November 13, 2024

Today we are highlighting a recent call to action by leading scientists and scientific organizations around the globe aimed at drawing attention to the increasingly urgent climate catastrophe. The authors argue for the use of microbe-based solutions that could be promising in addressing the crisis, and yet are not used effectively at scale. Here we’ve included links to the press release and the journals which have jointly published the paper:

[PRESS RELEASE] Scientists issue call to action underlining importance of microbial solutions to tackle climate crisis – Linda Stewart – The Microbiologist by Applied Microbiology International

Microbial solutions must be deployed against climate catastrophe – Raquel Peixoto, Christian R Voolstra, Lisa Y Stein, Philip Hugenholtz, Joana Falcao Salles, Shady A Amin, Max Häggblom, Ann Gregory, Thulani P Makhalanyane, Fengping Wang, Nadège Adoukè Agbodjato, Yinzhao Wang, Nianzhi Jiao, Jay T Lennon, Antonio Ventosa, Patrik M Bavoil, Virginia Miller, Jack A Gilbert – Sustainable Microbiology

The paper can also be found in journals published by FEMS, ISME, ASM, and Nature.

Human gut microbiome

Predictable regulation of gut microbiome in immunotherapeutic efficacy of gastric cancer – Wei Gao et al – Genes & Immunity

Multimodal analysis identifies microbiome changes linked to stem cell transplantation-associated diseases – Alejandro Artacho et al – BMC Microbiome

Human oral microbiome

Large-scale metagenomic analysis of oral microbiomes reveals markers for autismspectrum disorders – Paolo Manghi et al – Nature Communications

[REVIEW] Viral infection and antiviral immunity in the oral cavity – Heather D. Hickman & Niki M. Moutsopoulos – Nature Reviews Immunology

Nepali oral microbiomes reflect a gradient of lifestyles from traditional to industrialized – Eria P. Ryu et al – BMC Microbiome

Human respiratory microbiome

Major alteration of lung microbiome and the host responses in critically ill COVID-19 patients with high viral load – Ingrid G. Bustos et al – Scientific Reports

Human skin microbiome

The healing process of diabetic ulcers correlates with changes in the cutaneous microbiota – Emanuele Bruni et al – Scientific Reports

Soil microbiome

Microplastic diversity increases the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes in soil – Yi-Fei Wang et al – Nature Communications

Built environment microbiome

Moving beyond species: fungal function in house dust provides novel targets for potential indicators of mold growth in homes – Neeraja Balasubrahmaniam et al – BMC Microbiome

Animal microbiome

Reef site and habitat influence effectiveness of Acropora palmata restoration and its microbiome in the Florida Keys – Stephanie M. Rosales et al – Nature Communications Earth & Environment

Melatonin alleviates heat stress-induced spermatogenesis dysfunction in male dairy goats by regulating arachidonic acid metabolism mediated by remodeling the gut microbiota – Xinrui Guo et al – BMC Microbiome

Pathobiont and symbiont contribute to microbiota homeostasis through Malpighian tubules-gut countercurrent flow in Bactrocera dorsalis – Yanning Liu et al – ISME Journal

Medium-chain fatty acid triglycerides improve feed intake and oxidative stress of finishing bulls by regulating ghrelin concentration and gastrointestinal tract microorganisms and rumen metabolites – Jiaming Luan et al – BMC Microbiome

Intestinal commensal bacteria promote Bactrocera dorsalis larval development through the vitamin B6 synthesis pathway – Jian Gu et al – BMC Microbiome

Water & extremophile microbiome

Latitudinal gradients and ocean fronts strongly influence protist communities in the southern Pacific Ocean – Daniela Sturm et al – FEMS Microbial Ecology

Urea assimilation and oxidation support activity of phylogenetically diverse microbial communities of the dark ocean – Nestor Arandia-Gorostidi et al – ISME Journal

Bioinformatics & tools

MAGqual: a stand-alone pipeline to assess the quality of metagenome-assembled genomes – Annabel Cansdale & James P.J. Chong – BMC Microbiome

June 5, 2024

Human gut microbiome

Gut microbiome and inflammation among athletes in wheelchair in a crossover randomized pilot trial of probiotic and prebiotic interventions – Ezra Valido – Nature Scientific Reports

A microbiota-directed complementary food intervention in 12-18-month-old Bangladeshi children improves linear growth – Ishita Mostafa – eBioMedicine

