Key Regulatory Nodes of Symbiont Metabolism in a Coevolved Mutualism – Min Pan – mBIO

Extracellular protein analysis of activated sludge and their functions in wastewater treatment plant by shotgun proteomics – Peng Zhang – Scientific Reports

Techniques

Scaffolding of a bacterial genome using MinION nanopore sequencing – E. Karlsson – Scientific Reports

Microbial Ecology

Biodiversity inhibits parasites: Broad evidence for the dilution effect – David J. Civitello – PNAS

Science, publishing, and career

Big Data: Astronomical or Genomical? Projecting to the year 2025, we compared genomics with three other major generators of Big Data: astronomy, YouTube, and Twitter. – Zachary D. Stephens – PLOS Biology

The Outrage Factor – Then and Now: There’s a lot of outrage about outrage storming around women in science and science journalism at the moment. And fear of causing it, too. – Hilda Bastian – PLOS Blogs

Microbes in the news

Aging in Microbes: bacteria are using every trick in the book to get ahead – Josh Mitteldorf

Bik’s Picks

Everything you need to know about Tuesday’s Pluto encounter – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

Introducing the Pentaquark: Physicists Prove a New Particle Exists – Tanya Basu – Time

Neighborhood greenspace and health in a large urban center : higher health perception if you live near trees – Omid Kardan – Scientific Reports
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July 10, 2015

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Hacking B-theta’s genome, oral bacteria recycle nitrate, crustacean hemolymph microbiota, and extracting protist DNA from soil. Happy weekend!

Events

3rd Microbiome R&D and Business Collaboration Forum, San Diego, 10 and 11 September 2015

Jobs

Microbiome and NRI Faculty Scientist – UNC Nutrition Research Institute – North Carolina Research Campus

Human gut microbiome

Significant Differences in Fecal Microbiota are Associated With Various Stages of Glucose Tolerance in African-American Male Veterans – Irina Ciubotaru – Translational Research

Fecal microbiota transplantation restores dysbiosis in patients with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus enterocolitis – Yao Wei – BMC Infectious Diseases

Perspective: Foodomics for personalized nutrition: how far are we? – Karani S Vimaleswaran – Current Opinion in Food Science

Animal models

Programming a Human Commensal Bacterium, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, to Sense and Respond to Stimuli in the Murine Gut Microbiota – Mark Mimee – Cell Systems

The Gut Microbiota Regulates Intestinal CD4 T Cells Expressing RORγt and Controls Metabolic Disease – Lucile Garidou – Cell Metabolism

Got Worms? Perinatal Exposure to Helminths Prevents Persistent Immune Sensitization and Cognitive Dysfunction Induced by Early-Life Infection – Lauren L. Williamson –
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

Dietary saponins from four popular herbal tea exert prebiotic-like effects on gut microbiota in C57BL/6 mice – Lei Chen – Journal of Functional Foods

Physiological recycling of endogenous nitrate by oral bacteria regulates gastric mucus thickness – Joel Petersson – Free Radical Biology and Medicine

Animal microbiome

Exceptionally low daily energy expenditure in the bamboo-eating giant panda – Yonggang Nie – Science

Review: Crustacean hemolymph microbiota: Endemic, tightly controlled, and utilization expectable – Xian-Wei Wang – Molecular Immunology

Food microbiology

Understanding the bacterial communities of hard cheese with blowing defect – Daniela Bassi – Food Microbiology

Biodiversity of refrigerated raw milk microbiota and their enzymatic spoilage potential – Mario von Neubeck – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Metagenomics

FCMM: A comparative metagenomic approach for functional characterization of multiple metagenome samples – Jongin Lee – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Metabolic networks

Thermodynamics and H2 Transfer in a Methanogenic, Syntrophic Community – Joshua J. Hamilton – PLOS Computational Biology

Techniques

Comparison of three DNA extraction methods for recovery of soil protist DNA – Susana S. Santos – Journal of Microbiological Methods

MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for early identification of bacteria grown in blood culture bottles – Jean-Benoît Zabbe – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Assessment of four protocols for rapid bacterial identification from positive blood culture pellets by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (Vitek® MS) – Jean Thomin – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Microbial rRNA:rDNA gene ratios may be unexpectedly low due to extracellular DNA preservation in soils – Glade Dlott – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Microbes in the news

How to Program One of the Gut’s Most Common Microbes – Ed Yong – National Geographic

Researchers develop basic computing elements for bacteria: Sensors, memory switches, and circuits can be encoded in a common gut bacterium – Helen Knight – MIT News

Pow! Bam! Seq! Uncovering the genomic secrets of superpowers – Illumina

TV One, International Gut Microbiome expert Dr Kathy McCoy returns to Malaghan Institute – Live News

Bacteria use DNA replication to time key decision – Phys.org

The Baby-Associated Built Environment (BABE) Microbiome Project – Zac Lewis – MicroBe.net

Microbial Communications and Mosquitoes: Changing the Message – Catherine Arnold – Nature World News

Science, publishing, and career

Controversial piece: Getting noticed is half the battle – Eleftherios P. Diamandis – Science

Book review: The Safety Dance. Book review of: The Ethics Police? The Struggle to Make Human Research Safe – Lainie Friedman Ross – Science

Bik’s Picks

Here’s What it Takes to Study Dolphin Vaginas – Diane Kelly – Throb Gizmodo

Giant Pandas’ Lazy Lifestyle Justified by Science – Laura Geggel – Discovery

With Sonar-Reflecting Leaves, Plant Lures Bats to Poo in it – Ed Yong – National Geographic

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July 9, 2015

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Microbiome in colicky infants, bacterial communities on seaweed, and viral communities in soil.

