January 29, 2016

Prescription drugs and microbiome analyses, antimicrobial targets in sarcoidosis granulomas, host-microbiota interactions in antibiotic-associated diseases, and iridescence in self-organizing biofilms.

General microbiome

Perspective: Prescription drugs obscure microbiome analyses – Suzanne Devkota – Science

Review: The role of microbiota in cancer therapy – Ernesto Perez-Chanona – Current Opinion in Immunology

Human respiratory microbiome

COPD and the microbiome – Manoj J. Mammen – Respirology

Molecular Analysis of Sarcoidosis Granulomas Reveals Antimicrobial Targets – Joseph E Rotsinger – American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology

Human skin microbiome

Review: The microbiome and atopic eczema: More than skin deep – Charlotte L Thomas – Australasian Journal of Dermatology

Human gut microbiome

Gut microbiota and allergic disease in children – Sarah L. Bridgman – Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

Effects of enteral polymeric diet on gut microbiota in children with Crohn’s disease – Chloé Guinet-Charpentier – Gut

Review: Effect of antibiotics on gut microbiota, glucose metabolism and bodyweight regulation – a review of the literature – Kristian Hallundbæk Mikkelsen – Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism

Animal models

Effects of dispersal limitation in the face of intense selection via dietary intervention on the faecal microbiota of rats – Heli J. Barron Pastor – Environmental Microbiology Reports

Fecal dysbiosis in miniature dachshunds with inflammatory colorectal polyps
Hirotaka Igarashi – Research in Veterinary Science

Dietary antigens limit mucosal immunity by inducing regulatory T cells in the small intestine – Kwang Soon Kim – Science

Translocation of microbes and changes of immunocytes in the gut of rapid- and slow-progressor Chinese rhesus macaques infected with SIVmac239 – Lin-Tao Zhang – Immunology

From the Sonnenburg lab: Host-Microbiota Interactions in the Pathogenesis of Antibiotic-Associated Diseases – Joshua S. Lichtman – Cell Reports

Effect of Antimicrobial Consumption and Production Type on Antibacterial Resistance in the Bovine Respiratory and Digestive Tract – Boudewijn Catry – PLOS ONE

Animal microbiome

Symbiotic Bacteria in Gills and Guts of Chinese Mitten Crab (Eriocheir sinensis) Differ from the Free-Living Bacteria in Water – Meiling Zhang – PLOS ONE

Earthworm: Isolation, identification, and characterization of gut microflora of Perionyx excavatus collected from Midnapore, West Bengal – Tanushree Tulsian Samanta – Journal of Basic Microbiology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Genomic reconstruction of a novel, deeply branched sediment archaeal phylum with pathways for acetogenesis and sulfur reduction – Kiley W Seitz – The ISME Journal

Not a good paper (poor figures and language problems – see my comments on PubPeer), about carnivorous plantMicrobiome and Biocatalytic Bacteria in Monkey Cup (Nepenthes Pitcher) Digestive Fluid – Xin-Yue Chan – Scientific Reports

Microbial diversity drives multifunctionality in terrestrial ecosystems – Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo – Nature Communications

Various fungal communities colonise the functional wood tissues of old grapevines externally free from grapevine trunk disease symptoms – E. Bruez – Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi regulate soil respiration and its response to precipitation change in a semiarid steppe – Bingwei Zhang – Scientific Reports

Sewage sludge addition modifies soil microbial communities and plant performance depending on the sludge stabilization process – Eva Lloret – Applied Soil Ecology

Review: Engineering the Rhizosphere – Yves Dessaux – Trends in Plant Science

Water and extremophile microbiome

Bacterial diversity in the surface sediments of the hypoxic zone near the Changjiang Estuary and in the East China Sea – Qi Ye – Microbiology Open

Ecological succession reveals potential signatures of marine–terrestrial transition in salt marsh fungal communities – Francisco Dini-Andreote – The ISME Journal

Profiling microbial community in a watershed heavily contaminated by an active antimony (Sb) mine in Southwest China – Weimin Sun – Science of The Total Environment

More microbiology

A unique self-organization of bacterial sub-communities creates iridescence in Cellulophaga lytica colony biofilms – Betty Kientz – Scientific Reports

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Ten Simple Rules for a Bioinformatics Journal Club – Andrew Lonsdale – PLOS Computational Biology

NINJA-OPS: Fast Accurate Marker Gene Alignment Using Concatenated Ribosomes – Gabriel A. Al-Ghalith – PLOS Computational Biology

Microbes in the news

Stop pooping! You’re killing sentient beings! – PZ Myers – Pharyngula

ASM’s Commitment to Interdisciplinary Microbiome Research – American Society for Microbiology

Fermentation Farm wants you to eat better bacteria – Kathleen Luppi – LA Times

This bacteria can live for years in distilled water, and causes abscess, seizures and death: Melioidosis / Burkholderia pseudomallei – Jacinta Bowler – Science Alert

