This Week in Microbiology

Vincent and Michael speak with Katy Bosio about her research on pathogenesis, immunity, and vaccines against Franciscella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia.

The TWiM team reviews the microbiological safety of herbs in the United Kingdom, and how a peptide from the milkweek bug binds the ribosome and inhibits bacterial protein synthesis. Links for this episode: Microbes in whole-leaf herbs (J Appl Micro) Antimicrobial peptide blocks ribosome (Nat Struct Mol Biol) Bacterial protein synthesis (Micro Mol Biol Rev) Antimicrobial peptides (Nature) The battle for tryptophan (Front Cell Infect Micro) Image credit

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Elio Schaechter and Michele Swanson. The TWiM team discusses how measles vaccination protects against other infectious diseases, and links between bacterial biofilms and colon cancer. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode Measles vaccination prevents all-cause infectious disease (Science) Master of contagion (The Loom) Video: Measles incidence to immunomodulation (Science) FAQ: Adult vaccines Metabolism links biofilms and colon cancer (Cell Metab) Scripps Center for Metabolomics Scripps metabolite database Image credit Sponsors for this episode: SciMedSolutions, ICAAC-ICC Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Elio Schaechter and Michele Swanson. The TWiM team is amazed by the ocelloid, and an evolutionary battle for iron between mammalian transferrin and bacterial transferrin-binding protein. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode A unicellular camera-type eye structure (PLoS One) Escape from iron piracy (Science) Iron in infection and immunity (Cell Host Micr) Nutritional immunity (Nat Rev Micro) Evolutionary Path (Matthew Barber) Image credit: Janet Iwasa Sponsors for this episode: SciMedSolutions, ICAAC-ICC Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Elio Schaechter and Michele Swanson. The TWiM team discusses evidence that serotonin synthesis is regulated by spore-forming members of the gut microbiota. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, via RSS feed, by email or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode When antibiotic resistance in vitro falls short (STC) Gut microbiota control serotonin in mice (Cell) Serotonin biosynthesis (Wikipedia) Microbial endocrinology (STC) Image credit Sponsors for this episode: SciMedSolutions, Jmbe.asm.org, ICAAC-ICC Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim. Image: Serotonin temporary tattoo by flickr user: ChezShawna

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Elio Schaechter and Michele Swanson. The TWiMers discuss how aroma helps disperse yeast cells on insect vectors, and evidence that MRSA is transmitted within households. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, via RSS feed, by email or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode Aroma promotes yeast dispersal on flies (Cell Rep) MRSA is transmitted within households (mBio) FAQ: The threat of MRSA (AAM) Image credit Letters read on TWiM 101 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Elio Schaechter and Jo Handelsman. The TWiM team celebrates 100 episodes with a Talmudic question, and discussion of how a single mutation alters bacterial host tropism. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, via RSS feed, by email or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode A single mutation alters bacterial tropism (Nat Gen) Talmudic question #104 (Small Things Considered) Principles of Microbial Diversity (ASM Press) Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education Letters read on TWiM 100 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim. Image: Yellow colonies of S. aureus on a blood agar plate, note regions of clearing around colonies caused by lysis of red cells in the agar By: HansN. on wikimedia. From the study (Nat Gen) "...only a single naturally occurring nucleotide mutation was required and sufficient to convert a human-specific S. aureus strain into one that could infect rabbits."

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello Guests: Maria Julia Marinissen, Edward H. You, and David R. Howell Vincent meets up with Maria, Edward, and David at the ASM Biodefense and Emerging Infections Research meeting to talk about alternative careers for scientists. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, via RSS feed, by email or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. A video version of this episode is available at microbeworld.org/twim Links for this episode: ASM Biodefense meeting FBI Biological Countermeasures Unit Office of Policy and Planning Division of Medical Countermeasures Strategy and Requirements Division of International Health Security Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

The TWiM crew ponders the question of how a bacterium finds its middle when dividing, then divulge the transfer of interbacterial antagonism genes to eukaryotes, where they may function in innate defense. Links for this episode: Size independent symmetric division (Nat Commun) How does a bacterium find its middle? (Nat Struct Biol) Genes transferred from bacteria augment eukaryotic defenses (Cell) Antibacterial gene transfer (eLife) Letters read on TWiM #98 on TWiM 98 Visit microbeworld.org/twim for complete shownotes and more.

