Category Archives: Techniques

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 30, 2016

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Microbiota-mitochondria crosstalk in Crohn’s Disease, is there a brain microbiome, Akkermansia proteins, Koala retroviruses, New York City park soil microbiomes, gift-giving insects, mud volcanos, 2.5 billion-year-old microbial fossils.

Events

The Gut Institute Microbiome Event in Berkeley, 10/11 December– Gut Institute

General microbiome

Microbial Ecology: Where are we now? – Lisa A. Boughner – Journal of Postdoctoral Research

Human respiratory microbiome

Common Lung Microbiome Identified among Mechanically Ventilated Surgical Patients – Ashley D. Smith – PLOS ONE

Human skin microbiome

Towards a bacterial treatment for armpit malodour – Chris Callewaert – Experimental Dermatology

Review: Establishing Tolerance to Commensal Skin Bacteria: Timing Is Everything – Tiffany C. Scharschmidt – Dermatologic Clinics

Human microbes in (nearly) sterile sites

* Lots of extraction controls in this study, but they were not sequenced, and hard to accept there are thriving bacterial communities in our brain: Brain microbiota disruption within inflammatory demyelinating lesions in multiple sclerosis – W. G. Branton – Scientific Reports

Human gut microbiome

* Altered intestinal microbiota–host mitochondria crosstalk in new onset Crohn’s disease – Walid Mottawea – Nature Communications

Changes in Intestinal Microbiota Following Combination Therapy with Fecal Microbial Transplantation and Antibiotics for Ulcerative Colitis – Dai Ishikawa – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Urinary metabolomics of young Italian autistic children supports abnormal tryptophan and purine metabolism – Federica Gevi – Molecular Autism

Review: Interaction of gut microbiota with bile acid metabolism and its influence on disease states – Christopher Staley – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Animal and in vitro models

* A purified membrane protein from Akkermansia muciniphila or the pasteurized bacterium improves metabolism in obese and diabetic mice – Hubert Plovier – Nature Medicine

Stable Host Gene Expression in the Gut of Adult Drosophila melanogaster with Different Bacterial Mono-Associations – Carolyn Elya – PLOS ONE

Checks and balances – microbiota shifts in immunosuppressed mice – W. Florian Fricke – Transplantation

Dual-specificity phosphatase 6 deficiency regulates gut microbiome and transcriptome response against diet-induced obesity in mice – Jhen-Wei Ruan – Nature Microbiology

Short Chain Fatty Acids Prevent High-fat-diet-induced Obesity in Mice by Regulating G Protein-coupled Receptors and Gut Microbiota – Yuanyuan Lu – Scientific Reports

Effect of antibiotic pre-treatment and pathogen challenge on the intestinal microbiota in mice – Tadasu Iizumi – Gut Pathogens

Fecal microbiota manipulation prevents dysbiosis and alcohol-induced liver injury in mice – Gladys Ferrere – Journal of Hematology

Impact of red meat consumption on the metabolome of rats – Louise M. A. Jakobsen – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-1 deficiency alters the gut microbiome response to western diet – Jethro S Johnson – Journal of Endocrinology

Microbiota induces expression of tumor necrosis factor in postnatal mouse skin – D. V. Yuzhakova – Biochemistry (Moscow)

Animal microbiome

* Phylogenetic diversity of Koala Retrovirus within a Wild Koala Population – K.J. Chappell – Journal of Virology

* Partitioning the effects of mating and nuptial feeding on the microbiome in gift-giving insects – Chad C. Smith – Environmental Microbiology Reports

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

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

* Urban park soil microbiomes are a rich reservoir of natural product biosynthetic diversity – Zachary Charlop-Powers – PNAS

News: Metagenomics Hints at Natural Product Potential of Microbes in New York City Parks – Genome Web
Study: New York City Dirt Rich in Bacteria Related to Medical Treatments – Robert Lee Hotz

* Sulfur-oxidizing bacteria prior to the Great Oxidation Event from the 2.52 Ga Gamohaan Formation of South Africa -Andrew D. Czaja – Geology

Geologist uncovers 2.5 billion-year-old fossils of bacteria that predate the formation of oxygen – Phys.org

Direct evidence for microbial-derived soil organic matter formation and its ecophysiological controls – Cynthia M. Kallenbach – Nature Communications