Gut microbiome shifts in people with type 1 diabetes are associated with glycaemic control: an INNODIA study – Tommi Vatanen – Diabetologia

Association of methyl donor nutrients dietary intake and sleep disorders in the elderly revealed by the intestinal microbiome – Qianqian Chen – Food & Function

[REVIEW] The human gut microbiome and aging – Evan Bradley & John Haran – Gut Microbes

[REVIEW] Nurturing gut health: role of m6A RNA methylation in upholding the intestinal barrier – Shuaijie Wang – Cell Death Discovery

Persistent dysbiosis of duodenal microbiota in patients with controlled pediatric Crohn’s disease after resolution of inflammation – Rebecca Pierce – Nature Scientific Reports

Dysfunctional circadian clock accelerates cancer metastasis by intestinal microbiota triggering accumulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells – Jing-Lin Liu – Cell Metabolism

Human respiratory microbiome

Longitudinal multicompartment characterization of host-microbiota interactions in patients with acute respiratory failure – Georgios D. Kitsios – Nature Communications

Lack of correlation between in vitro and within patient measures of P. aeruginosa biofilms in cystic fibrosis – Amanda J Morris – Cell Heliyon

Human oral microbiome

The oral microbiome and oral and upper gastrointestinal diseases – Sifan Liu – Journal of Oral Microbiology

Comprehensive analysis of the oral microbiota and metabolome change in patients of burning mouth syndrome with psychiatric symptoms – Shihong Luo – Journal of Oral Microbiology

Candida albicans natural diversity: a resource to dissect fungal commensalism and pathogenesis – Elena Lindemann-Perez – Current Opinion in Microbiology

Animal experiments

Prevotella copri transplantation promotes neurorehabilitation in a mouse model of traumatic brain injury – Nina Gu – Journal of Neuroinflammation

Spatial recovery of the murine gut microbiota after antibiotics perturbation – M. Taguer – mBio

Water and extremophile microbiome

Global biogeography of microbes driving ocean ecological status under climate change – Zhenyan Zhang – Nature Communications

Macroalgal eukaryotic microbiome composition indicates novel phylogenetic diversity and broad host spectrum of oomycete pathogens – Natalia Timanikova – Environmental Microbiology

Viruses & phages

Personalized bacteriophage therapy outcomes for 100 consecutive cases: a multicentre, multinational, retrospective observational study – Jean-Paul Pirnay – Nature Microbiology

Built environment microbiome

Environmental and structural factors associated with bacterial diversity in household dust across the Arizona-Sonora border – Lauren D. Benton – Nature Scientific Reports

Plant, root and soil microbiome

Tibetan Plateau grasslands might increase sequestration of microbial necromass carbon under future warming – Qinwei Zhang – Nature Communications Biology

Assembly of Endophytic Communities of Setaria viridis Plants when Grown in Different Soils and Derived from Different Seeds – Carolina Escobar Rodríguez – Phytobiomes

[PREPRINT] Hybrid xyloglucan utilisation loci are prevalent among plant-associated Bacteroidota – Hannah Martin – bioRxiv

Microbial ecology

Cooperative growth in microbial communities is a driver of multistability – William Lopes – Nature Communications

Bioenergetic mapping of ‘healthy microbiomes’ via compound processing potential imprinted in gut and soil metagenomes – Craig Liddicoat – Science of the Total Environment

Temporal dynamics of fecal microbiota community succession in broiler chickens, calves, and piglets under aerobic exposure – Paul Oladele – Microbiology Spectrum

June 26,2019

Good morning/afternoon wherever you are!

Today’s digest is really focusing on the environment- cilmate change (check the section right below), water, stone and coral reefs. We also included two microbiome framework papers worth reading and for all the athelates (and does who struggle to go the gym)- How is our microbiome linked to physical performance?

Have a good one!

Microbiology and Climate Change

The Microbiologists’ Warning–  Consensus Statement proclaiming that microorganisms are so critical to achieving an environmentally sustainable future that ignoring them risks the fate of Humanity. Please enter the link for more details and getting involved.

