Relief in a pressing problem, microbes at high altitude, and microbiome in cystic fibrosis.

Human gut microbiome

So glad this one finally came out!  Structural changes in the gut microbiome of constipated patients – Lixin Zhu – Physiological Genomics

“A cross-sectional pilot study was performed to compare stool microbial composition of 8 constipated patients and 14 non-constipated controls using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing.”

Microbiota and diabetes: an evolving relationship – Herbert Tilg, Alexander R Moschen – Gut

“A further hint towards an association between microbiota and T2D has been derived from studies in pregnancy showing that major gut microbial shifts occurring during pregnancy affect host metabolism.”

Harnessing the Intestinal Microbiome for Optimal Therapeutic Immunomodulation – S. Viaud – Cancer Research

“gut commensals, through lipopolysaccharide and other bacterial components, switch the tumor microenvironment, in particular the redox equilibrium and the TNF production of intratumoral myeloid cells during therapies with platinum salts or intratumoral TLR9 agonists combined with systemic anti-IL10R Ab respectively.”

Specific genetic and microbial signature associated with paediatric ileal Crohn’s disease -Isobel Leake – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

“An increase in DUOX2 expression was associated with an expansion of Proteobacteria across all forms of IBD, whereas downregulation of APOA1 expression in association with depletion of certain Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes taxa was found to be specific for Crohn’s disease.”

Skin and wounds microbiome

Next-Generation Sequencing: A Review of Technologies and Tools for Wound Microbiome Research – Brendan Hodkinson and Elizabeth Grice – Advances in Wound Care

“The purpose of this review is to outline the current platforms, their applications, and the steps necessary to undertake microbiome studies using next-generation sequencing.”

Human respiratory microbiome

Directly Sampling the Lung of a Young Child with Cystic Fibrosis Reveals Diverse Microbiota – Perry S Brown – Annals ATS

“After pathologic examination verified that this child’s lung tissue reflected CF lung disease, we used bacterial rRNA gene pyrosequencing and computational phylogenetic analysis to identify the microbiota in serial sections of the tissue.”

Respiratory Viruses and Bacteria among Pilgrims during the 2013 Hajj – Samir Benkouiten – Emerging Infectious Diseases

“One third (36.3%) of the participants had acquired S. pneumoniae during their stay. Our results confirm high acquisition rates of rhinovirus and S. pneumoniae in pilgrims and highlight the acquisition of coronavirus E229.”

Fish microbiome

The Colonization Dynamics of the Gut Microbiota in Tilapia Larvae – Christos Giatsis – PLOS ONE

“Our results showed that variation in gut microbiota between replicate tanks was not significantly higher than within tank variation, suggesting that there is no tank effect on water and gut microbiota. “

Soil microbiome

FEMS Microbiology Ecology has a special issue on Polar and Alpine Microbiology with many papers on microbiomes of ice and soil. Here is the Editorial:
Polar and alpine microbiology in a changing world – John C. Priscu – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“By virtue of their relatively rapid growth rates and metabolic diversity, we can expect microorganisms to be the first responders to fluctuating climatic conditions.”

Altitudinal Distribution Patterns of Soil Bacterial and Archaeal Communities Along Mt. Shegyla on the Tibetan Plateau – Jun-Tao Wang – Microbial Ecology

“Our results found that the ratio of bacterial to archaeal 16S rRNA gene abundance was negatively related with elevation.”

Water microbiome

Satellite remote sensing data can be used to model marine microbial metabolite turnover – Peter E Larsen – ISME Journal

“We extrapolated marine surface microbial community structure and metabolic potential from 72 16S rRNA amplicon and 8 metagenomic observations using remotely sensed environmental parameters”

Microbial Ecology

Changes in community assembly may shift the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function – Joseph E. Knelman and Diana R. Nemergut – Frontiers Microbiology

“Can differences in community assembly alter the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function?”

Probiotics

Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG suspected infection in a newborn with intrauterine growth restriction – I. Sadowska-Krawczenko – Beneficial Microbes

“Genotyping with the rep-PCR and AFLP methods confirmed the 100% genetic similarity for both the strain isolated from patient blood and the probiotic product.”

Can Eating Probiotic Yogurt Help Lower Your High Blood Pressure? – Susmita Baral – Wall St Cheat Sheet

“Now, a new study (published Monday in the journal Hypertension) has found another added benefit of probiotics — it may reduce high blood pressure.”

Microbes in the News

Your garden hose: a potential health risk due to Legionella spp. growth facilitated by free-living amoebae – Jacqueline Marie Thomas – Environmental Science & Technology

“Here we present data on FLA and Legionella spp. detected in water and biofilm of two garden hose types over 18 months. “

Truth about your toothbrush – Anne Agbaje – Bussiness Day Online

“You don’t store your plates and glasses by the toilet, so why would you want to place your toothbrush there?” McCombs says. “It’s just common sense to store your toothbrush as far away from the toilet as possible.”

Metabolomics

Fecal volatile organic compounds: a novel, cheaper method of diagnosing inflammatory bowel disease? – Chris SJ Probert – Expert Review of Clinical Immunology

“…this article will focus specifically on the fecal VOC metabolome and its potential role in identifying a novel diagnostic method for IBD.”

Review: Emerging mass spectrometry techniques for the direct analysis of microbial colonies – Jinshu Fang, Pieter C Dorrestein – Current Opinion in Microbiology

“In this review/perspective, we illustrate the emerging mass spectrometry methodologies that enable the interrogation of specialized metabolites directly from microbial colonies.”

Techniques

Improved performance of the PacBio SMRT technology for 16S rDNA sequencing – Jennifer J. Mosher – Journal of Microbiological Methods

“With accurate read lengths of > 1400 base pairs, the PacBio system opens up the possibility of identifying microorganisms to the species level in environmental samples.”

Bik’s Picks

The Secret to a Tattoo’s Permanence: The Immune System – Olga Khazan – The Atlantic

“We rarely stop and think about the science of tattoos. In fact, some people don’t even stop and think before getting tattooed.”

Mathematical equation to predict happiness: Doesn’t depend on how well things go, but on whether things are better than expected – Science Daily

“The happiness of over 18,000 people worldwide has been predicted by a mathematical equation, with results showing that moment-to-moment happiness reflects not just how well things are going, but whether things are going better than expected.”

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