BacterioFiles 288 - Caulobacter's Copper Coping Capabilities

Caulobacter crescentus

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:

Bacteria help starved, developing rats get more nutrition from the same food (paper)

Creating gut microbe communities to resist pathogens (paper)

Predatory bacteria can treat infections in zebrafish larvae

Nitrogen is an important element for feeding the gut community

Bacterial enzymes artificially evolved to make carbon-silicon compounds

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

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

BacterioFiles 287 - Producing Potent Pathogen Prophylaxes

Streptococcus pneumoniae
Credit: CDC/M.S. Mitchell

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:

Fiber stops microbes from eating protective gut mucus

Potential new antibiotics predicted and discovered in human microbes

Bacteria communicate to work together against viruses

Root bacteria help protect plants against arsenic and infections

Fungus helps plants defend themselves against roundworms

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

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

BacterioFiles 286 - Prokaryote Prevents Pregnancy Pathogen

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:

Modified bacteria change behavior as temperature changes

Ants' bacteria produce antifungal compounds (paper)

Gut microbes may be related to macular degeneration

E. coli could be used to make vaccines (paper)

Using bacteria to produce testosterone (paper)

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

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

BacterioFiles 285 - Sultry Snow Cell Sun Screen

Red snow
By Will Beback, CC BY-SA 3.0

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:

Bacterial species benefit from losing genes they don't need

Soil fungi help plants grow better in salty conditions (paper)

Bacterial predators actually help treat infection in rats

Some bacteria produce methane while harvesting phosphorus (paper)

Probiotics could help treat skin problems (paper)

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

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

BacterioFiles 284 - Remedies Reduce Recipient Rejection

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:

CRISPR system can be used to record info in cells (paper)

The history of beer yeasts

Bacteria could help treat citrus tree disease (paper)

Some viruses bud off from Archaea like in eukaryotes (paper)

Infant microbe communities different with vs. without eczema (paper)

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

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

BacterioFiles 283 - Phages Furnish Photosynthetic Fortifications

Nostoc
By YAMAMAYA, CC BY-SA 3.0

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:

Salt-loving bacteria could maintain concrete structures in the ocean (paper)

Ancient viral infection changed how mammals develop placentas and muscle

Bees and flowers trade microbes

Fungi have specific genes that help trees with drought

Probiotic can affect Candida yeast's virulence (paper)

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

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

BacterioFiles 282 - Mycobacteria Make Mice Mellow

Elevated plus-maze
By Bd008 - Own work
CC BY-SA 3.0

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:

Art with glowing bacteria

Making good bacterial tumor killers (paper)

It's worth considering plants' microbes in addition to their genes (review)

Virus affects how bees are attracted to plants

Finding new biofuels algae in wastewater (paper)

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

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