Events

Altering the Microbiome: Can it Impact Health? Sept 24, 2015. Call for Abstracts- Deadline August 3, 2015

Microbiome of pregnancy and birth

Probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG therapy and microbiological programming in infantile colic: a randomized, controlled trial – Anna Pärtty – Pediatric Research

Human respiratory microbiome
The Lung Microbiome: New Principles for Respiratory Bacteriology in Health and Disease – Robert P. Dickson – PLOS Pathogens

Human gut microbiome

Interactions between the intestinal microbiota and bile-acids in gallstones patients – Nirit Keren – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Continental-scale variation in seaweed host-associated bacterial communities is a function of host condition, not geography – Ezequiel M. Marzinelli – Environmental Microbiology

Ecotoxicological assessment of soil microbial community tolerance to glyphosate – Marco Allegrini – Science of The Total Environment

Dynamics of autochthonous soil viral communities parallels dynamics of host communities under nutrient stimulation – Sharath Srinivasiah – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Water microbiome

Zonation of bacterioplankton communities along aging upwelled water in the northern Benguela upwelling – Benjamin Bergen – Frontiers in Microbiology

Extremophile microbiome

Temporal evolution of bacterial communities associated with the in situ wetland-based remediation of a marine shore porphyry copper tailings deposit – N. Diaby – Science of The Total Environment

 

Bioinformatics

Web Resources for Microbial Data – Qinglan Sun – Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics

The unifrac significance test is sensitive to tree topology – Catherine A. Lozupone – BMC Bioinformatics

Microbes in the news

Researchers discover how bacteria sweet-talk their way into plants – Aarhus University – EurekAlert

Probiotics—for plants: Helpful bacteria promote growth, less fertilizer on crops – Phys.org

Designer microbiome: MIT biologists program common gut bacteria – Eryn Brown – LA Times

Certain species dominate oral microbiome in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome – Healio

Science, publishing, and career

How to fail better (and even succeed!) in the academic job market – Dr. Acclimatrix – Tenure She Wrote

Bik’s Picks

Science reveals how giant pandas survive on a bamboo diet – Karen Kaplan – LA Times

Patients can spot trouble with new dental implants – Lisa Rapaport – Reuters

This jumping, squishy robot looks like a tiny UFO – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post
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July 8, 2015

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Just a short post today. PLOS ONE has a paper about burn victims and gut microbiome, in which both humans as well as mice were studied, but I really disliked the mouse experiments, where mice were deliberately burned (by shaving them and dipping them in near-boiling water). As a scientist, I realize that animal experiments can be useful, but I very much dislike animal studies that involve deliberate burns, enormous tumors, and parabiosis. I hope that these types of experiments can soon be replaced by more animal-friendly versions.

In other news: a bacterium on satellite survived entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. How cool is that?

Human respiratory microbiome

Dysbiosis of upper respiratory tract microbiota in elderly pneumonia patients – Wouter A A de Steenhuijsen Piters – The ISME Journal

Human/animal model gut microbiome

I really dislike the mouse part of this paper: Burn Injury Alters the Intestinal Microbiome and Increases Gut Permeability and Bacterial Translocation – Zachary M. Earley – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Diet shapes the gut microbiome of pigs during nursing and weaning – Steven A. Frese – Microbiome

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Editorial: Symbiosis: Receptive to infection – Sharon R. Long – Nature

Receptor-mediated exopolysaccharide perception controls bacterial infection – Y. Kawaharada – Nature

Water microbiome

Genomics and Ecophysiology of Heterotrophic Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria Isolated from Estuarine Surface Water – Mikkel Bentzon-Tilia – mBio

More microbiology

Eye-like ocelloids are built from different endosymbiotically acquired components –
Gregory S. Gavelis – Nature

Spore-Forming Thermophilic Bacterium within Artificial Meteorite Survives Entry into the Earth’s Atmosphere on FOTON-M4 Satellite Landing Module – Alexander Slobodkin – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the news

Justin and Erica Sonnenburg: The Gut Connection – The Insight

Together bacteria invade antibiotic landscapes – Phys.org

Now You Can Buy Shampoo and Cleanser That Promote the Growth of “Good” Bacteria – L.V. Anderson – Slate

Just How Gross Is It to Leave Your Toothbrush In The Bathroom? – Lindsay Colameo – Allure

Science, publishing, and career

Postdocs will be getting a raise – Justin Kiggins – The Spectroscope
and
Will Obama’s revamp of the overtime rules mean postdocs are paid more? – Drugmonkey

Bik’s Picks

Shark selfies: Shark Files: Baited Cameras to Count World Sharks – Lori Cuthbert – Discovery

Scientists Discover a ‘Complex Cocktail of Many Chemicals’ in Snail Venom That Could Treat Cancer, Pain and Addiction – Liz Klimas – The Blaze

These Plastic Chemicals May Be Just As Dangerous As What They Replace – Justin Worland – Time

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