TWiM #57: Updating the human gut microbiome to degrade seaweed

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Created on Wednesday, 05 June 2013 16:12

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Elio Schaechter.

Vincent, Elio and Michael discuss fungi that use pheromones to trap nematodes, and how genes obtained from marine bacteria help gut bacteria degrade algal carbohydrates. 

Right click to download TWiM #57 (42.5 MB .mp3, 59 minutes).

Links for this episode:

• Nematode-trapping fungi sense pheromones (Curr Biol)
• Gut bacteria catabolize red seaweed glycans with genes from marine microbes (PNAS)
• Fecal transplants in the good old days (S Falkow)
• A safe hospital room of the future
• Letters read on TWiM 057 

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

TWiM #56: Live at ASM in Denver

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Created on Friday, 24 May 2013 16:43

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Elio Schaechter.

Guests: Andrew Camilli, Ferric Fang, Suzanne Fleiszig, and Michelle Swanson

Vincent, Elio and Michael recorded this episode before an audience at the 2013 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Denver, Colorado, where they spoke with Andrew, Ferric, Suzanne, and Michelle about their research on a phage system for evading innate immunity, retractions of research papers, bacterial infections of the eye, and cytoplasmic defenses against intracellular bacteria.

Right click to download TWiM #56 (73 MB .mp3, 102 minutes).

Links for this episode:

• A bacteriophage evades host immunity (Nature)
• Misconduct accounts for most retracted papers (PNAS)
• Males overrepresented in scientific misconduct (mBIO)
• Why does the cornea resist P. aeruginosa infection? (Am. J. Opthal.)
• Inflammosome components coordinate autophagy and pyroptosis (mBIO) 

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

TWiM #55: In the copper room

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Created on Wednesday, 24 April 2013 19:37

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Elio Schaechter.

Vincent, Elio and Michael discuss the finding that copper surfaces reduce microbial burden and hospital-acquired infections in the intensive care unit.

Right click to download TWiM #55 (58.5 MB .mp3, 85 minutes).

Links for this episode:

• Copper reduces microbial burden on hospital surfaces (J Clin Micr)
• Copper continuously limits bacterial on hospital bedrails (Inf Cont Hosp Epi)
• Copper reduces healthcare-associated infection in the ICU (Inf Cont Hosp Epi)
• Pathogens in the contaminated hospital environment (Inf Cont Hosp Epi)
• Resistance on the surface (TWiM #47)
• Letters read on TWiM 055 

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

TWiM #54: Dueling injectors and the microgenderome

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Created on Wednesday, 10 April 2013 18:21

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Elio Schaechter.

Vincent, Elio, and Michael review how sex-dependent differences in the mouse microbiome regulate type I diabetes, and counterattack among bacteria.

Right click to download TWiM #54 (53 MB .mp3, 72 minutes).

Links for this episode:

• Sex differences in microbiome drive autoimmunity (Science)
• Welcome to the microgenderome (Science)
• Tit for tat (Cell)
• Tit for tat (YouTube)
• Imaging type VI killing (Cell Rep)
• Structure and regulation of type VI system (Ann Rev Micro)
• Principal component analysis (YouTube)
• Principal component analysis part 2 (YouTube)
• Letters read on TWiM 054

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

TWiM #53: Live in Manchester (with video!)

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Created on Friday, 29 March 2013 17:44

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Laura Piddock, David Harper, Kalin Vetsigian, and Paul Williams.

Vincent, Laura, David, Kalin and Paul get together at the Society for General Microbiology meeting in Manchester, England to talk about next-generation approaches to antimicrobial therapy.

Right click to download TWiM #53 (44 MB .mp3, 61 minutes).

Links for this episode:

• What is antibiotic action? (YouTube)
• The crisis of no new antibiotics (Lancet)
• Tackling antibiotic resistance (Nat Rev Micro)
• Quorum sensing and social networking (J Roy Soc Interface)
• Streptomyces interaction networks in soil (PLoS Biol)
• What counters antibiotic resistance in nature? (Nat Chem Biol)
• Clinical trials and bacteriophage therapy (J Mol Gen Med)

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

TWiM #52: Clinical microbiology with Ellen Jo Baron

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Created on Wednesday, 13 March 2013 16:00

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Ellen Jo Baron.