Science, publishing, and career

How to read a scientific paper – Adam Ruben – Science

High rejection rates by journals ‘pointless’– Analysis suggests higher selectivity fails to increase journals’ impact factors – David Matthews – Times Higher Education

How to stop the sexual harassment of women in science: reboot the system – Zuleyka Zevallow – The Conversation

Bik’s Picks

Arthropods of the great indoors: characterizing diversity inside urban and suburban homes – Matthew A Bertone

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January 28, 2016

Events

2016 Mo Bio Microbiome Awards: provides young, extraordinary scientists with funding and recognition to carry out scientific work in the field of Microbiome research – Deadline May 31, 2016

Live streaming now: Women in Science Summit 2016 #SciWomen16 hosted by the California Academy of Sciences

Human gut microbiome

Metagenomic Approach for Identification of the Pathogens Associated with Diarrhea in Stool Specimens – Yanjiao Zhou – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Review: Gut microbiota and allergic disease in children – Sarah L. Bridgman – Annals of the Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

Animal models of microbiome research

The microenvironment of injured murine gut elicits a local pro-restitutive microbiota – Ashfaqul Alam – Nature Microbiology

Editorial: Host response: Microbiota prime antiviral response – Julie K. Pfeiffer – Nature Microbiology

Editorial: Winning the Microbial Battle, but Not the War – Hiutung Chu – Cell

Animal microbiome

Apibacter mensalis sp. nov.: a rare member of the bumble bee gut microbiota – Jessy Praet – International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Diversity and Biogeography of Bathyal and Abyssal Seafloor Bacteria – Christina Bienhold – PLOS ONE

Built environment microbiome

Comparison of Two Culture Methods for Use in Assessing Microbial Contamination of Duodenoscopes – Michaela A. Gazdik – Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Waste microbiology

Microwave and ultrasound pre-treatments influence microbial community structure and digester performance in anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge – Maria Westerholm – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Effects of copper particles on a model septic system’s function and microbial community – Alicia A. Taylor – Water Research

Microbes in the news

Poop espionage: Stalin ‘used secret laboratory to analyse Mao’s excrement’– Steven Rosenberg – BBC

Science, publishing, and career

Peer-reviewing Frontiers – Michiel Dijkstra – Frontiers Blog

Faking it: In the face of routine rejection, many scientists must learn to cope with the insidious beast that is impostor syndrome – Chris Woolston – Nature

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January 27, 2016 – second edition

A call from the White House, synergy between Mycoplasma and Gardnerella, urinary microbiome, sarcoidosis, and a hiking guide to microbes on the seafloor.

Events

The White House wants feedback from “All Microbiome-Science Champions” – give it – give it now – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet
and
Calling All Microbiome-Science Champions! – Jo Handelsman and Elizabeth Stulberg – The White House

General human microbiome

Review: Exploring and Understanding the Biochemical Diversity of the Human Microbiota – Nitzan Koppel – Cell Chemical Biology

Pregnancy and birth

The impact of freeze-drying infant fecal samples on measures of their bacterial community profiles and milk-derived oligosaccharide content – Zachery T. Lewis – PeerJ

The common vaginal commensal bacterium Ureaplasma parvum is associated with chorioamnionitis in extreme preterm labour – Ciara Cox – The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine

Human vaginal microbiome

Mycoplasma hominis and Gardnerella vaginalis display a significant synergistic relationship in bacterial vaginosis – C. Cox – European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases
Human oral microbiome

The yield and quality of cellular and bacterial DNA extracts from human oral rinse samples are variably affected by the cell lysis methodology – Mohsen Sohrabi – Journal of Microbiological Methods

Human skin microbiome

Note: 1 person per study groupSkin microbiota of first cousins affected by psoriasis and atopic dermatitis – Lorenzo Drago – Clinical and Molecular Allergy

Human urinary tract microbiome

Review: The human urinary microbiome and how it relates to urogynecology – Jenifer Schneeweiss – International Urogynecology Journal

Human gut microbiome

Metabolomics connects aberrant bioenergetic, transmethylation, and gut microbiota in sarcoidosis – Andreea Geamanu – Metabolomics

Review: Role of antibiotics for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease – Orna Nitzan – World Journal of Gastroenterology

Review: Gut microbiota imbalance and colorectal cancer – Johan Gagnière – World Journal of Gastroenterology

Animal models

In mice: A detrimental role of immunosuppressive drug, dexamethasone, during Clostridium difficile infection in association with a gastrointestinal microbial shift – Hyeun Bum Kim – Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Animal microbiome

Diversity of the gastric microbiota in Thoroughbred racehorses having gastric ulcer – Hee-Jin Dong – Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Long term repeated fire disturbance alters soil bacterial diversity but not the abundance in an Australian wet sclerophyll forest – Ju-pei Shen – Scientific Reports

Bacterial Diversity and Community Structure in Two Bornean Nepenthes Species with Differences in Nitrogen Acquisition Strategies – Wiebke Sickel – Microbial Ecology