Scientists’ warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change, Riccardo Cavicchioli, Nature Microbiology

Microbiome framework and methods

Combining Molecular Observations and Microbial Ecosystem Modeling: A Practical Guide, Ferdi L. Hellweger, Ann. Rev. Marine Science

Establishing microbial composition measurement standards with reference frames, James T. Morton, Nature Communications

Mining traits for the enrichment and isolation of not-yet-cultured populations, An-Ni Zhang, Microbiome

Human and animals microbiome

Meta-omics analysis of elite athletes identifies a performance-enhancing microbe that functions via lactate metabolism, Jonathan Scheiman, Nature Medicine

Impact of different hypercaloric diets on obesity features in rats: a metagenomics and metabolomics integrative approach, Andreu Gual-Grau, J. Nutritional Biochemistry

*Method: A Guide for Ex Vivo Handling and Storage of Stool Samples Intended for Fecal Microbiota Transplantation, Sebestian D. Burz, Scientific Reports

Skin microbiome modulation induced by probiotic solutions, Bernhard Paetzhold, Microbiome

Environmental microbiome

Microbial dynamics of biosand filters and contributions of the microbial food web to effective treatment of wastewater-impacted water sources, Tara M. Webster, AEM

Elucidating the ecological networks in stone‐dwelling microbiomes, Moussa Louati, Environmental Microbiology

Microbial indicators of environmental perturbations in coral reef ecosystems, Betina Glasl, Microbiome

The Role of the Human Microbiome in Chemical Toxicity, Jason M. Koontz, Int. j. Toxicology

General microbiology and science, October 14, 2014

A living review of multivariate techniques, spatial organizations of bacterial genomes, and metabolomics of wetlands, pigs, marine bacteria and free-living humans.

Bioinformatics

* A Guide to Statistical Analysis in Microbial Ecology: a community-focused, living review of multivariate data analyses – Pier Luigi Buttigieg – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“we present the GUide to STatistical Analysis in Microbial Ecology (GUSTA ME): a dynamic, web-based resource providing accessible descriptions of numerous multivariate techniques relevant to microbial ecologists”

Techniques

New approaches to understanding the spatial organization of bacterial genomes – Tung BK Le, Michael T Laub – Current Opinion in Microbiology

“Here, we review the current arsenal of techniques used to query chromosome structure”

Development of Clamping Probe for Rare DNA Detection using Universal Primers – Meyong il Kim – E-FAS Journal

“In this study, we evaluated the efficiency of rare gene detection for two kinds of clamping probes which were successfully utilized for eukaryotic symbiont analysis”

Metabolomics

Microbial community metabolic function in subsurface flow constructed wetlands of different designs – Mark Button – Ecological Engineering

“Microbial community function followed a clear gradient along the flow direction. Metabolic profiles were system specific (horizontal, vertical, and aerated).”

A high fat, high choleststerol diet leads to changes in metabolite patterns in pigs – a metabolomic study – Jianghao Sun – Food Chemistry

“Extracts of plasma, fecal and urine samples from pigs fed high fat or basal regular diets for 11 weeks were analyzed using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry “

Free-living individuals – as in “not in prison”?
An NMR metabolomics approach reveals a combined-biomarkers model in a wine interventional trial with validation in free-living individuals of the PREDIMED study – Rosa Vázquez-Fresno – Metabolomics

A High-Resolution LC-MS-Based Secondary Metabolite Fingerprint Database of Marine Bacteria – Liang Lu – Nature Scientific Reports

“Till now, 1,430 bacterial strains spanning 168 known species collected from different marine environments were cultured and profiled. “

Viruses and phages

Ribonucleotide reductases reveal novel viral diversity and predict biological and ecological features of unknown marine viruses – Eric G. Sakowski – PNAS USA

“We identify ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) genes as superior markers of viral diversity. RNR genes are distributed over a broad range of viruses”

More microbiology

Strength in Diversity – Daniel J. Wolter, Lucas R. Hoffman – Cell Host & Microbe

“In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Hammer et al. (2014) show that distinct, slow-growing bacteria have better in vitro and in vivo growth and virulence when cocultured than in isolation. “

The Journal of Infectious Diseases has a special Issue on Polio: The Final Phase of Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategies for the Post-Eradication Era – Journal of Infectious Diseases

Science, publishing, career

Correcting the scientific record: An introduction to retractions – Bonnie Swoger – Scientific American

“Although the system is far from perfect, the retraction process is one of the ways in which the scientific literature corrects itself over time.”

 

Bik’s Picks

When Racism Was a Science – ‘Haunted Files: The Eugenics Record Office’ Recreates a Dark Time in a Laboratory’s Past – Joshua A. Krisch – New York Times

“In its heyday, the office was the premier scientific enterprise at Cold Spring Harbor. There, bigoted scientists applied rudimentary genetics to singling out supposedly superior races and degrading minorities. “

Paul Ryan: Science doesn’t get climate change – Jane C. Timm – MSNBC

“A full 97% of researchers taking a stance on climate change say it’s man-made, as do 97-98% of the most frequently-published climate scientists. But according to Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, they’re all wrong.”