The TWiM team reveal how bacteria in a shipworm’s gills help digest wood in the gut, and an approach that identifies a new antibiotic from the soil. Links for this episode: Gill bacteria enable a novel digestive strategy (PNAS) Killing bacteria without resistance (Nature) An irresistable newcomer (Nature) Peptidoglycan synthesis animation 10 x 20 initiative (IDSA) Longitude Prize Visit microbeworld.org/twim for more.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello. Special guest: Rob Knight Vincent meets up with Rob Knight to talk about the technology that has fueled his drive to sequence the Earth and its inhabitants. Check out the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode Microbes en masse (Nature) Obesity alters gut microbial ecology (PNAS) Sharing microbiome with dogs (eLife) Earth microbiome project (BMC Biology) Stability of gut micobiota (Science) Gut microbes and the brain (J Neurosci) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello. Special guest: Stanley Maloy Vincent meets up with Stan Maloy on the campus of San Diego State University to talk about his career in microbiology and his work as Dean of Science. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, via RSS feed, by email or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode: Maloy lab Salmonella.org Microbial genetics course page Typhoid Mary Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

Vincent, Elio, and Michael discuss a symbiosis between a nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria and a single-celled eukaryotic alga. Links for this episode: Unicellular cyanobacterium and alga symbiosis (Science) Diversity of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium and its host (Environ Micro) Talmudic Question #4 (answer) Talmudic Question #2 Coccolithophore (Wikipedia) Visit microbeworld.org/twim to view the complete shownotes and entire back catalog.

Vincent, Elio, and Michael reveal that a soil-dwelling nematode can recognize and respond to a bacterial quorum sensing molecule through a sensory neuron.

Vincent, Elio, Michael and Michele discuss the possible eradication of wild poliovirus type 3, and how microsporidian parasites prevent locust swarming behavior.

Vincent, Elio, and Michele review a study of the viruses and bacteria in commensal rats in New York City. Visit microbeworld.org/twim for complete show notes. Thanks for listening!

Vincent meets up with Laurene and David at the Annual Meeting of the Southern California Branch of the American Society for Microbiology, where they discuss how the Los Angeles County Department of Health is preparing for an outbreak of Ebola virus infection, and Cepheid’s game-changing, modular PCR system for the diagnosis of infectious diseases.

Vincent, Michele, and Michael discuss how a gene from bacteria protects a tick from plant cyanide poisoning, and enhanced transmission of Streptococcus pneumoniae by influenza virus co-infection in mice.

Michele speaks with members of the Department of Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, on the occasion of its designation as a Milestones in Microbiology site, where they discuss how the department has advanced the science and teaching of microbiology.

Vincent, Elio, and Michael explore the fossilization of archaeal lipids, and highlight the recent ICAAC in Washington, D.C.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Elio Schaechter and Michele Swanson. Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michele consider whether our eating behavior is manipulated by gastrointestinal microbiota, and an aphid gene of bacterial origin whose gene product encodes a protein that is transported to an obligate endosymbiont. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, via RSS feed, by email or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode National Biosafety Stewardship month Aphid gene of bacterial origin (Curr Biol) Eroding symbiont/organelle distinction (Curr Biol) Is our eating manipulated by our microbiota? (Bioessays) Road to microbial endocrinology (STC) Microbial endocrinology (STC) Letters read on TWiM 86 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michele discuss the diel transcriptional rythmns of bacterioplankton communities in the ocean, and extensively drug resistant Pseudomonas in Ohio.

In Melbourne, Australia Vincent speaks with David, Melanie, and Adam about their work on group A Streptococcus, Helicobacter pylori, and infections of Koalas with Chlamydia.

