Tag Archives: termites

Non-human microbiome digest, October 7, 2014

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Weaning piglets, fungus-farming termites, mosquito larval stages, antibiotic resistant bacteria in soil after fertilization, and biogeography of marine microbiomes.

Mammal microbiome

Assessment of fecal bacterial diversity among healthy piglets during the weaning transition – Edward Alain B. Pajarillo – Journal of General and Applied Microbiology

“This study describes the fecal microbial shifts of healthy piglets during the weaning transition using barcoded pyrosequencing of the prokaryotic 16S rRNA gene.”

Insect microbiome

Complementary symbiont contributions to plant decomposition in a fungus-farming termite – Michael Poulsen – PNAS USA

“We analyzed the genomic potential for biomass decomposition in a farming termite, its fungal symbiont, and its bacterial gut communities. “

Composition of Anopheles coluzzii and Anopheles gambiae microbiota from larval to adult stages – Geoffrey Gimonneau – Infection, Genetics and Evolution

“We characterized bacterial communities from aquatic habitats, at surface microlayer and subsurface water levels, to freshly emerge adult mosquitoes using multiplexed 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing”

Soil microbiome

From the Handelsman lab: Bloom of resident antibiotic-resistant bacteria in soil following manure fertilization – Nikolina Udikovic-Kolic – PNAS USA

“In this study, we found that dairy cow manure amendment enhanced the proliferation of resident antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes encoding β-lactamases in soil even though the cows from which the manure was derived had not been treated with antibiotics. “

* Niche-Partitioning of Edaphic Microbial Communities in the Namib Desert Gravel Plain Fairy Circles – Jean-Baptiste Ramond – PLOS ONE

“T-RFLP fingerprinting of the bacterial (16S rRNA gene) and fungal (ITS region) communities, in parallel with two-way crossed ANOSIM, showed that FC communities were significantly different to those of external control vegetated soil”

Temporal Changes in Soil Bacterial Diversity and Humic Substances Degradation in Subarctic Tundra Soil – Ha Ju Park – Microbial Ecology

“Culture-independent microbial community analysis showed that during the microcosm experiments, the relative abundance of phyla Proteobacteria (bacteria) and Euryarchaeota (archaea) largely increased, indicating their involvement in HS degradation. “

Water microbiome

Distinct patterns of marine bacterial communities in the South and North Pacific Oceans – Sung-Suk Suh – Journal of Microbiology

“In this study, 16S rRNA gene tag pyrosequencing was used to investigate change in bacterial community structure between summer and winter water masses from Gosung Bay in the South Sea of Korea and Chuuk in Micronesia, located in the North and South Pacific Oceans, respectively.”

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Non-human microbiome digest, September 29, 2014

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Microbiome of house mice, rumen, fish species in the same pond, sponges and corals, coastal sediments, and mycobacteria and amoeba in drinking water.

Mammal microbiome

Gastrointestinal microbiota of wild and inbred individuals of two house mouse subspecies assessed using high-throughput parallel pyrosequencing – Jakub Kreisinger – Molecular Ecology

“Using 454 pyrosequencing, we performed 16S rDNA GTM barcoding for 30 wild house mice (Mus musculus) and wild-derived inbred strain mice belonging to two subspecies (M. m. musculus and M. m. domesticus)”

Study of methanogen communities associated with different rumen protozoal populations – Alejandro Belanche – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“Rumen protozoa were harvested from totally faunated sheep, and six protozoal fractions (plus free-living microorganisms) were generated by sequential filtration. “

Microbial profiles of liquid and solid fraction associated biomaterial in buffalo rumen fed green and dry roughage diets by tagged 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing – K. M. Singh – Molecular Biology Reports

“The rumen bacterial composition of both liquid and solid fraction was surveyed using pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene.”

Bacterial Community Composition and Fermentation Patterns in the Rumen of Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) Fed Three Different Diets – Zhipeng Li – Microbial Ecology

“The present study used 454-pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes to examine the relationship between rumen bacterial diversity and metabolic phenotypes using three sika deer in a 3 × 3 latin square design.”

Fish microbiome

* Do the intestinal microbiotas differ between paddlefish (Polyodon spathala) and bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) reared in the same pond? – X.M. Li – Journal of Applied Microbiology

“After 30 days of rearing, the intestinal microbiota of the two fish species was assessed by pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes.”

Tending a complex microbiota requires major immune complexity – Keaton Stagaman – Molecular Ecology

“In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Bolnick et al. (2014a) sample the gut microbial community from 150 genetically diverse stickleback isolated from a single lake”

Insect microbiome

The bacterial microbiota of Stolotermes ruficeps (Stolotermitidae), a phylogenetically basal termite endemic to New Zealand – Nicola M. Reid – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“We identified core bacterial taxa involved in gut processes through combined DNA- and RNA (cDNA)-based pyrosequencing analysis of the 16S nucleotide sequence from five S. ruficeps colonies.”

Genetic groups and endosymbiotic microbiota of the Bemisia tabaci species complex in Japanese agricultural sites – A. Fujiwara – Journal of Applied Entomology

“Use of the cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence technique and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene sequencing detected five genetic groups”

Sponge and Coral microbiome

Phylogenetic signal in the community structure of host-specific microbiomes of tropical marine sponges – Cole G. Easson and Robert W. Thacker – Frontiers in Microbiology

“As part of the Earth Microbiome Project, we surveyed the microbiomes associated with 20 species of tropical marine sponges collected over a narrow geographic range.”

* Onset and establishment of diazotrophs and other bacterial associates in the early life history stages of the coral Acropora millepora – Kimberley A. Lema – Molecular Ecology

“Using an amplicon pyrosequencing approach, the diversity of both nitrogen-fixing bacteria and of bacterial communities overall was assessed through analysis of nifH and 16S rRNA genes, respectively. “

Biogeography rather than association with cyanobacteria structures symbiotic microbial communities in the marine sponge Petrosia ficiformis  – Ilia Burgsdorf – Forntiers in Microbiology

“16S rRNA gene tag pyrosequencing data of the microbial communities revealed that Chloroflexi, Gammaproteobacteria and Acidobacteria dominated the bacterial communities of all sponges analyzed. “

Soil and sediments microbiome

Interactive effects of C, N and P fertilization on soil microbial community structure and function in an Amazonian rain forest – Nicolas Fanin – Functional Ecology

“Changes in microbial community structure did not affect rates of general processes such as glucose mineralization and cellulose paper decomposition. “

* The long-term adaptation of bacterial communities in metal-contaminated sediments. A metaproteogenomic study – David C. Gillan – Environmental Microbiology

“Two freshwater sites, Férin and MetalEurop, differing by one order of magnitude in metal levels .. were compared by shotgun metaproteogenomics.”

Effect of plankton-derived organic matter on the microbial community of coastal marine sediments – Paula Carpintero de Moraes – Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

“Analyses of molecular fingerprints of bacterial communities by denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis (DGGE) showed differences in bacterial community composition between both treatments and control just after algae addition. “

Rapid bacterial colonization of low-density polyethylene microplastics in coastal sediment microcosms – Jesse P Harrison – BMC Microbiology

“Sequencing of cloned 16S rRNA genes demonstrated that these communities were dominated after 14 days by the genera Arcobacter and Colwellia “

Water microbiome

Picky, hungry eaters in the cold: persistent substrate selectivity among polar pelagic microbial communities – Andrew D. Steen and Carol Arnosti – Frontiers in Microbiology

“The purpose of this study was to investigate potential factors preventing hydrolysis of pullulan in Svalbard fjord waters. “

Saltwater intrusion history shapes the response of bacterial communities upon rehydration – Tiffanie M. Nelson – Science of The Total Environment

“Bacterial community composition before and after treatment were measured using next generation sequencing of bacterial DNA. “

Diversity of marine microbes in a changing Mediterranean Sea – Gian Marco Luna – Rendiconti Lincei

“This review aims at summarizing the knowledge on microbial diversity in the basin, by focusing on prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) in pelagic and benthic habitats. “

* First evidence of amoebae – mycobacteria association in drinking water network – Vincent Delafont – Environmental Science & Technology

“Direct Sanger sequencing as well as pyrosequencing of environmental isolates demonstrated the frequent association of mycobacteria and FLA”

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Microbiome digest, September 25, 2014

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Asbestos and microbiome, human gut microbiome during a long stay in the hospital, gut microbiome of 15 mammals, Wolbachia in insects, microbiome of plant roots, and eukaryotes in Norwegian waters.

Human respiratory microbiome

Airways microbiota: Hidden Trojan horses in asbestos exposed individuals? – Dimitrios E. Magouliotis – Medical Hypotheses

“Here, we propose and discuss that certain proteins secreted by airways symbiotic microbiota create membrane pores to the airway epithelial cells, through which asbestos fibers can penetrate the lung parenchyma and reach the sub-pleural areas.”

Human gut microbiome

Membership and Behavior of Ultra-Low-Diversity Pathogen Communities Present in the Gut of Humans during Prolonged Critical Illness – Alexander Zaborin – mBio

“We analyzed the 16S rRNA amplicon composition in fecal samples of selected patients during their prolonged stay in an intensive care unit (ICU) and observed the emergence of ultra-low-diversity communities (1 to 4 bacterial taxa) in 30% of the patients.”

Mammal microbiome

Convergence of gut microbiomes in myrmecophagous mammals – Frederic Delsuc – Molecular Ecology

“Here, we expand upon previous mammalian gut microbiome studies … to characterize the composition of gut microbiota in 15 species representing all placental myrmecophagous lineages and their close relatives from zoo- and field-collected samples.

Insect microbiome

Symbionts Commonly Provide Broad Spectrum Resistance to Viruses in Insects: A Comparative Analysis of Wolbachia Strains – Julien Martinez – PLOS Pathogens

“We have investigated antiviral protection in 19 Wolbachia strains originating from 16 Drosophila species after transfer into the same genotype of Drosophila simulans. “

Plant microbiome

Niche and host-associated functional signatures of the root surface microbiome – Maya Ofek-Lalzar – Nature Communications

“Metagenomic (genetic potential) analysis identifies a core set of functional genes associated with root colonization in both plant hosts, and metatranscriptomic (functional expression) analysis revealed that most genes enriched in the root zones are expressed. “

Water microbiome

Deep-branching Novel Lineages and High Diversity of Haptophytes in the Skagerrak (Norway) Uncovered by 454 Pyrosequencing – Elianne S. Egge – Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology

“Nano- and picoplanktonic subsurface samples were collected monthly for 2 yr, and the haptophytes were targeted by amplification of RNA/cDNA with Haptophyta-specific 18S ribosomal DNA V4 primers. “

Microbes in the news

Intensive Loss of Gut Bacteria Diversity – Molly Sharlach – The Scientist

In a study published today (September 23) in mBio, researchers also fed ICU patients’ “ultra-low-diversity” gut microbes to C. elegans roundworms.

How Termites Evolved to Decompose Plant Matter: Gut Bacteria and Fungus – Catherine Griffin – Science World Report

“In order to better understand this interaction, the researchers analyzed plant decomposition genes in the first genome sequencing of a fungus-farming termite and its fungal crop, and bacterial gut communities.”

Science and Career

Scientists Are Not Trusted By Americans – Here’s Why – Science 2.0

“A paper in PNAS finds that Americans seem wary of researchers because they get grant funding and do not trust scientists pushing political and cultural agendas. “

Read The Nasty Comments Women In Science Deal With Daily – Macrina Cooper-White – Huffington Post

“Every day you’re faced with some comment, some snide remark, some inability to get a name on a research paper. “

Bik’s Picks

Water on Earth is older than the sun, scientists say – Deborah Netburn – Los Angeles Times

“Some of the water molecules in your drinking glass were created more than 4.5 billion years ago, according to new research.”

Science Graphic of the Week: Three Ways to Visualize Our Melting Northern Ice Cap – Nick Stockton – Wired.com

“These three visualizations, by NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio, illustrate this steadily unfolding situation, which has nightmarish implications..“

Healthy food might be bad for patients – here’s why – Amanda Squire – The Conversation

“The truth is that healthy food as we think of it may not be what patients really need.”

Brazil releases ‘good’ mosquitoes to fight dengue fever – BBC News

“Brazilian researchers in Rio de Janeiro have released thousands of mosquitoes infected with bacteria that suppress dengue fever.”

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Microbiome digest, August 27, 2014

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Not many microbiome papers today, just some other interesting topics: does dirt make you happy, definition of preterm labor, cheese cultures, and solving a Death Valley mystery.

Pregnancy and birth 

The Problem With What Doctors Call Preterm Labor – Catherine Pearson – Huffington Post

“”We have been thinking of preterm birth as though it is one condition, and this is not the right way of thinking about the problem,” Dr. Roberto Romero, chief of the perinatology research branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, told The Huffington Post.”

Insect microbiome

* Identifying the core microbial community in the gut of fungus-growing termites – Saria Otani – Molecular Ecology

“Using 454-pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, we show that gut communities have representatives of 26 bacterial phyla and are dominated by Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Spirochaetes, Proteobacteria and Synergistetes”

Microbes in the news

* Does Dirt Make You Happy? – Anna Brones – Modern Farmer

“We benefit from being outdoors and exposed to things like soil and animals, because of the fact that we’re exposed to microorganisms.”