Vincent and Michael meet up with Ellen Jo Baron to talk about working in a clinical microbiology laboratory.

Right click to download TWiM #52 (44 MB .mp3, 60 minutes).

Links for this episode:

• The excitement of clinical microbiology (STC)
• Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CDC)
• Carbapenemases - Problem in waiting? (Curr Op Micro)
• Ellen Jo Baron on Meet the Scientist #19

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

TWiM #51: Cave science with Hazel Barton

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Created on Wednesday, 27 February 2013 16:23

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Elio Schaechter, and Hazel Barton.

Vincent, Michael, and Elio meet up with Hazel Barton to talk about cave microbiology.

Right click to download TWiM #51 (38 MB .mp3, 79 minutes).

Links for this episode:

• Antibiotic resistance in a cave microbiome (PLoS One)
• Bacterial calcium carbonate precipitation in caves (Geomicro J)
• Journey into Amazing Caves (IMAX)
• In a cavern, in a canyon (STC)
• Ancient bacterial resistome (STC)
• Meet the Scientist #37 - Hazel Barton
• Photo of Hazel Barton in Black Chasm Cavern by Dave Bunnell

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

TWiM #50: These things aren’t even bacteria!

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Created on Wednesday, 30 January 2013 20:16

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Stanley Maloy.

Vincent, Michael, and Stanley review the scientific career of Carl Woese. 

Right click to download TWiM #50 (47 MB .mp3, 64 minutes).

Links for this episode:

• Solving the puzzle (MicrobeWorld Video)
• Classification of methanogens by 16S rRNA (PNAS)
• Ancient divergence among bacteria (J Mol Evol)
• Intrepreting the phylogenetic tree (PNAS)
• Phylogenetic structure of the prokaryotic domain (PNAS)
• My kind of biology (Ann Rev Micro)
• Tribute to Carl Woese (Tree of Life)
• A manifesto for microbial genomics (Curr Biol)
• Eisen analysis of ‘manifesto’ (Tree of Life)
• Most important paper in microbiology? (Tree of Life)
• Phylogenetic placement of Spirosomaceae (System. Appl. Microbiol)

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

TWiM #49: Grape-like clusters

Details

Created on Wednesday, 16 January 2013 18:06

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Elio Schaechter.

Vincent, Michael, and Elio discuss the HIV co-receptor CCR5 as a receptor for S. aureus leukotoxin ED, and the vineyard yeast microbiome.

Right click to download TWiM #49 (53 MB .mp3, 73 minutes).

Links for this episode:

• Transcript of this episode (Thanks, Frank!)
• CCR5 is leukotoxin ED receptor (Nature)
• A three-star pathogen (TWiM 42)
• Vineyard yeast microbiome (PLoS One)
• ARISA (AEM)
• Herpes simplex virions bear Fc receptors (PLoS Biol)
• Letters read on TWiM 049

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.

TWiM #48: It’s all about direction

Details

Created on Thursday, 03 January 2013 21:56

Written by Vincent Racaniello

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Jo Handelsman.

Vincent, Michael, and Jo discuss how subtle gender bias of science faculty favors male students, and the relationship of invasive infection and antibody orientation at bacterial surfaces.

Right click to download TWiM #48 (52 MB .mp3, 76 minutes).

Links for this episode:

• Science faculty's subtle gender biases (PNAS)
• 366 days: Nature's 10
• Antibody orentation and invasive infection (JEM)
• Commentary on antibody and invasive infection (ScienceDaily)
• Figure from Nordenfeldt et at. (JEM)
• Letters read on TWiM 048

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or call them in to 908-312-0760. You can also post articles that you would like us to discuss at microbeworld.org and tag them with twim.