This Week In Microbiology

TWiM explores the deep-dwelling microbes that sculpt our planet, and the use of microbes in bioelectronics to manage inflammation. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Deep-dwelling microbes that sculpt our planet (NY Times) Living bioelectronics resolve inflammation (Science) Active biointegrated living electronics for managing inflammation (Science) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

Fungal kingdom frontiersman Dr. Arturo Casadevall, asks, What if Fungi Win? Michael Schmidt and Mark O. Martin discuss with Arturo, his new book and the beneficial roles of fungi along with their mischievous and deadly impacts and how committed experts are researching ways to save us and our food supplies. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Mark O. Martin Guest: Dr. Arturo Casadevall Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/nKJe5xNUocU Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Recorded at ASM Microbe 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. Join us at the next ASM Microbe by visiting us at asm.org/microbe. Matters Microbial Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains a new mechanism for preventing lysogeny through temperate phage-antibiotic synergy, and Salmonella expansion in the murine gut dependency on aspartate derived from reactive oxygen species-mediated microbiota lysis. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Temperate phage-antibiotic synergy (mBio) Salmonella expansion dependent on aspartate (Cell Host Micr) Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis (Wiki) A Genetic Switch by Mark Ptashne Lysis timing and bacteriophage fitness (Genetics) HK97 capsid assembly (Ad Exp Med Biol) Mode of action of fluoroquinolones (Drugs) Salmonella a foodborne pathogen (CDC) Freeman Hrabowski Scholars Program (HHMI) Sam Kaplan - 30 years of Microbiology (McGovern Medical School) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explores how climate change may be increasing our risks to infectious disease and then how the Odyssey literally comes alive in our microbial world but fear not, unlike the Trojans, the bacteria are fighting back and have developed resistance to this novel class of newly developed antimicrobials.    Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode: Environmental changes fueling diseases (NY Times) Global change drivers and risk of infectious diseases (Nature) First reported cefiderocol-resistant E. coli in Canada (Clin Micro) E. coli cells explode (YouTube) Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explores the plasticity of the adult human small intestinal stoma microbiota, and survival and rapid resuscitation that permit limited productivity in desert microbial communities. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Plasticity of small intestinal stoma microbiome (Cell Host Micr) Desert microbial communities (Nat Comm) How soil microbes survive in the desert (Science Daily) Negev Desert (WikiCommons) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

Today on TWiM, a charcuterie invasion, and how that acid in your stomach may protect from the invading hordes of microbes. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode 2024 Salmonella outbreak linked to charcuterie meats  Multitier regulation of the E. coli extreme acid stress response by CsrA Commentary: Peeling the onion: additional layers of regulation in the acid stress response Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reviews a case of E. faecium bacteremia treated with combination bacteriophage and antibiotic therapy, and how dopamine receptor D2 confers colonization resistance via microbial metabolites. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Guest: Mark O. Martin Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Matters Microbial Distinct Fusobacterium dominates colorectal cancer (Nature) Bacterial subspecies that might drive colon cancer (Nature) A bacterial strain linked to colon cancer (Nature) Spatial perspective on bacteria in tumors (Nature) Colorectal cancer in the young (Yale Med) Surface colonization by Flavobacterium johnsoniae promotes its survival (mBio) THOR, a model microbiome (mBio) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reviews a case of E. faecium bacteremia treated with combination bacteriophage and antibiotic therapy, and how dopamine receptor D2 confers colonization resistance via microbial metabolites. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Vincent’s interviews at SXSW Bacteriophage and antibiotic therapy for E. faecium bacteremia (mBio) Dopamine receptor D2 confers colonization resistance (Nature) CDC’s Reports of Selected E. coli Outbreak Investigations Brett Finlay’s narrated EPEC animation Colonization resistance by gut microbial metabolome (ACS Chem Biol) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM discusses the identification of natural products from reconstructed ancient bacterial genomes, and how plant mRNAs move into a fungal pathogen via extracellular vesicles to reduce infection. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Petra Levin. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Natural products from ancient bacterial genomes (Science) Plant mRNAs move into fungal pathogens (Cell Host Microb) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reviews the ongoing cholera outbreak in Africa, and research showing that gut complement induced by the microbiota blocks pathogens and spares commensal bacteria. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Cholera in Southern Africa (Africa CDC) Deadly cholera outbreak in Africa (NY Times) Pediatric cholera in sub-Saharan Africa (Curr Op Ped) Gut complement spares commensals (Cell) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reveals a new population in the blue cheese-making fungus Penicillium roqueforti and identification of a quorum-sensing autoinducer and siderophore in uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode New blue cheese-making fungus (Evol Appl) Threat to Camenbert cheese (Guardian) French Cheese Under Threat (CNRS News) Fungadapt project (YouTube) Microbes Make the Cheese (ASM) Yersiniabactin in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (mBio) Public goods and cheating in microbes (Curr Biol) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reveals a database of genome sequences of thousands of Mycobaterium tuberculosis, allowing association with resistance phenotypes to 13 antibiotics, and microbe-derived uremic solutes that enhance thrombosis potential in the host. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode M. tuberculosis genomes and antimicrobial resistance (PLoS Biol) The CRyPTIC consortium BashTheBug Zooniverse Microbial solutes enhance thrombosis (mBio) Can our microbiome break our heart? (mBio) Pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (EJIFCC) How Kidneys Work Video (Mayo Clinic) What is a metaorganism? (Zoology) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM describes the mechanism for the S. aureus itch and scratch induced skin damage, and discovery of a novel class of antibiotics that targets the lipopolysaccharide transporter.   Become a patron of TWiM.   Links: S. aureus drives itch and scratch behavior (Cell) Staph scratches its itch (Cell) A new class of antibiotics (Nature) A new type of antibiotic (Nature) Novel antibiotic targets LPS transporter (Nature) New antibiotic traps LPS (Nature) Macrocyclic peptide drugs (Science) Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv  

A highly reduced TWiM team presents a study of the use of phage diversity in cell-free DNA to identify bacterial pathogens in human sepsis cases, and the evolution, persistence, and host adaptation of a gonococcal antimicrobial resistance plasmid that emerged in the pre-antibiotic era. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Petra Levin Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Phages identify sepsis pathogens (Nat Micro) Gonococcal AMR plasmid from pre-antibiotic era (PLoS Genetics) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Music used on TWiM is by Ronald Jenkees. Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

On the occasion of TWiM’s 300th episode, we discuss how two college students found a new antibiotic in soil, Barbara Iglewski’s passing, and Elio returns for an appearance. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Guest: Elio Schaechter Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Barbara Iglewski dies Antimicrobial activity of P. nicotinovorans (MicroPubl Biol) 2 NWTC students found a new antibiotic in soil (Green Bay Press Gazette) ESKAPE bacteria group (Clover) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

From ASM’s Conference for Undergraduate Educators 2023 in Phoenix, TWiM speaks with Amaya Garcia Costas and Gwendolyn Knapp about their approaches to undergraduate microbiology education, and how they use TWiM as part of their curricula. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Guest: Amaya Garcia Costas and Gwendolyn Knapp. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode ASMCUE 2023 Teaching in the time of COVID-19 (J Microbiol Biol Edu) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM provides thoughts on providing better training for a non-academic career, and help celebrate Black in Microbiology Week with a 2023 paper by Ari Kozik, a co-founder of Black Microbiologists Association and Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, Petra Levin, Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Better training for a non-academic career (Nat Micro) Nature career site ASM career site Prosper - Unlocking postdoc career potential Airway microbiota in obesity and asthma (J Allerg Clin Immunol) A vision for human microbiome research (mSphere) Microbes in Models (ASM) Climate change and microbes (ASM) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reviews how a coating of lipoproteins provides a stabilizing environment on the inner membrane of Bacillus subtilis spores, and a miniaturized device that integrates genetically engineered probiotic biosensors with a custom-designed photodetector and readout chip to track mediators of inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Petra Levin, Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Lipoproteins stabilize germination apparatus (J Bacteriol) A coating of liposomes (J Bacteriol) Biosensor to detect inflammatory molecules in the gut (Nature) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM discusses a dispute about whether the mycobiome plays a role in the development of cancer, and the structure and function of channels that are delivered to plant cells by pathogenic bacteria. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, and Michael Schmidt. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Cancer microbes disputed (Carl Zimmer) Fungal mycobiome and cancer (Nature) Revisiting fungal mycobiome and cancer (Nature) Bacteria deliver channels to plant cells (Nature) Ice nucleation by bacteria (YouTube) Gram-negative bacterial porins (Curr Protein Pept Sci) Xenopus oocyte toolbox (Cold Spring Harb Protocols) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains how phages avoid tRNA-targeting host defenses, and discovery of a new antibiotic from an uncultured bacterium that binds to an immutable target. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Petra Levin, Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Phages avoid tRNA-targeting host defenses (eLife) Sea phages Actinobacteriophage database New antibiotic from uncultured bacterium (bioRxiv) The age of infection (For Policy) Killing bacteria by teixobactin (Nature) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv