BacterioFiles 359 - Prokaryotes Provoke Perpendicular Punishment

Strain resistant to toxin
quickly takes over colony
By Despoina Mavridou

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:

• Bacteria could help plants tolerate salt better
• Galapagos vampire finch has unusual gut microbes (paper)
• Using engineered luminescent phages for rapid detection of bacteria

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

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

Episode outline:

State Fair

Last interruption for a while: I was participating in the NC State Fair all weekend. It was fun and there were even microbe exhibits there! Though mostly ones encouraging hand-washing.

BacterioFiles 358 - elegans Endures Edifying Enterococcus

Caenorhabditis elegans
By Bob Goldstein, UNC Chapel Hill
Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

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:

• Phages can hide in bacterial spores and attack when the bacteria revive (paper)
• Probiotics seemed to increase risk in mice from gut parasite
• Studying the value of using probiotics before or after antibiotics
• More microbes than realized, even in gut, may be able to generate electricity
• Magnetotactic bacteria are really cool

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

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

Episode outline:

No episode this week

Family event this weekend, so I didn't have time to get an episode up. See you next week!

BacterioFiles 357 - Colossal Contagion Codes Catabolism

Tetraselmis alga
By: David Patterson and
Bob Andersen, CC BY-NC 3.0

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:

• Plant virus influences aphid nutrition and population growth
• Hosts can benefit from E. coli iron-gathering proteins
• Fog can sustain and transport microbes long distances
• Using bacteriophages to form useful nanostructures out of gold

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

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

Episode outline: