BacterioFiles 296 - Predator Permits Pathogen Penetration

Cyclopoid copepod

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

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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:

Microbes are important for protecting bees

Ant bacteria produce potential new antibiotics

Old microbes discovered living in mine crystals

Skin bacteria could protect against pathogens

Author is writing poems in a bacterial genome so they survive the apocalypse (paywall)

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

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BacterioFiles 295 - Fly Ferries Fungus Feebleness

Lycoriella fly
By Kai Heller, CC BY 3.0

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

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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:

Iron-containing molecules can help various bacteria generate electricity

Exercise lifestyle can affect gut community (paper)

New discovery of plastic-degrading microbe enzymes

Controlling bacterial metabolism dynamically

Bacteria in bats could be good at fighting fungal pathogens (paper)

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

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BacterioFiles 294 - Bacteria Benefit Bad Burns

Lactobacillus plantarum colonies
Donald Breakwell et al. 2007. 

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

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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:

Bacteria can help cotton plants tolerate salt (paper)

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

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

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BacterioFiles 293 - Millet Microbe Makes Meshes

Finger millet

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

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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:

Animal study of phage cocktail to treat cholera

Soil microbes could help clean up arsenic contamination (paper)

Bacteria with nucleus-like structure even have nuclear pore-like structures

Using bacteria to find best enzymes for degrading lignin (paper)

Making microbial fuel cells with paper

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

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BacterioFiles 292 - Testing Tardigrade Tolerance Tricks

Tardigrade
By Bob Goldstein and Vicky Madden
CC BY-SA 3.0

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:

New sunscreen compounds could come from bacteria

Bacterial fingerprints don't last forever (paper)

Virus infecting bacteria makes structure like a nucleus (paper)

Microbes could produce useful, biological nanowires

Finding viruses to control fungal pathogens of plants

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

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BacterioFiles 291 - Pseudomonas Cyanide Supplies Seed Sustenance

Cyanide ion

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

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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:

Pooling samples from multiple donors could help fecal transplant effectiveness (paper)

Phage-resistant bacteria can become vulnerable by taking up sensitive genes

How mice are handled affects results of mouse gut microbe studies (paper)

Bacteria communicate with electrical signals

Shrubland plants and microbes always negotiating

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

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BacterioFiles 290 - Lichens' Little Lodgers

Lichens on rock near Las Vegas, NV

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:

Some protists like to eat archaea (paper)

Bee bacteria can break down harmful sugars in bee food (paper)

Testing how best to use mosquito bacteria to block virus transmission (paper)

Studying Inuit gut microbes

Temperature affects Wolbachia health in mosquitoes (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.