August 28, 2024

Human gut microbiome

[REVIEW] Feeding gut microbes to nourish the brain: unravelling the diet–microbiota–gut–brain axis – Elizabeth Schneider et al – Nature Metabolism

Elucidating human gut microbiota interactions that robustly inhibit diverse Clostridioides difficile strains across different nutrient landscapes – Jordy Evan Sulaiman et al – Nature Communications

Fecal microbiota transplantation influences microbiota without connection to symptom relief in irritable bowel syndrome patients – Anna K. Hartikainen et al – NPJ Biofilms & Microbiomes

Impact of probiotics on gut microbiome of extremely preterm or extremely low birthweight infants – Lauren C. Beck et al – Nature Pediatric Research

Effect of Helicobacter pylori on sleeve gastrectomy and gastric microbiome differences in patients with obesity and diabetes – Yong Suk Park et al – International Journal of Obesity

Mining human microbiomes reveals an untapped source of peptide antibiotics – Marcelo D.T. Torres et al – Cell

Both pathogen and host dynamically adapt pH responses along the intestinal tract during enteric bacterial infection – Sarah E. Woodward et al – PLOS Biology

Examination of sex-specific interactions between gut microbiota and host metabolism after 12-week combined polyphenol supplementation in individuals with overweight or obesity – Kelly M. Jardon et al – Gut Microbes

Human vaginal microbiome

The potential of residual clinical Group B Streptococcus swabs for assessing the vaginorectal microbiome in late pregnancy – Laura K. Boelsen et al – Scientific Reports

Animal models

Sex-dependent effects of a high fat diet on metabolic disorders, intestinal barrier function and gut microbiota in mouse – Candice Lefebvre et al – Scientific Reports

Animal microbiome

16S rRNA metabarcoding for the identification of tick-borne bacteria in ticks in the Republic of Korea – Badriah Alkathiri et al – Scientific Reports

The bacterial microbiome and resistome of house dust mites in Irish homes – Amal Aljohani et al – Scientific Reports

Social environment influences microbiota and potentially pathogenic bacterial communities on the skin of developing birds – Ester Martínez-Renau – BMC Animal Microbiome

16S amplicon-based microbiome biomapping of a commercial broiler hatchery – Michael J. Rothrock Jr. et al – BMC Animal Microbiome

Phages & viruses

[REVIEW] Renewed insights into Ackermannviridae phage biology and applications – Anders Nørgaard Sørensen & Lone Brøndsted – NPJ Viruses

Adaptation strategies of giant viruses to low-temperature marine ecosystems – Marianne Buscaglia et al – ISME Journal

Targeted viromes and total metagenomes capture distinct components of bee gut phage communities – Dino Lorenzo Sbardellati et al – BMC Microbiome

Plant, root & soil microbiome

Soil health is associated with higher primary productivity across Europe – Ferran Romero et al – Nature Ecology & Evolution

Pathogen-driven Pseudomonas reshaped the phyllosphere microbiome in combination with Pseudostellaria heterophylla foliar disease resistance via the release of volatile organic compounds – Qing-Song Yuan et al – BMC Environmental Microbiome

Water & extremophile microbiome

Impact of temperature and water source on drinking water microbiome during distribution in a pilot-scale study – Fien Waegenaar et al – NPJ Clean Water

Metagenomics analysis of sewage for surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in South Africa – Anthony M. Smith et al – PLOS One

Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria adapted to low oxygen conditions dominate nitrite oxidation in marine oxygen minimum zones – Samantha G Fortin et al – ISME Journal

Niche separation in bacterial communities and activities in porewater, loosely attached, and firmly attached fractions in permeable surface sediments – Chyrene Moncada et al – ISME Journal

Microbial assemblages and associated biogeochemical processes in Lake Bonney, a permanently ice-covered lake in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica – Hanbyul Lee et al – BMC Environmental Microbiome

Tools & methods

Intestinal organ chips for disease modelling and personalized medicine – Alican Özkan et al – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

MICROPHERRET: MICRObial PHEnotypic tRait ClassifieR using Machine lEarning Techniques – Edoardo Bizzotto et al – BMC Environmental Microbiome

refMLST: reference-based multilocus sequence typing enables universal bacterial typing – Mondher Khdhiri et al – BMC Bioinformatics

Smccnet 2.0: a comprehensive tool for multi-omics network inference with shiny visualization – Weixian Liu et al – BMC Bioinformatics

May 15, 2024

Human gut microbiome

A shared group of bacterial taxa in the duodenal microbiota of undernourished Pakistani children with environmental enteric dysfunction – Najeeha T Iqbal – mSphere

Gut microbiota, blood metabolites, and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in US Hispanics/Latinos – Kai Luo – BMC Microbiome

Co-localization of antibiotic resistance genes is widespread in the infant gut microbiome and associates with an immature gut microbial composition – Xuanji Li – BMC Microbiome

Impact of the gut microbiome composition on social decision-making – Marie Falkenstein – PNAS Nexus

Veillonella and Bacteroides are associated with gestational diabetes mellitus exposure and gut microbiota immaturity – Fernanda Valdez-Palomares – PLOS One

[REVIEW] The neonatal gut microbiome and global health – Pinaki Panigrahi – Gut Microbes

Functional characterization of helminth-associated Clostridiales reveals covariates of Treg differentiation – Shusan Sargisan – BMC Microbiome

Vaginal microbiome

16S rRNA female reproductive microbiome investigation reveals Dalfopristin, Clorgyline, and Hydrazine as potential therapeutics for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis – Sudeepti Kulshrestha – Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease

Fecal transplant from vaginally seeded infants decreases intraabdominal adiposity in mice – Sivaranjani Namasivayam – Gut Microbes

Animal microbiome

Viruses contribute to microbial diversification in the rumen ecosystem and are associated with certain animal production traits – Ming Yan & Zhongtang Yu – BMC Microbiome

Quantitative microbiome profiling of honey bee (Apis mellifera) guts is predictive of winter colony loss in northern Virginia (USA) – David B. Carlini – Nature Scientific Reports

How do phytophagous insects affect phyllosphere fungi? Tracking fungi from milkweed to monarch caterpillar frass reveals communities dominated by fungal yeast – Ryoko Oono – Environmental Microbiology

Beneficial microbes & compounds

The gut lactic acid bacteria metabolite, 10-oxo- cis-6, trans-11-octadecadienoic acid, suppresses inflammatory bowel disease in mice by modulating the NRF2 pathway and GPCR-signaling – Miki Ando – Frotiers in Immunology

Effect of weight loss program using prebiotics and probiotics on body composition, physique, and metabolic products: longitudinal intervention study – Nayera E Hassan – Nature Scientific Reports

Origin of the neonatal gut microbiota and probiotic intervention: a randomized controlled trial – Zhe Li – Frontiers in Nutrition

Effectiveness of probiotic- and fish oil-loaded water-in-oil-in-water (W1/O/W2) emulsions at alleviating ulcerative colitis – Qingzhao Gu – Food & Function

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Competition mode and soil nutrient status shape the role of soil microbes in the diversity–invasibility relationship – Haokun Li – Ecology and Evolution

Dynamics and drivers of fungal communities in a multipartite ant-plant association – Veronica Barrajon-Santos – BMC Biology

Quorum sensing related activities of beneficial and pathogenic bacteria have important implications for plant and human health – Anton Hartmann – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Impacts of vegetable processing and cheese making effluent on soil microbial functional diversity, community structure, and denitrification potential of land treatment systems – Geoffrey S. Siemering – Water Environment Research

Role of Bacillus subtilis exopolymeric genes in modulating rhizosphere microbiome assembly – Caroline Sayuri Nishisaka – BMC Environmental Microbiome

The predominant lactic acid bacteria and yeasts involved in the spontaneous fermentation of millet during the production of the traditional porridge Hausa koko in Ghana – Amy Atter – BMC Microbiology

Bioinformatics & Tools

Multi-class boosting for the analysis of multiple incomplete views on microbiome data – Andrea Simeon – BMC Bioinformatics

PrimerEvalPy: a tool for in-silico evaluation of primers for targeting the microbiome – Lara Vázquez-González – BMC Bioinformatics

Readsynth: short-read simulation for consideration of composition-biases in reduced metagenome sequencing approaches – Ryan Kuster – BMC Bioinformatics

May 8, 2024

Happy Wednesday folks, we’re halfway through the week! Today’s blog features a number of interesting articles – it was difficult to pick just a few to highlight. Read on to learn about a new study that unveils the environment-specificity of secondary successional dynamics following microbiota disruption, a review summarizing the literature on how pesticide exposure affects the microbiota-gut-brain-axis, an investigation of how host phylogeny, diet, and anthropogenic factors shape the Cetacea gut microbiome – and more!

Human Microbiome

Diet-omics in the Study of Urban and Rural Crohn disease Evolution (SOURCE) cohort – Tzipi Braun – Nature Communications

Improvements in Gut Microbiome Composition and Clinical Symptoms Following Familial Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in a Nineteen-Year-Old Adolescent With Severe Autism – Sabine Hazan – Journal of Medical Cases

[PREPRINT] Interplay between particle size and microbial ecology in the gut microbiome – Jeffrey Letourneau – bioRxiv

Shotgun metagenomic analysis of saliva microbiome suggests Mogibacterium as a factor associated with chronic bacterial osteomyelitis – Hiroko Yahara – PLOS One

[REVIEW] Pesticide exposure and the microbiota-gut-brain axis – Rie Matsuzaki – ISME Journal

Animal Experiments

Short-term exposure to antibiotics begets long-term disturbance in gut microbial metabolism and molecular ecological networks – Yuehui Hong – BMC Microbiome

Microbial Ecology

Synthesis of recovery patterns in microbial communities across environments – Stephanie D. Jurburg – BMC Microbiome

Cooperative interactions between invader and resident microbial community members weaken the negative diversity-invasion relationship – Johanna Vendermaesen – Ecology Letters

High speciation rate of niche specialists in hot springs – Qing He – ISME Journal

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Effects of reduced snowpack due to climate warming on abiotic and biotic soil properties in alpine and boreal forest systems – Anastasiia Kosolapova – PLOS Climate

Microbiota recovery in a chronosquences of impoverished Cerrado soils with biosolids applications – Laibin Huang – Science of the Total Environment

Melatonin promotes the recovery of apple plants after waterlogging by shaping the structure and function of the rhizosphere microbiome – Yang Cao – Plant, Cell & Environment

Antimony efflux underpins phosphorus cycling and resistance of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria in mining soils – Shengwei Liu – ISME Journal

Animal Microbiome

Antibiotic exposure alters the honeybee gut microbiota and may interfere with the honeybee behavioral caste transition – Zijing Zhang – Insect Science

Meta-analysis of the Cetacea gut microbiome: Diversity, co-evolution, and interaction with the anthropogenic pathobiome – Elena Radaelli – Science of the Total Environment

Comparative analysis of gut microbiome of mangrove brachyuran crabs revealed patterns of phylosymbiosis and codiversification – Chandlar Tsz To Tsang – Molecular Ecology

Techniques & Methodology

A perfusion host-microbe bioreactor (HMB) system that captures dynamic interactions of secreted metabolites between epithelial cells cocultured with a human gut anaerobe – Jingyun Yang – Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Stable, fluorescent markers for tracking synthetic communities and assembly dynamics – Beatriz Jorrin – BMC Microbiome

Sterile sentinels and MinION sequencing capture active soil microbial communities that differentiate crop rotations – Sonya R. Erlandson – BMC Environmental Microbiome

Microbiome digest, October 13, 2014

Preterm infant gut microbiome, fecal transplants, microbes in space, and microbiome of 8 different fish species.

Pregnancy and birth

* Development of the preterm infant gut microbiome: a research priority – Maureen W Groer (Jack Gilbert lab) – Microbiome

“This review provides a synthesis of our understanding of the normal development of the infant gut microbiome and contrasts this with dysbiotic development in the VLBW infant.”

