BacterioFiles 363 - Tiny Treasure Tunnels

Tunnels in garnet
By: Ivarsson et al. 2018,
PLoS ONE 13(8):e0200351
CC BY 4.0

This episode: Intricate networks of tunnels in garnet gemstones seem to have come from tunneling microorganisms!

Thanks to Magnus Ivarsson for his contribution!

Download Episode (5.4 MB, 5.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces griseosporeus

News item

Journal Papers:
Ivarsson M, Skogby H, Phichaikamjornwut B, Bengtson S, Siljeström S, Ounchanum P, Boonsoong A, Kruachanta M, Marone F, Belivanova V, Holmström S. 2018. Intricate tunnels in garnets from soils and river sediments in Thailand – Possible endolithic microborings. PLOS ONE 13:e0200351.

Other interesting stories:

• Swimming algae can move through bloodstream to deliver drugs
• Mosquito microbes engineered to inhibit spread of malaria (paper)
• A probiotic inhibits a pathogen by interfering with its signaling between cells
• Healthy microbiota seems important for mice recovering from heart attack

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:

BacterioFiles 362 - Combining Chromosomes

Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast

This episode: Combining all 16 of yeast's chromosomes into one or two only impairs their growth slightly in the lab, but it prevents them from successful mating with wild yeasts!

Download Episode (12.4 MB, 13.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Vibrio succinogenes

News item 1/News item 2

Journal Papers:
Luo J, Sun X, Cormack BP, Boeke JD. 2018. Karyotype engineering by chromosome fusion leads to reproductive isolation in yeast. Nature 560:392–396.
Shao Y, Lu N, Wu Z, Cai C, Wang S, Zhang L-L, Zhou F, Xiao S, Liu L, Zeng X, Zheng H, Yang C, Zhao Z, Zhao G, Zhou J-Q, Xue X, Qin Z. 2018. Creating a functional single-chromosome yeast. Nature 560:331–335.

Other interesting stories:

• Treating Salmonella infection with phages plus gut microbiota works better together (paper)
• Bioreactor fermentation strategy allows efficient vitamin K production

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:

BacterioFiles 361 - Figuring Fungus's Forcing Fly Functions

Fruit fly infected with fungus
By Elya et al 2018;7:e34414

This episode: Bringing a fungus that makes zombie flies into the lab makes a good model for studying microbial mind-control!

Thanks to Dr. Carolyn Elya for her contribution!
Download Episode (12.1 MB, 13.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Dipteran brevidensovirus 2

News item

Videos of fly fungus infection progression

Journal Papers:
Elya C, Lok TC, Spencer QE, McCausland H, Martinez CC, Eisen M. 2018. Robust manipulation of the behavior of Drosophila melanogaster by a fungal pathogen in the laboratory. eLife 7:e34414.

Other interesting stories:

• Bacteria from coal mining areas could help pollution-cleaning plants grow in those areas (paper)
• Bacteria in photosynthetic family found living deep inside rocks

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:

BacterioFiles 360 - Fellow Phages Fight Fortifications

Bacteriophage
By Rolf Lood, Matthias Mörgelin,
Anna Holmberg, Magnus Rasmussen
and Mattias Collin
BMC Microbiology 2008,
8:139 doi:10.1186/1471-2180-8-139
CC BY 2.5

This episode: Bacteriophages with defenses against bacterial CRISPR defenses have to work together to succeed!

Thanks to Drs. Edze Westra and Stineke van Houte for their contributions, and to Calvin Cornell for suggesting this story!
Download Episode (9.6 MB, 10.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Lactobacillus casei subsp. alactosus

News item 1/News item 2

Journal Papers:
Borges AL, Zhang JY, Rollins MF, Osuna BA, Wiedenheft B, Bondy-Denomy J. 2018. Bacteriophage Cooperation Suppresses CRISPR-Cas3 and Cas9 Immunity. Cell 174:917-925.e10.

Landsberger M, Gandon S, Meaden S, Rollie C, Chevallereau A, Chabas H, Buckling A, Westra ER, Houte S van. 2018. Anti-CRISPR Phages Cooperate to Overcome CRISPR-Cas Immunity. Cell 174:908-916.e12.

Other interesting stories:

• Aphids can see fluorescence from pathogenic bacteria to avoid them on leaves
• Fecal transplants from yourself before antibiotics could restore gut community after antibiotics
• Engineering E. coli to convert CO₂ and methanol into useful products (paper)
• Used panel of bioluminescent bacteria to test artificial sweetener toxicity

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:

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: