Human microbiome digest, September 16, 2014

Still catching up after my vacation, but almost there!

Some general microbiome reviews, using saliva to track human evolution, probiotics that actually change the microbiome, and several animal model studies.

 

General microbiome reviews

Which is more important for classifying microbial communities: who’s there or what they can do? – Zhenjiang Xu – ISME Journal

“… might we not instead expect that function would be substantially more important for classifying biologically meaningful groups of samples than who is providing those functions? “

Microbiome analysis – from technical advances to biological relevance – Michelle I. Smith – F1000Prime Reports

“Here, we introduce techniques that go beyond identifying the taxa present within a sample and examine the biological function of the microbiome or the host-microbiome interaction.”

From barcoding single individuals to metabarcoding biological communities: towards an integrative approach to the study of global biodiversity – Melania E. Cristescu – Trends in Ecology & Evolution

“DNA-based species identification, known as barcoding, transformed the traditional approach to the study of biodiversity science. “

Human oral microbiome

Global analysis of saliva as a source of bacterial genes for insights into human population structure and migration studies – Karsten Henne – BMC Evolutionary Biology

“By focussing on the house-keeping gene gdh .., on the virulence gene gtf .. of mitis-streptococci and on the 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the Fusobacterium nucleatum/periodonticum-group we here tested the hypothesis that bacterial genes from human saliva have the potential for distinguishing human populations.’

Microbial community in persistent apical periodontitis: a 16S rRNA gene clone library analysis – M. N. Zakaria – International Endodontic Journal

“Whilst a diverse bacterial species were observed in the persistent apical lesions, some characteristic patterns of bacterial community were found in the symptomatic lesions. “

The Adenoid Microbiome in Recurrent Acute Otitis Media and Obstructive Sleep Apnea – Carolyn P. Ojano-Dirain – Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery

“Microbes are present on all adenoid specimens, however, the microbial profile differs between recurrent AOM and OSA.”

Human gut microbiome

Susceptibility to Campylobacter Infection Is Associated with the Species Composition of the Human Fecal Microbiota – Johan Dicksved – mBio

“Here we address this by prospectively studying the gut microbiota composition before, during, and after natural Campylobacter infection in exposed poultry abattoir workers.”

Eukaryote Culturomics of the Gut Reveals New Species – Nina Gouba, Didier Raoult, Michel Drancourt – PLOS ONE

“We further explored this repertoire using PCR-sequencing and culture in seven individuals living in four tropical countries. A total of 41 microeukaryotes including 38 different fungal species and three protists were detected. “

Review: Decade in review—gut microbiota: The gut microbiota era marches on – Francisco Guarner – Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology

“Research on the gut microbial communities harboured in the human gut is progressing rapidly owing to the availability of novel and reliable tools for analysis.”

Modulation of Fecal Clostridiales Bacteria and Butyrate by Probiotic Intervention with Lactobacillus paracasei DG Varies among Healthy Adults – Chiara Ferrario – Journal of Nutrition

“High-throughput 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing was used to characterize the fecal microbiota in healthy adults (23–55 y old) of both sexes, before and after 4 wk of daily consumption of a capsule containing at least 24 billion viable Lactobacillus paracasei DG cells”

Review: The gut microbiota, bacterial metabolites and colorectal cancer – Petra Louis, Georgina L. Hold & Harry J. Flint – Nature Reviews Microbiology

“In this Review, we discuss the relationship between diet, microbial metabolism and CRC and argue that the cumulative effects of microbial metabolites should be considered in order to better predict and prevent cancer progression.”

Changes of the human gut microbiome induced by a fermented milk product – Patrick Veiga – Nature Scientific Reports

“Our data challenge the view that microbes ingested with food have little impact on the human GM functioning and rather provide support for beneficial health effects.”

Gut Microbiome and Multiple Sclerosis – Pavan Bhargava, Ellen M. Mowry – Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports

“We examine the different sources of information linking the gut microbiota to multiple sclerosis and examine the future avenues for utilizing the knowledge of the gut microbiome to potentially treat and prevent multiple sclerosis.”

Microbial Modulation of Insulin Sensitivity – Muhammad Tanweer Khan, Max Nieuwdorp, Fredrik Bäckhed – Cell Metabolism

“The gut microbiota has emerged as an integral factor that impacts host metabolism and has been suggested to play a vital role in metabolic diseases such as obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.”

Gut Microbial Community Structure and Complications After Kidney Transplantation: A Pilot Study – Lee, John R – Transplantation

“We characterized bacterial composition by polymerase chain reaction amplification of the 16S rRNA V4-V5 variable region and deep sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq platform.’

Human genital microbiome

Association between cigarette smoking and the vaginal microbiota: a pilot study – Rebecca M Brotman – BMC Infectious Diseases

“Smokers had a lower proportion of vaginal Lactobacillus spp. compared to non-smokers.”

Pregnancy and birth

Human Breast Milk – The Magic In The Microbiome – Science20

“Ma et al (2014 submitted manuscript) recently postulated that the opportunistic pathogen such as Staphylococcus aureus, which has been confirmed to exist in the human milk microbiome, is normally suppressed by a network of beneficial bacteria coexisted in the breast milk microbiome, but may become source of infectious mastitis when the host environment permits.”

Animal models of human microbiome research

Antibiotic Treatment of Pregnant Non-Obese Diabetic Mice Leads to Altered Gut Microbiota and Intestinal Immunological Changes in the Offspring – N. Tormo-Badia – Scandinavian Journal of Immunology

“we found a differential clustering of gut microbiota in the offspring from NOD mothers treated with antibiotics during gestation compared with offspring from control mothers.”

