This Week in Microbiology

Latest Episodes:

266: Bacteria That Can Record Jun 03, 2022

Show notes

TWiM explains how spindle-shaped Archaeal viruses evolved from rod-shaped ancestors to package a larger genome, and transcriptional recording by CRISPR acquisition from RNA.

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Links for this episode

From rods to spindles (Cell)
Spindle-shaped virus movie (Cell)
Bacteria that record (Science)
Transcriptional recording with CRISPR (Nature)
Letters read on TWiM 266
TWiM Listener survey

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

256: Antiviral Hotspots and Desiccation Tolerance May 20, 2022

Show notes

TWiM explains the discovery of hotspots of genetic variation containing reservoirs of anti-phage systems in E. coli phages and their parasitic satellites, and pathogen desiccation tolerance promoted by hydrophilins.

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Links for this episode

Phage and satellite antiviral systems (Cell Host Micro)
Hydropilins promote desiccation tolerance (Cell Host Micro)
Letters read on TWiM 265
TWiM Listener survey

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

264: Antimicrobial Antipsychotics May 06, 2022

Show notes

TWiM reveals that the atypical antipsychotic quetiapine promotes multiple antibiotic resistance in E. coli, and treatment with Bifidobacterium lactis probiotic benefits patients with coronary artery disease.

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Links for this episode:

Antipsychotic promotes antimicrobial resistance (J Bact)
Probiotic benefits patients with coronary artery disease (mSystems)
B. lactis and Alzheimer's in mice (Eur J Nutr)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

263: Lavender and Catheters Apr 15, 2022

Show notes

TWiM explains the use of lavender oil to disrupt Listeria biofilms, and how treatment of catheters with liquid silicone reduces associated urinary tract infections.

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Links for this episode

Lavender oil prevents biofilms (Lett Appl Micro)
Silicone-infused catheters reduce infection (eLife)
Viable but not culturable (TWiM 179)
Letters read on TWiM 263
TWiM Listener survey

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

262: Spot on With T4SS Modulators Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

TWiM welcomes new host Petra, and explains how a small protein helps ensure that E. coli utilizes a preferred carbon source, and a screening strategy to identify inhibitors of the type IV secretion system that is essential for virulence of a variety of bacterial pathogens.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, and Petra Levin

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Links for this episode:

A small protein regulates carbon utilization (PNAS)
Inhibitors of type IV secretion systems (mBio)
Letters read on TWiM 262

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

261: Overwhelming Microbial Greatness Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Mark returns to TWiM to join in a discussion of soil microbiota as game-changers in restoration of degraded lands, and discovery of a centimeter-long bacterium, the biggest yet discovered.

Guest: Mark O. Martin

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Links for this episode:

Game-changing soil microbiota (Science)
A World Without Soil by Jo Handlesman
A World Without Soil video (YouTube)
Centimeter-long bacteria (bioRxiv)
How large can a bacteria get? (YouTube)
Giant bacteria (YouTube)
Three faces of Thiomargarita (Small Things Considered)
The microbe that could be seen (Small Things Considered)
Energetics of the eukaryotic edge (Small Things Considered)
A lakeside tale (Small Things Considered)
Letters read on TWiM 261

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

260: Carnivorous Vulture Bees Feb 25, 2022

Show notes

In this food-centric TWiM, we reveal the microbiomes of carnivorous vulture bees and of Gala apples from all over the world.

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Links for this episode

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

259: Sea Sawdust Feb 14, 2022

Show notes

Mark Martin returns to TWiM for a discussion of the frightening global burden of bacterial antibiotic resistance, and a solution to the problem of daylight nitrogen fixation in a cyanobacterium, despite the incompatibility of nitrogenase with oxygen produced during photosynthesis.

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Links for this episode:

Global bacterial antimicrobial resistance (Nat Micro)
Cancer moon shot (NCI)
When antibiotics don't work (TED)
Cyanobacterium buoyancy (Nat Micro)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

258: A Tick's Meal Jan 21, 2022

Show notes

TWiM explains how bacterial symbionts regulate tick blood feeding activity, and the reasons why antibiotics exist.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, and Michael Schmidt

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Links for this episode:

Symbionts help ticks to feed (Cell Host Microbe)
Why do antibiotics exist? (mBio)
Shorter is still better (J Hosp Med)
Shorter vs longer antibiotic courses (J Hosp Med)
Francis Tally and tigecycline (Clin Inf Dis)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

257: I have one word for you: plastics Jan 07, 2022

Show notes

On this episode of TWiM, how phages prevent other phages from invading their hosts without blocking their own reproduction, and plastic-degrading potential of microbes across the Earth.

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Links for this episode:

Prophages encode phage-defense systems with cognate self-immunity (Cell Host Microbe)
Prophages self-destruct to eliminate competitors (Cell Host Microbe)
Plastic-degrading potential across global microbiome (mBio)
Plastics in our foods (ENV media)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

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