Fluorescence in situ hybridization for identification of microorganisms in acute chorioamnionitis – D. Schmiedel – Clinical Microbiology and Infection

“Using a diagnostic fluorescence in situ hybridization probe panel, we visualized Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mitis group in two cases of acute chorioamnionitis. “

The Role of Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma in Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes – Amy P. Murtha – Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America

* Impact Of Lifestyle On The Gut Microbiota Of Healthy Infants And Their Mothers – The Aladdin Birth Cohort – Helena Marell Hesla – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“Samples collected from infants at ages six days, three weeks, two months and six months and from their mothers before and after delivery, respectively, were analyzed using 454-pyrosequencing.”

Human gut microbiome

* Oral, Capsulized, Frozen Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Relapsing Clostridium difficile Infection – Ilan Youngster – JAMA

“Self-ranked health scores improved significantly on a scale of 1 to 10 from a median of 5  for overall health and 4.5  for gastrointestinal-specific health on the day prior to FMT to 8 after FMT administration for both overall and gastrointestinal health (P = .001).”

* Impact of Experimental Hookworm Infection on the Human Gut Microbiota – Cinzia Cantacessi – Journal of Infectious Diseases

“We used 16S rRNA gene amplification and pyrosequencing to characterize, for the first time to our knowledge, the differences in composition and relative abundance of fecal microbial communities in human subjects prior to and following experimental infection with the blood-feeding intestinal hookworm, Necator americanus. “

Genomics of schizophrenia: time to consider the gut microbiome? – T G Dinan – Molecular Psychiatry

“To date, this vast quantity of DNA has been largely ignored in schizophrenia research.”

Animal microbiome

Comparative study on gastrointestinal microbiota of eight fish species with different feeding habits – Jinjin Li – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“The V1 to V3 regions of 16S rRNA gene were analyzed by highthroughput sequencing (454 platform) to compare the gut microbiota of different fish species. “

Dining local: the microbial diet of a snail that grazes microbial communities is geographically structured – Richard O’Rorke – Environmental Microbiology

“we collected 102 snail fecal samples as a proxy for diet, and 102 matched-leaf samples from four locations. We used Illumina amplicon sequencing to determine bacterial and fungal community composition. “

Bacterial associates of seed-parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera: Megastigmus) – Amber R Paulson – BMC Microbiology

“We characterized the bacterial symbionts of Megastigmus (Hymenoptera: Torymidae), a lineage of seed-parasitic chalcid wasps, with the goal of identifying microbes that might play an important role in aiding development within seeds, including supplementing insect nutrition or manipulating host trees.“

Bioreactor microbiome

Biofouling and Microbial Communities in Membrane Distillation and Reverse Osmosis – Katherine R. Zodrow – Environmental Science & Technology

“Phylogenetic analysis using next-generation sequencing of 16S ribosomal DNA showed significant shifts in the microbial communities. “

Integrated ‘omics analysis for studying the microbial community response to a pH perturbation of a cellulose-degrading bioreactor culture – Amy A Boaro – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“16S rDNA pyrosequencing results revealed increased alpha diversity in the microbial community after the perturbation, and a persistence of the dominant community members over the duration of the experiment.”

Environmental microbiome

Effects of Bioavailable Heavy Metal Species, Arsenic, and Acid Drainage from Mine Tailings on a Microbial Community Sampled Along a Pollution Gradient in a Freshwater Ecosystem – Togwell A. Jackson – Geomicrobiology Journal

“Ribosomal ribonucleic acid, fatty acid, and phospholipid analyses, along with assays of CO2 production, denitrification, and enzyme activities, were performed to characterise the microflora; and environmental conditions were defined by various physicochemical analyses, including determination of bioavailable metal species. “

The role of macrobiota in structuring microbial communities along rocky shores – Catherine A Pfister​, Jack A Gilbert, Sean M Gibbons – PeerJ

“At two coastal locations in the northeast Pacific Ocean, we show that microbial composition was significantly different between inert surfaces, the biogenic surfaces that included rocky shore animals and an alga, and the water column plankton.”

Microbes in (simulated) space

The development and succession of microbial communities in 90-day Bioregenerative Life Support Experiment in the Lunar Palace 1 – Yi Sun – 40th COSPAR Scientific Assembly

“In this study, the development and succession of the microbial communities of air, water system, plant system, and key facilities surfaces in Lunar Palace 1 were continuously monitored and analyzed by using plate counting method and molecular biological method during the 90-day experiment.”

The viability of native microbial communities in martian environment (model) – Vorobyova, Elena – 40th COSPAR Scientific Assembly

“It was shown that in simulated conditions close to the parameters of the Martian regolith, the diversity of natural bacterial communities was not decreased, and in some cases the activation of some bacterial populations occurred in situ.”

Food microbiology

Microbial succession and the functional potential during the fermentation of Chinese soy sauce brine – Joanita Sulaiman – Frontiers in Microbiology

“Whole genome shotgun (WGS) method revealed that the fermentation brine was dominated by the bacterial genus Weissella and later dominated by the fungal genus Candida.”

Transcriptomics/metagenomics

Adaptation to environmental factors shapes the organization of regulatory regions in microbial communities – Leyden Fernandez – BMC Genomics

“We have here characterized and analyzed the metaregulome of three different environments, as well as their impact in the adaptation to particular variable physico-chemical conditions. “

Other microbiology

Inverse Correlation Between Helicobacter pylori Colonization and Obesity in a Cohort of Inner City Children – Hanh D. Vo – Helicobacter

“Our findings in a North American cohort are in agreement with studies from Asia and Europe suggesting that H. pylori infection decreases the prevalence of obesity in children.”

Microbes in the news

* Podcast: Your Home, Your Bacteria – Science Friday

“Jack Gilbert… is trying to develop a better understanding of the way people, bacteria, and the environment around them interact, from the kitchen floor to the greater Chicago area.”

Landmark Crohn’s Microbiome Study Yields Important Findings – David Wild – GastroEndoNews

“The association suggests that there is a potential link between the presence of these microbes and the serologic biomarkers, but that needs to be determined in future studies,” said Dr. Xavier, who presented the study at Digestive Disease Week 2014”

Is that how the capsules will look like? Good news: You can take your fecal transplants orally – Rachel Feltman – Washington Post

“In a study published Saturday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers report that the same success rate can be reached by processing the healthy excrement into capsules and administering the pills by mouth.“

Probiotics on the brain: A growing number of scientists now believe that gut bacteria can influence mental health – Elizabeth Gehrman – Boston Globe

“Whenever someone says there’s an impossibility in medicine,” says Williams, “they end up being corrected in a few years.”

Unravelling the link between gut bacteria and horse health – University of Surrey

“Researchers at the University of Surrey, in collaboration with colleagues from Reading and Liverpool universities, have been awarded £100,000 funding by Petplan Charitable Trust… to create a laboratory model of the horse’s hindgut.”

The Second Brain: Gut Bacteria Control Human Behavior to Get the Best Nutrients – David Gutierrez – Epoch Times

“Bacteria within the gut are manipulative,” researcher Carlo Maley, PhD, said. “There is a diversity of interests represented in the microbiome, some aligned with our own dietary goals, and others not.”

Science, publishing, career

Sometimes My Job Seems Like a Secret – Amy Davidson – Speaking Of Research

“You are going to hell.” “You are a horrible person.” “We cannot be friends anymore.”

Sell yourself: Adding substance to your personal statement – Brian Rybarczyk – Science Careers at Science Magazine

“Obtaining feedback on your personal statement (or any piece of writing) can be intimidating, but feedback is essential for creating a polished and readable document.”

Bik’s Picks

Why Orange Juice Tastes Disgusting After You Brush Your Teeth: Finally, an answer – Sarah Fecht – Popular Science

“In a handy video, the American Chemical Society has explained why orange juice (and food in general) tastes like soap after you brush your teeth. “

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