BacterioFiles 325 - Moisture Mobilizes Mycelium Multiples

Mushroom spore print

This episode: Figuring out how mushrooms launch their spores out using a trick of water surface tension!

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Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Carrot torradovirus 1

News item

Video of artificial "spore" launching

Journal Paper:
Liu F, Chavez RL, Patek SN, Pringle A, Feng JJ, Chen C-H. 2017. Asymmetric drop coalescence launches fungal ballistospores with directionality. J R Soc Interface 14:20170083.

Other interesting stories:

Bacteriophage also inhibits fungal pathogen (paper)

Virus infects both plant and fungus (paper)

Gut interactions between bacteria and salt - also this

Bacteria can transform toxic metals into less harmful forms (paper)

Microbes generating electricity from swine wastewater

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

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Episode outline:

BacterioFiles 324 - Prokaryote Prefers Poorer Power

Green Dragon Spring, Yellowstone
Credit: National Park Service

This episode: Hot spring archaea prefer to use elements that give them less energy even when more energetic options are available!

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Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Vitreoscilla beggiatoides

News item

Journal Paper:
Amenabar MJ, Shock EL, Roden EE, Peters JW, Boyd ES. 2017. Microbial substrate preference dictated by energy demand rather than supply. Nat Geosci 10:577–581.

Other interesting stories:

Developing good methods for using skin microbiome for forensics (paper)

Microbe discovered that consumes groundwater contaminant dioxane

Mucus-eating gut microbes can produce beneficial nutrients and vitamins (paper)

Making new beer and wine flavors with different yeast

Providing leaf microbiota to help endangered plants survive in wild

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

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Episode outline:

BacterioFiles 323 - Clostridium Capturing Carbon with Walter Sandoval

Walter Sandoval in lab

This episode: I talk with Dr. Walter Sandoval-Espinola, a researcher from Paraguay, now a postdoc at Harvard, about his discovery that biofuel-producing bacteria Clostridium beijerinckii can also transform CO₂ and carbon monoxide into biofuels!

Download Episode (37 MB, 40.4 minutes)

Show notes:
News item en español

Find Walter on Twitter or LinkedIn

Journal Paper:
Sandoval-Espinola WJ, Chinn MS, Thon MR, Bruno-Bárcena JM. 2017. Evidence of mixotrophic carbon-capture by n-butanol-producer Clostridium beijerinckii. Sci Rep 7:12759.

Other interesting stories:

Even microbes can help mix up lake water

Using drones to sample whale microbiome

Prebiotics could affect gut even without microbe involvement (paper)

Bacteria do better in changing environments when they cooperate

Newly discovered bacterial defense against phages (paper)

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

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BacterioFiles 322 - Parents' Partners Protect Plants

Cacao tree with fruit pods
By Luisovalles
Own work, CC BY 3.0

Happy New Year! This episode: Fungal endophytes transferred from healthy adult plant leaf litter help baby cacao plants resist disease!

Thanks to Dr. Natalie Christian for her contribution!

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Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Lactobacillus virus Lb338-1

News item
Hear a CBC interview with Dr. Christian about this research

Journal Paper:
Christian N, Herre EA, Mejia LC, Clay K. 2017. Exposure to the leaf litter microbiome of healthy adults protects seedlings from pathogen damage. Proc R Soc B 284:20170641.

Other interesting stories:

Using bacteria to clean up radioactive strontium from water (paper)

Ocean bacteria make themselves slippery instead of sticky to avoid predators (paper)

Which plants grow in tropics depends on how fungi interact with their seeds

Using an antibiotic-sensing protein to control antibiotic production in bacteria

Symbiotic fungi can help plants tolerate stresses better

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

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Episode outline:

BacterioFiles 321 - Escherichia Extends elegans Existence

Caenorhabditis elegans
By Bob Goldstein, UNC Chapel Hill
CC BY-SA 3.0

This episode: Bacteria with various gene knockouts help roundworms live longer and with less disease!

Download Episode (9.9 MB, 10.75 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Han B, Sivaramakrishnan P, Lin C-CJ, Neve IAA, He J, Tay LWR, Sowa JN, Sizovs A, Du G, Wang J, Herman C, Wang MC. 2017. Microbial Genetic Composition Tunes Host Longevity. Cell 169:1249–1262.e13.

Other interesting stories:

Useful reviews and guide to commercial probiotic selection at Reviews.com

Success of high-fiber diet depends on gut microbes

Engineering microbes to produce fluorine-containing polymers (like Teflon)

Using mosquito gut bacteria to prevent malaria spread

Bacteria and archaea in harsh places share genes often (paper)

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

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Episode outline:

BacterioFiles 320 - Fortified Fungi Fight Fevers

Anopheles gambiae

This episode: Fungi modified to produce spider and scorpion toxins kill malaria-transmitting mosquitoes extra fast!

Thanks to Brian Lovett for his contribution.

Download Episode (7.8 MB, 8.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Microbispora parva

News item

Journal Paper:
Bilgo E, Lovett B, Fang W, Bende N, King GF, Diabate A, Leger RJS. 2017. Improved efficacy of an arthropod toxin expressing fungus against insecticide-resistant malaria-vector mosquitoes. Sci Rep 7:3433.

Other interesting stories:

Virus-like protein helps bacteria eat fungi (paper)

Molecules from good bacteria help animals stay healthy for longer (paper)

Zika virus could help treat brain cancer

Probiotic bacterium helps prevent gluten-related gut problems in mice (paper)

Native vs. invader microbes help or prevent invasive marine plants invade

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

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Episode outline:

BacterioFiles 319 - Mycelial Moisture Magnanimity

By: Worrich et al. 2017, Nat Commun

CC-BY 4.0

This episode: Filament network-forming organisms like fungi can transfer nutrients and moisture to bacteria in harsher conditions!

Download Episode (10.4 MB, 11.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Desulfuromonas acetoxidans

News item

Journal Paper:
Worrich A, Stryhanyuk H, Musat N, König S, Banitz T, Centler F, Frank K, Thullner M, Harms H, Richnow H-H, Miltner A, Kästner M, Wick LY. 2017. Mycelium-mediated transfer of water and nutrients stimulates bacterial activity in dry and oligotrophic environments. Nat Commun 8:ncomms15472.

Other interesting stories:

Which gut fungi transfer from mothers to babies (paper)

Bacteria as catalyst substrate for biofuel cleaning

Different gut microbiota associated with Parkinson's disease

Engineering gut bacteria to talk to the body in helpful ways

Bacteria induce mating in another ocean microbe

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.