This Week In Microbiology

Sam Sternberg discusses his work on exploring and exploiting CRISPR-Cas immune systems, beginning as a graduate student with Jennifer Doudna, at a biotech start-up, and in his laboratory at Columbia University. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest: Sam Sternberg  Become a Patron of TWiM! Links for this episode Sternberg Laboratory at Columbia Mechanism of substrate selection by Cas9 (RNA) DNA interrogation by Cas9 (Nature) Conformational control of DNA target cleavage by Cas9 (Nature) A Crack in Creation by Doudna and Sternberg What if we could rewrite the human genome? (YouTube) Sam Sternberg 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

The TWiMpeeps discuss two symbioses: a parasitoid bacterium of a heterotrophic protist, and fungal parasites in cicadas. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode: Parasitoid bacterium of protist (bioRxiv) Fungal symbiont recruitment in cicadas (PNAS) Fly by virus (TWiEVO 33) The Atlantic “How to Tame a Zombie Fungus” by Ed Yong Image credit Letters read on TWiM 183 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

The TWiM hosts reveal how to test antimicrobial susceptibility in less than 30 minutes, and a carbonate-sensitive phytotransferrin in diatoms that controls iron uptake. Become a Patron of TWiM! Links for this episode: Legionnaire’s Disease with Michele Swanson Antibiotic susceptibility in less than 30 min (PNAS) S. saprophyticus growing in microfluidic chip (movie, PNAS) Mother machine (Jun lab) E. coli growth in mother machine (YouTube) Diatom phytotransferrin (Nature) CRISPR tool kit (Nat Commun) A Crack in Creation by Doudna and Sternberg CRISPR/Cas9 for undergrads (BMBE) John Oliver on gene editing (YouTube) Image credit Letters read on TWiM 182   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

Vincent speaks with John Warhol about state microbes, the Periodic Table of the Microbes, and why microbiology is cooler than astrophysics, but they have better TV shows. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest: John Warhol Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, RSS, or by email. Get the entire ASM Podcast Network via our Microbeworld app. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode State Microbe (Wikipedia) Micro Minutes! (tumblr) Warhol Science on Etsy Periodic Table of Microbes (Amazon) Image credit Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

Vincent speaks with Mark O. Martin about microbial centricity, teaching undergraduates microbiology, lux art, painting with glowing bacteria, tardigrades and much more at ASM Microbe 2018. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest: Mark O. Martin Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, RSS, or by email. Get the entire ASM Podcast Network via our Microbeworld app. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Microbial menagerie All creatures great and small Carski Award Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

The TwiModulators discuss aerosolization of bacteria and viruses in an ocean-atmosphere mesocosm, and how the common practice of decontaminating produce with chlorine produces viable but non-culturable pathogens. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode: Taxon-specific aerosolization of bacteria and viruses (Nat Commun) Chlorine produces viable but non-culturable bacteria (mBio) Chlorine washing fails bacteria test (Guardian) Foodborne illness in US: Major pathogens (CDC) Chlorine dilution calculator (Public Health Toronto) Multistate foodborne outbreak investigations (CDC)

The TWiM team travels to ASM Microbe 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia to speak with Christina Kellogg about her career and her research on coral microbial ecology. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Elio Schaechter and Michele Swanson Guest: Christina Kellogg Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Become a Patron of TWiM! Links for this episode: Christina Kellogg on twitter Coral microbial ecology Coral reef ecosystem studies Connectivity of vulnerable reefs 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

The TWiM team discuss bacteriophage evolution in a dairy plant, and killing of less fit cells among social microbes. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode A decade of phage evolution (Appl Env Micr) Animation of phage infection (Vimeo) Double agar assay for phage (Dairy Science) Sibling conflict among social bacteria (mBio) 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

Vincent, Michael and Elio note the passing of Stanley Falkow, give E. coli an archaeal membrane, and show how the microbiome can make worms live longer. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Fecal transplants in the good old days (STC) Stanley Falkow, 84 Loss of an old army buddy (STC) Giving E. coli an archaeal membrane (PNAS) Microbiome tunes host longevity (Cell) Letters read on TWiM 176 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

