This Week in Microbiology

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206: Bacteria send nucleotide signals Oct 03, 2019

Show notes

The TWiM holobionts pay tribute to Stuart Levy, and reveal the remarkably diverse array of cyclic nucleotides synthesized by bacteria that likely mediate interactions with animal and plant hosts.

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Links for this episode:

Stuart Levy, Antibiotic Resistance Researcher, Dies
Resistance fighter (The Scientist)
Stuart Levy on TWiM 16
Stuart Levy on Meet the Scientist episode 17
Segregation of R factors (Nature)
Infectious drug resistance (Sci Am)
Spread of antibiotic resistance chickens to humans (Nature)
Costs of antimicrobial resistance (Clin Inf Dis)
Bacteria synthesize diverse nucleotide signals (Nature)

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

205: Asgards meet the Tardigrades Sep 20, 2019

Show notes

The tetracoccal TWiM team visits Tardigrades on the Moon, and the twelve year quest to isolate an archaeon that provides insights into the emergence of the first eukaryotic cell.

Links for this episode:

Tardigrades on the moon (Mashable)
Meet the Tardigrade (WaPo)
Archaeon at prokaryote-eukaryote interface (bioRxiv)

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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

204: Programmable bacteria for antitumor immunity Sep 06, 2019

Show notes

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Nicholas Arpaia and Tal Danino

Vincent meets up with Nick and Tal to explain how they engineered E. coli to lyse within tumors and deliver an antibody that causes tumor regression in mice.

Links for this episode:

Programmable bacteria induce tumor immunity (Nat Med)
Synchronized cycles of bacterial lysis (Nature)
TWiM Listener survey

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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

203: A magnetotactic consortium under the sea Aug 22, 2019

Show notes

The TWiM team reveals thousands of small novel genes in the human microbiome, and a mutualistic symbiosis between marine protists covered with magnetosome-containing bacteria.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, Michele Swanson and Michael Schmidt

Links for this episode

Thousands of small novel genesin human microbiome (Cell)
A magnetotactic consortiumunder the sea (Nat Micro)
Image credit
Letters readon TWiM 203

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

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202: This frass doesn't stink Aug 08, 2019

Show notes

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, Michele Swanson and Michael Schmidt

Guest: Julie Wolf

Julie joins the TWiM team to reveal how microbiome and gut anatomy of a wood-feeding beetle promotes lignocellulose deconstruction, and bacteria that degrade PET plastic.

How wood-feeding beetles deconstruct lignocellulose (PNAS)
Meet the Microbiologist hosted by Julie Wolf
Bacteria that degrade PET plastic (Micr Res Ann)
Microbiology resource of the month (ASM)
Morgan Vague's TED talk
Pacific garbage patch (Pacific Beach Coal)
NOAA marine debris program
National Geographic's Planet or Plastic Campaign
Image credit
Letters read on TWiM 202

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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

201: Microbiology papers for first year students Jul 26, 2019

Show notes

Mark Martin joins Vincent and Michael to present compelling papers suitable for teaching microbiology to undergraduate students.

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Links for this episode:

Paradigm shifts, paradigm drifts (pdf)
Introducing THOR (mBio)
Engineering bacteriophages to treat mycobacterial infection (Nat Med)
Biofilms by Colter (Int Microbiol)
Life in a world without microbes (PLoS Biol)
Reduction of cholera in Bangladeshi villages (PNAS)
Placenta goes viral (PLoS Biol)
#OMG (jpg)
#OMG illustration by Sarah Adkins
Microbe-Biologist button (jpg)
Microbial Centricity button (jpg)
Microbial Eyes button (jpg)
Micronauts button (jpg)

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

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

200: In the company of Elio Jul 12, 2019

Show notes

Vincent, Michele, and Michael travel to San Diego to reminisce with Elio about his career, his work in microbiology, and his love for microbes and mushrooms.

VIDEO VERSION AVAILABLE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Menlo1YvPko

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Links for this episode

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

199: PhD Balance Jun 28, 2019

Show notes

From ASM Microbe 2019, the Microbials meet up with Susanna L. Harris and Alex Politis to talk about mental health in graduate school and NIH peer review.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michele Swansonand Michael Schmidt

Guests: Susanna L. Harrisand Alex Politis

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, RSS, or by email. Get the entire ASM Podcast Network via our Microbeworld app.

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Links for this episode

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

198: Unexpectedly pathogenic bacteriophages Jun 01, 2019

Show notes

The TWiM team presents an extracellular bacterium associated with Paramecium, and induction of antiviral immunity by a bacteriophage that prevents bacterial clearance.

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Bacteria on the outside of paramecia (ISME)
Phage trigger antiviral immunity (Science)
Image credit
Letters read on TWiM 198

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

197: Intercellular microbial trade Apr 26, 2019

Show notes

The Microbials reveal how a chemosynthetic symbiont stores energy for its marine flatworm host, and extraction of nutrients from host cells by E. coli injectisome components.

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Links for this episode:

Take the TWiM listener survey
Bacteria store energy for gutless worms (PNAS)
Paracatenula on TWiM #21
E. coli extracts nutrients from host cells (Cell)
Image credit

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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