425 - Paired Predators Prevent Pathogen Persistence

Haloed plaques, Bdellovibrio,
and bacteriophage
By Hobley et al. 2020,
J Bacteriol 202(6), CC BY 4.0

This episode: A bacteriophage and bacterial predator can wipe out a population of bacteria that could develop resistance to each individually!

Thanks to Laura Hobley, J. Kimberley Summers, and Jan-Ulrich Kreft for their contributions!

Also a note: I will be taking a short break from podcasts while I rebuild my collection of awesome microbiology stories to talk about.


Download Episode (6.8 MB, 9.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Blackbird associated gemycircularvirus 1

Takeaways

Bacteriophages and bacterial predators that prey on other bacteria are both very good at killing large numbers of bacteria. But bacteria as a whole are also very good at surviving being killed in large numbers; there are almost always a few that have the right genes to overcome whatever is doing the killing. This is what makes the threat of antibiotic resistance so scary, and why phage therapy is both very promising and very limited.

In this study, however, a combination of phages and the bacterial predator Bdellovibrio bacteriovorans is able to completely eradicate a population of bacteria, or at least reduce their numbers below a detectable level. A mathematical model based on these data predicts that despite the two killers working independently, they can effectively eliminate all the individual prey organisms that would otherwise be able to resist killing by either one alone.

Journal Paper:
Hobley L, Summers JK, Till R, Milner DS, Atterbury RJ, Stroud A, Capeness MJ, Gray S, Leidenroth A, Lambert C, Connerton I, Twycross J, Baker M, Tyson J, Kreft J-U, Sockett RE. 2020. Dual Predation by Bacteriophage and Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus Can Eradicate Escherichia coli Prey in Situations where Single Predation Cannot. J Bacteriol 202.

Other interesting stories:

• Combination of beneficial bacteria could substitute for fertilizer somewhat (paper)
• Gut bacteria turn broccoli molecules into potentially healthy compounds

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

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424 - Stranger Cells Switch Stable States

Lactobacillus bacteria

Pelzer et al. 2012, PLOS One e49965

This episode: Certain bacteria can greatly affect the makeup of a microbial community, even if they quickly disappear!

Thanks to Dr. Daniel Amor for his contribution!


Download Episode (6.3 MB, 9.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Gadgets Gully virus

News item

Takeaways

Microbial communities show more than just competition between species. Stable assemblies of many species can exist for long periods in places like the human gut, despite constant minor shifts in conditions. More major shifts, or invaders like pathogens coming in and taking over, can cause big disruptions in the community and lead to long-term gut dysbiosis, which can be, interestingly, also a stable community. 

This study shows that invaders into a community, even if they don't persist for very long, can cause a shift from one stable state to another, by favoring the dominance of a species or group that was not dominant before, for example by changing the pH of the environment. So competition is always present. This could be helpful to know for efforts to intentionally shift community structures.

Journal Paper:
Amor DR, Ratzke C, Gore J. 2020. Transient invaders can induce shifts between alternative stable states of microbial communities. Sci Adv 6:eaay8676.

Other interesting stories:

• Symbiotic bacteria engineered to protect honeybees from pathogens
• Mouse diet differences in fiber show much more effect on microbiome than differences in fat (paper)

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

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423 - Roundworm Riders Route Rootworm Resistance

Western corn rootworm adult

By Siga, CC BY-SA 4.0

This episode: Helping insect-killing bacterial symbionts of nematodes evolve resistance to chemicals that major corn pests use to defend themselves!


Download Episode (10.0 MB, 14.0 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Listeria virus PSA

Takeaways

Interactions between species and even kingdoms in nature can be complex and multilayered. This means that when we want to intervene to cause a particular outcome, there may be multiple points at which we can act, but the consequences may be hard to predict.

In this study, action was taken to counteract the damage the Western corn rootworm causes to corn crops, using a tiny roundworm that attacks the insect pest with deadly bacteria. The rootworm defends itself by accumulating plant-produced toxins that inhibit the bacteria. Directed evolution was used to make the bacteria more resistant, and this led to more effective killing of the pest.

Journal Paper:
Machado RAR, Thönen L, Arce CCM, Theepan V, Prada F, Wüthrich D, Robert CAM, Vogiatzaki E, Shi Y-M, Schaeren OP, Notter M, Bruggmann R, Hapfelmeier S, Bode HB, Erb M. 2020. Engineering bacterial symbionts of nematodes improves their biocontrol potential to counter the western corn rootworm. 5. Nat Biotechnol 38:600–608.

Other interesting stories:

• Altering pathogenic bacteria to reduce disease with genome-integrating phage (paper)
• Bacteria could inhibit fungus that causes deadly disease of bananas (paper)

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

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422 - Frigid Phototrophs Fuel Fords

Algae growing in 20-liter bioreactor

Kim et. al, 2020. CC BY 4.0

This episode: Producing both biodiesel and bioethanol fuels from cold-loving Arctic algae!


Download Episode (8.7 MB, 12.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Royal Farm virus

Takeaways

Renewable fuels such as biofuels can allow existing infrastructure and vehicles to continue to operate in a more sustainable manner, which could reduce the cost and impact of switching to new/different systems of transportation like electricity. Economically competitive methods of producing biofuels are still being explored and developed.

In this study, Arctic algae are grown in cold temperatures using only light, carbon dioxide, and a few minerals, and then broken down to produce biodiesel and bioethanol, which can be used as fuel in many different internal combustion engines. The amounts produced are comparable to other algae-based systems being researched, and use of the cold-loving organisms could reduce the cost of production in colder latitudes and seasons.

Journal Paper:
Kim EJ, Kim S, Choi H-G, Han SJ. 2020. Co-production of biodiesel and bioethanol using psychrophilic microalga Chlamydomonas sp. KNM0029C isolated from Arctic sea ice. Biotechnol Biofuel 13:20.

Other interesting stories:

• Certain foods could activate or inhibit bacteriophages and modulate the gut microbiota
• Some antibiotic-producing bacterial colonies have specialized members that do all the antibiotic production

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

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421 - Nucleocapsids Navigate Nano Nuggets

Gold nanorods bound to phage
Used with permission

This episode: Using phages to target gold nanoparticles to infecting bacteria, then using light to heat the nanoparticles just enough to kill the bacteria!

Thanks to Huan Peng and Raymond Borg for contributing!


Download Episode (10.6 MB, 15.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Pantoea agglomerans

News item

Takeaways
Viruses that infect bacteria, bacteriophages, are often very good at overcoming bacterial defenses and killing them. This raises the possibility, and many times actuality, of using phages to treat bacterial infections that are no longer treatable with antibiotics. But bacteria can evolve resistances to viruses as well as drugs, and using multiplying, evolving entities as treatments in people raises questions about the safety and consistency of the treatment.

This study circumvents these questions by using phages for delivery and targeting of bacteria rather than the therapeutic agent itself. The actual treatment is done with tiny rods of gold, gold nanorods, bound to the phage surface. When a certain wavelength of light hits these nanorods, they vibrate enough to generate enough heat in their immediate surroundings to render nearby bacteria nonviable. Thus the infection is treated in a very localized, targeted way that doesn't leave any active bacteria or phages behind. The authors have plans to study this approach as a topical treatment of wounds.

Journal Paper:
Peng H, Borg RE, Dow LP, Pruitt BL, Chen IA. 2020. Controlled phage therapy by photothermal ablation of specific bacterial species using gold nanorods targeted by chimeric phages. Proc Natl Acad Sci 117:1951–1961.

Other interesting stories:

• Two bacteria growing together on agar make pretty patterns
• Marine bacteria kill and digest other bacteria (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 420 - Cell Societies Stay Stable

Bacteroides species

This episode: Simplified gut communities growing in bioreactors grow and metabolize reproducibly, with only moderate variations, even when individual members of the community are absent!


Download Episode (8.2 MB, 11.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Citrobacter virus Merlin

Takeaways
The community of microbes in our guts is highly complex, with thousands of species all interacting with each other, with our own cells, and with the contents of our diet. Each region of the gut has a different collection of microbes as well. Many questions remain to be answered about the functions and fluctuations of these communities. How can we study such a complex system? Which species, if any, are most important for its continued function?

In this study, a simplified community of only 14 species is grown repeatedly in bioreactors, and one species at a time is left out of the community to see what will change in its absence. This reveals effects different species have on the overall growth, carbon source consumption, and production of various metabolites relevant to gut health. Some microbes have large effects, but none of them appears to be crucial for the overall function and stability of the community.

Journal Paper:
Gutiérrez N, Garrido D. 2019. Species Deletions from Microbiome Consortia Reveal Key Metabolic Interactions between Gut Microbes. mSystems 4:e00185-19.

Other interesting stories:

• Some archaea can survive for a while trapped inside salt crystals (paper)
• Bacteria degrade BPA in soil (paper)

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

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BacterioFiles 419 - Marine Methane Microbe Multiplication

Anaerobic methanotrophs

BacterioFiles is back! This episode: Measuring how quickly marine methane-consuming microbes become active when new methane enters an area!


Download Episode (9.0 MB, 13.0 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Torque teno midi virus 6

Takeaways
Oceans and the organisms living in them have a large effect on the planet, in terms of climate and gases they absorb from or release into the atmosphere. They are a source of much of a potent greenhouse gas, methane, but microbes living in ocean sediments also consume large amounts of methane. These anaerobic methanotrophic archaea generate energy for themselves by transforming methane and sulfate into carbonate and sulfide.

In this study, however, methane-consuming microbes were only found active at sites of methane seepage. Even in sites where methane had previously been present, only few of these microbes were present and active. After enriching samples of these sediments for up to 8 months, still the only activity that was seen was from actively methane-consuming communities. So once dispersed, such communities seem slow to regenerate as the locations of methane seepage shift.

Journal Paper:
Klasek S, Torres ME, Bartlett DH, Tyler M, Hong W-L, Colwell F. 2020. Microbial communities from Arctic marine sediments respond slowly to methane addition during ex situ enrichments. Environ Microbiol 22:1829–1846.

Other interesting stories:

• Bird and bat microbiomes have some similarities
• Twins often share certain gut microbes, even if they've been living apart for decades

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.