Evidence for Ecological Flexibility in the Cosmopolitan Genus Curtobacterium – Alexander B. Chase – Frontiers in Microbiology

Molecular phylogeny, diversity, community structure, and plant growth promoting properties of fungal endophytes associated with the corms of saffron plant: An insight into the microbiome of Crocus sativus Linn. – Zahoor Ahmed Wani – Fungal Biology

Host and tissue variation overshadow the response of boreal moss-associated fungal communities to increased nitrogen load – Marie L. Davey – Molecular Ecology

Responses of Methanogenic and Methanotrophic Communities to Elevated Atmospheric CO2 and Temperature in a Paddy Field – Yuan Liu – Frontiers in Microbiology

Microbial community structure of surface sediments from a tropical estuarine environment using next generation sequencing – Lidita Khandeparker – Ecological Indicators

Fungal endophytic communities associated to the phyllosphere of grapevine cultivars under different types of management – Carla Marisa Reis Varanda – Fungal Biology

Shifting patterns of microbial N-metabolism across seasons in upland Alaskan tundra soils – Shawna McMahon – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Disruption of plant-soil-microbial relationships influences plant growth – Daniel P. Keymer – Journal of Ecology

Review: Rhizobial diversity and function in rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) and honeybush (Cyclopia spp.) plants: A review – C. Brink – South African Journal of Botany

Water and extremophile microbiome

Landscape-scale spatial abundance distributions discriminate core from random components of boreal lake bacterioplankton – Juan Pablo Niño-García – Ecology Letters

Diversity and Distribution of Phenol Oxidase Producing Fungi from Soda Lake and Description of Curvularia lonarensis sp. nov. – Rahul Sharma – Frontiers in Microbiology

Hydrocarbon degraders establish at the costs of microbial richness, abundance and keystone taxa after crude oil contamination in permafrost environments – Sizhong Yang – Scientific Reports

* Comparative study of Dushanzi and Baiyanggou mud volcano microbial communities in Junggar Basin in Xinjiang, China – Zhiyong Huang – International Research Journal of Public and Environmental Health

Habitat generalists and specialists in microbial communities across a terrestrial-freshwater gradient – C. Monard – Scientific Reports

Review: Sources of Antibiotics: Hot springs – Girish B. Mahajan – Biochemical Pharmacology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Variability in Metagenomic Count Data and Its Influence on the Identification of Differentially Abundant Genes – Jonsson Viktor – Journal of Computational Biology

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

Techniques

The Oxford Nanopore MinION: delivery of nanopore sequencing to the genomics community – Miten Jain – Genome Biology

Microbes in the news

The “Internet Of Food,” DNA Testing, And The Quest For The Perfect Diet – Fastcompany

Geologist uncovers 2.5 billion-year-old fossils of bacteria that predate the formation of oxygen – Phys.org

Major finding identifies nitrogen as key driver for gut health – Knowridge

Each animal species hosts a unique microbial community and benefits from it – David Salisbury – Vanderbilt University News

In Brazil, prestigious scientific journal “Nature Communications” focuses on Adventist lifestyle – Felipe Lemos – Adventist

Genes, early environment sculpt the gut microbiome – Science Daily

OpenBiome Now Stores Your Stool In Case of C. difficile Infection – Gastroenterology and Endoscopy News

November 26, 2016

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Human reproductive microbiome

Una destinatio, viae diversae: Does exposure to the vaginal microbiota confer health benefits to the infant, and does lack of exposure confer disease risk? – Kjersti Aagaard – EMBO Reports

Review: Female reproductive tract microbiome in gynecological health and problems – Shyamalina Haldar – Journal of Reproductive Health and Medicine

Animal microbiome

Bacterial diversity shift determined by different diets in the gut of the spotted wing fly Drosophila suzukii is primarily reflected on acetic acid bacteria – Violetta Vacchini – Environmental Microbiol Reports

Transcriptomic and proteomic insights into innate immunity and adaptations to a symbiotic lifestyle in the gutless marine worm Olavius algarvensis – Juliane Wippler – BMC Genomics

Microbial communities of lycaenid butterflies do not correlate with larval diet – Melissa Whitaker – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bees: Report on the microbiota of Melipona quadrifasciata affected by a recurrent disease – Sebastián Díaz – Journal of Invertebrate Pathology

Symbiont Diversity of Aphis (Toxoptera) citricidus (Hemiptera: Aphididae) as Influenced by Host Plants – Aline Sartori Guidolin – Microbial Ecology

Sponge Microbiota Are a Reservoir of Functional Antibiotic Resistance Genes – Dennis Versluis – Frontiers in Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Fire modifies the phylogenetic structure of soil bacterial co-occurrence networks – Eduardo Pérez-Valera –  Environmental Microbiology

Integrated Proteomics and Metabolomics Suggests Symbiotic Metabolism and Multimodal Regulation in a Fungal-Endobacterial System – Zhou Li – Environmental Microbiology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Habitat generalists and specialists in microbial communities across a terrestrial-freshwater gradient – C. Monard – Scientific Reports

Hydrocarbon degraders establish at the costs of microbial richness, abundance and keystone taxa after crude oil contamination in permafrost environments – Sizhong Yang – Scientific Reports

Microbial Activity Response to Solar Radiation across Contrasting Environmental Conditions in Salar de Huasco, Northern Chilean Altiplano – Klaudia L. Hernández – Frontiers in Microbiology

Built environment / money microbiome

Dirty Money: A Matter of Bacterial Survival, Adherence, and Toxicity – Frank Vriesekoop – Microorganisms

Metabolomics

Opportunistic Sampling of Roadkill as an Entry Point to Accessing Natural Products Assembled by Bacteria Associated with Non-anthropoidal Mammalian Microbiomes – Jeremy L. Motley – Journal of Natural Products

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.6b00772

Techniques

Note: human contamination in feces samples is usually low (e.g. compared to oral or vaginal samples; not really an issue in my opinion: An Improved Methodology to Overcome Key Issues in Human Fecal Metagenomic DNA Extraction – Jitendra Kumar – Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics

More microbiology

Independent evolution of shape and motility allows evolutionary flexibility in Firmicutes bacteria – Fouad El Baidouri – Nature Ecology & Evolution

Press: Reshaping our ideas of bacterial evolution – Science Daily

Microbes in the news

This paper is not yet available online at Molecular Biology and Evolution, but already some press about it:
A comprehensive tree of prokaryotic life – Science Daily
New insights from the most comprehensive tree of prokaryotic life assembled to date – Phys.org

Bacteria taught to bond carbon and silicon for the first time – Aviva Rutkin – New Scientist

Binge-eating bacteria extract energy from sewage – Science Daily

Video: Good Germs; Bad Germs. Microbes in the kitchen, 14 households, 500 swabs – University of Oxford – YouTube

Bacteria Hysteria

Note: Sponsored by a company specialized in pest control and hygiene products. Primary school bacteria leaves teachers at risk of sickness – TES

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

October 19, 2016

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Blogging from SJC today on my way to Vancouver. Oral microbes correlated with food-triggered migraines, spinal cord injuries, comparison of 8 DNA extraction kits on 3 sample types, mockrobiota.

Jobs and Events

Flying to Vancouver today to give a short talk at DNA Genotek’s Microbiome Breakfast Session at #ASHG2016

Fall Mid-Atlantic Microbiome Meetup (M3) – November 1-2, University of Maryland

Human oral microbiome

Migraines Are Correlated with Higher Levels of Nitrate-, Nitrite-, and Nitric Oxide-Reducing Oral Microbes in the American Gut Project Cohort – Antonio Gonzalez – mSystems

Press: Migraines could be caused by gut bacteria, study suggests – Hannah Devlin – The Guardian
Scientists think they’ve found why chocolates and wine cause migraines for some very unlucky people – Katherine Ellen Foley – Quartz

Human skin microbiome

The skin is a significant but overlooked anatomical reservoir for vector-borne African trypanosomes – Paul Capewell – eLife

Human respiratory microbiome
The Prevalence of Antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Nasal Carriage among Industrial Hog Operation Workers, Community Residents, and Children Living in their Households: North Carolina, USA – Sarah M. Hatcher – Environmental Health Perspectives

Press: Drug-resistant staph bacteria prevalence higher in young children living with hog workers – EurekAlert

Animal models

Gut dysbiosis impairs recovery after spinal cord injury – Kristina A. Kigerl – Journal of Experimental Medicine

Press: Researchers show how spinal cord injury causes profound changes in gut microbiota – News-Medical Net
Gut bacteria can aid recovery from spinal cord injury, study suggests – Science Daily

Techniques

Eight commercial kits, 16 procedures, 3 sample types: Impact of Sample Type and DNA Isolation Procedure on Genomic Inference of Microbiome Composition – Berith E. Knudsen – mSystems

mockrobiota: a Public Resource for Microbiome Bioinformatics Benchmarking – Nicholas A. Bokulich – mSystems

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

An integrated metagenomics pipeline for strain profiling reveals novel patterns of bacterial transmission and biogeography – Stephen Nayfach – Genome Research

Press: From Genome Research: Strain-level profiling yields new insights into mother-infant microbiomes – EurekAlert

The single-species metagenome: subtyping Staphylococcus aureus core genome sequences from shotgun metagenomic data – Sandeep J. Joseph – PeerJ

Microbes in the news

Tapping the Human Gut Microbiome, Part 1: The Next Frontier for Novel Therapeutics – Christian Furlan Freguia – GenEngNews
Tapping the Human Gut Microbiome, Part 2: From the Bottom Up – Christian Furlan Freguia – GenEngNews

The microbiome: Looking at microbes as more than pathogens – Ryan T. Ranallo – Healio

Harnessing The Plant Microbiome For Cleaner, Pesticide-Free Agriculture – Ben Schiller – FastCoexist

Bacteria named in Mighty Taco outbreak; chain denies fault – Food Safety News

Clemson students get bacteria named after them. New strain of Legionella named for students who studied it – Carla Field – Wyff4

Bacteria ‘alarm clock’ may cause repeat infections in patients – Kate Wighton – Imperial.ac.uk

Microbes and Money

Igniting a Microbiome Revolution: Era7 Bioinformatics Syncs with Capital Cell – Erin Hobey – CrowdFundInsider
Igenbio Inc offers metagenome analysis services for clinical and industrial applications – Reuters

October 18, 2016

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Vaginal probiotics, forensic analysis of skin bacteria on fabrics, Wolbachia in nematodes, ivy phyllosphere, microbial life in two polar extremes, how to improve the indoor environment, and mass spec analysis of human habitat molecules.

Pregnancy and early life

Vaginal Probiotic Administration in the Management of Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes – Daskalakis G.J. – Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy

General human microbiome

Review: Health Disparities and the Microbiome – Keisha Findley – Trends in Microbiology

Human respiratory microbiome

Review: Host–Bacterial Crosstalk Determines Staphylococcus aureus Nasal Colonization – Michelle E. Mulcahy – Trends in Microbiology

Human skin and tissue microbiome

Forensic analysis using microbial community between skin bacteria and fabrics – So-Yeon Lee – Toxicology and Environmental Health Sciences

Not a word about extraction controls, so proceed with caution: Bacterial Communities Associated with Atherosclerotic Plaques from Russian Individuals with Atherosclerosis – Elvira E. Ziganshina – PLOS ONE

Human gut microbiome

Construction and Analysis of Functional Networks in the Gut Microbiome of Type 2 Diabetes Patients – Lianshuo Li – Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics

Review: Metabolite and Microbiome Interplay in Cancer Immunotherapy – Caroline H. Johnson – Cancer Research

Review: The gut microbiota and gastrointestinal surgery – Kristina Guyton – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Review: Gut Microbiota and Risk of Developing Celiac Disease – Cenit, Maria C. – Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology

Editorial: What’s in Your GI Microbiome? – Martin H. Floch – Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology

Animal and in vitro models

Study of the Ability of Bifidobacteria of Human Origin to Prevent and Treat Rotavirus Infection Using Colonic Cell and Mouse Models – Mélanie Gagnon – PLOS ONE

Farnesoid X Receptor Signaling Shapes the Gut Microbiota and Controls Hepatic Lipid Metabolism – Limin Zhang – mSystems

A mixture of milk and vegetable lipids in infant formula changes gut digestion, mucosal immunity and microbiota composition in neonatal piglets – Isabelle Le Huërou-Luron – European Journal of Nutrition

An Advanced In Vitro Technology Platform to Study the Mechanism of Action of Prebiotics and Probiotics in the Gastrointestinal Tract – Marzorati, Massimo – Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology

Animal microbiome

Sea lions: Protein and RNA extraction from mucosal swabs: a minimally invasive source of ecological data for studies of natural populations – W Espinosa-de Aquino – Methods in Ecology and Evolution

Mycobacteria in aquarium fish: results of a 3-year survey indicate caution required in handling pet-shop fish – D Kušar – Journal of Fish Diseases

Genomic evidence for plant-parasitic nematodes as the earliest Wolbachia hosts – Amanda M. V. Brown – Scientific Reports

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Disentangling interactions between microbial communities and roots in deep subsoil – Martina I. Gocke – Science of the Total Environment

Reconstructing a hydrogen-driven microbial metabolic network in Opalinus Clay rock – Alexandre Bagnoud – Nature Communications

Diversity and hydrocarbon-degrading potential of epiphytic microbial communities on Platanus x acerifolia leaves in an urban area – Isabella Gandolfi – Environmental Pollution

Response of soil bacterial communities to lead and zinc pollution revealed by Illumina MiSeq sequencing investigation – Xihui Xu – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Impact of urban land use on the bacterial phyllosphere of ivy (Hedera sp.) – Wenke Smets – Atmospheric Environment

Water and extremophile microbiome

Periodic change in coastal microbial community structure associated with submarine groundwater discharge and tidal fluctuation – Eunhee Lee – Limnology and Oceanography

Microbial Community Dynamics in Two Polar Extremes: The Lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys and the West Antarctic Peninsula Marine Ecosystem – Jeff S. Bowman – BioScience

Diversity and physiological and biochemical properties of heterotrophic bacteria isolated from Lake Baikal neuston – A. D. Galach’yants – Microbiology

Phylogenetic and functional prokaryotic diversity in the Hoito-Gol mesothermal mineral spring (Eastern Sayan Mountains, Buryat Republic) – E.S. Kashkak – Microbiology

Metagenomic Insights into Effects of Chemical Pollutants on Microbial Community Composition and Function in Estuarine Sediments Receiving Polluted River Water – Xiao-Ming Lu – Microbial Ecology

Built environment microbiome

How do we make indoor environments and healthcare settings healthier? – Jack A. Gilbert – Microbial Biotechnology

Mass Spectrometry-Based Visualization of Molecules Associated with Human Habitats – Daniel Petras – Analytical Chemistry

Food microbiology

Raw Ready-to-Eat Seafood Safety: Microbiological Quality of the Various Seafood Species Available at Fishery, Hyper, and Online Market – H.W. Kim – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

MIxS-HCR: a MIxS extension defining a minimal information standard for sequence data from environments pertaining to hydrocarbon resources – Nicolas Tsesmetzis – Standards in Genomic Sciences

IMG/M: integrated genome and metagenome comparative data analysis system
I-Min A. Chen – Nucleic Acids Research

Review: The present and future of de novo whole-genome assembly – Jang-il Sohn – Briefings in Bioinformatics

Microbes in the news

Soaking A Bunch Of Toads In Their Own Bacteria Could Save Their Lives – Krista Langlois – Five Thirty Eight

Bacteria Hysteria

Why your office could be making you sick: Keyboards ‘contain 20,000 MORE bacteria than a toilet bowl’– Stephen Matthews – Daily Mail

How to clean and disinfect your keyboard and mouse – Ed Rhee – CNET

Science, publishing, and career

A Tale of Two Women and Their Careers in Science – Anna Katie – YouTube

Promoting Responsible Scientific Research – American Society for Microbiology

October 14, 2016

Posted on by

The pubic hair microbiome, lung transplant virome, IBS microbiome signature, coprolites, antibacterial molecules for babies the Tasmanian Devil pouch, Archaea in Mars simulation, white pudding, functional mapping pipeline,

Human oral microbiome

Clinical, Immune, and Microbiome Traits of Gingivitis and Peri-implant Mucositis – G.P. Schincaglia – Journal of Dental Research

The microbial community shifts of subgingival plaque in patients with generalized aggressive periodontitis following non-surgical periodontal therapy: a pilot study – Jing Hang – Oncotarget

Review: The Autoimmunity-Oral Microbiome Connection – N Nikitakis – Oral Diseases

Human respiratory microbiome

The Perioperative Lung Transplant Virome: Torque Teno Viruses are Elevated in Donor Lungs and Show Divergent Dynamics In Primary Graft Dysfunction – A. A. Abbas – American Journal of Transplantation