Get fish fry with a side of science at ‘Science of the Supper Club’ this Friday – Lindsay Christians – The Capital Times

“Science is everywhere, even at a Friday night fish fry. That’s the message of a new event this Friday called “Science of Supper Clubs,” part of the four-day Wisconsin Science Festival held at various venues around the state.”

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Microbiome digest, September 24, 2014

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Today we will learn how to feed shit to flies, the gut microbes of Mexican monkeys, and soil microbes and climate change.

Human microbiome general

Microbes Central to Human Reproduction – Gregor Reid – American Journal of Reproductive Immunology

“A meeting of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics held in Aberdeen, Scotland (June 2014), presented new views and challenged established concepts on the role of microbes in reproduction and health of the mother and infant. “

Mammal microbiome

The role of gut microbes in satisfying the nutritional demands of adult and juvenile wild, black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) – Katherine R. Amato – American Journal of Physical Anthropology

“..we examined differences in activity budget, diet, and the gut microbial community among adult male .., adult female .., and juvenile .. wild black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) across a ten-month period in Palenque National Park, Mexico “

Soil microbiome

Incorporating Soil Microbes in Climate Change Models – Joe Turner – The Scientist

“Without a solid understanding of how the soil microbiome contributes to atmospheric carbon, researchers are struggling to determine whether dirt-dwelling bacteria could impact—and be impacted by—climate change.”

Metabolomics

Metabolomic profiles and childhood obesity – Wei Perng – Obesity

“Principal components analysis was used to consolidate 345 metabolites into 18 factors and identified two that differed between obese .. and lean children “

Microbes in the news

A beginners guide to feeding shit to flies – Edan Foley – Frontiers blog

“The title pretty much sums this one up”

Meet my Microbiome – An Introduction to the bacterial zoo hidden in my colon – Edan Foley – Frontiers blog

“As detailed in the previous blog post, I fed a solution of my feces to axenic flies this summer.“

Giving Chickens Bacteria … To Keep Them Antibiotic-Free – Dan Charles – NPR The Salt

“Poultry companies are turning to probiotics as an alternative to antibiotics, which have become increasingly controversial.”

 Three Girls Won The Google Science Fair With A Bacteria-Based Plan To Solve The Food Crisis – Jessica Orwig – Business Insider

“Three young girls won the Google science fair on September 22 with their innovative way to feed the world: treat plants with bacteria to help farmers grow more food, faster”

Honeybees healing bacteria: The antimicrobial properties of honey – Jeremiah Yarmie – The Manitoban

“A research group from Lund University in Sweden has been investigating bacteria found in the honey-producing stomach of bees. “

Science and publishing

The Top Eleven Ways to Tell that a Journal is Fake – Shaili Jain – PLOS Blogs

“If you have ever published a scholarly paper, your email inbox is probably peppered with invitations to submit papers to new journals with plausible-sounding names. “

Women in Science

When words fail: women, science, and women-in-science – Jacquelyn Gill – The Contemplative Mammoth

“I don’t want to write about women in science today. I want to write about glaciers, or passenger pigeons, or the way the tilt of the earth is making the squirrels outside my window stash acorns”

Gender balance among University Research Fellows – Paul Nurse – UK Royal Society

“It was a great day for the 43 scientists who were awarded grants but I, like many Fellows, was personally very disappointed to see that only two of them were women.”

Bik’s Picks

Fossil Dolphin Otekaikea marplesi (Latest Oligocene, New Zealand) Expands the Morphological and Taxonomic Diversity of Oligocene Cetaceans – Yoshihiro Tanaka – PLOS ONE

“The New Zealand fossil dolphin “Prosqualodon” marplesi (latest Oligocene, ≥23.9 Ma) is here identified as a crown odontocete that represents a new genus, Otekaikea”

Review: The design and function of birds’ nests – Mark C. Mainwaring – Ecology and Evolution

“the design of birds’ nests is far more sophisticated than previously realized and that nests are multifunctional structures that have important fitness consequences for the builder/s.”

False memories could be a side-effect of human ability to learn rules – Science Daily

“New research suggests that individuals who are particularly good at learning rules and classifying objects by common properties are also particularly prone to false memory illusions.”

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