BacterioFiles 400 - Considering Consumables' Community Correlations

Fusobacterium

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

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Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Hepacivirus A

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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:

• Sea slug uses defensive toxins that bacteria make for algae it eats
• Good bacteria help bats survive deadly fungus

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

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BacterioFiles 399 - Conductor Creating Carbon Canvases

Scanning probe microscope
image of graphene
By U.S. Army Material Command
CC BY 2.0

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

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Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Brevibacterium frigoritolerans

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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:

• Frog skin gut bacteria correlate with resistance to deadly virus
• Skin microbiota could be transplanted to treat skin conditions (paper)

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles@gmail.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.

BacterioFiles 398 - Marathon Microbes Maximize Mileage

Veillonella parvula

From Gronow et al. 2009

Stand Genomic Sci 2(1): 57-65

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:

• Aphids hijacked viral gene to determine whether they grow wings
• Phage therapy could help treat green sea turtles

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles@gmail.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.