Composition and immunological significance of the upper respiratory tract microbiota – L. Patrick Schenck – FEBS Letters

Human skin and hair microbiome

Individualization of pubic hair bacterial communities and the effects of storage time and temperature – Diana W. Williams – Forensic Science International: Genetics

Gram-positive anaerobe cocci (GPAC) are underrepresented in the microbiome of filaggrin-deficient human skin – Patrick L.J.M. Zeeuwen – The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Review: Microbiome in healthy skin, update for dermatologists – B. Dréno – Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology

Human reproductive tract microbiome

Challenging dogma: the endometrium has a microbiome with functional consequences! – Linda C. Giudice – American Journal of Obstetics & Gynecology

Human gut microbiome

Intestinal microbiota in adult patients with Short Bowel Syndrome: Preliminary results from a pilot study – Stefania Boccia – Clinical Nutrition

Identification of an Intestinal Microbiota Signature Associated With Severity of Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Julien Tap – Gastroenterology

The dual role of Escherichia coli in the course of ulcerative colitis – Magdalena Pilarczyk-Zurek – BMC Gastroenterology

Review: The gut microbiota and gastrointestinal surgery – Kristina Guyton – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Review: Dysbiosis in the ICU: Microbiome science coming to the bedside – Georgios D Kitsios – Journal of Critical Care

Review: Parasites, microbiota and metabolic disease – Sonakshi Bhattacharjee – Parasite Immunology

Review: Metabolite and Microbiome Interplay in Cancer Immunotherapy – Caroline H. Johnson – Cancer Research

Review: Human Coprolites as a Source for Paleomicrobiology – Sandra Appelt – Microbiology Spectrum

Animal models

Behavioural and Neurochemical Consequences of Chronic Gut Microbiota Depletion during Adulthood in the Rat – A.E. Hoban – Neuroscience

Changes in the rumen microbiome and metabolites reveal the effect of host genetics on hybrid crosses – Zhipeng Li – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Microbial community mapping in intestinal tract of broiler chicken – Yingping Xiao – Poultry Science

Animal microbiome

Comparative Assessment of Mediterranean Gorgonian-Associated Microbial Communities Reveals Conserved Core and Locally Variant Bacteria – Jeroen A. J. M. van de Water – Microbial Ecology

Cathelicidins in the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) – E. Peel – Scientific Reports

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Ecology of the forest microbiome: Highlights of temperate and boreal ecosystems – S. Uroz – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Forest plant community as a driver of soil biodiversity: experimental evidence from collembolan assemblages through large-scale and long-term removal of oak canopy trees Quercus petraea – Ludovic Henneron – Oikos

Microbiome and Exudates of the Root and Rhizosphere of Brachypodium distachyon, a Model for Wheat – Akitomo Kawasaki – PLOS ONE

Review: Recent Developments in Systems Biology and Metabolic Engineering of Plant–Microbe Interactions – Vishal Kumar – Frontiers in Plant Science

Water microbiome

Microbial eukaryote communities exhibit robust biogeographical patterns along a gradient of Patagonian and Antarctic lakes – M. Romina Schiaffino – Environmental Microbiology

Microbial community diversity and composition varies with habitat characteristics and biofilm function in macrophyte-rich streams – Peter S. Levi – Oikos

Phylotype Dynamics of Bacterial P Utilization Genes in Microbialites and Bacterioplankton of a Monomictic Endorheic Lake – Patricia M. Valdespino-Castillo – Microbial Ecology

Consistent responses of the microbial community structure to organic farming along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River – Wenhui Wang – Scientific Reports

Microbes in space

Survivability and Growth Kinetics of Methanogenic Archaea at various pHs and Pressures: Implications for Deep Subsurface Life on Mars – Navita Sinha – Planetary and Space Science

Food microbiology

The use of 16S rRNA gene metagenetic monitoring of refrigerated food products for understanding the kinetics of microbial subpopulations at different storage temperatures: The example of white pudding – Emilie Cauchie – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Microbial diversity in pitted sweet cherries (Prunus avium L.) as affected by high-hydrostatic pressure treatment – Julia Toledo del Árbol – Food Research International

Built environment microbiology

Bioaerosol assessment in the library of Istanbul University and fungal flora associated with paper deterioration – Duygu Göksay Kadaifciler – Aerobiologia