Crop rotations alter bacterial and fungal diversity in paddy soils across East Asia – Yuji Jiang – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Emergence in mapping microbial diversity in tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) soil of Assam, North-East India: A novel approach – PN Bhattacharyya – European Journal of Biotechnology and Bioscience

High-Throughput Sequencing Analysis of the Endophytic Bacterial Diversity and Dynamics in Roots of the Halophyte Salicornia europaea – Shuai Zhao – Current Microbiology

Water and waste microbiome

Use of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization–time of flight (MALDI–TOF) mass spectrometry for bacterial monitoring in routine analysis at a drinking water treatment plant – Laura Sala-Comorera – International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health

Extremophile microbiome

The Guaymas Basin hiking guide to hydrothermal mounds, chimneys and microbial mats: complex seafloor expressions of subsurface hydrothermal circulation – Andreas Teske – Frontiers in Microbiology

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Bayesian Nonparametric Ordination for the Analysis of Microbial Communities – Boyu Ren – ArXiv

Keemei: cloud-based validation of tabular bioinformatics file formats in Google Sheets – Jai Ram Rideout – PeerJ Preprint

Characterization of sequence-specific errors in various next-generation sequencing systems – Sunguk Shin – Molecular Biosystems

Stochastic neutral modelling of the Gut Microbiota’s relative species abundance from next generation sequencing data – Claudia Sala – BMC Bioinformatics

Protocol“Deciphering Archaeal Communities” Omics Tools in the Study of Archaeal Communities – Lejla Pašić – Microbial Environmental Genomics (MEG)

Protocol: Reconstruction of Transformation Processes Catalyzed by the Soil Microbiome Using Metagenomic Approaches – Anne Schöler – Microbial Environmental Genomics (MEG)

Science, publishing, and career

Funding: What stops women getting more grants? – David McAllister – Nature

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January 27, 2016

Catching up after 2 busy days:

Effects of antibiotic use in Finnish children, skin microbiota of salmon transitioning from freshwater to seawater, and California coastal phages.

General human microbiome

Review: The microbial environment and its influence on asthma prevention in early life – Erika von Mutius – Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Human respiratory tract microbiome

COPD and the microbiome – Manoj J. Mammen – Respirology

Human urinary tract microbiome

Redefining Healthy Urine: A Cross-Sectional Exploratory Metagenomic Study of People With and Without Bladder Dysfunction – Suzanne L. Groah – The Journal of Urology

Human gut microbiome

Intestinal microbiome is related to lifetime antibiotic use in Finnish pre-school children – Katri Korpela – Nature Communications

Animal models

Ingestion of Milk Containing Very Low Concentration of Antimicrobials: Longitudinal Effect on Fecal Microbiota Composition in Preweaned Calves – Richard Van Vleck Pereira – PLOS ONE

Editorial: Host response: Microbiota prime antiviral response – Julie K. Pfeiffer – Nature Microbiology

Animal microbiome

Comparison of Intestinal Microbiota in Intestinal Tracts of the Wild and Cultured Seahorses, Hippocampus trimaculatus (Leach) – Kai Wang – Journal of the World Aquaculture Society

Social wasps are a Saccharomyces mating nest – Irene Stefanini – PNAS

Transition from freshwater to seawater reshapes the skin-associated microbiota of Atlantic salmon – Jep Lokesh – Scientific Reports

The role of tissue-specific microbiota in initial establishment success of Pacific oysters – Ana Lokmer – Environmental Microbiology

Plant, soil, and root microbiome

Kisameet Clay Exhibits Potent Antibacterial Activity against the ESKAPE Pathogens – mBio

Plant-microbe communication enhances auxin biosynthesis by a root-associated bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQR9 – Yunpeng Liu – Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions

Individual-Based Model of Microbial Life on Hydrated Rough Soil Surfaces – Minsu Kim – PLOS ONE

Analysis of bacterial communities associated with potting media – A. M. Al‑Sadi – Springer Plus

Water microbiome

Persistence of F-Specific RNA Coliphages in Surface Waters from a Produce Production Region along the Central Coast of California – Subbarao V. Ravva – PLOS ONE

Built environment and waste microbiome

Quantitative Modeling of Microbial Population Responses to Chronic Irradiation Combined with Other Stressors – Igor Shuryak – PLOS ONE

Microbial Community Profiles in Wastewaters from Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems Technology – Łukasz Jałowiecki – PLOS ONE

Microbial Ecology

The Effect of Immigration on the Adaptation of Microbial Communities to Warming – Diane Lawrence – The American Naturalist

Predicting compositions of microbial communities from stoichiometric models with applications for the biogas process – Sabine Koch – Biotechnology for Biofuels

Microbes in the news

Early-Life Antibiotic Use Affects Gut Microbiome Composition, New Study Says – Genome Web

Classroom research project: detecting phages – MT Standard

 

Uncovering hidden microbial lineages from hot springs – EurekAlert

Your Food’s Bacteria is a Big Data Gold Mine. IBM and Mars are tracking food’s microbiome to improve safety and productivity – David Z. Morris – Fortune

What Causes Cavities? The Balance Of Bacteria In Your Mouth Can Lead To Tooth Decay – Samantha Olson – Medical Daily

First Nations’ ancient medicinal clay shows promise against today’s worst bacterial infections – University of British Columbia

Ferring, Karolinska Institutet Launch Human Microbiome Collaboration – GenEngNews

WTF?: Fat Summit conference: Deepak Chopra Says Bacteria Listen To Our Thoughts – “we are the awakening of bacterial consciousness” – Kavin Senapathy – Forbes
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January 25, 2016

Today’s digest features biogeography of the human mouth, MALDI-TOF-MS, and microbes from ancient halite. OK, it is technically already Tuesday, but I was busy life tweeting from the Microbiome Symposium today at Stanford. The symposium featured many of the microbiome stars of our University – see my combined life tweets during the conference at Storify

Events

Gut microbiota in health and disease – from concept to evidence – March 17, 2016, Stockholm, Sweden. The symposium will be webcasted live at kva.se and will later be available as video-on-demand at kvatv.se.

Human oral microbiome

Biogeography of a human oral microbiome at the micron scale – Jessica L. Mark Welch – PNAS

Animal models of microbiome research

Experimental modulation of external microbiome affects nestmate recognition in harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) – Andy Dosmann – PeerJ

Review: Incorporating the gut microbiota into models of human and non-human primate ecology and evolution – Katherine R. Amato – American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Animal microbiome

Faecal contamination of echinoderms: first report of heavy Escherichia coli loading of sea urchins from a natural growing area – M. Bouchoucha – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Extremophile microbiome

Review: Buried Alive: Microbes from Ancient Halite – Salla T. Jaakkola – Trends in Microbiology

Food microbiology

Effect of X-ray treatments on Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella flexneri, Salmonella enterica and inherent microbiota on whole mangoes – B.S.M. Mahmoud – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Techniques

Advantage of MALDI-TOF-MS over biochemical-based phenotyping for microbial identification illustrated on industrial applications – S.K. Urwyler – Letters in Applied Microbiology

More microbiology

Fueling the Bio-economy: European Culture Collections and Microbiology Education and Training – André Antunes – Trends in Microbiology

Microbes in the news

Do probiotics cure asthma? Don’t believe the hype: Jonathan Eisen awards “prizes” to those who “oversell the microbiome” – Emma Bryce – Wired

The Forest In Your Mouth – Ed Yong – Phenomena National Geographic

Take your kids to the bugs on a Sunday afternoon – Micropia, the world’s only microbe zoo in Amsterdam – Mathias Grote – ASM Blog

IS-diagnostics Publishes Validation of PCR-Based Clinical Metagenomic MDx –  Madeleine Johnson – Genome Web

Bacteria Hysteria

Bacteria won’t wash, with the Brushield toothbrush cover – GizMag

Science, publishing, and career

#ResearchParasites and #ScienceColonialism – featuring Tweets from @DNLee5 & some discussion – Jonathan Eisen – Storify

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January 24, 2016

Antibiotic therapy in preterm labor, shrimp microbial dynamics, volcanic desert on Mount Fuji, coffee processing, and Antarctic permafrost limits microbial life.

Pregnancy and birth

Antibiotic Therapy Increases the Risk of Preterm Birth in Preterm Labor without Intra-Amniotic Microbes, but may Prolong the Gestation Period in Preterm Labor with Microbes, Evaluated by Rapid and High-Sensitive PCR System – Satoshi Yoneda – American Journal of Reproductive Immunology

Human gut microbiome

Does the Intestinal Microbiota Explain Differences in the Epidemiology of Liver Disease between East and West – Nakamoto N. – Inflammatory Intestinal Diseases

Commentary: Microbiome-based companion diagnostics: no longer science fiction?
Jeroen Raes – Gut

Animal microbiome

Diary of a shrimpy kid: Dynamic changes of microbial communities in Litopenaeus vannamei cultures and the effects of environmental factors – Hao Zhang – Aquaculture

Plant, root, and soil microbiome
Substrate limitation to soil microbial communities in a subalpine volcanic desert on Mount Fuji, Japan – S. Yoshitake – European Journal of Soil Biology

Bottom-up control of fertilization on soil nematode communities differs between crop management regimes – Ting Liu – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Interactive effects of precipitation and nitrogen spatial pattern on carbon use and functional diversity in soil microbial communities – Nianxun Xi – Applied Soil Ecology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Nearing the cold-arid limits of microbial life in permafrost of an upper dry valley, Antarctica – Jacqueline Goordial – The ISME Journal

Reconstructing ecosystem functions of the active microbial community of the Baltic Sea oxygen depleted sediments – Petter Thureborn – PeerJ

 

Waste treatment microbiology

Metagenomic and quantitative insights into microbial communities and functional genes of nitrogen and iron cycling in twelve wastewater treatment systems – Duntao Shu – Chemical Engineering Journal

Food microbiology

High throughput sequencing identifies novel viruses in nectarine: Insights to the etiology of stem pitting disease – Dan Edward Veloso Villamor – Phytopathology

DGGE: Discrimination of post-harvest coffee processing methods by microbial ecology analyses – Yasmine Hamdouche – Food Control

Microbial Ecology

Integrating Theory and Experiment to Explain the Breakdown of Population Synchrony in a Complex Microbial Community – Emma J. Bowen – arXiv

Techniques

Poster abstract: Assembling Whole Genomes from Mixed Microbial Communities Using Hi-C – Ivan Liachko – Plant and Animal Genome Conference

Microbes in the news

Antarctic permafrost may not be habitable for microbes – so is Mars? Finding life on Mars might be harder than thought — or Martian microbes might be different – Emily Chung – CBC News

Microbes take their vitamins — for the good of science – EurekAlert

Bacteria that resist last-resort antibiotics were found in China two months ago, now they’re everywhere – Dominic Jackson – Shanghaiist

Newly Discovered Photosynthetic Bacteria Is Surprisingly Abundant – Science 2.0

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January 23, 2016

Maturation of the mucin layer, periodontitis in Sjögren’s, Caenorhabditis elegans gut microbiota assembly, the rice-osphere, archaea in moonmilk, and microbial arsenic metabolism.

General human microbiome

The Human Microbiome and Public Health: Social and Ethical Considerations – Kieran C. O’Doherty – American Journal of Public Health

Pregnancy and birth

Review: Mucin–Microbiota Interaction During Postnatal Maturation of the Intestinal Ecosystem: Clinical Implications – Sana Rokhsefat- Digestive Diseases and Sciences

Human oral microbiome

Periodontitis prevalence and serum antibody reactivity to periodontal bacteria in primary Sjögren’s syndrome: a pilot study – Bozo Lugonja – Journal of Periodontology

Temporal Stability of the Salivary Microbiota in Oral Health – Daniel Belstrøm – PLOS ONE

Review: Immune dysregulation mediated by the oral microbiome: potential link to chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis – C. Slocum – Journal of Internal Medicine

Human gut microbiome

Review: Microbiota manipulation for weight change – Tal Dror – Microbial Pathogenesis

Review: Antibiotics and the Human Gut Microbiome: Dysbioses and Accumulation of Resistances – M. P. Francino – Frontiers in Microbiology

Models of microbiome research

Modulating the Gut Microbiota Improves Glucose Tolerance, Lipoprotein Profile and Atherosclerotic Plaque Development in ApoE-Deficient Mice – Ida Rune – PLOS ONE

Dysbiosis of the fecal microbiota in the TNBS-induced Crohn’s disease mouse model – Qing He – Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Animal microbiome

Note that the worms did not develop into adults without having veggies to eatAssembly of the Caenorhabditis elegans gut microbiota from diverse soil microbial environments – Maureen Berg – The ISME Journal

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Rice-osphere? Rice Genotype Differences in Tolerance of Zinc-Deficient Soils: Evidence for the Importance of Root-Induced Changes in the Rhizosphere – Asako Mori – Frontiers in Plant Science

A perspective on inter-kingdom signaling in plant–beneficial microbe interactions – Amanda Rosier – Plant Molecular Biology

Chemotaxis signaling systems in model beneficial plant–bacteria associations – Birgit E. Scharf – Plant Molecular Biology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Deciphering associations between dissolved organic molecules and bacterial communities in a pelagic marine system – Helena Osterholz – The ISME Journal

Unique pioneer microbial communities exposed to volcanic sulfur dioxide – Reiko Fujimura – Scientific Reports

Archaeal Distribution in Moonmilk Deposits from Alpine Caves and Their Ecophysiological Potential – Christoph Reitschuler – Microbial Ecology

Chemotaxis toward phytoplankton drives organic matter partitioning among marine bacteria – Steven Smriga – PNAS

Review: The microbial genomics of arsenic – Jérémy Andres – FEMS Microbiology Reviews

Food microbiology

Kombucha tea fermentation: Microbial and biochemical dynamics – Somnath Chakravorty – International Journal of Food Microbiology

PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of microbial community in soy-daddawa, a Nigerian fermented soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) condiment – Obinna T. Ezeokoli – International Journal of Food Microbiology

Check your fridge for Thanksgiving leftovers: Direct Dynamic Kinetic Analysis and Computer Simulation of Growth of Clostridium perfringens in Cooked Turkey during Cooling – Lihan Huang – Journal of Food Science

Bioinformatics, metagenomics, and protocols

Protocol collection: Microbial Environmental Genomics (MEG)
MG-RAST, a Metagenomics Service for Analysis of Microbial Community Structure and Function – Kevin P. Keegan
Reconstruction of Transformation Processes Catalyzed by the Soil Microbiome Using Metagenomic Approaches – Anne Schöler
Hybridization of Environmental Microbial Community Nucleic Acids by GeoChip – Joy D. Van Nostrand
Targeted Gene Capture by Hybridization to Illuminate Ecosystem Functioning – Céline Ribière
Fungal Communities in Soils: Soil Organic Matter Degradation – Tomáš Větrovský
GenoSol Platform: A Logistic and Technical Platform for Conserving and Exploring Soil Microbial Diversity – Samuel Dequiedt

Microbes in the news

Exploring the human gut microbiome. Scientific interest in this diverse world of bacteria has flipped from fear to fascination – Sabin Russell – Fred Hutch

Fungi Prevalent in Urine of Women With Chronic Pelvic Pain – Pam Harrison – MedPageToday

Microscopic subway passengers with a ticket to ride: Interview with Chris Mason – Labnews

To Fight Growing Threat From Germs, Scientists Try Old-Fashioned Killer – Gautam Naik – The Wall Street Journal

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/22/health/flint-water-legionnaires-disease/Flint hospital reports finding Legionnaires’ bacteria in water – Ralph Ellis – CNN

Breast milk protein could be used in fight against antibiotic resistance – The Guardian

Listeria outbreak: Dole packaged salad linked to 12 bacteria infections and one death – John Houck – Inquisitr

Science, publishing, and career

By a 13 year old girl: Letter to BBC Wildlife Magazine on sexism in nature conservation – Mya-Rose Craig – BirdGirl

Bik’s Picks

Secular trends in family dinner frequency among adolescents – Kathryn Walton – BMC Research Notes
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January 22, 2016

Viruses in desert soils, pneumonia etiology, and a concerning editorial in NEJM.

Human oral microbiome

Microbiological analysis after complete or partial removal of carious dentin using two different techniques in primary teeth: A randomized clinical trial – Deepak Kumar Singhal – Dental Research Journal

Human respiratory microbiome

The Modern Quest for the “Holy Grail” of Pneumonia Etiology – Seema Jain – Clinical Infectious Diseases

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

ReviewDiversity and Ecology of Viruses in Hyperarid Desert Soils – Olivier Zablocki – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Use of Substrate-Induced Gene Expression in Metagenomic Analysis of an Aromatic Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soil – Matthew J. Meier – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Techniques / phages and viruses

Isolation of Polyvalent Bacteriophages by Sequential Multiple-Host Approaches – Pingfeng Yu – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

More microbiology

Tuberculosis in Newborns: The Lessons of the “Lübeck Disaster” (1929–1933) – Gregory J. Fox – PLOS Pathogens

Microbes in the news

For childrenUnderstanding Marine Microbes, the Driving Engines of the Ocean – Anna Kopf

15 min podcast: A Microbiome Is Born – Science Friday

Good Bacteria for Good Skin – Beauty brands say there is a beneficial effect when probiotics and fermented ingredients are applied topically – Fiorella Valdesolo – Wall Street Journal

Your DNA could make you resistant to certain bacteria – gene expression could help explain why some people are more immune to infection than others – Alexandra Ossola – Popular Science

Science, publishing, and career

An editorial in NEJM called Data Sharing, written by Dan L. Longo and Jeffrey M. Drazen, caused a lot of concern because it calls scientists who use other people’s published data “parasites”. Some reactions:

Data Scientists = Research Parasites? – David Shaywitz – Forbes

Research “parasitism” and authorship rights – Leonid Schneider – For Better Science

Attack of the Research Parasites – Derek Lowe – Science Magazine blogs

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January 21, 2016

Beards and MRSA in hospital workers, dysbiosis in Crohns Disease, non-absorbable antibiotics affect offspring in mice, bacterial sunscreens, and bacteria found in a sick-making building.

Events

2nd Annual Microbiome Symposium – January 25, 2016 – Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

Pregnancy and birth

A necrotizing enterocolitis-associated gut microbiota is already present in the meconium: results of a prospective study – Fardou H. Heida – Clinical Infectious Diseases

Human oral microbiome

Salivary pathogen and serum antibody to assess the progression of chronic periodontitis: a 24-mo prospective multicenter cohort study – T. Morozumi – Journal of Periodontal Research

Human skin microbiome

Bacterial ecology of hospital workers’ facial hair: a cross-sectional study – E. Wakeam – Journal of hospital infection

Human respiratory microbiome

Correlation of the lung microbiota with metabolic profiles in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in HIV infection – Sushma K. Cribbs – Microbiome

Human gut microbiome

Changes in Colonic Bile Acid Composition following Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Are Sufficient to Control Clostridium difficile Germination and Growth – Alexa R. Weingarden – PLOS ONE

Reduced Abundance of Butyrate-Producing Bacteria Species in the Fecal Microbial Community in Crohn’s Disease – Takahashi K – Digestion

Detecting Microbial Dysbiosis Associated with Pediatric Crohn Disease Despite the High Variability of the Gut Microbiota – Feng Wang – Cell Reports

DNA fingerprinting approaches to trace Escherichia coli sharing between dogs and owners  – Z. Naziri – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Altered intestinal microbiota as a major driving force in alcoholic steatohepatitis – Herbert Tilg – Gut

Impact of Surotomycin on the Gut Microbiota of Healthy Volunteers in a Phase 1 Clinical Trial – Diane M. Citron – Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

Microbiome animal and bioreactor models

Administration of Non-Absorbable Antibiotics to Pregnant Mice to Perturb the Maternal Gut Microbiota Is Associated with Alterations in Offspring Behavior – Shiro Tochitani – PLOS ONE

Degradation of chondroitin sulfate by the gut microbiota of Chinese individuals
Qingsen Shang – International Journal of Biological Macromolecules

Streptococcus pneumoniae colonization disrupts the microbial community within the upper respiratory tract of aging mice – Netusha Thevaranjan – Infection and Immunity

Assessing microbial competition in a hydrogen-based membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) using multidimensional modeling – Kelly J. Martin – Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Animal microbiome

Archaeal and Bacterial Communities Associated with the Surface Mucus of Caribbean Corals Differ in Their Degree of Host Specificity and Community Turnover Over Reefs – Pedro R. Frade – PLOS ONE

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Bacteria increase arid-land soil surface temperature through the production of sunscreens – Estelle Couradeau – Nature Communications

Historical and current climate drive spatial and temporal patterns in fungal endophyte diversity – Hannah Giauque – Fungal Ecology

Location, location, location: priority effects in wood decay communities may vary between sites – Jennifer Hiscox – Environmental Microbiology

Microbial Hub Taxa Link Host and Abiotic Factors to Plant Microbiome Variation – Matthew T. Agler – PLOS Biology

Effect of altitude and season on microbial activity, abundance and community structure in Alpine forest soils – José A. Siles – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Effects of manure and mineral fertilization strategies on soil antibiotic resistance gene levels and microbial community in a paddy–upland rotation system – Hui Lin – Environmental Pollution

Bacterial community compositions in sediment polluted by perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) using Illumina high-throughput sequencing – Yajun Sun – Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Large amounts of easily decomposable carbon stored in subtropical forest subsoil is associated with r-strategy-dominated soil microbes – Yuping Chen – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Water, waste, and extremophile microbiome

Effects of anthropogenic heavy metal contamination on litter decomposition in streams – A meta-analysis – Verónica Ferreira – Environmental Pollution

Investigation of the microbial community in the Odisha hot spring cluster based on the cultivation independent approach – Archana Singh – Genomics Data

Analysis of bacterial diversity in two oil blocks from two low-permeability reservoirs with high salinities – Meng Xiao – Scientific Reports

Occurrence of mycotoxins and yeasts and moulds identification in corn silages in tropical climate – B.F. Carvalho – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Food microbiology

Molecular diversity of bacteria in commercially available ‘‘Spirulina’’ food supplements – Elisabeth Vardaka – PeerJ

Ineffective hand washing and the contamination of carrots after using a field latrine – J M Monaghan – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Microbiological characterization using combined culture dependent and independent approaches of Casizolu pasta filata cheese – N.P. Mangia – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Microbial dynamics in mixed culture biofilms of bacteria surviving sanitation of conveyor belts in salmon-processing plants – S. Langsrud – Journal of Applied Microbiology

Built environment microbiology

Bacteria in a water-damaged building: associations of actinomycetes and non-tuberculous mycobacteria with respiratory health in occupants – J.-H. Park – Indoor Air

Bioinformatics and metagenomics

Review: Application of multivariate statistical techniques in microbial ecology – O. Paliy – Molecular Ecology

More microbiology

Eighteenth century Yersinia pestis genomes reveal the long-term persistence of an historical plague focus – Kirsten I Bos – eLIFE

Review: Within-host evolution of bacterial pathogens – Xavier Didelot – Nature Reviews Microbiology

This is NOT novel and methods are missing essential steps: A novel method to assess the biodiversity of parasites using 18S rDNA Illumina sequencing; parasitome analysis method – Akina Hino – Parasitology International

Microbes in the news

Found: Desert Hot Spots Just For Microbes – Sarah Laskow – Atlas Obscura

Beards may be more hygienic and bacteria-resistant than shaven skin, study finds – Kate Ng – Independent
Beards may not be that gross, after all – Rachel Thompson – Mashable
Are beards good for your health? – BBC News Magazine

Bacteria or virus? New diagnostic tool could curb antibiotic overuse – Eric Boodman – STAT news

Getting to know the real you – how seriously should we take the health of our internal aliens? – LabNews UK

Probiotics come with bold health claims, but the science is shaky – Megan Scudellari – STAT news

Weekend binges just as bad for the gut as a regular junk food diet, study suggests – Dan Wheelahan – Medical Xpress

Can our gut microbiota contribute to the effect healthy foods have on us? – Gut Microbiota WorldWatch

Science, publishing, and career

Are results in top journals to be trusted? – SK – Economist

The best academic acknowledgements ever – Glen Wright – Times Higher Education
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January 20, 2016

Virome of children with diarrhea, bacterial communities in black truffles, arsenic biogeochemistry in an acid vapor-formed spring, distribution of microbes in microenvironments, and retraction of a PLOS ONE air microbiome paper.

Jobs and events

New job openings at Whole Biome: develops therapeutics and diagnostics targeting human microbiome, casual culture, and artisanal coffee

Human oral microbiome

Exploration of Human Salivary Microbiomes—Insights into the Novel Characteristics of Microbial Community Structure in Caries and Caries-Free Subjects – Jianye Zhou – PLOS ONE

Human respiratory microbiome

COPD is characterized by increased detection of Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae and a deficiency of Bacillus species – Jodie L. Simpson – Respirology

Human gut microbiome

The fecal virome of South and Central American children with diarrhea includes small circular DNA viral genomes of unknown origin – Tung Gia Phan – Archives of Virology

Perspective: Gut microbiota and aging – Paul W. O’Toole – Science

Review: Studies on Modulation of Gut Microbiota by Wine Polyphenols: From Isolated Cultures to Omic Approaches – Montserrat Dueñas – MDPI Antioxidants

Animal models

Postnatal Hematopoiesis and Gut Microbiota in NOD Mice Deviate from C57BL/6 Mice – Dina Silke Malling Damlund – Journal of Diabetes Research

Bacterial profile and bone healing in rats receiving cancer therapeutic doses of bisphosphonates and corticosteroids: a pilot study – Z. Jabbour – International Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Interaction between dietary lipids and gut microbiota regulates hepatic cholesterol metabolism – Robert Caesar – Journal of Lipid Research

Gut Microbiota Regulates K/BxN Autoimmune Arthritis through Follicular Helper T but Not Th17 Cells – Katharine E. Block – The Journal of Immunology

Editorial: Of Bugs and Drugs: How the Microbiome Controls Responsiveness to Antitumor Immunotherapy – Mandy L. Ford – American Journal of Transplantation

Animal microbiome

Most Low-Abundance “Background” Symbiodinium spp. Are Transitory and Have Minimal Functional Significance for Symbiotic Corals – Moo Joon Lee – Microbial Ecology

Isolation and assessment of gut bacteria from the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), for paratransgenesis research and application – Chinmay V. Tikhe – Insect Science

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Black truffle: Temporal changes of bacterial communities in the Tuber melanosporum ectomycorrhizosphere during ascocarp development – Aurélie Deveau – Mycorrhiza

Isolation of N2-fixing rhizobacteria from Lolium perenne and evaluating their plant growth promoting traits – Antonio Castellano-Hinojosa – Journal of Basic Microbiology

Host associations and beta diversity of fungal endophyte communities in New Guinea rainforest trees – J. B. Vincent – Molecular Ecology

Water, waste, and extremophile microbiome

Metagenome-scale analysis yields insights into the structure and function of microbial communities in a copper bioleaching heap – Xian Zhang – BMC Genetics

Microbial Community Structure and Arsenic Biogeochemistry in an Acid Vapor-Formed Spring in Tengchong Geothermal Area, China – Zhou Jiang – PLOS ONE

Phylogenetic conservation of freshwater lake habitat preference varies between abundant bacterioplankton phyla – Marian L. Schmidt – Environmental Microbiology

Food and cigarette microbiome

Characterization of Bacterial Communities in Selected Smokeless Tobacco Products Using 16S rDNA Analysis – Robert E. Tyx – PLOS ONE

More microbes

Divorcing strain classification from species names – David Baltrus

Distributions of Virus-Like Particles and Prokaryotes within Microenvironments – Lisa M. Dann – PLOS ONE

Parallel Mapping of Antibiotic Resistance Alleles in Escherichia coli
Sophie J. Weiss – PLOS ONE

Microbes in the news

SatireDung Beetle A Bit Fed Up With Diet – The Allium

How Climate Change Endangers Microbes–And Why That’s Not a Good Thing – Aspen T. Reese – Scientific American

CDC issues guidance to help monitor pregnant women for Zika virus – Helen Branswell – STATnews

Microbes and art

These Close-Up Shots Of Kitchen Mold Are Oddly Appealing: Nikita Teryoshin, Max Slobodda / Küchendienst – FastCoDesign

Science, publishing, and career

Here are the 10 — yes, 10 — reasons PLOS ONE retracted this paper (“Metagenomic Human Repiratory Air in a Hospital Environment”) – Shannon Palus – Retraction Watch

Ten easy ways you can support diversity in academia in 2016 – Jacquelyn Gyll – The Contemplative Mammoth

Bik’s Picks

When chickens go wild. The feral chickens of Kauai provide a unique opportunity to study what happens when domesticated animals escape and evolve – Ewen Callaway – Nature
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