This Week In Microbiology

Vincent visits the laboratories of Kit and Joseph Pogliano on the campus of the University of California, San Diego, where he learns about their work on the bacterial cytoskeleton, sporulation, and the effects of antibiotics on bacterial cells. Visit microbeworld.org/twim for complete shownotes including the special video version of this episode. Thanks for listening and watching!

Vincent, Elio, and Michele meet with Harry Mobley, Mary O’Riordan, and Vince Young at the University of Michigan, during the designation of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology as a Milestones in Microbiology site. They discuss how the laboratory has advanced the science and teaching of microbiology, and discuss faculty work on uropathogenic E. coli, induction of stress by bacterial infection, and the gut microbiome. Visit microbeworld.org/twim for more including the special video version of this episode.

Vincent meets up with Romney and Duncan at the 79th annual meeting of the Southern California branch of the American Society for Microbiology, where they talk about emerging technologies for antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and next generation sequencing and advanced molecular diagnostics. Visit microbeworld.org/twim to watch the video version and for complete shownotes including links mentioned.

The TWiM team wonders why definitions in biology often change, and discuss how the small molecule terrein is important for the growth of a soil fungus. Image: Lesion formation on banana surfaces infected with Aspergillus terreus. Source Links mentioned:   ASM Undergraduate Research Capstone Program ASM Undergraduate Fellowship Program Regulation of terrein production in Aspergillus terreus Visit microbeworld.org/twim for more.  

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Elio Schaechter. The TWiMitos discuss the reconstruction of a 1,000-year-old antimicrobial remedy, and using gallium as an antimicrobial in the battle for iron. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode  1,000 year old antimicrobial (mBio) Siderophore quenching with gallium (Evol Med Pub Health) Evolutionary dynamics of public goods (J Evol Biol) Image credit Letters read on TWiM 111 Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twim@twiv.tv, 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 team focuses on the gut microbiome, from a single member, Akkermansia muciniphila, to the effect of antibiotics on its composition and colonization resistance against C. difficile. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode  Agar art contest Akkermansia muciniphilia and obesity (Gut) A. muciniphilia genome (Biol Direct) Alterations of gut microbiota and C. difficile colonization (mBio) Science Delivered Girls Who Code F.E.M.M.E.S. Association for Women in Science UMich Host-Microbiome Initiative UMich anaerobic chamber room (png)

The TWiM cohort discusses the use of antimicrobial peptides to target specific bacteria in the microbiome, and how the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia selectively kills male hosts.   Links for this episode: Antimicrobial peptides to modulate microbial ecology (PNAS) Targeting specific bacteria in the oral microbiome (Trends Micro) How Wolbachiakills male hosts (PLoS Biol) Wolbachia phage on TWiV 332   Image: Transmission electron micrograph of Wolbachia within an insect cell. By: Scott O'Neill - Genome Sequence of the Intracellular Bacterium Wolbachia. PLoS Biol 2/3/2004: e76.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Elio Schaechter and Michele Swanson.   The professors of TWiM discuss a University of Wisconsin plan for rescuing biomedical research in the US, and results of a clinical trial in Bangladesh of an oral cholera vaccine. 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 Rescuing biomedical research (eLife) Rethinking graduate and postdoc education (iBiology) Oral cholera vaccine trial (Lancet)  Inexpensive cholera vaccine (NYTimes) Image credit Letters read on TWiM 108

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Michael Schmidt. Vincent and Michael discuss the highly diverse microbiome of uncontacted Amerindians, and how the composition of human urine plays a role in the battle for iron. 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 Microbiome of uncontacted Amerindians (Sci Adv) Urinary composition controls siderocalin activity (J Biol Chem) Urine acidity and UTI susceptibility (Infect Cont Today) Image (from pdb file 3cmp) shows siderocalin (magenta) complexed with iron (orange) and enterobactin (sticks) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twim@twiv.tv, 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 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 twim@twiv.tv, 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 twim@twiv.tv, 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 twim@twiv.tv, 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 twim@twiv.tv, 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 twim@twiv.tv, 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 occu

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 twim@twiv.tv, 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 twim@twiv.tv, 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.