The TWiM team notes the passing of Allan Campbell, and explains how aminoglycoside antibiotics like neomycin enhance host resistance to viral infection. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode: Happy Birthday, Elio! (STC) Allan Campbell, 88 (Stanford News) Life in Science by Allan Campbell (Bacteriophage) Aminoglycosides inhibit viral infection (Nat Micro) Image credit Letters read on TWiM 175 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

The TWiMsters explain why untreatable typhoid fever might be on the way, and the evolution of fungal virulence in tropical frogs. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Extensively drug resistant Salmonella typhi (mBio) A Gathering Storm (mBio) Typhoid vaccine recommendations (CDC) Changes in dynamics of frog fungal disease (Science) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv  

The Masters of the Microbiological Universe discuss the humongouest fungus, and a commensal bacterium that protects against skin neoplasia. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Fertile prototaxites (Proc Royal Soc B) The humongousest fungus (STC) Commensal Staphylococcus protects against skin cancer (Sci Adv) Letters read on TWiM 173 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv  

The TWiMmers discuss culture-independent discovery of malacidin antibiotics, and unfolding of relaxase during bacterial conjugation. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Malacidins from soils (Nat Micro) Excellent antibiotic resistance threat report (CDC, pdf) Jo Handelsman on Women’s History Month (CBS) Unfolding relaxase during bacterial conjugation (J Bact) Letters read on TWiM 172 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

The TWiM team explores a stingless bee that requires a fungal steroid to pupate, and colonic biofilms containing tumorigenic bacteria in patients with colorectal polyps. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Bee larvae require fungal steroid to pupate (Sci Rep) Biofilm refuge for tumorigenic bacteria (Science) Letters read on TWiM 171 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

The TWiM team reveals that spread of plague was likely by human ectoparasites, not rats, and deconstruct a durable, broadly protective protein nanoparticle influenza virus vaccine. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and Elio Schaechter. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Ectoparasites and plague (PNAS) SIR model for spread of disease (MAA) Protein nanoparticle flu vaccines (Nat Commun) Food washing (USDA) Image credit Letters read on TWiM 170 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv  

The cast of TWiM reveals how uropathogenic E. coli use a copper-binding protein to treat copper as a nutrient or a toxin, and Antarctic soil bacteria that survive on trace atmospheric gases. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Copper import in E. coli (Nat Chem Biol) Conversion of OD to cells/ml for E. coli Nutritional immunity with Jennifer Bomberger (TWiM#141) Microbes live on atmospheric trace gases in Antarctic soil (Nature) Antarctic terrestrial ecosystem (SciHub) Hypolith (Wikipedia) Breatharians (Broadly) Image credit Letters read on TWiM 169Letters read on TWiM 169 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

Dickson joins the TWiM team to discuss the nasal microbiota of dairy farmers, and attenuation of bacterial virulence by quorum sensing in the maize weevil. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson. Guest: Dickson Despommier Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode: Nasal microbiota of dairy farmers (PLoS One) Measuring species richness, diversity, similarity (pdf one, pdf two) Quorum sensing attenuates virulence (Cell Host Micr)   Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv    

How pandemic influenza viruses suppress immunogenic cell death, and 3D printing of bacteria into functional materials.

Vincent and Elio discuss the reason for poor efficacy of one of the influenza virus vaccines, and using a hyperthermophilic anaerobe to produce hydrogen from fruit and vegetable wastes in seawater. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the ASM Podcast app. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Glycosylation site on influenza H3N2 viruses (PNAS) Biohydrogen production by Thermotoga (Waste Man) Image credit Letters read on TWiM 166 Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

The TWiM team discusses the use of copper on exercise weights to reduce bacterial burden, and the mechanism of antigenic variation by which a fungus that causes severe pneumonia escapes the immune system. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson Links for this episode: Reducing bacteria on exercise weights with copper (Am J Inf Contr) Antigenic variation in Pneumocystis jirovecii (mBio) Letters read on TWiM 165