Podcast Directory

Episodes

This episode: A global estimate of plants and their root fungi shows how agriculture may have greatly affected soil carbon storage over time!

Download Episode (5.7 MB, 8.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Rhizobium virus RHEph4

News item

Takeaways
Even small organisms can have a big effect on the climate of the planet if there are enough of them. This includes trees, which are small relative to the planet, and also includes the fungi that attach to the roots of trees and other plants. These mycorrhizal fungi thread subtly through the soil, some occasionally popping up mushrooms, and transfer valuable nutrients they gather to the trees in exchange for carbon fixed from the air.

Knowing how big an effect a given kind of organism has requires knowing how much of it is around. This study collates data from various surveys of global plant populations and the fungi that interact with their roots, to estimate a global picture of the fungi below our feet. It estimates that a kind of fungus that stores more carbon in the soil may have been replaced in many areas with fungi that store less, or no fungi at all, due to the transformation of land from wild areas to farmland.

Journal Paper:
Soudzilovskaia NA, van Bodegom PM, Terrer C, Zelfde M van’t, McCallum I, Luke McCormack M, Fisher JB, Brundrett MC, de Sá NC, Tedersoo L. 2019. Global mycorrhizal plant distribution linked to terrestrial carbon stocks. Nat Commun 10:1–10.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Microalgae can produce hydrogen, but other metabolic pathways take priority, except when special engineered hydrogenase enzymes can overcome this limitation!

Download Episode (8.4 MB, 12.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Alphapapillomavirus 11

Takeaways
There are many options being explored as ways to replace fossil fuels. Electricity and batteries are good, but they have their limitations, especially for long-distance high-energy travel such as airplanes. Hydrogen is one good option: high energy density, clean-burning, simple to produce. Microbes can produce hydrogen through various metabolic pathways, including fermentation, nitrogen fixation byproduct, and photosynthesis. However, competing metabolic pathways make microbial hydrogen production less efficient.

In this study, scientists engineer a hydrogenase enzyme for hydrogen production in microalgae that can compete better with carbon fixation as a destination for the electrons and protons that hydrogen production requires. This engineered enzyme allowed the algae to produce hydrogen continuously, even during photosynthesis.

Journal Paper:
Ben-Zvi O, Dafni E, Feldman Y, Yacoby I. 2019. Re-routing photosynthetic energy for continuous hydrogen production in vivo. Biotechnol Biofuels 12:266.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Some fungi only form fruiting bodies after forest fires; where do they hide the rest of the time? At least for some of them, the answer is: inside mosses!

Thanks to Daniel Raudabaugh for his contribution!

Download Episode (6.2 MB, 9.0 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Nocardia brevicatena

News item

Takeaways
Forest fires can do a lot of damage, but life grows back quickly. Certain kinds of plant seed actually only germinate after a fire, and a similar thing is true of certain kinds of fungi: they only form fruiting bodies (like mushrooms, for spreading spores) after a fire. For plants, the advantage may come from increased access to light with some or all of the canopy burned away, and fungi may benefit from less competition on the ground. But in between burn events, these fire-loving (pyrophilous) fungi seem to disappear. Where do they go?

The study here sought an answer, suspecting an association with some mosses that reappeared soon after a forest fire in North Carolina in 2016. They looked for fungi lurking as endophytes inside moss and other samples, both by growing them on agar and by DNA sequencing, and they found a number of different known pyrophilous fungi. Some of these were in soil, or samples from outside the burned area, but the majority were inside mosses growing in the recently burned zone.

Journal Paper:
Raudabaugh DB, Matheny PB, Hughes KW, Iturriaga T, Sargent M, Miller AN. 2020. Where are they hiding? Testing the body snatchers hypothesis in pyrophilous fungi. Fungal Ecol 43:100870.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Looking at the effects of almost doubling CO2 concentrations on the interaction between wheat varieties and beneficial fungi!

Download Episode (8.1 MB, 11.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Lato River virus

News item

Takeaways
As the world's population grows, feeding everyone will grow more challenging. Advances in technology in the past have made today's population possible, but future advances may be needed, especially in the face of an increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Soil microbes that partner with crop plants for the benefit of each may be part of the solution. One option to explore is a group called mycorrhizal fungi, which associate with plant roots to extend their nutrient-gathering ability, in exchange for carbon compounds produced by photosynthesis. This study examined the influence of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on the interaction of several varieties of wheat with these fungi.

Journal Paper:
Thirkell TJ, Pastok D, Field KJ. Carbon for nutrient exchange between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and wheat varies according to cultivar and changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. Glob Change Biol.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Giant virus in newly discovered microscopic marine predator encodes several light-harvesting proteins!

Download Episode (7.8 MB, 11.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Dolphin mastadenovirus A

News item

Takeaways
Giant viruses are distinct in many ways from other viruses, even aside from their size. One way is the large number and variety of genes they carry in their genome. Though many of their genes are unknown in origin and function, many others appear to take the place of essential reproductive functions, such as translation and protein synthesis. This allows them to assume more control of their host's metabolism and control its resources more optimally.

In this study, the sequence of a giant virus was discovered seemingly infecting a newly discovered microscopic marine predator. The eukaryotic cell feeds on smaller microbes such as bacteria, but strangely, the virus carries genes for several light-harvesting proteins, possibly converting a heterotrophic predator into a partial phototroph.

Journal Paper:
Needham DM, Yoshizawa S, Hosaka T, Poirier C, Choi CJ, Hehenberger E, Irwin NAT, Wilken S, Yung C-M, Bachy C, Kurihara R, Nakajima Y, Kojima K, Kimura-Someya T, Leonard G, Malmstrom RR, Mende DR, Olson DK, Sudo Y, Sudek S, Richards TA, DeLong EF, Keeling PJ, Santoro AE, Shirouzu M, Iwasaki W, Worden AZ. 2019. A distinct lineage of giant viruses brings a rhodopsin photosystem to unicellular marine predators. Proc Natl Acad Sci 116:20574–20583.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Mice that got a microbe transplant from humans with higher physical function performed better in certain ways than mice receiving microbes from humans with lower physical function!

Download Episode (6.7 MB, 9.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Stenotrophomonas maltophila

News item

Takeaways
Our bodies and our microbe communities are closely interconnected, with effects going both ways. Studies had previously shown that making changes to the microbe communities of mice could even affect the physical function and body composition of the mice.

This study aimed at addressing the same question in humans. There were certain consistent differences in microbial communities between elderly people with high ability to function physically, compared with low functioning people. These differences carried over in transplants of microbes from people to mice, and mice receiving microbes from high-functioning humans did better in tests of grip strength than mice receiving microbes from low-functioning people.

Journal Paper:
Fielding RA, Reeves AR, Jasuja R, Liu C, Barrett BB, Lustgarten MS. 2019. Muscle strength is increased in mice that are colonized with microbiota from high-functioning older adults. Exp Gerontol 127:110722.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Microbes in low-oxygen zones in the ocean consume significant amounts of methane anaerobically!

Download Episode (5.2 MB, 7.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Mojiang henipavirus

News item

Takeaways
Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Fortunately there's not as much of it in the atmosphere, but even smaller amounts can have significant effects on the climate.

One source of methane is low-oxygen zones in the ocean, where certain kinds of archaea make methane as part of their energy metabolism. This study found that other anaerobic microbes in the same areas consume much of this methane, preventing it from reaching the atmosphere.

Journal Paper:
Thamdrup B, Steinsdóttir HGR, Bertagnolli AD, Padilla CC, Patin NV, Garcia‐Robledo E, Bristow LA, Stewart FJ. 2019. Anaerobic methane oxidation is an important sink for methane in the ocean’s largest oxygen minimum zone. Limnol Oceanogr 64:2569–2585.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Ocean bacteria brought up from the sea floor into the air can help create clouds!

Download Episode (6.1 MB, 8.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces thermodiastaticus

News item

Takeaways
The ocean is an important player affecting the climate of the planet, in many ways. Its effects on clouds influence the amount of solar radiation reflected back into space or trapped as heat, and microbes play a role in this effect. Certain microbes make particles that form the nucleus of water droplets or ice crystals that make up clouds, and other microbes can perform this nucleation themselves.

In this study, an unusual combination of a phytoplankton bloom and strong winds and currents, all in the right places, led to a large number of ice-nucleating bacteria being fed and then brought up from the sea floor and launched into the air, possibly affecting weather patterns in the Arctic.

Journal Paper:
Creamean JM, Cross JN, Pickart R, McRaven L, Lin P, Pacini A, Hanlon R, Schmale DG, Ceniceros J, Aydell T, Colombi N, Bolger E, DeMott PJ. 2019. Ice Nucleating Particles Carried From Below a Phytoplankton Bloom to the Arctic Atmosphere. Geophys Res Lett 46:8572–8581.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

Probably the last episode of the year. See you in the next!

This episode: Fungus living inside plants helps them form partnerships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria!

Download Episode (5.9 MB, 8.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Prevotella intermedia

Takeaways
Plants are very good at acquiring carbon, but they can often use some help with other nutrients. Many form partnerships with microbes such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria or mycorrhizal fungi that can help gather nutrients from the soil better than the plants' own roots.

In this study, legume plants could form a partnership with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in its roots, but a fungus living inside the plant could enhance this partnership even more, increasing the amount of nitrogen acquired and influencing the community of microbes around the plant roots in ways favorable to all partners.

Journal Paper:
Xie X-G, Zhang F-M, Yang T, Chen Y, Li X-G, Dai C-C. 2019. Endophytic Fungus Drives Nodulation and N2 Fixation Attributable to Specific Root Exudates. mBio 10:e00728-19, /mbio/10/4/mBio.00728-19.atom.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: DNA from related species can kill certain pathogens when they incorporate it into their genome!

Download Episode (7.9 MB, 11.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Ungulate tetraparvovirus 3

Paper summary (paywall)

Takeaways
Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacteria that cause gonorrhea, have the unusual ability of taking up DNA from their surroundings at any time and making use of it in their own genome. This helps them acquire useful traits that help them survive better, such as antibiotic resistance. But it turns out that the ability is also a secret weakness!

This study showed that when N. gonorrhoeae takes up DNA from harmless, commensal species of Neisseria in the body, the DNA is similar enough to be incorporated into the genome but different enough that it kills the pathogen. This effect also occurs with a serious pathogen in the same genus, N. meningitidis.

Journal Paper:
Kim WJ, Higashi D, Goytia M, Rendón MA, Pilligua-Lucas M, Bronnimann M, McLean JA, Duncan J, Trees D, Jerse AE, So M. 2019. Commensal Neisseria Kill Neisseria gonorrhoeae through a DNA-Dependent Mechanism. Cell Host Microbe 26:228-239.e8.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Coating metal surfaces with artificial biofilms could help keep the surfaces corrosion-free even in the ocean!

Download Episode (6.3 MB, 9.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Hymenopteran ambidensovirus 1

Takeaways
The ocean can be a harsh place for metal surfaces. Between the water, the salt, and oxygen (near the surface), corrosion is a common reality. Microbes in the ocean can contribute to this too, degrading metal structures to obtain energy for their metabolism. They colonize surfaces in biofilms that can be difficult to remove, a process called biofouling.

In this study, instead of trying to remove or prevent biofilms on surfaces, artificial biofilms were created by coating the surfaces and specially selected bacterial cells with polymers. This approach did not prevent colonization by other organisms in the sea, but preliminary results suggested that the community that did take up residence was not as corrosive as the communities found on uncoated steel.

Journal Paper:
Rijavec T, Zrimec J, Spanning R van, Lapanje A. 2019. Natural Microbial Communities Can Be Manipulated by Artificially Constructed Biofilms. Adv Sci 6:1901408.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Another climate-related story: Cyanobacteria infected by viruses continue taking up nutrients from their environment, using it to make more viruses than would otherwise be possible!

Download Episode (6.3 MB, 9.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Microcystis virus Ma-LMM01

News item

Takeaways
Though global warming is a global problem, accurate models for predicting where things are headed need to incorporate the activity of even the smallest organisms, if they're numerous enough. Photosynthesis and other activities of microbes in the oceans are a big sink for carbon, but cycles of other nutrients and also viruses can affect the carbon cycle.

In this study, phages infecting photosynthetic ocean bacteria were able to continue their host's uptake of nitrogen from the environment even after mostly shutting down the host's own protein production and growth. This has implications for how viruses affect carbon cycling by cyanobacteria and how quickly populations of these bacteria may grow or die off.

Journal Paper:
Waldbauer JR, Coleman ML, Rizzo AI, Campbell KL, Lotus J, Zhang L. 2019. Nitrogen sourcing during viral infection of marine cyanobacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci 116:15590–15595.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: First episode of a climate-related arc! Considering microorganisms is important when predicting the amount of carbon coming from soil as temperature increases!

Download Episode (4.7 MB, 6.75 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces virus Zemlya

News item

Takeaways
Soil as a whole has a big influence on the climate of the planet, by enabling the communities of organisms that live in it to interact and grow, taking up gases from the atmosphere and putting others back in. Even aside from plants that grow in it, the other organisms in soil can respire and break down compounds to produce CO2, adding to what's in the atmosphere already.

There has long been observed a relationship between ambient temperatures and this respiration in soil, such that more heat means more activity and more gases released from the soil, but today's study found that the microbial biomass in a given piece of land can have a big effect on the temperature/respiration relationship.

Journal Paper:
Čapek P, Starke R, Hofmockel KS, Bond-Lamberty B, Hess N. 2019. Apparent temperature sensitivity of soil respiration can result from temperature driven changes in microbial biomass. Soil Biol Biochem 135:286–293.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Gut microbes can stimulate immune cells in mouse brains to fight off viral infections!

Download Episode (9.0 MB, 13.0 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptoverticillium mobaraense

News item

Takeaways
The central nervous system, including the brain, is a protected area of the body. Pathogens that get in can do a lot of damage, including memory loss, paralysis, and death, so there's a strict barrier in healthy people that keeps most things out of this area: the blood-brain barrier. The immune system is also kept separate, so special cells called microglia do the patrolling and protection of the brain.

Nevertheless, microbes in the gut can influence the function of the immune system in the brain, even from a distance. In this study, mice lacking gut microbes did not have as effective an immune response to a virus infecting the brain, and it was found that molecules from bacterial outer membranes were sensed by microglia to activate their defensive response.

Journal Paper:
Brown DG, Soto R, Yandamuri S, Stone C, Dickey L, Gomes-Neto JC, Pastuzyn ED, Bell R, Petersen C, Buhrke K, Fujinami RS, O’Connell RM, Stephens WZ, Shepherd JD, Lane TE, Round JL. 2019. The microbiota protects from viral-induced neurologic damage through microglia-intrinsic TLR signaling. eLife 8:e47117.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: In this partnership between fungus and algae, the algae eventually take up residence inside their partner!

Download Episode (8.4 MB, 12.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Erwinia tracheiphila

News item/Summary article

Takeaways
Partnerships and cooperation between otherwise free-living organisms is common in the natural world. Partnering with a photosynthetic organism is a smart approach, allowing the partner to get its energy from the sun and making gathering nutrients easier for the phototroph, and possibly offering protection as well. But in most partnerships, each partner stays separated by its own cell membrane.

In this study, a fungus and an alga grow well together, exchanging carbon for nitrogen, similar to how lichens operate. But after a month or so of co-culture, the algae apparently enter the cells of the fungus somehow and live inside it, happily growing and dividing, turning the fungus green.

Journal Paper:
Du Z-Y, Zienkiewicz K, Vande Pol N, Ostrom NE, Benning C, Bonito GM. 2019. Algal-fungal symbiosis leads to photosynthetic mycelium. eLife 8:e47815.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Figuring out how gut communities change with changes in diet!

Download Episode (6.1 MB, 8.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Hepacivirus A

News item

Takeaways
Diet can play a big role in our health. It's not a magic pill that can cure or prevent anything, but a good diet can significantly reduce many health risks for the average person, compared with a bad diet.

Diet also has a big effect on the community of microbes in our gut, and this may play a role in the health effects we see from diet, so understanding how food and microbes interact is important. This study looked at the diet quality of participants in several food categories, and correlated this with various kinds of microbes found inside them.

Journal Paper:
Liu Y, Ajami NJ, El-Serag HB, Hair C, Graham DY, White DL, Chen L, Wang Z, Plew S, Kramer J, Cole R, Hernaez R, Hou J, Husain N, Jarbrink-Sehgal ME, Kanwal F, Ketwaroo G, Natarajan Y, Shah R, Velez M, Mallepally N, Petrosino JF, Jiao L. 2019. Dietary quality and the colonic mucosa–associated gut microbiome in humans. Am J Clin Nutr 110:701–712.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Bacteria can aide the production of the useful material graphene, using their ability to add electrons to external surfaces!

Download Episode (7.7 MB, 11.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Brevibacterium frigoritolerans

News item

Takeaways
Advanced materials often take advanced techniques to create, but they offer numerous benefits: increased strength and flexibility, smaller size, more options. One such material is graphene, which is basically a sheet of carbon atoms linked together like chainmail. It is only a single atom thick but is amazingly strong, mostly transparent, and good at conducting heat and electricity.

The trick is, it's hard to make in large quantities cheaply and easily. Sheets of carbons can be obtained from blocks of graphite, but these sheets are graphene oxide, which lack the desirable properties of graphene. Chemical methods can be used to remove the oxidation, but they are harsh and difficult. Luckily, bacteria are great at microscopic remodeling. In this study, electron-transferring bacteria are able to reduce the graphene oxide to graphene with properties almost as good as are achieved by chemical reduction.

Journal Paper:
Lehner BAE, Janssen VAEC, Spiesz EM, Benz D, Brouns SJJ, Meyer AS, van der Zant HSJ. 2019. Creation of Conductive Graphene Materials by Bacterial Reduction Using Shewanella oneidensis. ChemistryOpen 8:888–895.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Bacteria found in the guts of serious athletes help mice exercise longer by transforming their metabolic waste!

Download Episode (7.3 MB, 10.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Aggregatibacter (Actinobacillus) actinomycetemcomitans

News item

Takeaways
Our gut microbes affect many aspects of health, and many aspects of how we live affect our microbes. One such aspect is physical exertion, which has been associated with enrichment of various microbes in the guts of athletes. This observation led to the question: are these microbes just benefiting from the high levels of exertion, or are they able to contribute also?

This study found that certain such bacteria, when given to mice, enabled the mice to run for a longer period on a treadmill. These microbes break down lactic acid, which is generated in our bodies when we push our physical limits, but the study provided evidence that the longer run times were due not to removal of this waste product, but to the propionate compound produced by its degradation.

Journal Paper:
Scheiman J, Luber JM, Chavkin TA, MacDonald T, Tung A, Pham L-D, Wibowo MC, Wurth RC, Punthambaker S, Tierney BT, Yang Z, Hattab MW, Avila-Pacheco J, Clish CB, Lessard S, Church GM, Kostic AD. 2019. Meta-omics analysis of elite athletes identifies a performance-enhancing microbe that functions via lactate metabolism. Nat Med 25:1104–1109.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.

This episode: Plants stimulate their root bacteria to compete better, and these bacteria help the plants resist disease!

Download Episode (7.3 MB, 10.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Bacillus circulans

Takeaways
In some ways, plants' roots are like our gut. They both absorb nutrients, and they both have complex communities of microbes living alongside the host cells. These microbes can assist their hosts in various ways, and get fed in return.

In this study, one species of root bacterium is able to compete against others by producing an antimicrobial compound. The plant stimulates this production with chemical signals, and benefits from its symbionts' increased competitiveness because the bacterium helps the plant resist infection.

Journal Paper:
Ogran A, Yardeni EH, Keren-Paz A, Bucher T, Jain R, Gilhar O, Kolodkin-Gal I. 2019. The Plant Host Induces Antibiotic Production To Select the Most-Beneficial Colonizers. Appl Environ Microbiol 85:e00512-19.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacterial enzymes could convert donated blood to be compatible with more people in need!

Download Episode (8.0 MB, 11.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Cucumber leaf spot virus

News item

Takeaways
Blood transfusions using donated blood save many lives. Unfortunately, most donations can't be given to just anyone that needs blood; there must be a match in blood type between donor and recipient, or else a life-threatening reaction could occur in the recipient's body. So type A can't donate to type B, or vice versa, but type O is compatible with the other types.

In this study, bacterial enzymes found in human gut microbes have the ability to cleave off the unique type A and B sugars on the surface of red blood cells. This could allow the conversion of all donated blood to type O, greatly increasing the blood bank supply, but more testing is needed to develop the process.

Journal Paper:
Rahfeld P, Sim L, Moon H, Constantinescu I, Morgan-Lang C, Hallam SJ, Kizhakkedathu JN, Withers SG. 2019. An enzymatic pathway in the human gut microbiome that converts A to universal O type blood. Nat Microbiol 4:1475–1485.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Five different ways of thinking about our relationship with our microbes!

Download Episode (20.4 MB, 29.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Tuhoko rubulavirus 3

News item

Takeaways
The microbiome by itself is an amazingly complicated community of many different species, with different lifestyles and metabolisms, all living together in competition and cooperation. On top of that, interactions between the microbiome and our body and our lifestyle multiply the complexity even more.

This article explores five different views of the microbiome and how it fits into our body (or how the body fits in with the microbiome). From the organ view to the ecosystem view, each is a different way of looking at the different functions, dynamic patterns, and integration of the microbiome in its host, and each provides guidance for how to approach treatment of disease and maintenance of health.

Journal Paper:
Morar N, Bohannan BJM. 2019. The Conceptual Ecology of the Human Microbiome. The Quarterly Review of Biology 94:149–175.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Not as simple as it sounds—how rod-shaped bacteria maintain their shape!

Thanks to Dr. Ethan Garner for his contribution!

Download Episode (6.3 MB, 9.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Erwinia virus M7

News item

Takeaways
Microbes seem like they should be a lot simpler than large multicellular organisms, but even what seems like it should be a simple system in microbes can be surprisingly complex. In this case, the system bacteria maintaining their particular cell shape.

Spherical cells have it easier: just add more cell material at every point. But for rods, they must make the cell longer without making it wider. How do they accomplish this? Two groups of proteins work together to help rod-shaped species grow, but how they work wasn't specifically known.

In this study, it was found that one group of proteins adds more cell material as it moves around the circumference, while the other adds structure to the cell that allows it to maintain shape. The more of these structural proteins present, the thinner the cell can stay.

Journal Paper:
Dion MF, Kapoor M, Sun Y, Wilson S, Ryan J, Vigouroux A, van Teeffelen S, Oldenbourg R, Garner EC. 2019. Bacillus subtilis cell diameter is determined by the opposing actions of two distinct cell wall synthetic systems. Nat Microbiol 4:1294–1305.

Other interesting stories:

This episode: Bacterial symbionts of amoebas help them survive bacterial infection, and prevent pathogens from spreading to others as much!

Download Episode (7.5 MB, 8.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Eubacterium dolichum

News item

Takeaways
Amoebas are free-living, single-celled organisms, but they have some things in common with some cells of our immune system (macrophages). For example, certain bacterial pathogens can infect both in similar ways. So it can be useful to study the interactions of amoebas and bacteria to learn about our own immune defenses.

In this study, the amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii has another bacterial symbiont that helps it resist killing by the bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila. Once the amoebas recovered from the infection, they were more resistant to future challenges. Even better, the symbiont prevented the pathogen from transforming into a more spreadable form like it does when infecting amoebas alone.

Journal Paper:
König L, Wentrup C, Schulz F, Wascher F, Escola S, Swanson MS, Buchrieser C, Horn M. 2019. Symbiont-Mediated Defense against Legionella pneumophila in Amoebae. mBio 10:e00333-19.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: A marine protist can orient itself along magnetic fields thanks to bacterial symbionts on its surface that make magnetic nanoparticles!

Download Episode (7.2 MB, 7.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Chlorocebus pygerythrus polyomavirus 3

Takeaways
Various kinds of bacteria can orient their movement along a magnetic field. These are called magnetotactic, and they use this ability to swim toward or away from the surface of their aquatic habitat, to adjust their oxygen exposure according to their preference.

No eukaryotic microbes have yet been discovered that can sense and react to magnetic fields like these prokaryotes. In this study, however, a protist was discovered that can do it via its partnership with ectosymbionts, or bacteria attached to its surface, that sense magnetism and orient their host's movement. In return, factors of the host's metabolism may feed its symbionts.

Journal Paper:
Monteil CL, Vallenet D, Menguy N, Benzerara K, Barbe V, Fouteau S, Cruaud C, Floriani M, Viollier E, Adryanczyk G, Leonhardt N, Faivre D, Pignol D, López-García P, Weld RJ, Lefevre CT. 2019. Ectosymbiotic bacteria at the origin of magnetoreception in a marine protist. Nat Microbiol 4:1088–1095.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Slime molds can learn to get used to salt and hold on to that memory even after a period of dormancy!

Download Episode (8.9 MB, 9.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Nocardia transvalensis

News item

Takeaways
Slime mold Physarum polycephalum has many surprisingly intelligent abilities, despite being only a single cell. Studying how these abilities work in the cell can teach us new ways that life can do things. The ability of interest here is habituation, or learning not to avoid a chemical that seems unpleasant to the cell but is not necessarily harmful, especially with a food reward.

The slime mold can become habituated to salt, in this case, learning to tolerate it enough to pass through a gradient of increasing concentration to get to some food as quickly as it crosses the same distance with no salt present. The scientists here learned that the cell takes up sodium into itself as it habituates, and holds onto both sodium and its memory through a period of hibernation.

Journal Paper:
Boussard A., Delescluse J., Pérez-Escudero A., Dussutour A. 2019. Memory inception and preservation in slime moulds: the quest for a common mechanism. Phil Trans R Soc B 374:20180368.

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria carry deadly phages and use them against rival strains!

Download Episode (9.4 MB, 10.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Bifidobacterium bifidum

News item

Takeaways
Bacteria such as Escherichia coli live in environments such as the gut with many other types of microbes, and often develop communities of microbes cooperating and/or competing with each other for resources. But in order to cooperate or compete, bacteria must first be able to identify and discriminate between themselves and others. Sometimes microbes do this by exchanging membrane molecules, or secreting chemical signals that only partners can detect, or transferring plasmids or producing antimicrobial compounds that kill competitors.

In the current study, scientists discovered a strain of E. coli that carries around phages that help them distinguish other strains and compete with them. When this strain encounters another, the phages it carries attack and destroy cells of the other strain, while leaving the carrier strain mostly unharmed. This strategy is not without cost, though; the viral proteins take resources to produce, and when there's no competing strains around, the virus can attack its carrier to some extent.

Journal Paper:
Song S, Guo Y, Kim J-S, Wang X, Wood TK. 2019. Phages Mediate Bacterial Self-Recognition. Cell Reports 27:737-749.e4.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Engineered bacteria could help people digest an essential nutrient when they can't digest it themselves!

Download Episode (8.5 MB, 9.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Kadipiro virus

News item (paywall)

Science-Based Medicine blog article about phenylketonuria, Synlogic, and engineering bacteria to treat this disorder, with lots of good detail

Takeaways
Treating genetic disorders can be very difficult. Sometimes they can be managed, with lifestyle, diet, or medication, but cure has almost always been out of the picture. With a disorder such as phenylketonuria (PKU), for example, in which the body is unable to fully metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine, diet and medication may work to some extent.

In an effort to provide better options for PKU, scientists at Synlogic, Inc have created a strain of Escherichia coli that produces phenylalanine-degrading enzymes in the gut. The hope is that ingesting this bacterium could allow PKU patients to be less restrictive with their diet.

Journal Paper:
Isabella VM, Ha BN, Castillo MJ, Lubkowicz DJ, Rowe SE, Millet YA, Anderson CL, Li N, Fisher AB, West KA, Reeder PJ, Momin MM, Bergeron CG, Guilmain SE, Miller PF, Kurtz CB, Falb D. 2018. Development of a synthetic live bacterial therapeutic for the human metabolic disease phenylketonuria. Nat Biotechnol 36:857–864.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Microbes in household dust help degrade potentially harmful plasticizer chemicals!

Thanks to Ashleigh Bope for her contribution!

Download Episode (6.7 MB, 7.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Rosa rugosa leaf distortion virus

News item

Takeaways
Modern life and technology comes with modern challenges, including exposure to chemicals in building materials and such that humans didn't encounter much before the last few generations. Phthalate esters, found in PVC and other materials, can accumulate in homes and cause some problems, especially in children.

Modern life is also new to microbes, but they are very adaptable and versatile. In this study, microbes in household dust show some ability to break down the phthalates over time. Whether this activity is significant and beneficial to residents remains to be discovered.

Journal Paper:
Bope A, Haines SR, Hegarty B, Weschler CJ, Peccia J, Dannemiller KC. Degradation of phthalate esters in floor dust at elevated relative humidity. Environ Sci: Processes Impacts.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria strengthen concrete while helping to prevent damage from road salts!

Download Episode (6.8 MB, 7.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Azospirillum brasilense

News item

Takeaways
Winter is a bad time for concrete outside. Water seeps into cracks and freezes, causing bigger cracks that widen into potholes. Even the road salts used to keep water from freezing can react with compounds in the cement to break down the structure of the concrete.

This study looks to bacteria for a solution for protecting concrete from these reactions. Sporosarcina pasteurii, given the right nutrients, can take the harmful salt compounds and turn them into minerals that strengthen the concrete instead of weakening it.

Journal Paper:
Ksara M, Newkirk R, Langroodi SK, Althoey F, Sales CM, Schauer CL, Farnam Y. 2019. Microbial damage mitigation strategy in cementitious materials exposed to calcium chloride. Construction and Building Materials 195:1–9.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria help gently clean residue off artworks painted on stone!

Download Episode (5.6 MB, 6.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Cellulophaga virus Cba171

Takeaways
More and more cleaning products these days contain an ingredient called "enzymes." These are proteins that break down contaminants biologically instead of just removing them chemically, in a targeted manner.

In a similar approach, this study explores applying bacteria directly to classic artwork painted directly on stone, to clean up residues on the surface. These bacteria can produce enzymes on site and degrade the contaminants while leaving the underlying paint intact.

Journal Paper:
Ranalli G, Zanardini E, Rampazzi L, Corti C, Andreotti A, Colombini MP, Bosch‐Roig P, Lustrato G, Giantomassi C, Zari D, Virilli P. 2019. Onsite advanced biocleaning system on historical wall paintings using new agar-gauze bacteria gel. J Appl Microbiol 126:1785–1796.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria produce antifungal compounds that can protect paper from fungal deterioration!

Download Episode (6.8 MB, 7.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Acetobacter aceti

Takeaways
Paper is a very useful information storage medium, but it is also somewhat delicious for microbes that can break it down as food, degrade the quality, and cause indelible stains and discoloration under the right conditions. Preventing this usually requires careful control, such as keeping humidity low, for storing paper for long periods.

In this study, scientists tested the ability of the bacterium Lysobacter enzymogenes to protect paper via the antifungal compounds it produces. This first required filtering out the pigments that the bacteria produced, to prevent them from discoloring the paper. Once a method for this filtering was in place, they found the bacterial culture supernatant could significantly reduce fungal growth on various kinds of paper, and protect the paper from staining and degradation.

Journal Paper:
Chen Z, Zou J, Chen B, Du L, Wang M. 2019. Protecting books from mold damage by decreasing paper bioreceptivity to fungal attack using de-coloured cell-free supernatant of Lysobacter enzymogenes C3. J Appl Microbiol 126:1772–1784.

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Contact with soil materials and moss causes significant, though short-term, changes in the skin microbiota!

Thanks to Dr. Mira Grönroos for her contribution!

Download Episode (7.1 MB, 7.75 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Leonurus mosaic virus

Takeaways
Exposure to microbes throughout life is thought to help calibrate the immune system to some extent, reducing the risk of allergies and asthma without losing defense against pathogens. In this study, rubbing soil or packets of moss on the skin changed the composition of the skin microbiota temporarily, so this may be a way to help with this important type of exposure, but it is not yet known how to achieve optimal long-term effects.

Journal Paper:
Grönroos M, Parajuli A, Laitinen OH, Roslund MI, Vari HK, Hyöty H, Puhakka R, Sinkkonen A. 2019. Short-term direct contact with soil and plant materials leads to an immediate increase in diversity of skin microbiota. MicrobiologyOpen 8:e00645.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

I'm back! This episode: Looking at how people in different villages share microbes!

Download Episode (6.5 MB, 7.0 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Cristispira pectinis

Takeaways
Our microbiota, the communities of microbes living in and on our bodies, are incredibly diverse and varied. Each person's is different, and they can change drastically over time with changes in location, diet, lifestyle, and other factors.

Learning how our microbiota forms and changes and functions is important, because it can affect many aspects of health. In this study, villagers in the islands of Fiji share microbes with others in the same and other villages, but not always in patterns that might be expected.

Journal Paper:
Brito IL, Gurry T, Zhao S, Huang K, Young SK, Shea TP, Naisilisili W, Jenkins AP, Jupiter SD, Gevers D, Alm EJ. Transmission of human-associated microbiota along family and social networks. Nat Microbiol.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Fungus-hunting amoebas have different strategies for detecting and preying on single-celled and filamentous fungi!

Also, a personal note: I'm going to be taking a few weeks off the podcast to be able to take full advantage of spring, but I'll be back as soon as the weather gets too hot.

Download Episode (7.5 MB, 8.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Chondromyces catenulatus

Takeaways
Amoebas in the microbial world are like powerful predators, going around gobbling up whatever they find that's small enough, by a process called phagocytosis, in which they surround their prey with their cell membrane and engulf it. It's similar to macrophages or white blood cells as part of our immune system in our bodies.

The prey of amoebas includes bacteria, large viruses, and single-celled fungi called yeasts. In this study, scientists showed that some yeasts make great food sources for a certain kind of amoeba called Protostelium aurantium, while others either lack nutritional value or hide from the predators by covering up certain recognition molecules on their cell wall.

They found that the amoebas could also consume the spores of filamentous fungi, and could even attack the filaments, or hyphae. In this latter case, instead of engulfing the large filaments, they pierced the cells and extracted their contents, an approach named ruphocytosis, from the Greek for suck or slurp.

Journal Paper:
Radosa S, Ferling I, Sprague JL, Westermann M, Hillmann F. The different morphologies of yeast and filamentous fungi trigger distinct killing and feeding mechanisms in a fungivorous amoeba. Environ Microbiol.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Pigmented bacteria can be used in a cancer imaging technique that combines light and sound!

Download Episode (8.9 MB, 9.75 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces bellus

Takeaways
Because "cancer" is a general term that describes many different forms of disease affecting different cells in different parts of the body, effective cancer treatment relies on understanding the location and physiology of the cancer in a given patient. New imaging technologies for diagnosis and analysis of cancer and for cancer research can be very valuable, especially if they don't require big investments of money and space.

One promising imaging technology is called multispectral optoacoustic imaging, or MSOT. This uses pulses of light to create vibrations as pigments in tissues absorb the light and undergo thermal expansion; these vibrations are then detected by ultrasound technology. This approach allows good resolution and depth of imaging without large equipment like MRI machines, but the best results require adding pigments into the body.

In this study, scientists showed that the photosynthetic pigments of purple non-sulfur bacteria can be useful in this optoacoustic imaging, providing a somewhat long-term, nontoxic approach. It proved especially interesting when they discovered that the wavelength spectrum changing over time was an indication of macrophage activity in the tumors.

Journal Paper:
Peters L, Weidenfeld I, Klemm U, Loeschcke A, Weihmann R, Jaeger K-E, Drepper T, Ntziachristos V, Stiel AC. 2019. Phototrophic purple bacteria as optoacoustic in vivo reporters of macrophage activity. Nat Commun 10:1191.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: A microbe that boosts plant growth needs to make storage polymers for both itself and the plant's sake!

Download Episode (7.1 MB, 7.75 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Suid gammaherpesvirus 3

Takeaways
Bacteria that promote plant growth are fascinating and not too hard to find. Plants and microbes make good partners by each contributing something the other needs. Plants make sugars via photosynthesis that microbes can use as food, and microbes can gather nutrients that plants can't make, can drive off pathogens, and can contribute to plant growth in other ways.

However, plants aren't making sugars all the time, because the sun goes down every day. So what do partner microbes do at these times? In this study, a beneficial microbe Herbaspirillum seropedicae was found to produce a storage compound called polyhydroxyalkanoate, or PHA, that it could use to store food for times of scarcity. Mutants of this microbe that could not make the storage compound weren't very beneficial for their plant partners.

Journal Paper:
Alves LPS, Amaral FP do, Kim D, Bom MT, Gavídia MP, Teixeira CS, Holthman F, Pedrosa F de O, Souza EM de, Chubatsu LS, Müller-Santos M, Stacey G. 2019. Importance of Poly-3-Hydroxybutyrate Metabolism to the Ability of Herbaspirillum seropedicae To Promote Plant Growth. Appl Environ Microbiol 85:e02586-18.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Light increases the growth even of some bacteria that don't harvest its energy!

Download Episode (9.0 MB, 9.75 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Methylococcus thermophilus

News item

Takeaways
Light from the sun is one of the fundamental sources of energy for life on this planet. Plants and other phototrophs—photosynthetic organisms that get their energy mainly from light—form the foundation of the food web, and organisms that feed on them or that feed on organisms that feed on them are all dependent on the ability to capture the sun's rays.

There are other ways to benefit directly from the sun's energy, besides photosynthesis—some microbes have enzymes that use light energy to repair damage to DNA (the same damage that is caused by ultraviolet light), and we use sunlight to synthesize vitamin D.

In this study, however, microbes are discovered to grow faster in the presence of light despite not being phototrophs or producing any light-harvesting proteins. The scientists discover some possible light-sensing proteins, though, that could regulate these microbes' behavior, allowing them to synchronize their growth cycles to phototroph partners in aquatic environments.

Journal Paper:
Maresca JA, Keffer JL, Hempel P, Polson SW, Shevchenko O, Bhavsar J, Powell D, Miller KJ, Singh A, Hahn MW. Light modulates the physiology of non-phototrophic Actinobacteria. J Bacteriol JB.00740-18.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Newly discovered giant virus from a hot spring turns its amoeba hosts to stone!

Download Episode (6.7 MB, 7.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Listeria virus P70

News item

Takeaways
Viruses come in endless different shapes, sizes, and genetic configurations. Even within the group called giant viruses there is a large amount of variety. Many of their genes are unknown, without homology to any other sequences we have acquired in other areas of life. There is great potential to learn interesting things from these viruses.

In this study, a new giant virus is discovered. Like many others, this infects amoebas, and causes them to transform from dynamic, shape-shifting cells into hard little cyst-like circles. This ability gave it the name Medusavirus. It's the first giant virus found in a relatively hot environment (a hot spring), and among other interesting features, it shows signs of multiple instances of gene transfer to and from its amoeba host.

Journal Paper:
Yoshikawa G, Blanc-Mathieu R, Song C, Kayama Y, Mochizuki T, Murata K, Ogata H, Takemura M. 2019. Medusavirus, a novel large DNA virus discovered from hot spring water. J Virol JVI.02130-18.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Newly discovered CRISPR-inhibiting genes are found in many different bacterial groups!

Download Episode (8.0 MB, 8.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Borrelia mazzottii

News item

Takeaways
The discovery of the microbial immune system, CRISPR-Cas, changed many things about the way we think of microbial ecology and interactions with microbe-infecting viruses. The CRISPR-Cas system can learn to detect new threats by capturing bits of their genetic sequences and using these to target the Cas proteins to chop up any such sequences that make it into the cytoplasm. This can greatly increase microbial survival in certain ecosystems in which viruses regularly kill a large percentage of the microbial population.

To overcome this defense, a virus has to adapt, either by acquiring mutations that change its sequence, thus escaping detection, or by acquiring anti-CRISPR proteins that shut down the microbial defense directly. These possibilities make the complex ecology even more interesting.

In this study, scientists develop a clever method for screening for new anti-CRISPR genes, and go searching for them in samples from various places (soil, animal guts, human gut). They find several new examples, which turn out to be found in many different kinds of species in many different environments.

Journal Paper:
Uribe RV, Helm E van der, Misiakou M-A, Lee S-W, Kol S, Sommer MOA. 2019. Discovery and Characterization of Cas9 Inhibitors Disseminated across Seven Bacterial Phyla. Cell Host & Microbe 25:233-241.e5.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Supercritical carbon dioxide and bacteria that can grow in it make a great combination for biofuel production!

Download Episode (9.4 MB, 10.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Flexibacter aggregans

Takeaways
Biofuels are an important part of humanity's move away from non-renewable resources. They have a higher energy density than batteries are yet able to achieve, giving them significant advantages for transportation purposes in which tapping into an electric grid isn't possible. Depending on the biofuel, they also have the advantage of existing infrastructure: we don't need to build a whole new system of charging or refueling stations, but can use the systems already in place.

However, biofuels as a collection of technologies still need some refinements. Yields for the more potentially sustainable approaches are low, and the lower the concentration of a soluble fuel, the more difficult it is to separate it from the non-fuel components of a fermentation. Microbial products also face the risk of contamination of a fermentation by unwanted organisms that use up the substrate without producing desirable products.

In this study, supercritical carbon dioxide is considered as a fix for both of these problems. The gas is pressurized to a point at which it is indistinguishable from liquid. A strain of Bacillus megaterium is specially selected as capable of growing and fermenting in this environment, while contaminants are inhibited. The solvent potential of supercritical carbon dioxide also serves as a way to extract the biofuel product—in this case, isobutanol—from the aqueous part of the culture medium. While it needs some development, this approach yields promising results.

Journal Paper:
Boock JT, Freedman AJE, Tompsett GA, Muse SK, Allen AJ, Jackson LA, Castro-Dominguez B, Timko MT, Prather KLJ, Thompson JR. 2019. Engineered microbial biofuel production and recovery under supercritical carbon dioxide. Nat Commun 10:587.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: A cancer-killing virus could help increase success of treatment of a form of eye cancer in children!

Download Episode (8.0 MB, 8.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus

News item

Takeaways
Cancer obviously is a serious concern, and can be tricky to treat because there are endless varieties in all different places in the body, each of which can have its own expected progression, aggressiveness, and methods of treatment to take into account.

Even more serious is when the cancer is in very young children, as is often the case with a cancer of the eye called retinoblastoma. There are about 8000 cases of this disease per year, and when treatment is unsuccessful, it can lead to the loss of one or both eyes.

In this study, investigators looked into using a cancer-targeting, oncolytic virus to complement the normal treatment of chemotherapy. The virus for the most part remained localized to the eye where it should be, and targeted the cancer instead of healthy cells, and so seems promising. In the small trial with two patients included in this study, the virus didn't cause a complete recovery, but showed some modest promising results.

Journal Paper:
Pascual-Pasto G, Bazan-Peregrino M, Olaciregui NG, Restrepo-Perdomo CA, Mato-Berciano A, Ottaviani D, Weber K, Correa G, Paco S, Vila-Ubach M, Cuadrado-Vilanova M, Castillo-Ecija H, Botteri G, Garcia-Gerique L, Moreno-Gilabert H, Gimenez-Alejandre M, Alonso-Lopez P, Farrera-Sal M, Torres-Manjon S, Ramos-Lozano D, Moreno R, Aerts I, Doz F, Cassoux N, Chapeaublanc E, Torrebadell M, Roldan M, König A, Suñol M, Claverol J, Lavarino C, De TC, Fu L, Radvanyi F, Munier FL, Catalá-Mora J, Mora J, Alemany R, Cascalló M, Chantada GL, Carcaboso AM. 2019. Therapeutic targeting of the RB1 pathway in retinoblastoma with the oncolytic adenovirus VCN-01. Sci Transl Med 11:eaat9321.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Mouse gut microbes, from mice or from human donors, can protect mice against arsenic toxicity!

Download Episode (6.3 MB, 6.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces griseus

News item

Takeaways
Our gut microbes benefit us in many ways, including nutritionally—by producing vitamins and helping to digest food—and by helping us in defense against pathogens and other immunological threats.

Many things we do can affect our gut microbes too, positively or negatively. What we eat, toxins we encounter, and other aspects of lifestyle can damage our microbial communities.

In this study, we see that the reverse could be true, that gut microbes, and specifically one called Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, can protect their host against toxins such as arsenic.

Journal Paper:
Coryell M, McAlpine M, Pinkham NV, McDermott TR, Walk ST. 2018. The gut microbiome is required for full protection against acute arsenic toxicity in mouse models. Nat Commun 9:5424.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Beneficial fungi found inside wild grain plants help wheat plants grow better with less water!

Download Episode (7.1 MB, 7.75 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Beijerinckia indica

Takeaways
As we have microbial communities in our guts, on our skin, and in various other places in and on our bodies, plants also have beneficial microbial symbionts around their roots, on their leaf surfaces, and even inside their tissues. These microbes can be bacteria, fungi, or other, and can help plants gather nutrients, resist diseases or pests, and other things.

In this study, some fungi living in grain plants—called endophytes, or "inside plants"—can help wheat tolerate drought and grow better with less water. Studying this system could lead to breakthroughs in wheat farming, all thanks to microbes.

Journal Paper:
Llorens E, Sharon O, Camañes G, García‐Agustín P, Sharon A. Endophytes from wild cereals protect wheat plants from drought by alteration of physiological responses of the plants to water stress. Environ Microbiol.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria that help nematodes prey on insects also help keep fungi from stealing their kills!

Download Episode (7.4 MB, 8.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Artogeia rapae granulovirus

Takeaways
Soil is an incredibly complex ecosystem, with many different interactions constantly happening between plants, insects, bacteria, fungi, and other organisms, not to mention a large variety of shifting environmental conditions. All of these are competing with some and cooperating with others to try to survive and thrive the best they can.

One interesting interaction takes place between small roundworms in the soil, called nematodes, and bacteria they carry around that cause disease in insects. These nematodes prey on insects by injecting the bacteria into them, which kill and start digesting the insects. The nematodes then feed on the insects and the bacteria until the resources have been exhausted, and then move on to the next insect, taking some bacteria with them again.

In this study, the scientists wondered how these partners deal with competitors in the soil that might want to take advantage of their resources. They discover that the bacteria produce compounds that can repel and inhibit fungi that might otherwise steal their kills.

Journal Paper:
Shan S, Wang W, Song C, Wang M, Sun B, Li Y, Fu Y, Gu X, Ruan W, Rasmann S. The symbiotic bacteria Alcaligenes faecalis of the entomopathogenic nematodes Oscheius spp. exhibit potential biocontrol of plant- and entomopathogenic fungi. Microb Biotechnol.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Phages eavesdrop on bacterial communications to attack at the perfect moment!

Thanks to Justin Silpe and Dr. Bonnie Bassler for their contributions!

Download Episode (11.1 MB, 12.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Artichoke Aegean ringspot virus

News item

Takeaways
Even organisms as small as bacteria can, and often do, communicate with each other through a process called quorum sensing, in which each cell releases a small amount of a certain chemical into their surroundings. When the population is large enough that the concentration of this chemical builds up to a certain level, the cells in the population change their behavior. The specifics of this change depend on the species and the situation.

But since this chemical signal is released into the environment, anything around that can sense it can listen in on the communications of a bacterial population. In this study, Justin Silpe and Dr. Bonnie Bassler find a type of virus that uses such a chemical communication as a signal to come out of stasis and hijack a whole population of bacteria at once!

Journal Paper:
Silpe JE, Bassler BL. 2019. A Host-Produced Quorum-Sensing Autoinducer Controls a Phage Lysis-Lysogeny Decision. Cell 176:268-280.E13.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Enhancing a virus with magnetic nanoparticles and CRISPR-Cas gene editing abilities makes it a good vector for genetic therapies!

Download Episode (11.2 MB, 12.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Staphylococcus virus S253

News item

Takeaways
Gene delivery, getting genetic content for gene therapy to the correct tissues in an organism, has long been a very tricky problem. And genetic modification, making specific changes at a specific place in a genome, is also difficult.

Viruses can help with both delivery and modification, but they're often not specific and targeted enough to be effective, or even safe. Off-target effects could be harmful or even deadly, potentially resulting in cancer.

In this study, a virus is modified with nanotechnology in the form of tiny magnets to allow humans to target it to specific tissues, and given the ability to modify specific genes using the bacterial CRISPR-Cas system. These modifications potentially make this gene delivery system much more safe and effective.

Journal Paper:
Zhu H, Zhang L, Tong S, Lee CM, Deshmukh H, Bao G. 2018. Spatial control of in vivo CRISPR–Cas9 genome editing via nanomagnets. Nat Biomed Eng.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Purple phototrophic bacteria could use certain kinds of wastewater, along with electric current, to produce valuable products like hydrogen without much waste!

Thanks to Dr. Ioanna Vasiliadou for her contribution!

Download Episode (12.7 MB, 13.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces tendae

News item

Takeaways
Purple phototrophic bacteria can take light energy and use it to help power their metabolism. They're not dependent on it like plants, but can use light or other energy sources for their versatile metabolism.

This versatility makes them very interesting candidates for industrial biotechnology applications. These bacteria can take in various combinations of nutrients and produce a number of different valuable products, including protein-rich feed, bioplastics, and biofuels such as hydrogen gas.

Today's study shows they can also take up electrons directly to help make their biofuel production process even more environmentally sustainable.

Journal Paper:
Vasiliadou IA, Berná A, Manchon C, Melero JA, Martinez F, Esteve-Nuñez A, Puyol D. 2018. Biological and Bioelectrochemical Systems for Hydrogen Production and Carbon Fixation Using Purple Phototrophic Bacteria. Front Energy Res 6:107.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Fruit fly gut microbes can mediate non-genetic traits passed from parents to offspring!

Thanks to Dr. Per Stenberg for his contribution!

Download Episode (10.0 MB, 10.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Bifidobacterium breve

News item

Takeaways
Heritability of traits is essential for evolution; if an ability can't be passed on from generation to generation, then natural selection can't act on it on a population-wide level.

An organism's genome is the source of most heritable traits, as DNA gets passed on to offspring, but a number of other ways of passing on traits have been discovered, in the field of epigenetics.

In this study, the gut microbes from fruit flies raised in one temperature could affect the gene expression of their offspring raised in a different temperature, compared to flies that had been kept at the latter temperature over both generations. While the effects on fly fitness or behavior are not yet known, these results suggest that gut microbes, transmitted from parents to offspring, could be another mechanism of heritability.

Journal Paper:
Zare A, Johansson A-M, Karlsson E, Delhomme N, Stenberg P. 2018. The gut microbiome participates in transgenerational inheritance of low-temperature responses in Drosophila melanogaster. FEBS Lett 592:4078–4086.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Women who immigrated to the US from southeast Asia lost much of their gut microbiota diversity, resulting in a microbe community similar to the typical American!

Download Episode (9.3 MB, 10.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Pseudomonas anguilliseptica

News item

Journal Paper:
Vangay P, Johnson AJ, Ward TL, Al-Ghalith GA, Shields-Cutler RR, Hillmann BM, Lucas SK, Beura LK, Thompson EA, Till LM, Batres R, Paw B, Pergament SL, Saenyakul P, Xiong M, Kim AD, Kim G, Masopust D, Martens EC, Angkurawaranon C, McGready R, Kashyap PC, Culhane-Pera KA, Knights D. 2018. US Immigration Westernizes the Human Gut Microbiome. Cell 175:962-972.e10.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria rid themselves of burdensome waste by ejecting it inside little pieces of their own cell, called minicells!

Download Episode (10.8 MB, 11.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Cacao yellow mosaic virus

News item

Journal Papers:
Rang CU, Proenca A, Buetz C, Shi C, Chao L. 2018. Minicells as a Damage Disposal Mechanism in Escherichia coli. mSphere 3:e00428-18.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Dr. Klara Junker joins me to discuss her work on the predatory yeast Saccharomycopsis schoenii that can kill the serious pathogenic yeast Candida auris!

Download Episode (11.0 MB, 12.0 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Lambdapapillomavirus 5

Movies of Saccharomycopsis attacking other yeasts

Journal Papers:
Junker K, Bravo Ruiz G, Lorenz A, Walker L, Gow NAR, Wendland J. 2018. The mycoparasitic yeast Saccharomycopsis schoenii predates and kills multi-drug resistant Candida auris. Sci Rep 8:14959.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Engineering other organisms to fix nitrogen by combining the required enzyme components into giant proteins that then get cut into the regular-sized subunit components!

Download Episode (10.5 MB, 11.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Blastochloris sulfoviridis

Journal commentary (paywall)

Journal Papers:
Yang J, Xie X, Xiang N, Tian Z-X, Dixon R, Wang Y-P. 2018. Polyprotein strategy for stoichiometric assembly of nitrogen fixation components for synthetic biology. Proc Natl Acad Sci 115:E8509–E8517.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Intricate networks of tunnels in garnet gemstones seem to have come from tunneling microorganisms!

Thanks to Magnus Ivarsson for his contribution!

Download Episode (5.4 MB, 5.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces griseosporeus

News item

Journal Papers:
Ivarsson M, Skogby H, Phichaikamjornwut B, Bengtson S, Siljeström S, Ounchanum P, Boonsoong A, Kruachanta M, Marone F, Belivanova V, Holmström S. 2018. Intricate tunnels in garnets from soils and river sediments in Thailand – Possible endolithic microborings. PLOS ONE 13:e0200351.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Combining all 16 of yeast's chromosomes into one or two only impairs their growth slightly in the lab, but it prevents them from successful mating with wild yeasts!

Download Episode (12.4 MB, 13.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Vibrio succinogenes

News item 1/News item 2

Journal Papers:
Luo J, Sun X, Cormack BP, Boeke JD. 2018. Karyotype engineering by chromosome fusion leads to reproductive isolation in yeast. Nature 560:392–396.
Shao Y, Lu N, Wu Z, Cai C, Wang S, Zhang L-L, Zhou F, Xiao S, Liu L, Zeng X, Zheng H, Yang C, Zhao Z, Zhao G, Zhou J-Q, Xue X, Qin Z. 2018. Creating a functional single-chromosome yeast. Nature 560:331–335.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bringing a fungus that makes zombie flies into the lab makes a good model for studying microbial mind-control!

Thanks to Dr. Carolyn Elya for her contribution!

Download Episode (12.1 MB, 13.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Dipteran brevidensovirus 2

News item

Videos of fly fungus infection progression

Journal Papers:
Elya C, Lok TC, Spencer QE, McCausland H, Martinez CC, Eisen M. 2018. Robust manipulation of the behavior of Drosophila melanogaster by a fungal pathogen in the laboratory. eLife 7:e34414.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteriophages with defenses against bacterial CRISPR defenses have to work together to succeed!

Thanks to Drs. Edze Westra and Stineke van Houte for their contributions, and to Calvin Cornell for suggesting this story!

Download Episode (9.6 MB, 10.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Lactobacillus casei subsp. alactosus

News item 1/News item 2

Journal Papers:
Borges AL, Zhang JY, Rollins MF, Osuna BA, Wiedenheft B, Bondy-Denomy J. 2018. Bacteriophage Cooperation Suppresses CRISPR-Cas3 and Cas9 Immunity. Cell 174:917-925.e10.

Landsberger M, Gandon S, Meaden S, Rollie C, Chevallereau A, Chabas H, Buckling A, Westra ER, Houte S van. 2018. Anti-CRISPR Phages Cooperate to Overcome CRISPR-Cas Immunity. Cell 174:908-916.e12.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Some bacteria produce DNA-targeting toxins, which provokes a similar retaliation from other strains. Sometimes this hurts the provoker, but sometimes it is very helpful to them!

Thanks to Dr. Despoina Mavridou for her contribution!

Download Episode (7.9 MB, 8.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Mycobacterium virus Athena

News item

Journal Paper:
Gonzalez D, Sabnis A, Foster KR, Mavridou DAI. 2018. Costs and benefits of provocation in bacterial warfare. Proc Natl Acad Sci 115:7593–7598.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Roundworms and not-too-irritating bacteria quickly evolve a beneficial relationship when under threat from other bacterial pathogens!

Download Episode (7.5 MB, 8.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Siegesbeckia yellow vein betasatellite

News item

Journal Paper:
Rafaluk‐Mohr C, Ashby B, Dahan DA, King KC. 2018. Mutual fitness benefits arise during coevolution in a nematode-defensive microbe model. Evol Lett 2:246–256.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: A new giant virus infecting marine algae brings its own genes related to fermentation, generating energy in the absence of oxygen!

Thanks to Drs. Chris Schvarcz and Grieg Steward for their contributions!

Download Episode (14 MB, 15.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Borrelia anserina

News item

Journal Paper:
Schvarcz CR, Steward GF. 2018. A giant virus infecting green algae encodes key fermentation genes. Virology 518:423–433.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Combining cells with light-absorbing nanomaterials can help tumor-targeting bacteria produce more anticancer compound!

Download Episode (10.4 MB, 11.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Maruca vitrata nucleopolyhedrovirus

Here's a paper I found that actually shows carbon dot nanomaterials enhancing bacterial nitrogen fixation

Journal Paper:
Zheng D-W, Chen Y, Li Z-H, Xu L, Li C-X, Li B, Fan J-X, Cheng S-X, Zhang X-Z. 2018. Optically-controlled bacterial metabolite for cancer therapy. Nat Commun 9:1680.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Engineering yeast to control their metabolism using light and dark for the production of advanced biofuels and chemicals!

Download Episode (16.1 MB, 17.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Equine arteritis virus

News item

Journal Paper:
Zhao EM, Zhang Y, Mehl J, Park H, Lalwani MA, Toettcher JE, Avalos JL. 2018. Optogenetic regulation of engineered cellular metabolism for microbial chemical production. Nature 555:683–687.

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: The bacterial immune system, CRISPR-Cas, can enhance gene transfer via transduction (phages carrying bacteria DNA) despite preventing it via conjugation!

Download Episode (14.9 MB, 16.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Human polyomavirus 8

Journal Paper:
Watson BNJ, Staals RHJ, Fineran PC. 2018. CRISPR-Cas-Mediated Phage Resistance Enhances Horizontal Gene Transfer by Transduction. mBio 9:e02406-17.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Some bacteria that can cause pneumonia can prevent other bacteria from doing the same!

Download Episode (9.6 MB, 10.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Bell pepper mottle virus

Journal Paper:
Reddinger RM, Luke-Marshall NR, Sauberan SL, Hakansson AP, Campagnari AA. 2018. Streptococcus pneumoniae Modulates Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm Dispersion and the Transition from Colonization to Invasive Disease. mBio 9:e02089-17.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: A harmless strain of bacteria on the skin produces a compound that can prevent tumors from forming!

Download Episode (9.2 MB, 10 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Hamiltonella virus APSE1

News item

Journal Paper:
Nakatsuji T, Chen TH, Butcher AM, Trzoss LL, Nam S-J, Shirakawa KT, Zhou W, Oh J, Otto M, Fenical W, Gallo RL. 2018. A commensal strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis protects against skin neoplasia. Sci Adv 4:eaao4502.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: New giant virus has genes for a surprisingly complete system of protein synthesis!

Download Episode (10.1 MB, 11.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Phocid alphaherpesvirus 1

Video of tupanvirus intracellular factory

Journal Paper:
Abrahão J, Silva L, Silva LS, Khalil JYB, Rodrigues R, Arantes T, Assis F, Boratto P, Andrade M, Kroon EG, Ribeiro B, Bergier I, Seligmann H, Ghigo E, Colson P, Levasseur A, Kroemer G, Raoult D, La Scola B. 2018. Tailed giant Tupanvirus possesses the most complete translational apparatus of the known virosphere. Nat Commun 9:749.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: A version of the microbial enzyme that fixes nitrogen can also convert carbon dioxide to methane!

Download Episode (11.8 MB, 12.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Human mastadenovirus D

Journal Paper:
Zheng Y, Harris DF, Yu Z, Fu Y, Poudel S, Ledbetter RN, Fixen KR, Yang Z-Y, Boyd ES, Lidstrom ME, Seefeldt LC, Harwood CS. 2018. A pathway for biological methane production using bacterial iron-only nitrogenase. Nat Microbiol 3:281–286.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria that contain tiny magnets can generate an electric current!

Download Episode (6.8 MB, 7.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Mamastrovirus 2

Journal Paper:
Smit B.A., Van Zyl E., Joubert J.J., Meyer W., Prévéral S., Lefèvre C.T., Venter S.N. 2018. Magnetotactic bacteria used to generate electricity based on Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction. Lett Appl Microbiol 66:362–367.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Giant viruses produce DNA-packing proteins that seem to have branched off from eukaryotes far back in evolutionary history!

Download Episode (6 MB, 6.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Caulobacter maris

News item

Journal Paper:
Erives AJ. 2017. Phylogenetic analysis of the core histone doublet and DNA topo II genes of Marseilleviridae: evidence of proto-eukaryotic provenance. Epigenetics & Chromatin 10:55.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Adding adapters to anti-cancer virus helps it avoid destruction by the body so it can target the tumors!

Thanks to Dr. Andreas Plückthun for his contribution!

Download Episode (7.8 MB, 8.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Tomato leaf curl Vietnam virus

News item

Journal Paper:
Schmid M, Ernst P, Honegger A, Suomalainen M, Zimmermann M, Braun L, Stauffer S, Thom C, Dreier B, Eibauer M, Kipar A, Vogel V, Greber UF, Medalia O, Plückthun A. 2018. Adenoviral vector with shield and adapter increases tumor specificity and escapes liver and immune control. Nat Commun 9:450.

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Very small ocean algae consume bacterial prey of a similar size to themselves by engulfing them only partially!

Download Episode (8.9 MB, 9.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Bradyrhizobium japonicum

Journal Paper:
Kamennaya NA, Kennaway G, Fuchs BM, Zubkov MV. 2018. “Pomacytosis”—Semi-extracellular phagocytosis of cyanobacteria by the smallest marine algae. PLOS Biol 16:e2003502.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Protein bags of gas in bacteria could help make ultrasound imaging more versatile!

Download Episode (7.6 MB, 8.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Cronobacter virus Esp2949-1

News item

Journal Paper:
Bourdeau RW, Lee-Gosselin A, Lakshmanan A, Farhadi A, Kumar SR, Nety SP, Shapiro MG. 2018. Acoustic reporter genes for noninvasive imaging of microorganisms in mammalian hosts. Nature 553:86–90.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Phages may be passing through the barriers in our body all the time!

Thanks to Dr. Jeremy Barr for his contribution!

Download Episode (13.2 MB, 14.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Rhodobacter virus RcCronus

Journal Paper:
Nguyen S, Baker K, Padman BS, Patwa R, Dunstan RA, Weston TA, Schlosser K, Bailey B, Lithgow T, Lazarou M, Luque A, Rohwer F, Blumberg RS, Barr JJ. 2017. Bacteriophage Transcytosis Provides a Mechanism To Cross Epithelial Cell Layers. mBio 8:e01874-17.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Very radiation-resistant bacteria can protect other, less-resistant microbes from some of the effects of chronic radiation!

Download Episode (9.7 MB, 10.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Paramecium bursaria Chlorella virus CA4A

News item

Journal Paper:
Shuryak I, Matrosova VY, Gaidamakova EK, Tkavc R, Grichenko O, Klimenkova P, Volpe RP, Daly MJ. 2017. Microbial cells can cooperate to resist high-level chronic ionizing radiation. PLOS ONE 12:e0189261.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Some bacteria can defend themselves from bacterial predators by producing cyanide!

Thanks to Dr. Robert Mitchell for his contribution!

Download Episode (7.7 MB, 8.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Dyoepsilonpapillomavirus 1

News item

Journal Paper:
Mun W, Kwon H, Im H, Choi SY, Monnappa AK, Mitchell RJ. 2017. Cyanide Production by Chromobacterium piscinae Shields It from Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus HD100 Predation. mBio 8:e01370-17.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: A virus designed to target cancer could also help eliminate hidden HIV infections!

Thanks to Nischal Ranganath for his contribution!

Download Episode (8.7 MB, 9.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces pluricolorescens

News item

Journal Paper:
Ranganath N, Sandstrom TS, Schinkel B, C S, Côté SC, Angel JB. 2018. The Oncolytic Virus MG1 Targets and Eliminates Cells Latently Infected With HIV-1: Implications for an HIV Cure. J Infect Dis 217:721–730.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Some bacteria living around plants can become pathogenic just by gaining a few genes!

Download Episode (9.4 MB, 10.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Alternanthera yellow vein betasatellite

News item

Journal Paper:
Savory EA, Fuller SL, Weisberg AJ, Thomas WJ, Gordon MI, Stevens DM, Creason AL, Belcher MS, Serdani M, Wiseman MS, Grünwald NJ, Putnam ML, Chang JH. 2017. Evolutionary transitions between beneficial and phytopathogenic Rhodococcus challenge disease management. eLife 6:e30925.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Fecal microbiota transplants work just as well when taken in pill form as when delivered through a tube!

Download Episode (10.5 MB, 11.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Halobacterium halobium

News item

Journal Paper:
Kao D, Roach B, Silva M, Beck P, Rioux K, Kaplan GG, Chang H-J, Coward S, Goodman KJ, Xu H, Madsen K, Mason A, Wong GK-S, Jovel J, Patterson J, Louie T. 2017. Effect of Oral Capsule- vs Colonoscopy-Delivered Fecal Microbiota Transplantation on Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection: A Randomized Clinical Trial. J Am Med Assoc 318:1985–1993.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Gut microbe transplants from wild mice protect lab mice from disease!

Download Episode (9.8 MB, 10.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Cabassou virus

News item

Journal Paper:
Rosshart SP, Vassallo BG, Angeletti D, Hutchinson DS, Morgan AP, Takeda K, Hickman HD, McCulloch JA, Badger JH, Ajami NJ, Trinchieri G, Pardo-Manuel de Villena F, Yewdell JW, Rehermann B. 2017. Wild Mouse Gut Microbiota Promotes Host Fitness and Improves Disease Resistance. Cell 171:1015-1028.e13.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: A simplified bacterial community in mouse guts doesn't have much community structure, relative to other body areas!

Download Episode (8.8 MB, 9.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Rhodomicrobium vannielii

News item

Journal Paper:
Welch JLM, Hasegawa Y, McNulty NP, Gordon JI, Borisy GG. 2017. Spatial organization of a model 15-member human gut microbiota established in gnotobiotic mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci 114:E9105–E9114.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Phage therapy can work very well when combined with an effective immune response from the host!

Download Episode (12.9 MB, 14.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Gammapapillomavirus 8

News item about "nightmare bacteria"

Journal Paper:
Roach DR, Leung CY, Henry M, Morello E, Singh D, Di Santo JP, Weitz JS, Debarbieux L. 2017. Synergy between the Host Immune System and Bacteriophage Is Essential for Successful Phage Therapy against an Acute Respiratory Pathogen. Cell Host Microbe 22:38-47.e4.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Paraprobiotics, or killed probiotic bacteria, are studied for health effects, but results and study design are questionable!

Download Episode (11.5 MB, 12.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Phlox virus S

Journal Paper:
Nishida K, Sawada D, Kawai T, Kuwano Y, Fujiwara S, Rokutan K. 2017. Para-psychobiotic Lactobacillus gasseri CP2305 ameliorates stress-related symptoms and sleep quality. J Appl Microbiol 123:1561–1570.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Figuring out the best way to study the spread of a fungus that kills an invasive tree-eating caterpillar pest!

Download Episode (8.2 MB, 8.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Pasteurella aerogenes

News item

Journal Paper:
Bittner TD, Hajek AE, Liebhold AM, Thistle H. 2017. Modification of a Pollen Trap Design To Capture Airborne Conidia of Entomophaga maimaiga and Detection of Conidia by Quantitative PCR. Appl Environ Microbiol 83:e00724-17.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Certain transposons, genetic elements that move around the genome on their own, have co-opted the bacterial immune system, CRISPR, to use for jumping to new hosts!

Thanks to Dr. Joseph Peters for his contribution!

Download Episode (10.7 MB, 11.75 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces yokosukanensis

Journal Paper:
Peters JE, Makarova KS, Shmakov S, Koonin EV. 2017. Recruitment of CRISPR-Cas systems by Tn7-like transposons. Proc Natl Acad Sci 114:E7358–E7366.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Unlike most animals, caterpillars don't seem to have a resident gut microbe to help them in various ways!

Thanks to Tobin Hammer for his contribution!

Download Episode (14 MB, 15.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Borrelia graingeri

News item

Journal Paper:
Hammer TJ, Janzen DH, Hallwachs W, Jaffe SP, Fierer N. 2017. Caterpillars lack a resident gut microbiome. Proc Natl Acad Sci 114:9641–9646.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: How social bacteria societies function: by sharing enzyme packages with each other that can contain toxins that are deadly for rivals but not for friends!

Thanks to Chris Vasallo for his contribution!

Download Episode (12.4 MB, 13.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Propionibacterium virus PAD20

News item

Journal Paper:
Vassallo CN, Cao P, Conklin A, Finkelstein H, Hayes CS, Wall D. 2017. Infectious polymorphic toxins delivered by outer membrane exchange discriminate kin in myxobacteria. eLife 6:e29397.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: A plasmid discovered in Antarctic archaea can create virus-like particles, membrane vesicles, and transfer itself to new hosts!

Thanks to Rick Cavicchioli for his contribution.

Download Episode (17.7 MB, 19.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Hypomicrogaster canadensis bracovirus

News item

Journal Paper:
Erdmann S, Tschitschko B, Zhong L, Raftery MJ, Cavicchioli R. 2017. A plasmid from an Antarctic haloarchaeon uses specialized membrane vesicles to disseminate and infect plasmid-free cells. Nat Microbiol 2:1446.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: New type of secretion system discovered that bacteria use to stab amoeba predators to escape their digestion!

Download Episode (7.8 MB, 8.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Avastrovirus 1

News item

Journal Paper:
Böck D, Medeiros JM, Tsao H-F, Penz T, Weiss GL, Aistleitner K, Horn M, Pilhofer M. 2017. In situ architecture, function, and evolution of a contractile injection system. Science 357:713–717.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Phages bound to magnetic nanoparticles can be guided and pulled toward their target, penetrating biofilms to kill harmful microbes!

Download Episode (9.6 MB, 10.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Veillonella alcalescens

News item

Journal Paper:
Li L-L, Yu P, Wang X, Yu S-S, Mathieu J, Yu H-Q, Alvarez PJJ. 2017. Enhanced biofilm penetration for microbial control by polyvalent phages conjugated with magnetic colloidal nanoparticle clusters (CNCs). Environ Sci Nano 4:1817–1826.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Gut microbes in mice break down plant foods and produce molecules that stimulate the immune system to resist influenza!

Thanks to Drs. Ashley Steed and Thaddeus Stappenbeck for their contributions!

Download Episode (9 MB, 9.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Bougainvillea chlorotic vein banding virus

News item

Journal Paper:
Steed AL, Christophi GP, Kaiko GE, Sun L, Goodwin VM, Jain U, Esaulova E, Artyomov MN, Morales DJ, Holtzman MJ, Boon ACM, Lenschow DJ, Stappenbeck TS. 2017. The microbial metabolite desaminotyrosine protects from influenza through type I interferon. Science 357:498–502.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Learning about endosymbionts by comparing bacteria living inside eukaryotes to their free-living cousins!

Thanks to Dr. Vittorio Boscaro for his contribution!

Download Episode (9.7 MB, 10.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Ancalochloris perfilievii

Journal Paper:
Boscaro V, Kolisko M, Felletti M, Vannini C, Lynn DH, Keeling PJ. 2017. Parallel genome reduction in symbionts descended from closely related free-living bacteria. Nat Ecol Evol 1:1160.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Figuring out how mushrooms launch their spores out using a trick of water surface tension!

Download Episode (6.7 MB, 7.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Carrot torradovirus 1

News item

Video of artificial "spore" launching

Journal Paper:
Liu F, Chavez RL, Patek SN, Pringle A, Feng JJ, Chen C-H. 2017. Asymmetric drop coalescence launches fungal ballistospores with directionality. J R Soc Interface 14:20170083.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Hot spring archaea prefer to use elements that give them less energy even when more energetic options are available!

Download Episode (8.1 MB, 8.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Vitreoscilla beggiatoides

News item

Journal Paper:
Amenabar MJ, Shock EL, Roden EE, Peters JW, Boyd ES. 2017. Microbial substrate preference dictated by energy demand rather than supply. Nat Geosci 10:577–581.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: I talk with Dr. Walter Sandoval-Espinola, a researcher from Paraguay, now a postdoc at Harvard, about his discovery that biofuel-producing bacteria Clostridium beijerinckii can also transform CO2 and carbon monoxide into biofuels!

Download Episode (37 MB, 40.4 minutes)

Show notes:
News item en español

Find Walter on Twitter or LinkedIn

Journal Paper:
Sandoval-Espinola WJ, Chinn MS, Thon MR, Bruno-Bárcena JM. 2017. Evidence of mixotrophic carbon-capture by n-butanol-producer Clostridium beijerinckii. Sci Rep 7:12759.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

Happy New Year! This episode: Fungal endophytes transferred from healthy adult plant leaf litter help baby cacao plants resist disease!

Thanks to Dr. Natalie Christian for her contribution!

Download Episode (10.3 MB, 11.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Lactobacillus virus Lb338-1

News item
Hear a CBC interview with Dr. Christian about this research

Journal Paper:
Christian N, Herre EA, Mejia LC, Clay K. 2017. Exposure to the leaf litter microbiome of healthy adults protects seedlings from pathogen damage. Proc R Soc B 284:20170641.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria with various gene knockouts help roundworms live longer and with less disease!

Download Episode (9.9 MB, 10.75 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Han B, Sivaramakrishnan P, Lin C-CJ, Neve IAA, He J, Tay LWR, Sowa JN, Sizovs A, Du G, Wang J, Herman C, Wang MC. 2017. Microbial Genetic Composition Tunes Host Longevity. Cell 169:1249–1262.e13.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Fungi modified to produce spider and scorpion toxins kill malaria-transmitting mosquitoes extra fast!

Thanks to Brian Lovett for his contribution.

Download Episode (7.8 MB, 8.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Microbispora parva

News item

Journal Paper:
Bilgo E, Lovett B, Fang W, Bende N, King GF, Diabate A, Leger RJS. 2017. Improved efficacy of an arthropod toxin expressing fungus against insecticide-resistant malaria-vector mosquitoes. Sci Rep 7:3433.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Filament network-forming organisms like fungi can transfer nutrients and moisture to bacteria in harsher conditions!

Download Episode (10.4 MB, 11.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Desulfuromonas acetoxidans

News item

Journal Paper:
Worrich A, Stryhanyuk H, Musat N, König S, Banitz T, Centler F, Frank K, Thullner M, Harms H, Richnow H-H, Miltner A, Kästner M, Wick LY. 2017. Mycelium-mediated transfer of water and nutrients stimulates bacterial activity in dry and oligotrophic environments. Nat Commun 8:ncomms15472.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria that prey on other bacteria could help keep corals healthy! Thanks to Rory Welsh for his contribution.

Download Episode (12.8 MB, 14 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Latino mammarenavirus

Journal Paper:
Welsh RM, Rosales SM, Zaneveld JR, Payet JP, McMinds R, Hubbs SL, Thurber RLV. 2017. Alien vs. predator: bacterial challenge alters coral microbiomes unless controlled by Halobacteriovorax predators. PeerJ 5:e3315.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Studying how Wolbachia bacteria spread through a mosquito population helps efforts to use them to prevent the spread of Dengue! Thanks to Tom Schmidt for his contribution.

Download Episode (11.3 MB, 12.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Heterosigma akashiwo virus 01

News item

Journal Paper:
Schmidt TL, Barton NH, Rašić G, Turley AP, Montgomery BL, Iturbe-Ormaetxe I, Cook PE, Ryan PA, Ritchie SA, Hoffmann AA, O’Neill SL, Turelli M. 2017. Local introduction and heterogeneous spatial spread of dengue-suppressing Wolbachia through an urban population of Aedes aegypti. PLOS Biol 15:e2001894.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Scientists study how fungi make interesting peptides using large proteins instead of ribosomes.

Download Episode (8.7 MB, 9.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Nerine virus X

News item

Journal Paper:
Yu D, Xu F, Zhang S, Zhan J. 2017. Decoding and reprogramming fungal iterative nonribosomal peptide synthetases. Nat Commun 8:ncomms15349.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: In mice genetically modified to have Alzheimer's-like disease, giving probiotics reduced their degeneration!

Download Episode (11.8 MB, 13 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: SARS coronavirus

Journal Paper:
Bonfili L, Cecarini V, Berardi S, Scarpona S, Suchodolski JS, Nasulti C, Fiorini D, Boarelli MC, Rossi G, Eleuteri AM. 2017. Microbiota modulation counteracts Alzheimer's disease progression influencing neuronal proteolysis and gut hormone plasma levels. Sci Rep 7:2426.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria affect fruit fly behavior by reducing their need and craving for protein-rich food!

Thanks to Dr. Carlos Ribeiro for his contribution!

Download Episode (14.7 MB, 16.1 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Ribeiro lab website - two fully-funded postdoc opportunities available

Journal Paper:
Leitão-Gonçalves R, Carvalho-Santos Z, Francisco AP, Fioreze GT, Anjos M, Baltazar C, Elias AP, Itskov PM, Piper MDW, Ribeiro C. 2017. Commensal bacteria and essential amino acids control food choice behavior and reproduction. PLOS Biol 15:e2000862.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria could help treat corrosion to preserve ancient iron artifacts!

Thanks to Drs. Pilar Junier and Edith Joseph for their contributions!

Download Episode (13.4 MB, 14.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper:
Comensoli L, Maillard J, Albini M, Sandoz F, Junier P, Joseph E. 2017. Use of Bacteria To Stabilize Archaeological Iron. Appl Environ Microbiol 83:e03478-16.

Other interesting stories:

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria that produce antibiotic molecule can also use it for communication between cells!

Download Episode (10 MB, 11 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Rosellinia necatrix victorivirus 1

Journal Paper:
Beyersmann PG, Tomasch J, Son K, Stocker R, Göker M, Wagner-Döbler I, Simon M, Brinkhoff T. 2017. Dual function of tropodithietic acid as antibiotic and signaling molecule in global gene regulation of the probiotic bacterium Phaeobacter inhibens. Sci Rep 7:730.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Separate groups of bacteria can each thrive better when they take turns growing instead of competing!

Thanks to Jintao Liu and Rosa Martinez-Corral for their contributions to this episode!

Download Episode (14.2 MB, 15.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Palyam virus

News item

Journal Paper:
Liu J, Martinez-Corral R, Prindle A, Lee DD, Larkin J, Gabalda-Sagarra M, Garcia-Ojalvo J, Süel GM. 2017. Coupling between distant biofilms and emergence of nutrient time-sharing. Science 356:638–642.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Newly discovered giant viruses almost build their own replication machinery instead of using their host's!

Download Episode (11.2 MB, 12.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Terasakiella pusilla

News item

Journal Paper:
Schulz F, Yutin N, Ivanova NN, Ortega DR, Lee TK, Vierheilig J, Daims H, Horn M, Wagner M, Jensen GJ, Kyrpides NC, Koonin EV, Woyke T. 2017. Giant viruses with an expanded complement of translation system components. Science 356:82–85.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Fungi living in plants could protect them from ants that cut up their leaves to feed their own fungal gardens!

Download Episode (7.5 MB, 8.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Escherichia virus RB3

Journal Paper:
Rocha SL, Evans HC, Jorge VL, Cardoso LAO, Pereira FST, Rocha FB, Barreto RW, Hart AG, Elliot SL. 2017. Recognition of endophytic Trichoderma species by leaf-cutting ants and their potential in a Trojan-horse management strategy. R Soc Open Sci 4:160628.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Eukaryotic ocean microbes have surprisingly diverse and complex ballistic weapons!

Download Episode (8.2 MB, 9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Mycoplasma arginini

Cool videos of microbial weapons firing

Journal Paper:
Gavelis GS, Wakeman KC, Tillmann U, Ripken C, Mitarai S, Herranz M, Özbek S, Holstein T, Keeling PJ, Leander BS. 2017. Microbial arms race: Ballistic “nematocysts” in dinoflagellates represent a new extreme in organelle complexity. Sci Adv 3:e1602552.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: A stable community of only 7 bacteria around corn roots take on similar functions to the much more diverse soil community!

Download Episode (12.5 MB, 13.75 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Corynebacterium insidiosum

Journal Paper:
Niu B, Paulson JN, Zheng X, Kolter R. 2017. Simplified and representative bacterial community of maize roots. Proc Natl Acad Sci 114:E2450–E2459.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Microbes from obese mice seemed helpful in protecting other mice somewhat from an unhealthy lifestyle.

Download Episode (8.5 MB, 9.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces thermoviolaceus

News item

Journal Paper:
Nicolas S, Blasco‐Baque V, Fournel A, Gilleron J, Klopp P, Waget A, Ceppo F, Marlin A, Padmanabhan R, Iacovoni JS, Tercé F, Cani PD, Tanti J-F, Burcelin R, Knauf C, Cormont M, Serino M. 2017. Transfer of dysbiotic gut microbiota has beneficial effects on host liver metabolism. Mol Syst Biol 13:921.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Tardigrades have an interesting way of surviving complete drying out: by producing proteins lacking a stable structure!

Download Episode (11.8 MB, 13 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Chandipura vesiculovirus

News item

Journal Paper:
Boothby TC, Tapia H, Brozena AH, Piszkiewicz S, Smith AE, Giovannini I, Rebecchi L, Pielak GJ, Koshland D, Goldstein B. 2017. Tardigrades Use Intrinsically Disordered Proteins to Survive Desiccation. Mol Cell 65:975–984.e5.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Viruses infecting cyanobacteria can produce proteins that actually help their host capture light better!

Download Episode (6.6 MB, 7.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Pseudomonas asplenii

News item

Journal Paper:
Gasper R, Schwach J, Hartmann J, Holtkamp A, Wiethaus J, Riedel N, Hofmann E, Frankenberg-Dinkel N. 2017. Distinct Features of Cyanophage-encoded T-type Phycobiliprotein Lyase ΦCpeT: The Role of Auxiliary Metabolic Genes. J Biol Chem 292:3089–3098.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Roundworms in soil can carry with them bacteria they eat to grow new food, like farmers!

Download Episode (11.1 MB, 12.15 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Equid alphaherpesvirus 1

News item

Journal Paper:
Thutupalli S, Uppaluri S, Constable GWA, Levin SA, Stone HA, Tarnita CE, Brangwynne CP. 2017. Farming and public goods production in Caenorhabditis elegans populations. Proc Natl Acad Sci 114:2289–2294.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Even organisms as simple as viruses can communicate with each other!

Download Episode (12.7 MB, 13.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Sweet potato virus C

Commentary (paywall)
Great talk about bacterial communication by Dr. Bonnie Bassler

Journal Paper:
Erez Z, Steinberger-Levy I, Shamir M, Doron S, Stokar-Avihail A, Peleg Y, Melamed S, Leavitt A, Savidor A, Albeck S, Amitai G, Sorek R. 2017. Communication between viruses guides lysis–lysogeny decisions. Nature 541:488–493.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Ancient microbes built underwater structures that look like sunken, ancient cities!

Download Episode (10.6 MB, 11.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Actinomadura luteofluorescens

News item 1/News item 2

Journal Paper:
Andrews JE, Stamatakis MG, Marca-Bell A, Stewart C, Millar IL. 2016. Exhumed hydrocarbon-seep authigenic carbonates from Zakynthos Island (Greece): Concretions not archaeological remains. Marine and Petroleum Geology 76:16–25.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Filament-forming organisms help bacteria swim through soil and exchange genes with each other! Also, new feature: microbe of the episode!

Download Episode (13.2 MB, 14.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Azotobacter vinelandii

News item

Video of bacteria swimming along mycelium


Full statement from Tom Berthold

Journal Paper:
Berthold T, Centler F, Hübschmann T, Remer R, Thullner M, Harms H, Wick LY. 2016. Mycelia as a focal point for horizontal gene transfer among soil bacteria. Sci Rep 6:36390.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Using predatory bacteria to extract valuable bioplastics from other bacteria!

Download Episode (6.3 MB, 6.9 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Martínez V, Herencias C, Jurkevitch E, Prieto MA. 2016. Engineering a predatory bacterium as a proficient killer agent for intracellular bio-products recovery: The case of the polyhydroxyalkanoates. Sci Rep 6:24381.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Gut microbes can even affect formation/remodeling of bones!

Download Episode (8.5 MB, 9.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper:
Yan J, Herzog JW, Tsang K, Brennan CA, Bower MA, Garrett WS, Sartor BR, Aliprantis AO, Charles JF. 2016. Gut microbiota induce IGF-1 and promote bone formation and growth. Proc Natl Acad Sci 113:E7554–E7563.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Beneficial microbes defend roundworms against a pathogen and pressure it to evolve to cause less disease!

Download Episode (7.7 MB, 8.4 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Ford SA, Kao D, Williams D, King KC. 2016. Microbe-mediated host defence drives the evolution of reduced pathogen virulence. Nat Commun 7:13430.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Tiny crustaceans eat paramecia, allowing viruses to infect algae inside them!

Download Episode (9.1 MB, 9.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Follow-up to episode 259: mass-producing worm spit healing protein

News item

Journal Paper:
DeLong JP, Al-Ameeli Z, Duncan G, Etten JLV, Dunigan DD. 2016. Predators catalyze an increase in chloroviruses by foraging on the symbiotic hosts of zoochlorellae. Proc Natl Acad Sci 113:13780–13784.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Fungus-eating flies transfer viruses that help make fungi less harmful to plants!

Download Episode (7.8 MB, 8.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Another example of viruses doing weird things in this fungus

Journal Paper:
Liu S, Xie J, Cheng J, Li B, Chen T, Fu Y, Li G, Wang M, Jin H, Wan H, Jiang D. 2016. Fungal DNA virus infects a mycophagous insect and utilizes it as a transmission vector. Proc Natl Acad Sci 113:12803–12808.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Probiotic bacteria prevent deadly infections in mice with serious burns!

Download Episode (6.3 MB, 6.92 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper:
Argenta A, Satish L, Gallo P, Liu F, Kathju S. 2016. Local Application of Probiotic Bacteria Prophylaxes against Sepsis and Death Resulting from Burn Wound Infection. PLOS ONE 11:e0165294.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria in finger millet roots create special killing traps for damaging fungi!

Download Episode (7.5 MB, 8.25 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Mousa WK, Shearer C, Limay-Rios V, Ettinger CL, Eisen JA, Raizada MN. 2016. Root-hair endophyte stacking in finger millet creates a physicochemical barrier to trap the fungal pathogen Fusarium graminearum. Nat Microbiol 1:16167.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Tiny super-resistant animals, tardigrades, make proteins that can directly shield DNA from radiation!

Download Episode (7.3 MB, 8 minutes)

Show notes:
News item 1/News item 2

Journal Paper:
Hashimoto T, Horikawa DD, Saito Y, Kuwahara H, Kozuka-Hata H, Shin-I T, Minakuchi Y, Ohishi K, Motoyama A, Aizu T, Enomoto A, Kondo K, Tanaka S, Hara Y, Koshikawa S, Sagara H, Miura T, Yokobori S, Miyagawa K, Suzuki Y, Kubo T, Oyama M, Kohara Y, Fujiyama A, Arakawa K, Katayama T, Toyoda A, Kunieda T. 2016. Extremotolerant tardigrade genome and improved radiotolerance of human cultured cells by tardigrade-unique protein. Nat Commun 7:12808.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Cyanide-producing bacteria help plants grow, not by harming pathogens but by freeing up nutrients!

Download Episode (8.5 MB, 9.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper:
Rijavec T, Lapanje A. 2016. Hydrogen Cyanide in the Rhizosphere: Not Suppressing Plant Pathogens, but Rather Regulating Availability of Phosphate. Front Microbiol 7

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

I'm back! This episode: Lichens, long known to be a partnership between fungi and algae, now discovered to have an important third member!

Download Episode (8.1 MB, 8.9 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Spribille T, Tuovinen V, Resl P, Vanderpool D, Wolinski H, Aime MC, Schneider K, Stabentheiner E, Toome-Heller M, Thor G, Mayrhofer H, Johannesson H, McCutcheon JP. 2016. Basidiomycete yeasts in the cortex of ascomycete macrolichens. Science 353:488–492.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: An interview with Dr. Nathan Cude, team leader at Novozymes BioAg Alliance, working on finding and bringing to market soil microbes that can help crops grow!

Download Episode (14.1 MB, 15.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Novozymes
BioAg Alliance
Nathan Cude on Twitter and LinkedIn

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Great apes' specific gut microbe communities have been with us for millions of years!

Download Episode (9.1 MB, 10 minutes)

Show notes:
News item 1/News item 2

Journal Paper:
Moeller AH, Caro-Quintero A, Mjungu D, Georgiev AV, Lonsdorf EV, Muller MN, Pusey AE, Peeters M, Hahn BH, Ochman H. 2016. Cospeciation of gut microbiota with hominids. Science 353:380–382.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Some bacterial species use multiple strategies within a single population to deal with environmental challenges!

Download Episode (8.9 MB, 9.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper:
Lawarée E, Gillet S, Louis G, Tilquin F, Blastier SL, Cambier P, Matroule J-Y. 2016. Caulobacter crescentus intrinsic dimorphism provides a prompt bimodal response to copper stress. Nat Microbiol 1:16098.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Polymer-coated bacteria make really good vaccines!

Download Episode (9.2 MB, 10 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Li Y, Beitelshees M, Fang L, Hill A, Ahmadi MK, Chen M, Davidson BA, Knight P, Smith RJ, Andreadis ST, Hakansson AP, Jones CH, Pfeifer BA. 2016. In situ pneumococcal vaccine production and delivery through a hybrid biological-biomaterial vector. Sci Adv 2:e1600264.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria in mosquito cells can block transmission of Zika virus!

Download Episode (8.1 MB, 8.9 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Aliota MT, Peinado SA, Velez ID, Osorio JE. 2016. The wMel strain of Wolbachia Reduces Transmission of Zika virus by Aedes aegypti. Sci Rep 6:28792.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Algae growing in Arctic snow make red pigments that heat up their surroundings!

Download Episode (6.8 MB, 7.5 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Lutz S, Anesio AM, Raiswell R, Edwards A, Newton RJ, Gill F, Benning LG. 2016. The biogeography of red snow microbiomes and their role in melting arctic glaciers. Nat Commun 7:11968.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Modifying mice's microbial communities increased mouse survival before a transplantation was rejected by their immune system!

Download Episode (9.6 MB, 10.5 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Lei YM, Chen L, Wang Y, Stefka AT, Molinero LL, Theriault B, Aquino-Michaels K, Sivan AS, Nagler CR, Gajewski TF, Chong AS, Bartman C, Alegre M-L. 2016. The composition of the microbiota modulates allograft rejection. J Clin Invest 126:2736–2744.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Viruses infecting photosynthetic bacteria could transfer immunity to other viruses between their hosts!

Download Episode (6.8 MB, 7.4 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Chénard C, Wirth JF, Suttle CA. 2016. Viruses Infecting a Freshwater Filamentous Cyanobacterium (Nostoc sp.) Encode a Functional CRISPR Array and a Proteobacterial DNA Polymerase B. mBio 7:e00667-16.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Vaccinating mice with heat-killed soil bacteria reduced their stressed behavior and inflammation!

Download Episode (9.8 MB, 10.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper:
Reber SO, Siebler PH, Donner NC, Morton JT, Smith DG, Kopelman JM, Lowe KR, Wheeler KJ, Fox JH, Hassell JE, Greenwood BN, Jansch C, Lechner A, Schmidt D, Uschold-Schmidt N, Füchsl AM, Langgartner D, Walker FR, Hale MW, Perez GL, Treuren WV, González A, Halweg-Edwards AL, Fleshner M, Raison CL, Rook GA, Peddada SD, Knight R, Lowry CA. 2016. Immunization with a heat-killed preparation of the environmental bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae promotes stress resilience in mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci 113:E3130–E3139.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Microbes with complementary abilities help each other grow and produce useful stuff from the air!

Download Episode (12 MB, 13.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper:
Smith MJ, Francis MB. 2016. A designed A. vinelandii-S. elongatus coculture for chemical photoproduction from air, water, phosphate and trace metals. ACS Synth Biol 5:955–961.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Microbes in tight spaces grow so much they can build up pressure and burst out!

Download Episode (5.5 MB, 6 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Video: cells expanding walls of chamber
Video: cells squished together
Video: cells bursting out of chamber

Journal Paper:
Delarue M, Hartung J, Schreck C, Gniewek P, Hu L, Herminghaus S, Hallatschek O. 2016. Self-driven jamming in growing microbial populations. Nat Phys 12:762–766.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Fungi control their cell's growth and division with a protein from a virus, unlike all other kinds of eukaryote!

Download Episode (8.9 MB, 9.75 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Medina EM, Turner JJ, Gordân R, Skotheim JM, Buchler NE. 2016. Punctuated evolution and transitional hybrid network in an ancestral cell cycle of fungi. eLife 5:e09492.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Some fungi change from making plants sick to being helpful to plants! How do plants react to them?

Download Episode (8.1 MB, 8.8 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Hacquard S, Kracher B, Hiruma K, Münch PC, Garrido-Oter R, Thon MR, Weimann A, Damm U, Dallery J-F, Hainaut M, Henrissat B, Lespinet O, Sacristán S, Themaat EVL van, Kemen E, McHardy AC, Schulze-Lefert P, O’Connell RJ. 2016. Survival trade-offs in plant roots during colonization by closely related beneficial and pathogenic fungi. Nat Commun 7:11362.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria with their own magnetic compass can also clean up and recover toxic but valuable elements!

Download Episode (6.1 MB, 6.7 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Tanaka M, Knowles W, Brown R, Hondow N, Arakaki A, Baldwin S, Staniland S, Matsunaga T. 2016. Biomagnetic Recovery and Bioaccumulation of Selenium Granules in Magnetotactic Bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol 82:3886–3891.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Individual slime molds show the ability to learn about their environment!

Download Episode (8.8 MB, 9.6 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Boisseau RP, Vogel D, Dussutour A. 2016. Habituation in non-neural organisms: evidence from slime moulds. Proc R Soc B 283:20160446.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Scientists build a battery out of microbes and electrodes that can store and release electricity repeatedly!

Download Episode (7.5 MB, 8.1 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Interesting articles about anaerobic digesters
Journal Paper:
Molenaar SD, Mol AR, Sleutels THJA, ter Heijne A, Buisman CJN. 2016. Microbial Rechargeable Battery: Energy Storage and Recovery through Acetate. Environ Sci Technol Lett 3:144–149.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria in the gills of fish help break down their metabolic wastes before they reach toxic levels!

Download Episode (9 MB, 9.8 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
van Kessel MAHJ, Mesman RJ, Arshad A, Metz JR, Spanings FAT, van Dalen SCM, van Niftrik L, Flik G, Wendelaar Bonga SE, Jetten MSM, Klaren PHM, Op den Camp HJM. 2016. Branchial nitrogen cycle symbionts can remove ammonia in fish gills. Environ Microbiol Rep 8:590–594.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Newly discovered bacteria can break down especially long-lived type of plastic!

Download Episode (6.4 MB, 7 minutes)

Show notes:
News item 1/News item 2 (loginwall)

Journal Paper:
Yoshida S, Hiraga K, Takehana T, Taniguchi I, Yamaji H, Maeda Y, Toyohara K, Miyamoto K, Kimura Y, Oda K. 2016. A bacterium that degrades and assimilates poly(ethylene terephthalate). Science 351:1196–1199.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Worm parasites infecting brine shrimp help them survive better in arsenic-polluted environments!

Download Episode (7.9 MB, 8.6 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Sánchez MI, Pons I, Martínez-Haro M, Taggart MA, Lenormand T, Green AJ. 2016. When Parasites Are Good for Health: Cestode Parasitism Increases Resistance to Arsenic in Brine Shrimps. PLOS Pathog 12:e1005459.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Slime molds have special cells that capture and kill bacteria using traps made of DNA!

Download Episode (11.2 MB, 12.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Follow-up study from ep 255 group related to this study

Link to Audiommunity episode about Neutrophil Extracellular Traps

Journal Paper:
Zhang X, Zhuchenko O, Kuspa A, Soldati T. 2016. Social amoebae trap and kill bacteria by casting DNA nets. Nat Commun 7:10938.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Insect gut microbes can be engineered to act as birth control, population control, or disease control for bugs!

Download Episode (13.3 MB, 14.5 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

This Week in Parasitism episode about Trypanosoma
Unedited statement about this paper from Professor Dyson

Journal Paper:
Whitten MMA, Facey PD, Sol RD, Fernández-Martínez LT, Evans MC, Mitchell JJ, Bodger OG, Dyson PJ. 2016. Symbiont-mediated RNA interference in insects. Proc R Soc B 283:20160042.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Killing pathogens by attaching magnetotactic bacteria to them and then raising the heat with magnetic fields!

