December 9, 2016

Human oral microbiome

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

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

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

Human skin microbiome

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

Human respiratory microbiome (also Early Life)

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

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

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

Human gut microbiome

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

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

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

Animal experiments

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

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

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

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

Food microbiology

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

Water microbiology

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

Phages and viruses

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

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

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

More microbiology

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

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

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

Microbes in the news

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

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

Antibacterial products may help bacteria beat antibiotics – Bob Holmes

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

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

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

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

December 7, 2016

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

Jobs

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

Human gut microbiome

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

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

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

Animal models

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

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

Animal microbiome

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

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

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

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

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

Water and extremophile microbiome

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pollution microbiology

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

Metagenomics and bioinformatics (viruses too)

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

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

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

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

Techniques

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

Microbial ecology

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

More microbiology

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

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

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

Microbes in the news

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

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

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

Understanding microbiome impact on pig health – National Hog Farmer

Syphilis is coming back – Juha Wahlstedt – Clinical Laboratory Blogspot

December 6, 2016

Pooping in space, lichen symbiosis, snow algae on volcanoes, and metagenome-guided peptide and protein identification.

uBiome Blog

From Lift-Off to Splash-Down: The Scoop on Pooping in Space – Julie Taylor – uBiome

General microbiome

ReviewGetting at the “what” and the “how” in symbiosis – Irene L. G. Newton – Environmental Microbiology Reports

The Evolutionary Value of Helpful Microbes: A Response to Shapira – Allen Rodrigo – Trends in Ecology & Evolution

Animal microbiome

DNA extraction protocols may influence biodiversity detected in the intestinal microbiome: a case study from wild Prussian carp, Carassius gibelio – Elena N. Kashinskaya – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Fungal–algal association patterns in lichen symbiosis linked to macroclimate – Garima Singh – New Phytologist

The missing link in grassland restoration: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculation increases plant diversity and accelerates succession – Liz Koziol – Journal of Applied Ecology

Dominant mycorrhizal association of trees alters carbon and nutrient cycling by selecting for microbial groups with distinct enzyme function – Tanya E. Cheeke – New Phytologists

Depth-dependent influence of different land-use systems on bacterial biogeography – Brent J. Seuradge – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Primary productivity of snow algae communities on stratovolcanoes of the Pacific Northwest – T. L. Hamilton – Geobiology

Pollution microbiology

Microbial diversity in degraded and non-degraded petroleum samples and comparison across oil reservoirs at local and global scales – Isabel Natalia Sierra-Garcia – Extremophiles

Transformation of hexabromocyclododecane in contaminated soil in association with microbial diversity – Thao Thanh Le – Journal of Hazardous Materials

Proteomics

A Graph-Centric Approach for Metagenome-Guided Peptide and Protein Identification in Metaproteomics -Haixu Tang – PLOS Computational Biology

Microbes in the news

Microbes: Our tiny, crucial allies – David R. Montgomery – The Conversation

Do C-sections alter a baby’s microbiome, hurting later health? – Sharon Begley – STAT news

Let there be light! Compact sterilizing pod uses UV light to kill bacteria – Dyllan Furness – Digital Trends

N.H.’s Oyster Bacteria Threat – Valley News

Doctor’s warning: a cat’s bacteria is worse than its bite. ER doctor says bites ‘almost like getting stabbed with a needle’ and infections can develop quickly — David Burke – CBC

Why Do Our Feet Smell Worse in the Winter? – Stephanie Pappas – Live Science

Science, publishing, and career

12 winners: 11 men, 1 woman. Tech Billionaires Award $25 Million in Breakthrough Prizes to Top Scientists – Robert Hackett -Fortune
$25 Million in Breakthrough Prizes Given in Science and Math -Dennis Overbye – New York Times

 

 

December 5, 2016

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

Metagenomic tracking of stool transplant success, circadian oscillations in host transcription, microbial fermentation and chocolate flavors, and a future vision of medicine and microbiome analysis.

Human skin microbiome

16S based microbiome analysis from healthy subjects’ skin swabs stored for different storage periods reveal phylum to genus level changes – Ingeborg Klymiuk – Frontiers in Microbiology

Human gut microbiome

High-resolution tracking of microbial colonization in Fecal Microbiota Transplantation experiments via metagenome-assembled genomes – Sonny TM Lee- bioRxiv

Dialister as a Microbial Marker of Disease Activity in Spondyloarthritis – Raul Y. Tito – Arthritis & Rheumatology

Animal models

* Microbiota Diurnal Rhythmicity Programs Host Transcriptome Oscillations – Christoph A. Thaiss – Cell

Circadian rhythms and the microbiome: Disrupting daily routine of gut microbes can be bad news for whole body – Richard G. “Bugs” Stevens – The Conversation

Impact of the gut microbiota on enhancer accessibility in gut intraepithelial lymphocytes – Nicholas P. Semenkovich – PNAS

Luminal contents from the gut of colicky infants induce visceral hypersensitivity in mice – H. Eutamène – Neurogastroenterology & Motility

Supplementation of oligofructose, but not sucralose, decreases high-fat diet induced body weight gain in mice independent of gustducin-mediated gut hormone release – Sandra Steensels – Molecular Nutrition & Food Research

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Soil microbial communities influence seedling growth of a rare conifer independent of plant–soil feedback – Jessica L. Rigg – Ecology

Reduced snow cover alters root-microbe interactions and decreases nitrification rates in a northern hardwood forest – Patrick O. Sorensen – Ecology

Water microbiome

Grazers structure the bacterial and algal diversity of aquatic metacommunities – Julia Birtel – Ecology

Food microbiology

Influence of Cocoa Hybrids on Volatile Compounds of Fermented Beans, Microbial Diversity during Fermentation and Sensory Characteristics and Acceptance of Chocolates – Igor Magalhães da Veiga Moreira – Journal of Food Quality

Evaluation of Bacterial Contamination Sources in Meat Production Line – Farzaneh Bakhtiary- Journal of Food Quality

Pre- and probiotics

* A future vision of medicineCrystal Ball: A routine check-up at the digital medical centre – Kenneth N. Timmis – Microbial Biotechnology

Microbes in the news

Martha Carlin: A Visionary Citizen Scientist Changing Microbiome and Medical Research – Anne Estes – Mostly Microbes

7 ways The BioCollective Will Accelerate Microbiome Research and Change Medicine – Anne Estes – Mostly Microbes

Young Innovators: Bacteria may hold secret to oilsands remediation – Federica Giannelli – The Star Phoenix

This week in microbiology: TWiM 140: Small town, big science – MicrobeTV
Finding Mars on Earth: Chilean Hot Springs Provide New Clues to a Martian Mystery – Jeffrey Marlow – Discover Magazine

Parkinson’s linked to gut bacteria – Robert Ferris – CNBC

The Army’s looking into putting bacteria into its electronics. Army Research Lab scientists are collaborating with biologists – Ars Technica

Bad Body Odor? Try Putting More Bacteria Under Your Pits – Kyle Frischkorn – GQ

Researchers discover way to make surfaces less vulnerable to disease-causing bacteria – Phys.org

Calculating for the Future: Can Breweries Provide More STEM Jobs for Women? – Bryan Roth – Beer Advocate

November 30, 2016

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 28, 2016

Chronic rhinosinusitis, quantification of vaginal lactobacilli, intestinal nitrogen constraints, the eelgrass microbiome, microbes under lake ice.

Human respiratory microbiome

Classification of Chronic Rhinosinusitis—Working Toward Personalized Diagnosis – Adam S. DeConde – Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America
Bacterial Pathogens and the Microbiome – Thad W. Vickery – Otolaryngologic Clinics of North America

 
Human skin microbiome

Comment on “Skin Microbiome Surveys Are Strongly Influenced by Experimental Design” – Patrick L.J.M. Zeeuwen – Journal of Investigative Dermatology

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

Human vaginal microbiome

A novel real-time PCR assay for highly specific detection and quantification of vaginal lactobacilli – Vladimir V. Demkin – Molecular and Cellular Probes

Human gut microbiome

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

Review: Microbes Dress for Success: Tolerance or Resistance? – Janelle S. Ayres – Trends in Microbiology

* Review: Diet-Microbiome Interactions in Health Are Controlled by Intestinal Nitrogen Source Constraints – Andrew J. Holmes – Cell Metabolism

Animal models

The gut microbiota in young and middle-aged rats showed different responses to chicken protein in their diet – Yingying Zhu – BMC Microbiology

The Drosophila transcriptional network is structured by microbiota – Adam J. Dobson – BMC Genomics

Review: Norovirus Regulation by Host and Microbe – Megan T. Baldridge – Trends in Molecular Medicine

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Global-scale structure of the eelgrass microbiome – Ashkaan K Fahimipour – bioRxiv

Rapid bacteria identification from environmental mining samples using MALDI-TOF MS analysis – Ingrid Regina Avanzi – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Comparative analysis of bacterial diversity in the rhizosphere of tomato by culture-dependent and -independent approaches – Shin Ae Lee – Journal of Microbiology

Soil pH and electrical conductivity are key edaphic factors shaping bacterial communities of greenhouse soils in Korea – Jeong Myeong Kim – Journal of Microbiology

Chemical, organic and bio-fertilizer management practices effect on soil physicochemical property and antagonistic bacteria abundance of a cotton field: Implications for soil biological quality – Rui Li – Soil and Tillage Research

Water and extremophile microbiome

Ecology under lake ice – Stephanie E. Hampton – Ecology Letters

Food microbiology

Dynamics of bacterial communities during manufacture and ripening of traditional Caciocavallo of Castelfranco cheese in relation to cows’ feeding – Marina Giello – Food Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

MetaMIS: a metagenomic microbial interaction simulator based on microbial community profiles – Grace Tzun-Wen Shaw – BMC Bioinformatics

Metabolomics

Metabolomic profile of children with recurrent respiratory infections – Sara Bozzetto – Pharmacological Research

Microbes in the news

Infant Microbiome: Vaginal Delivery Versus C-Section – Jef Akst – The Scientist

I did not get the first part of this title. Michael Pollan didn’t invent microbiome research, he’s a demagogue: Set of 15 bacterial species protects mice from Salmonella as effectively as natural gut microbiota – Doug Powell – Barfblog

Surprise: Probiotics Don’t Do Much At All For Our Gastrointestinal Health – Drew Smith – Forbes

#BacteriaArePlural: Ravenous Bacteria Eats Poop and Produces Power – Rhett Jones – Gizmodo

Gut bacteria study could lead to new Crohn’s treatments, researchers say – CBC News

Hospital Microbiology Testing Market Positive Long-Term Growth Outlook 2016 – 2024 – Digital Journal

Bik’s Non-Microbiology Picks

Researchers discover most winter boots are too slippery to walk safely on icy surfaces – EurekAlert

 

November 26, 2016

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 productsPrimary school bacteria leaves teachers at risk of sickness – TES

November 24, 2016

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

PressCompounds 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

November 23, 2016

Why You Should Probably Be Glad You’re Not a Brown Bear or an Edible Dormouse – Julie Taylor – uBiome blog

“Thankfully, when you have your own microbiome analyzed by uBiome, you’ll be relieved to know that we won’t be sending round a guy in a helicopter with a tranquilizer gun. All you need to do is lightly swab a piece of used toilet paper.”

Human gut microbiome

Efficacy of Sterile Fecal Filtrate Transfer for Treating Patients With Clostridium difficile Infection – Stephan J. Ott – Gastroenterology

Research highlight: Microbiota under pressure – Andrea Aguilar – Nature Reviews Nephrology

Review: Candida albicans cell-type switching and functional plasticity in the mammalian host – Suzanne M. Noble – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Review: Gut Bacteria and Hydrogen Sulfide: The New Old Players in Circulatory System Homeostasis – Lenka Tomasova – MDPI Molecules

Microbiology of nearly sterile sites

Genomes of Gardnerella Strains Reveal an Abundance of Prophages within the Bladder Microbiome – Kema Malki – PLOS ONE

Animal experiments

Eye of the Finch: Characterization of the Ocular Microbiome of House Finches in Relation to Mycoplasmal Conjunctivitis – Courtney A. Thomason – Environmental Microbiology

Composition and diversity of mucosa-associated microbiota along the entire length of the pig gastrointestinal tract; dietary influences – Jennifer Kelly – Environmental Microbiology

Heat Stress Affects Facultative Symbiont-Mediated Protection from a Parasitoid Wasp – Eleanor R. Heyworth – PLOS ONE

Genome-guided design of a defined mouse microbiota that confers colonization resistance against Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium – Sandrine Brugiroux – Nature Microbiology

Assessment of the Fecal Microbiota in Beef Calves – J.S. Weese – Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine

The role of microbiota in compensatory growth of protein-restricted rats – Yizhi Zhu – Microbial Biotechnology

Animal microbiome

Molecular diversity of bacterial endosymbionts associated with dagger nematodes of the genus Xiphinema (Nematoda: Longidoridae) reveals a high degree of phylogenetic congruence with their host – Juan E. Palomares-Rius – Molecular Ecology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Shared and host-specific microbiome diversity and functioning of grapevine and accompanying weed plants – Abdul Samad – Environmental Microbiology

Root isoflavonoids and hairy root transformation influence key bacterial taxa in the soybean rhizosphere – Laura J. White – Environmental Microbiology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Abundant and rare picoeukaryotic sub-communities present contrasting patterns in the epipelagic waters of marginal seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean – Wenxue Wu – Environmental Microbiology

Bringing microbial diversity into focus: high-resolution analysis of iron mats from the Lō‘ihi Seamount – Jarrod J. Scott – Environmental Microbiology

Probing the evolution, ecology and physiology of marine protists using transcriptomics – David A. Caron – Nature Reviews Microbiology

Food microbiology

High-Throughput Sequencing of Viable Microbial Communities in Raw Pork Subjected to a Fast Cooling Process – Chao Yang – Journal of Food Science

Microbes in the news

Set of 12 microbiology postcards – PREORDER – Microbes and Molecules sciart card set featuring bacteria and fungi, gift for scientist – The Vexed Muddler – Etsy.com

Traces of antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been found in polluted city air. Not good – David Nield – ScienceAlert

Why Sprouts Are Especially Good At Harboring Dangerous Bacteria – Sara G. Miller – LiveScience / Huffington Post

Infectious Diseases Keep Delivering Surprises To The U.S. – Katherine Hobson – NPR

UVA Microbiologist Expands His Research Across the Atlantic – University of Virginia

By Wagging its ‘Tail,’ Bacteria Common in CF Lung Infections May Initiate Immune Reaction – Joana Fernandes – Cystic Fibrosis News Today

‘In five years this will be routine’: Map My Gut start-up offers personalised microbiome advice – Annie-Rose Harrison-Dunn – NutraIngredients

Can bacteria in yogurt calm your anxiety? – Jeff Sossamon – Futurity