Vincent, Michael, Elio and Michele review a new fluorogenic diagnostic test for tuberculosis bacteria, and the role of a metalloprotease in helping a fungus invade the central nervous system.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Elio Schaechter and Michele Swanson. Vincent, Michael, Elio and Michele discuss how an endosymbiont betrays its aphid host to alert plant defenses, and a new immunosuppressive cell that allows infection of neonates. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, via RSS feed, by email or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode Endosymbiont protein betrays aphid (PNAS) Plant immune system (Nature) Plant defenses against pathogens (Am Phyt Soc) New neonatal defense against infection (Nature) Marty Blaser and Bill Maher (YouTube) Two days from any village (YouTube) Letters read on TWiM 82 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

Vincent, Michael, and Michele discuss how iron might disperse bacterial biofilms in carotid arterial plaques, and controlling Salmonella by modulating host iron homeostasis.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, and Michele Swanson. Vincent, Elio, and Michele discuss how to synthesize a designer yeast chromosome, and deciphering the genetic changes path that allowed Yersinia pestis to be transmitted by fleas. Links for this episode: Total synthesis of a yeast chromosome (Science) Evolution of Y. pestis to flea-borne transmission (Cell Host Micr) Proventricular valve (Wikipedia) Image: flea with Y. pestis proventricular mass Letters read on TWiM 80 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

Vincent, Michael, and Michele review highlights of the 2014 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Boston, MA.

Vincent, Elio, and Michael consider a fungal pathogen of insects that acquired a gene from its host that facilitates infection, and presence of gram-negative nosocomial pathogens on community surfaces near hospitals in Brooklyn.

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michelle review how a pathogen promotes plant attractiveness to insect vectors, and activation of sensory neurons that modulate pain and inflammation by bacterial infection.

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michelle discuss the use of bacteria to build a genetic sensor for heavy metals, and how host sugars help enteric pathogens to expand after antibiotic treatment.

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michelle discuss a symbiosis between a bacterium and fungus that increases the virulence of oral biofilms, and the assembly of amyloid fibers, which are needed for biofilm formation.

Vincent, Elio, and Michael discuss a huge 30,000 year old virus recovered from Siberia, and nested symbiosis facilitated by horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to insect.

Vincent, Michael, and Michele discuss how soil-dwelling bacteria induce the formation of root nodules on legumes via a protein called CYCLOPS.

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michele review how microbial virulence can be increased as a consequence of community surveillance and adaptation to macrophages.

Vincent, Michael, and Michele explain how the gut microbiome modulates colon tumorigenesis, and regulation of intestinal macrophage function by the microbial metabolite butyrate.

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michele discuss evidence that the acellular pertussis vaccine fails to prevent infection and transmission in nonhuman primates, and the use of bacterial cytological profiling to identify pathways targeted by antibiotics.

Vincent, Elio, Jo, and Michele review evidence for bacterial DNA integrated into the human genome, and control of the symbiont population in an insect midgut.

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michele discuss the amazingly high level of intergenera gene exchange among haloarchaea in an Antarctic lake, and the diversity of fungi on residential surfaces and the human forehead.

Vincent, Elio, and Michael discuss how temperature triggers Neisseria menigitidis immune evasion, and protection of mice from ionizing radiation by feeding them black mushrooms.

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michele discuss the curious outer membrane vesicles of Neisseria meningitides, and sources of Clostridium difficile infection revealed by genome sequencing.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Michelle Swanson. Vincent and Michelle reveal how the human gut microbiota can modulate obesity in mice. Links for this episode: Gut microbiota modulate metabolism (Science) Fighting obesity with bacteria (Science) Letters read on TWiM 065 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to [email protected], or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

Vincent and Michael recorded this episode at the 53rd ICAAC in Denver, where they spoke with James Gern and James Johnson about rhinoviruses and extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli.

Vincent, Michael, and Michelle discuss how a Staphylococcus aureus superantigen is critical for pathogenesis in a rabbit model, and the relationship of body odor to the axilla microbiome.

Vincent and Michael discuss how infection with influenza A virus disperses Streptococcus pneumoniae biofilms leading to disease, and an amazing protein chainmail in a viral capsid

Vincent, Elio, and Michele review how horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to an insect genome enables a tripartite nested mealybug symbiosis, and how probiotic bacteria work by competing for iron in the intestine.

Vincent, Elio, and Michael discuss how an error-prone reverse transcriptase produces enormous diversity in a Legionella protein, and using microbes to convert waste into bioelectricity and chemicals.

Vincent and Michael discuss the finding that bacteriophage might be part of the mucosal antimicrobial defense system.

Vincent, Elio and Michael review how underground mycelial networks carry signals that warn neighboring plants of aphid attack, and the presence of bacteria in the human brain.

Vincent, Elio and Michael discuss fungi that use pheromones to trap nematodes, and how genes obtained from marine bacteria help gut bacteria degrade algal carbohydrates.