BacterioFiles 241 - Colon Colonizers Control Cancer Combat

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:

Microbiome an important link between diet and colon cancer

Viruses can be helpful more often than we realize

Fungus breaks down plant matter and makes jet fuel

Engineering E. coli for better exploration of other species' genetic potential

It's possible our food might be too clean

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

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This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles 240 - Water Worms Make (carbon) Monoxide Meals

This episode: Marine worms and their microbial symbionts can live on the toxic gas carbon monoxide!

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!


Download Episode (11.1 MB, 12.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Salt-loving extremophiles eat carbon monoxide at Mars-level concentrations (paper)

Better biotech processes by microbial cooperation (paper)

Different ways to engineer microbes to produce propane

Not all organisms share exactly the same genetic code

Queen bees have different microbes than other bees (paper)

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

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

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles 239 - Familial Pheromones Fight faecalis

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:

Bacterial compound could inhibit biofilms but not their builders

Microbial engineering could free us from petroleum products

Studying the immune regulation roles of mouse gut microbes (paper)

Finding useful cold- and warm-adapted algae by season (paper)

Powerful swimming microbe creates crystals of cells

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

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

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles 238 - Forcing Fungal Familiarization

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:

Turning algae from harmful blooms into useful products

Intercropping enriches microbes that help crop yields (paper)

Bacteria store energy in magnetic particles that other bacteria later take

Certain gut microbes are characteristic of traditional (non-urban) lifestyles (paper)

More study into how microbes make tasty foods

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

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

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles 237 - Proving Protist Predation Parentage

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:

Appetite-suppressing bacteria could treat obesity

Skin bacteria could save frogs from deadly fungus

Developing yeast that produce lots of biofuel lipids

Vineyard soil microbiome affects vine microbes (and thus, wine)

Microbes could make super-sensitive bioelectromechanical sensors

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

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

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles 236 - Film Formation Favors Fossilization

Brine shrimp
Credit: Xavier on Flicker

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:

Baboon friends have more closely related gut communities

Lichens are awesome

Plants depend on bacteria when producing defensive chemicals

Using bacterial communication signal to modify gut microbe communities

Deinococcus could be useful biotech species (review)

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

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

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles 235 - Dust DNA Detectives with Dr. Dunn

Rob Dunn, NC State University

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:

Certain gut bacteria could help animals feed on new foods (paper)

Potential for engineering our own microbiome

Bacteria could help clean up radioactivity at Fukushima

Bacteria could make better fruit fly traps (paper)

Acid-resistant bacterium could help with stomach infections (paper)

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

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

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.