Microbiome digest, November 11, 2014

Human oral microbiome

Physiological Adaptations of Key Oral Bacteria – C. W. Ian Douglas – Advances in Microbial Physiology

Human gut microbiome

Development and Survival of Th17 Cells within the Intestines: The Influence of Microbiome- and Diet-Derived Signals – Joseph H. Chewning – The Journal of Immunology

Gut Inflammation and Immunity: What Is the Role of the Human Gut Virome? – Alfredo Focà – Mediators of Inflammation

Animal microbiome

Faecal Microbiota of Forage-Fed Horses in New Zealand and the Population Dynamics of Microbial Communities following Dietary Change – Karlette A. Fernandes – PLOS ONE

The Effect of Phytochemical Tannins-Containing Diet on Rumen Fermentation Characteristics and Microbial Diversity Dynamics in Goats Using 16S rDNA Amplicon Pyrosequencing – B. R. Min – Agriculture, Food & Analytical Bacteriology

Microbial diversity in forestomach and caecum contents of the greater long-tailed hamster Tscherskia triton (Rodentia: Cricetidae) – Akio Shinohara – Mammalian Biology – Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde

The pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis disturbs the frog skin microbiome during a natural epidemic and experimental infection – Andrea J. Jani – PNAS USA

Gill bacteria enable a novel digestive strategy in a wood-feeding mollusk – Roberta M. O’Connor – PNAS USA

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities in a coral cay system (Morrocoy, Venezuela) and their relationships with environmental variables – M.M. Alguacil – Science of the Total Environment

Soil microbiome

Short-term parasite-infection alters already the biomass, activity and functional diversity of soil microbial communities – Jun-Min Li – Scientific Reports

Impact of short-term storage temperature on determination of microbial community composition and abundance in aerated forest soil and anoxic pond sediment samples – Franziska B. Brandt – Systematic and Applied Microbiology

Seasonal influence of climate manipulation on microbial community structure and function in mountain soils – Jérémy Puissant – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Effect of organic and conventional practices on carbon-substrate utilisation by the soil microbial community in a ‘Cripps Pink’/M7 apple orchard – Andre H Meyer – South African Journal of Plant and Soil

* The Soil Biota Composition along a Progressive Succession of Secondary Vegetation in a Karst Area – Jie Zhao – PLOS ONE

Effects of salinization and crude oil contamination on soil bacterial community structure in the Yellow River Delta region, China – Yong-chao Gao – Applied Soil Ecology

Water microbiome

Community dynamics of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes in an estuary reservoir – Zhen Sun – Scientific Reports

Microbial diversity and community structure across environmental gradients in Bransfield Strait, Western Antarctic Peninsula – Camila N. Signori – Frontiers in Microbiology

Metagenomics

Assessment of quality control approaches for metagenomic data analysis – Qian Zhou – Scientific Reports

PaperClip: rapid multi-part DNA assembly from existing libraries – Maryia Trubitsyna – Nucleic Acids Research

Microbial phylogeny

* Assessing the global phylum level diversity within the bacterial domain: A review – Noha H. Youssef – Journal of Advanced Research

Science, publishing, career

Crosspost: Using Google Scholar in Scholarly Workflows – Jonathan Eisen – microBEnet

Hilarious: Overly honest references: “Should we cite the crappy Gabor paper here?” – RetractionWatch – (Note: paper has been removed – see a screenshot here)

Microbes in the news

* Bacteria Hysteria? Deadly bacteria normally found in toilets was discovered in the microwave of these students – The Journal.ie

Bik’s Picks

Comparative analysis of the domestic cat genome reveals genetic signatures underlying feline biology and domestication – Michael J. Montague – PNAS USA

UCSF develops site to make sense out of sugar science – Erin Allday – SFGate

Found: The Ideal Fatness for Elephant Seals – Elizabeth Preston – Discover

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Microbiome digest, August 15, 2014

Today we got donkey, goat, and camel milk, deodorants, kitten microbiomes, and coffee as a new mouth rinse.

Pregnancy and birth

Gut microbiota in preterm infants with gross blood in stools: A prospective, controlled study – Mohamed Ben Said – Early Human Development

“Each case was paired with two controls who were hospitalized in the same unit and were matched for gestational age and birth weight. The diversity of the gut microbiota was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene PCR and temporal temperature gel electrophoresis. “

Human oral microbiome

Antibacterial effect of coffee: calcium concentration in a culture containing teeth/biofilm exposed to Coffea Canephora aqueous extract – N. Meckelburg – Letters in Applied Microbiology

“This study revealed an inhibitory action of Coffea canephora against dental biofilm. This coffee species caused bacterial lysis and consequent release of calcium into the medium.”

Human gut microbiome

Review: Exploring gut microbes in Human health and disease: pushing the envelope
Jun Sun, Eugene B. Chang – Genes & Diseases

“In this review and commentary, we highlight recent progress in our understanding of the intestinal microbiome in the context of health and diseases, focusing on mechanistic concepts that underlie the complex relationships between host and microbes.”

Review: Emergence of fecal microbiota transplantation as an approach to repair disrupted microbial gut ecology – Alexander Khoruts, Alexa R. Weingarden – Immunology Letters

“Mechanistic understanding will be required in development of next generation microbiota therapeutics, which may include FMT or defined microbial consortia.”

Gut Bacteria May Play a Role in Autism – Melinda Wenner Moyer – Scientific American

“One open question is whether these microbial differences drive the development of the condition or are instead a consequence of it. “

Skin microbiome

Deodorants and antiperspirants affect the axillary bacterial community – Chris Callewaert — Archives of Dermatological Research

“The effect of deodorants and antiperspirants on the axillary bacterial community was examined on nine healthy subjects, who were restrained from using deodorant/antiperspirant for 1 month. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was used to investigate the individual microbial dynamics.”

Goat and Ass Milk microbiome

Analysis of raw goat milk microbiota: Impact of stage of lactation and lysozyme on microbial diversity – Elizabeth A. McInnis – Food Microbiology

“Milk from transgenic goats containing lysozyme had a similar microbiota over time.”

Fasscinating stuff: Cleopatra took daily baths in assmilk to keep her skin wrinklefree. Maybe lactic acid bacteria were her secret?  Biotyping of cultivable lactic acid bacteria isolated from donkey milk – D. Carminati – Letters in Applied Microbiology

“The large amounts of antimicrobial components and defence factors present in donkey’s milk provide protection from microbial infections and distinguish donkey’s milk from the milks of other mammals”

The Kitten Microbiome Project

“Keeping track of the cutest, fluffiest microbiome project around”

Insect microbiome

Microbial impacts on insect evolutionary diversification: From patterns to mechanisms
Fabrice Vavre, Natacha Kremer – Current Opinion in Insect Science

“Symbiosis can favor rapid shifts in host phenotypic traits, particularly through the contribution of symbionts to the host’s physiology.”

How resident microbes modulate ecologically-important traits of insects
Kerry M. Oliver, Adam J. Martinez – Current Opinion in Insect Science

“In addition to their better-known roles in nutrient provisioning and degrading plant polymers, there is emerging evidence that microorganisms also aid herbivores in countering plant defenses. “

Metabolomics

Building blocks for automated elucidation of metabolites: natural product-likeness for candidate ranking – Kalai Vanii Jayaseelan and Christoph Steinbeck – BMC Bioinformatics

“In this study, we investigated whether additional existing knowledge, such as the fact that the unknown compound is a natural product, can be used to improve the ranking of the correct structure in the result list after the structure elucidation process.”

Phages and viruses

Bacteriophage as effective decolonising agent for elimination of MRSA from anterior nares of BALB/c mice – Sanjay Chhibber – BMC Microbiology

“Phage MR-10, given along with mupirocin showed an additive effect and the combination was able to effectively eradicate the colonising MRSA population from the nares of mice by day 5.”

Crystal structure of a CRISPR RNA-guided surveillance complex bound to a ssDNA target – Sabin Mulepati, Annie Héroux, Scott Bailey – Science

“The structure reveals that the CRISPR RNA and target strands do not form a double helix but instead adopt an underwound ribbon-like structure. “

Bik’s Picks – weekend edition

15 Real-Life Scientists Share Their Favorite Science Fiction Books, Movies – Jacqueline Howard – Huffington Post

“There’s a big difference between science and science fiction, but there’s abundant evidence to suggest that sci-fi books and movies can spark a lifelong interest in science.”

After donkey and goat milk, this one was only appropriate: A Nice Tall Glass of Camel’s Milk – Olga Khazan – The Atlantic

“An oasis in the dromedary-dairy desert?”

Male Mathematicians Agree That Fields Medal Gender Balance Is Now OK – The Allium

“Now that a woman has won the fields medal, there is true and genuine equality and there is no need to worry any more about it.”

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