General microbiology and science, August 19, 2014

Proteomics in biofilms at different temperatures, neonatal immune metabolic network, co-occurrence, something wonky with Unifrac, and microbiome in the news.

Metabolomics and proteomics

Turning up the heat on biofilms – Christina Tobin Kåhrström – Nature Reviews Microbiology

“This study used tandem mass tag (TMT)-based proteomics to measure protein expression in acid mine drainage biofilms at 40 °C, 43 °C and 46 °C. “

Identification of a human neonatal immune-metabolic network associated with bacterial infection – Claire L. Smith – Nature Communications

“Here, a system-level investigation of neonatal systemic responses to infection shows a surprisingly strong but unbalanced homeostatic immune response; developing an elevated set-point of myeloid regulatory signalling and sugar-lipid metabolism with concomitant inhibition of lymphoid responses. “

Secondary metabolite gene expression and interplay of bacterial functions in a tropical freshwater cyanobacterial bloom – Kevin Penn – ISME Journal

“To characterize microbial activities in a cyanoHAB, transcripts from a eutrophic freshwater reservoir in Singapore were sequenced for six samples collected over one day-night period.”

Microbial Ecology

Demonstrating microbial co-occurrence pattern analyses within and between ecosystems
Ryan J. Williams – Frontiers in Microbiology

“To demonstrate our co-occurrence analysis approach, we gathered publicly available 16S rRNA amplicon datasets to compare and contrast microbial co-occurrence at different taxonomic levels across different ecosystems. “

Fluvial network organization imprints on microbial co-occurrence networks – Stefanie Widder – PNAS USA

“We combined co-occurrence analyses of biofilms based on next-generation sequencing with a probabilistic hydrological model, and showed how fragementation of microbial co-occurrence networks change across stream networks. “

Bioinformatics

Equivalent input produces different output in the UniFrac significance test – Jeffrey R Long – BMC Bioinformatics

“UniFrac produces different outputs for these equivalent forms of the same input tree.”

More microbes

PNAS has an upcoming 100th Anniversary Special Feature on Vaccines. Here is the introduction: Vaccines: Science, health, longevity, and wealth – Rino Rappuoli – PNAS

“The special issue of the centenary of PNAS provides an opportunity to review the his- tory of vaccines, the most exciting features of vaccine science, and to contemplate the future. “

Microbes in the news

Gut Check: Exploring your Microbiome – University of Colorado Boulder course

“Join us on a guided tour of the human gut and its microscopic inhabitants. “

* The ‘Whoville’ in Your Gut: Your Microbiome – Raphael Kellman – Everyday Health

“Just as Horton’s neighbors could not “see” the tiny residents of Whoville, most of us are unaware of the microscopic world within us. “

Your Gut Bacteria Want You to Eat a Cupcake – Julie Beck – The Atlantic

“But a recent review published in BioEssays suggests that these bacteria might be a little too big for their britches, bossing their hosts around and demanding certain kinds of foods. “

* Diversify Your Microbiome by Rock Climbing Indoors – Embriette Hyde – MicroBEnet

“Though I don’t feel as though the findings in the study are earth shattering, they do illustrate an important point-the built environments that we inhabit each and every day-whether they are our houses, workplaces, or gyms-are perfect places for sharing microbes of all sorts-both environmental and human-associated. “

Sea Smells By The Sea Shore – Benjamin Wolfe – PopSci.com

“A microbiologist explores the distinctive odors of a day at the beach”

Bik’s Picks

Effect of soccer shoe upper on ball behaviour in curve kicks – Hideyuki Ishii – Nature Scientific Reports

“In this study, by using a finite element simulation, we investigated the factors that affect ball behaviour immediately after impact in a curve kick. Five experienced male university soccer players performed one curve kick. “‘

Illegal killing for ivory drives global decline in African elephants – George Wittemyer – PNAS USA

“…to our knowledge we provide the first detailed assessment of African elephant illegal killing rates at population, regional, and continental scales. “

[hr]

 

Microbiome digest, August 18, 2014

Mushroom microbiome, mice fed T7 phages, and uBiome got some money.

Plant microbiome

Comparative analysis of bacterial diversity and communities inhabiting the fairy ring of Tricholoma matsutake by barcoded pyrosequencing – M. Kim – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“The bacterial communities in soil samples collected from inside, beneath and outside the T. matsutake fairy ring were investigated using barcoded pyrosequencing. “

Rhizospheric fungal community structure of a Bt brinjal and a near isogenic variety – A.K. Singh – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“..this study concludes that genetic modification of brinjal crop has minor effect on the fungal community.”

Phages and viruses

Observation of inflammatory responses in mice orally fed with bacteriophage T7 – K. Park – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“A histopathological analysis of tissue samples from the stomach, small intestine and colon revealed no significant pathological change.”

Microbes in the news

GW High students to name bacterium – Maria Hernandez – Pacific Sunday News

“Students from George Washington High School got the opportunity to name a bacterium that was discovered during a historic underwater expedition to the Mariana Trench, which was led by filmmaker James Cameron in 2012.”

uBiome Raises $4.5M From Angel Investors, Andreessen Horowitz To Crowdsource Microbiome Research – Julian Chokkattu – Techcrunch

“uBiome also has the largest private dataset of human microbiome samples in the world, giving participants a quick way to compare what’s in their microbiome to a large group.”

Bik’s Picks

All Things Considered podcast (3 min): Often On The Move, Restless Elephants Are Tough To Count — And Keep Safe – Gregory Warner – NPR

The reason elephants are so hard to protect is the same that makes them so hard to count: They roam — exceptionally far.”

Mapping Cell Fate Conversion via CellNet, a Network Biology Tool – Kevin Mayer – GenEngNews

“The differentiation of engineered stem cells may be imagined as a subway journey, where the genetic equivalents of missing a transfer or getting off at the wrong stop can take your stem cells far off course.”

Camouflage sheet inspired by octopus – Jonathan Webb – BBC Science

“Based on the camouflage abilities of octopuses and cuttlefish, engineers in the US have built a flexible material that changes colour to match its surroundings.”

[hr]