* Scientists and cheesemakers gather for (microbial) culture – Ewen Callaway – Nature News

““I fall in love every time I look at a cheese rind. They’re wonderful microbial ecosystems,” she says.”

Transcriptomics

Comparative analysis of the transcriptome across distant species – Mark B. Gerstein – Nature

“To this end, the ENCODE and modENCODE consortia have generated large amounts of matched RNA-sequencing data for human, worm and fly. “

Bik’s Picks

This has intrigued me for years – very happy to see this paper.
Sliding Rocks on Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park: First Observation of Rocks in Motion – Richard D. Norris – PLOS ONE

“the process of rock movement that we have observed occurs when the thin, 3 to 6 mm, “windowpane” ice sheet covering the playa pool begins to melt in late morning sun and breaks up under light winds of ~4–5 m/s.”

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Non-human microbiome, July 29

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Microbiomes of chickens with Marek’s disease, fish, fungus-growing termites, ticks, leeches, mosses, soil and acid mine drainage.

Chicken microbiome

Marek’s Disease Virus Influences the Core Gut Microbiome of the Chicken During the Early and Late Phases of Viral Replication – Sudeep Perumbakkam – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“In this study, dysbiosis induced by MDV on the core gut flora of chicken was assessed using next generation sequence (NGS) analysis. “

Fish microbiome

Dietary differences are reflected on the gut prokaryotic community structure of wild and commercially reared sea bream (Sparus aurata) – Konstantinos A. Kormas – Microbiology Open

“There were distinct prokaryotic communities in the three different fish nutritional treatments, with the bacteria dominating over the Archaea. “

Inter Individual Variations of the Fish Skin Microbiota: Host Genetics Basis of Mutualism? – Sébastien Boutin – PLOS ONE

“we detected Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) associated with the abundance of specific skin microbiota bacterial strains in brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis), combining 16S RNA tagged-amplicon 454 pyrosequencing with genetic linkage analysis. “

Arthropod microbiome

Identifying the core microbial community in the gut of fungus-growing termites – Saria Otani – Molecular Ecology

“The objective of our study was to compare the intestinal bacterial communities of five genera (nine species) of fungus-growing termites to establish whether or not an ancestral core microbiota has been maintained and characterizes extant lineages. “

Characterization of the Bacterial Communities of Life Stages of Free Living Lone Star Ticks (Amblyomma americanum) – Amanda Jo Williams-Newkirk – PLOS ONE

“We performed a metagenomic survey of the bacterial communities of questing A. americanum and tested 131 individuals (66 nymphs, 24 males, and 41 females) from five sites in three states. Pyrosequencing was performed with barcoded eubacterial primers targeting variable 16S rRNA gene regions 5–3.”

Leech microbiome

Hitchhiking of host biology by beneficial symbionts enhances transmission –
Brittany M. Ott – Nature Scientific Reports

“we show that the A. veronii population within secretions originates from the host digestive tract and proliferates synchronously with shedding frequency, demonstrating the coupling of partner biology.”

Plant microbiome

Forestry impacts on the hidden fungal biodiversity associated with bryophytes – Marie L. Davey – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“Shoots of Hylocomium splendens were collected in Picea abies dominated forests of different ages, and their associated fungal communities were surveyed by pyrosequencing of ITS2 amplicons. “

Soil microbiology

Review: Functional soil microbiome: Belowground solutions to an aboveground problem
Venkatachalam Laksmanan – Plant Physiology

“This update addresses the importance of the functional microbiome to identify phenotypes that may provide a sustainable and effective strategy to increase crop yield and food security.”

Microbial Diversity of a Mediterranean Soil and Its Changes after Biotransformed Dry Olive Residue Amendment – Jose A. Siles – PLOS ONE

“Pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene demonstrated that bacterial diversity was dominated by the phyla Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria, while 28S-rRNA gene data revealed that Ascomycota and Basidiomycota accounted for the majority of phyla in the fungal community.”

Water and drainage microbiome

Diversity and spatiotemporal dynamics of bacterial communities: physicochemical and others drivers along an acid mine drainage – A. Volant – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“biodiversity and spatiotemporal distribution of bacterial communities were characterized using T-RFLP fingerprinting and highthrouput sequencing.”

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