Download Episode (10.6 MB, 11.6 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Chen C, Chen L, Yi Y, Chen C, Wu L-F, Song T. 2016. Killing of Staphylococcus aureus via Magnetic Hyperthermia Mediated by Magnetotactic Bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol 82:2219–2226.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Spherical cyanobacterium Synechocystis acts like a tiny eyeball in sensing light, allowing cells to move closer to light sources!

Download Episode (9.7 MB, 10.6 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Video 1: Synechocystis cells moving toward light sources
Video 2: Synechocystis cells avoiding point of bright light on surface

Journal Paper:
Schuergers N, Lenn T, Kampmann R, Meissner MV, Esteves T, Temerinac-Ott M, Korvink JG, Lowe AR, Mullineaux CW, Wilde A. 2016. Cyanobacteria use micro-optics to sense light direction. eLife 5:e12620.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Cyanobacteria in biocrusts produce pigments that heat their surroundings up to 10 degrees hotter!

Download Episode (7 MB, 7.6 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Couradeau E, Karaoz U, Lim HC, Nunes da Rocha U, Northen T, Brodie E, Garcia-Pichel F. 2016. Bacteria increase arid-land soil surface temperature through the production of sunscreens. Nat Commun 7:10373.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Adding exotic elements to convert spore-forming bacteria into light-capturing cyborgs that convert carbon dioxide into useful chemicals!

Download Episode (9.7 MB, 10.5 minutes)

Show notes:
News item 1/News item 2

Journal Paper:
Sakimoto KK, Wong AB, Yang P. 2016. Self-photosensitization of nonphotosynthetic bacteria for solar-to-chemical production. Science 351:74–77.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Predatory bacteria have a particular protein that protects them from their own prey-damaging enzymes!

Download Episode (7.3 MB, 7.9 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Lambert C, Cadby IT, Till R, Bui NK, Lerner TR, Hughes WS, Lee DJ, Alderwick LJ, Vollmer W, Sockett RE, Lovering AL. 2015. Ankyrin-mediated self-protection during cell invasion by the bacterial predator Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. Nat Commun 6:8884.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Proteins from gut bacteria seems to affect hunger and satiety in their (rodent) hosts!

Download Episode (7.7 MB, 8.3 minutes)

Show notes:
News item 1/News item 2

Journal Paper:
Breton J, Tennoune N, Lucas N, Francois M, Legrand R, Jacquemot J, Goichon A, Guérin C, Peltier J, Pestel-Caron M, Chan P, Vaudry D, do Rego J-C, Liénard F, Pénicaud L, Fioramonti X, Ebenezer IS, Hökfelt T, Déchelotte P, Fetissov SO. 2016. Gut Commensal E. coli Proteins Activate Host Satiety Pathways following Nutrient-Induced Bacterial Growth. Cell Metab 23:324–334.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Microscopic parasites of fish and worms actually came from jellyfish-like animals, after losing most of their genome!

Download Episode (7.7 MB, 8.3 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Chang ES, Neuhof M, Rubinstein ND, Diamant A, Philippe H, Huchon D, Cartwright P. 2015. Genomic insights into the evolutionary origin of Myxozoa within Cnidaria. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112:14912–14917.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Clostridium bacteria that infect potatoes can both kill competitors and tolerate oxygen, thanks to the pink compounds they produce!

Download Episode (12.4 MB, 13.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper:
Shabuer G, Ishida K, Pidot SJ, Roth M, Dahse H-M, Hertweck C. 2015. Plant pathogenic anaerobic bacteria use aromatic polyketides to access aerobic territory. Science 350:670–674.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Viruses domesticated by parasitoid wasps have transferred wasp genes to caterpillar victims, allowing them to survive deadly infections from other viruses! This means that Monarch butterflies are effectively naturally Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).

Download Episode (13.8 MB, 15 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Gasmi L, Boulain H, Gauthier J, Hua-Van A, Musset K, Jakubowska AK, Aury J-M, Volkoff A-N, Huguet E, Herrero S, Drezen J-M. 2015. Recurrent Domestication by Lepidoptera of Genes from Their Parasites Mediated by Bracoviruses. PLOS Genet 11:e1005470.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria in hydrothermal vents that feed their host tubeworms evacuate when their hosts perish!

Download Episode (9 MB, 9.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper:
Klose J, Polz MF, Wagner M, Schimak MP, Gollner S, Bright M. 2015. Endosymbionts escape dead hydrothermal vent tubeworms to enrich the free-living population. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112:11300–11305.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: I converse with Dr. Michael Smout about a liver fluke parasite could help heal chronic wounds more quickly!

Download Episode (13.4 MB, 14.6 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Smout MJ, Sotillo J, Laha T, Papatpremsiri A, Rinaldi G, Pimenta RN, Chan LY, Johnson MS, Turnbull L, Whitchurch CB, Giacomin PR, Moran CS, Golledge J, Daly N, Sripa B, Mulvenna JP, Brindley PJ, Loukas A. 2015. Carcinogenic Parasite Secretes Growth Factor That Accelerates Wound Healing and Potentially Promotes Neoplasia. PLOS Pathog 11:e1005209.

Michael Smout's research portfolio
Winning presentation about this research on FameLab
The Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacterial toxins could be modified to deliver life-saving proteins into neurons!

Download Episode (11.1 MB, 12.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper:
Chen C, Przedpelski A, Tepp WH, Pellett S, Johnson EA, Barbieri JT. 2015. Heat-Labile Enterotoxin IIa, a Platform To Deliver Heterologous Proteins into Neurons. mBio 6:e00734-15.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria have repeatedly captured and used the tails of phages to fight each other!

Download Episode (9 MB, 9.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper:
Hockett KL, Renner T, Baltrus DA. 2015. Independent Co-Option of a Tailed Bacteriophage into a Killing Complex in Pseudomonas. mBio 6:e00452-15.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

Thumbnail image: Cultures of Pseudomonas syringae van Hall taken from bean halo blight colonies. By: Howard F. Schwartz, The Bugwood Network at the University of Georgia and the USDA Forest Service.

This episode: Viruses can cause host cells to inhibit other viruses!

Download Episode (8 MB, 8.75 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper:
Chiba S, Suzuki N. 2015. Highly activated RNA silencing via strong induction of dicer by one virus can interfere with the replication of an unrelated virus. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112:E4911–E4918.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Some bacteria seem to cause slime mold amoebas to carry around other bacteria for food!

Download Episode (12.4 MB, 13.5 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
DiSalvo S, Haselkorn TS, Bashir U, Jimenez D, Brock DA, Queller DC, Strassmann JE. 2015. Burkholderia bacteria infectiously induce the proto-farming symbiosis of Dictyostelium amoebae and food bacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112:E5029–E5037.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Engineering bacteria to convert cellulose directly into useful biofuels and chemicals can be tricky!

Download Episode (13.9 MB, 15.2 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Lin PP, Mi L, Morioka AH, Yoshino KM, Konishi S, Xu SC, Papanek BA, Riley LA, Guss AM, Liao JC. 2015. Consolidated bioprocessing of cellulose to isobutanol using Clostridium thermocellum. Metab Eng 31:44–52.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: In mice and fruit flies, Lactobacillus species induce gut cells to protect themselves from reactive oxygen compounds!

Download Episode (8.2 MB, 8.9 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Jones, R. M. et al. Lactobacilli Modulate Epithelial Cytoprotection through the Nrf2 Pathway. Cell Reports 12, 1217–1225 (2015).

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: In mice, high-fat diets affect their gut microbes, which in turn disrupts their circadian cycles and metabolic health!

Download Episode (8.6 MB, 9.35 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper
Other related news item/paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Gut bacteria seem to help ants with very restrictive diets flourish more!

Download Episode (10.6 MB, 11.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Gut bacteria make it possible for coffee berry borer beetles to live entirely on caffeine-rich food!

Download Episode (6.9 MB, 7.5 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacterial spores can survive atmospheric entry on an artificial meteorite!

Download Episode (10.7 MB, 11.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

Thumbnail image: A colony of thermophiles in the outflow of Mickey Hot Springs, Oregon, the water temperature is approximately 60 °C (140 °F). By: Wiki user: Amateria1121

This episode: Bacteria that swarm around in groups carry other bacteria with them that can be helpful for degrading toxins!

Download Episode (14.2 MB, 15.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper/Explanatory video

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Feeding mice high-fiber diets reduces their risk of allergic airway disease, even across generations!

Download Episode (12.1 MB, 13.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Amoebas in soil gang up on and eat much larger roundworms!

Download Episode (10.5 MB, 11.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper
Video of amoebas eating worm
Discussion on This Week in Microbiology

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria around rice roots help protect plants from arsenic toxicity!

Download Episode (10.1 MB, 11 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: A conversation with Audiommunity hosts about a rabbit virus that may help treat cancer while preventing the treatment from killing the patient!

Download Episode (39.2 MB, 42.9 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper
Audiommunity podcast
Unedited version of this episode

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: A conversation with Cat Adams about how fungi help plants clean up toxic zinc nanoparticles in soil!

Download Episode (14.6 MB, 16 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper
About Cat Adams: Blog/Twitter
The Unconscious Bias Project (Twitter)

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Features of the microbial communities of people's bodies could be used to identify individuals!

Download Episode (11.3 MB, 12.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Commentary/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

I'm back!

This episode: Gut microbes enhance the effectiveness of cancer therapies!

Download Episode (10.7 MB, 11.7 minutes)

Show notes:
News item 1/News item 2/Journal Paper 1/Journal paper 2

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

Reminder: this is the last episode for at least a few weeks while I am wrapping up my PhD. See you again when I'm done!

This episode: Marine worms and their microbial symbionts can live on the toxic gas carbon monoxide!

Download Episode (11.1 MB, 12.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

Just to let you know, I'm trying to finish up my dissertation and graduate in the next few months, so after episode 240, I will be putting the show on hold, at least for a few weeks (but not forever). I'll be sure to bring back some good content after I am done feeling so crunched for time though.

This episode: Gut bacteria kill their drug-resistant pathogenic cousins of the same species via pheromone signaling!

Download Episode 10.4 MB, 11.4 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Of genes that are similar in yeast and humans, almost half of the yeast versions are functional when replaced with the human version!

Download Episode (7.9 MB, 8.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Vampirovibrio chlorellavorus, a predatory bacterium that feeds on Chlorella algae, is currently lost from science, but its genome has been sequenced and interpreted anyway, to reveal a surprising family history!

Download Episode (9.4 MB, 10.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Gut microbes' activity in decaying brine shrimp help promote fossilization of their soft parts!

Download Episode (8.1 MB, 8.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Paywalled news item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: I talk with Dr. Rob Dunn about his team's research into determining where a dust sample comes from based on the microbes present in it!

Download Episode (12.6 MB, 13.7 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper
The Dunn lab
Books

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Learning things about people's identity and movements from microbial communities on their phones and shoes!

Download Episode (5.4 MB, 5.8 minutes)

Show notes:
News item 1/News item 2/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Mice in less sanitary conditions have more diverse gut communities and perhaps less allergy!

Download Episode (8.15 MB, 8.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria can convert soluble uranium to an insoluble form, and distinguish between different isotopes!

Download Episode (8.2 MB, 8.9 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Engineering Salmonella strains that kill cancer cells but leave healthy ones alone!

Download Episode (7.9 MB, 8.5 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria in and around plants can help fertilizer them, even in non-legume plants!

Download Episode (11.1 MB, 12.15 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria in mouse guts control the production of serotonin, an important neurotransmitter!

Download Episode (10.4 MB, 11.3 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria isolated from bats' skin inhibits the growth of bat-killing fungus!

Download Episode (7 MB, 7.6 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Colonizing ourselves with friendly bacteria could drive out more risky ones, such as those that cause meningitis!

Download Episode (9.8 MB, 10.6 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Archaea living in the deep ocean (and their viruses) have clever ways to maintain diversity and adaptability!

Download Episode (10.3 MB, 11.25 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Don't have immunity? Create your own! Scientists engineer cells to destroy their HIV infections using the bacterial immune system!

Download Episode (14.5 MB, 15.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Scientists discover what seem to be ultra-small bacteria, possibly smaller than the theoretical minimum size!

Download Episode (12.3 MB, 13.4 minutes)

Show notes:
News item 1/News items 2/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Sampling microbial populations in sewage from cities could reveal differences in the human populations, such as prevalence of obesity!

Download Episode (9.1 MB, 9.9 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria engineered to produce liquid fuel can eat carbon dioxide and hydrogen from solar-powered water-splitting!

Download Episode (11.2 MB, 12.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: More distantly related bacteria can help each other grow (and produce lots of hydrogen) by temporarily fusing with each other!

Download Episode (12.7 MB, 13.9 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper/Close contact image

Note: I said C. acetobutylicum was used in WWII to make acetone for bombs, but it was actually World War I, used to make cordite, a replacement for gunpowder.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Bacteria can connect to each other with tiny tubes to exchange nutrients!

Download Episode (10 MB, 10.9 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/News item 2/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Fungi can act like sticky nets to help harvest algae for biofuels!

Download Episode (8.3 MB, 9 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Parasitoid wasps spread helpful bacterial symbionts between their whitefly prey!

Download Episode (10.9 MB, 11.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Fruit flies have microbes that help them get more nutrition out of low-quality food!

Download Episode (8.4 MB, 9.1 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

Here's my summary of ASM2015, an exciting weekend full of science.

Download Episode (11.5 MB, 12.5 minutes)

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!

This episode: Kate Franz and Matt Woodruff from Audiommunity join me to talk about a clinical trial of peanut immunotherapy with probiotics to treat peanut allergies!

Download Episode (29 MB, 31.75 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper
Audiommunity - episode about food allergies

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Deep-sea thermophile bacteriophage is pirated by another scurvy genetic element!!

Download Episode (10.2 MB, 11.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook

This episode: Cable bacteria and algae set up electric grid in sediments!

Download Episode (6 MB, 6.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Image: Green algae o rocks at ShihTiPing (giant stone steps) coastal area in Taiwan. By: Wikipedia:User:Fred Hsu on en.wikipedia  

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter or Facebook