Techniques / Fungi

Accurate Estimation of Fungal Diversity and Abundance Through Improved Lineage-Specific Primers Optimized for Illumina Amplicon Sequencing – D. Lee Taylor – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Multi-omics integration accurately predicts cellular state in unexplored conditions for Escherichia coli – Minseung Kim – Nature Communications

FMAP: Functional Mapping and Analysis Pipeline for metagenomics and metatranscriptomics studies – Jiwoong Kim – BMC Bioinformatics

A critical evaluation of ecological indices for the comparative analysis of microbial communities based on molecular datasets – Rico Lucas – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Microbes in the news

Extremophiles found in a lake, and this is great news for biotech – Colm Gorey – Silicon Republic

‘I want my teeth back’: Kids infected with jaw-eating bacteria after dental treatment – Katie Mettler – Sacramento Bee

Microbiome biotech joins Peter Thiel’s Breakout Labs project – Fierce Biotech

Science, publishing, and career

Book:  Fungible Life: Experiment in the Asian City of Life – Aihwa Ong – Amazon

October 13, 2016

Posted on by

Ethics and microbiome research, oversimplifying microbiome studies, viruses destroy archaea in the deep seafloor, Clostridium difficile in patients sharing hospital beds.

General microbiome

Perspective: Ethical issues in microbiome research and medicine – Rosamond Rhodes – BMC Medicine

Interview: Science communication: the dangers of oversimplifying microbiome studies – Interview with Lauren Freeman and Saray Ayala – Ben Johnson – NPJ Biofilms Community

Human gut microbiome

Preview: Making It Stick: A Compelling Case for Precision Microbiome Reconstitution – David Berry – Cell Host & Microbe

Preview: A Commensal Protozoan Strikes a Balance in the Gut – P’ng Loke – Cell Host & Microbe

Animal models

Intestinal microbiota could transfer host Gut characteristics from pigs to mice – H. Diao – BMC Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Review: How lichens impact on terrestrial community and ecosystem properties – Johan Asplund – Biological Reviews

Water (and coral) microbiology

Virus-mediated archaeal hecatomb in the deep seafloor – Roberto Danovaro – Science Advances

Press: Deep-Sea Viruses Destroy Archaea. Viruses are responsible for the majority of archaea deaths on the deep ocean floors, scientists show – Ruth Williams – The Scientist

Multifaceted impacts of the stony coral Porites astreoides on picoplankton abundance and community composition – Sean P. McNally – Limnology and Oceanography

Food microbiology

Ultrasound improves chemical reduction of natural contaminant microbiota and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica on strawberries – Denes Kaic Alves do Rosário – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Techniques

Greater than X kb: a quantitative assessment of preservation conditions on genomic DNA quality, and a proposed standard for genome-quality DNA – Daniel G. Mulcahy – PeerJ

Metagenomics

Diverse Intestinal Bacteria Contain Putative Zwitterionic Capsular Polysaccharides with Anti-inflammatory Properties – C. Preston Neff – Cell Host & Microbe

Other microbiology

Division of labour in microorganisms: an evolutionary perspective – Stuart A. West – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Receipt of Antibiotics in Hospitalized Patients and Risk for Clostridium difficile Infection in Subsequent Patients Who Occupy the Same Bed – Daniel E. Freedberg – JAMA

Press: Antibiotics Encourage Spread of C.diff To Subsequent Patients Who Occupy the Same Bed and Haven’t Received Antibiotics: Interview with Daniel Freedberg – Medical Research

Microbes in the news

The Conversation Gut Series:

RI Hospital receives $500,000 CDC grant to research new approach for combating antibiotic resistance. Microbiome research will help prevent ongoing spread of multi-drug resistant bacteria – EurekAlert

Science, publishing, and career

How Are Scientists Using Social Media in the Workplace? – Kimberley Collins – PLOS ONE

5 retractions and a sack for Pfizer lead cancer researcher Min-Jean Yin – Leonid Schneider – For Better Science
Pfizer fires employee, requests five retractions – Alison McCook – Retraction Watch

Bik’s non-microbiology Picks

Genomics is failing on diversity – Alice B. Popejoy & Stephanie M. Fullerton – Nature
The Simons Genome Diversity Project: 300 genomes from 142 diverse populations – Swapan Mallick – Nature