Shifts in microbiota species and fermentation products in a dietary model enriched in fat and sucrose – U. Etxeberria – Beneficial Microbes

“The aim of the present study was to identify gut microbiota dysbiosis and associated metabolic changes produced in male Wistar rats fed a HFS diet for 6 weeks and compare it with the basal microbial composition.”

The short chain fatty acids, butyrate and propionate, have differential effects on the motility of the guinea pig colon – Norm R. Hurst – Neurogastroenterology & Motility

“We hypothesized that the effect of SCFAs on colonic motility varies with chain length and aimed to determine the effects of SCFAs on propagating and non-propagating contractions of guinea pig proximal and distal colon.”

Small Bowel Resection Induces Long-Term Changes in the Enteric Microbiota of Mice – J. Sommovilla – Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery

Bowel resection induces long-term changes in the microbial community of the murine ileum, but not at more distal sites of the gastrointestinal tract. “

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Microbiome digest, August 28, 2014

Cool new study today by Jack Gilbert on the bacteria living in our homes, what happens to you microbiome after you die, (gut) microbiome and respiratory diseases, lots of water studies, and Bik’s Picks.

General  human microbiome 

* Your death microbiome could catch your killer – Anna Williams – NewScientist

“These “friendly” bacteria adhere to the lining of the gut and keep the microbial villains at bay by outcompeting them. After we die, however, our gut flora have a party.“

Human respiratory microbiome

The Microbiome and the Lung – Lijia Cui – Annals of the American Thoracic Society

“In this review, we provide an overview of the basics of microbiome studies.”

Microbiome Diversity and Asthma and Allergy Risk – Antje Legatzki – Current Allergy and Asthma Reports

“In this review, we will discuss the available literature concerning the human microbiota and asthma and allergy development and occurrence. “

Gut microbiome

You waited for it: The journal Helicobacter has a Helicobacter special!
Gastric and Enterohepatic Helicobacters other than Helicobacter pylori
Armelle Ménard – Helicobacter

“Several studies highlighted the virulence of non-H. pylori species including H. cinaedi in humans and hyperlipidemic mice or H. macacae in geriatric rhesus monkeys with intestinal adenocarcinoma. “

Pregnancy and birth

Systemic Inflammation in the Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborn Following Maternal Genitourinary Infections – Raina N. Fichorova – American Journal of Reproductive Immunology

“Mothers of 914 infants born before 28th gestation week reported cervical/vaginal infection (CVI), and/or urine/bladder/kidney infection (UTI), or neither. Inflammation proteins measured in baby’s blood”

Animal models of microbiome research

Intestinal Microbial Variation May Predict Early Acute Rejection after Liver Transplantation in Rats – Ren, Zhigang – Transplantation

“cluster analysis of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles showed the 7AR and 3AR groups clustered together with 73.4% similarity, suggesting that intestinal microbiota was more sensitive than hepatic function in responding to AR.”

Microbiology of the built environment

* Longitudinal analysis of microbial interaction between humans and the indoor environment – Simon Lax – Science

“Microbial communities associated with seven families and their homes over 6 weeks were assessed, including three families that moved their home. “

* Sloan Microbiology of the Built Environment Data Analysis Workshop (secrets of QIIME, VAMPS and QIITA) January 6-7, 2015 – Jonathan Eisen – MicroBEnet

“to learn hands-on how to use these tools on their own data, to perform meta-analyses that combine built environment datasets“

Water microbiome

Microbial weeds in hypersaline habitats: the enigma of the weed-like Haloferax mediterranei – Aharon Oren and John E. Hallsworth – FEMS Microbiology Letters

“Here, we discuss the enigma of the less abundant Haloferax mediterranei, an archaeon that grows faster than any other, comparable extreme halophile.”

Bacterial profiling in brine samples of the Emalahleni Water Reclamation Plant, South Africa, using 454-pyrosequencing method – Sudharshan Sekar – FEMS Microbiology Letters

“A metagenomic approach was applied using 454-pyrosequencing data analysis for the profiling of bacterial communities in the brine samples of the water reclamation plant. “

The role of dispersal mode and habitat specialisation in metacommunity structuring of aquatic macroinvertebrates in isolated spring fens – Vanda Rádková – Freshwater Biology

“We applied two species categorisations, common/rare and generalists/specialists, to disentangle the roles of dispersal capacity and habitat specialisation.”

Shifts in archaeaplankton community structure along ecological gradients of Pearl Estuary – Jiwen Liu – FEMS Microbiology Ecology

“Using 454 pyrosequencing, the present study examined the archaeal communities along a subtropical estuary, Pearl Estuary, China. “

Soil microbiome

The Effects of Radiation Pollution on the Population Diversities and Metabolic Characteristics of Soil Microorganisms – Meiying Gu – Water, Air, & Soil Pollution

“Microbial diversities were determined by using methods of cultured isolates and carbon source utilization on Biolog EcoPlate™. “

Bik’s Picks

A chocolate habit in ancient North America – Michael Bawaya – Science

“the findings suggest regular trade in cacao—and movements of the people who imbued it with significance—between ancient Mesoamericans and their northern neighbors, says Dorothy Washburn, an archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology “

Babies may be good at remembering, and forgetting – Laura Sanders – Science News

“over 20 percent of 5-year-olds and 8- to 9-year olds recounted events from their first year, some from the very first months of life.”

How the zebrafish gets its stripes: Uncovering how beautiful color patterns can develop in animals – Science Daily

Three major pigment cell types, black cells, reflective silvery cells, and yellow cells emerge during growth in the skin of the tiny juvenile fish and arrange as a multi-layered mosaic to compose the characteristic color pattern. “

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