This Week in Microbiology

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TWiM #107: The battle in your bladder Jul 09, 2015

Show notes

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Michael Schmidt.

Vincent and Michael discuss the highly diverse microbiome of uncontacted Amerindians, and how the composition of human urine plays a role in the battle for iron.

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Links for this episode

Microbiome of uncontacted Amerindians (Sci Adv)
Urinary composition controls siderocalin activity (J Biol Chem)
Urine acidity and UTI susceptibility (Infect Cont Today)
Image (from pdb file 3cmp) shows siderocalin (magenta) complexed
with iron (orange) and enterobactin (sticks)

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or mp3 file) to twim@twiv.tv, 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 #106: Lawn mower disease Jun 24, 2015

Show notes

Vincent and Michael speak with Katy Bosio about her research on pathogenesis, immunity, and vaccines against Franciscella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia.

TWiM #105: Real bugs with legs Jun 05, 2015

Show notes

The TWiM team reviews the microbiological safety of herbs in the United Kingdom, and how a peptide from the milkweek bug binds the ribosome and inhibits bacterial protein synthesis.

Links for this episode:

Microbes in whole-leaf herbs (J Appl Micro)
Antimicrobial peptide blocks ribosome (Nat Struct Mol Biol)
Bacterial protein synthesis (Micro Mol Biol Rev)
Antimicrobial peptides (Nature)
The battle for tryptophan (Front Cell Infect Micro)
Image credit

TWiM #104: Feed me polyamines, biofilm May 21, 2015

Show notes

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

The TWiM team discusses how measles vaccination protects against other infectious diseases, and links between bacterial biofilms and colon cancer.

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode

Measles vaccination prevents all-cause infectious disease (Science)

Master of contagion (The Loom)

Video: Measles incidence to immunomodulation (Science)

FAQ: Adult vaccines

Metabolism links biofilms and colon cancer (Cell Metab)

Scripps Center for Metabolomics

Scripps metabolite database

Image credit

Sponsors for this episode: SciMedSolutions, ICAAC-ICC

TWiM #103: The battle for iron May 08, 2015

Show notes

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

The TWiM team is amazed by the ocelloid, and an evolutionary battle for iron between mammalian transferrin and bacterial transferrin-binding protein.

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode

A unicellular camera-type eye structure (PLoS One)
Escape from iron piracy (Science)
Iron in infection and immunity (Cell Host Micr)
Nutritional immunity (Nat Rev Micro)
Evolutionary Path (Matthew Barber)
Image credit: Janet Iwasa
Sponsors for this episode: SciMedSolutions, ICAAC-ICC

TWiM #102: Happiness is the spore-formers in your gut Apr 24, 2015

Show notes

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

The TWiM team discusses evidence that serotonin synthesis is regulated by spore-forming members of the gut microbiota.

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, via RSS feed, by email or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode

When antibiotic resistance in vitro falls short (STC)
Gut microbiota control serotonin in mice (Cell)
Serotonin biosynthesis (Wikipedia)
Microbial endocrinology (STC)
Image credit
Sponsors for this episode: SciMedSolutions, Jmbe.asm.org, ICAAC-ICC

Image: Serotonin temporary tattoo by flickr user: ChezShawna

TWiM #101: The MRSA in your home Apr 01, 2015

Show notes

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

The TWiMers discuss how aroma helps disperse yeast cells on insect vectors, and evidence that MRSA is transmitted within households.

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, via RSS feed, by email or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode

Aroma promotes yeast dispersal on flies (Cell Rep)
MRSA is transmitted within households (mBio)
FAQ: The threat of MRSA (AAM)
Image credit
on TWiM 101

TWiM #100: Omnis cellula e cellula Mar 18, 2015

Show notes

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

The TWiM team celebrates 100 episodes with a Talmudic question, and discussion of how a single mutation alters bacterial host tropism.

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, via RSS feed, by email or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode

A single mutation alters bacterial tropism (Nat Gen)
Talmudic question #104 (Small Things Considered)
Principles of Microbial Diversity (ASM Press)
Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education
Letters read on TWiM 100

Image: Yellow colonies of S. aureus on a blood agar plate, note regions of clearing around colonies caused by lysis of red cells in the agar By: HansN. on wikimedia. From the study (Nat Gen) "...only a single naturally occurring nucleotide mutation was required and sufficient to convert a human-specific S. aureus strain into one that could infect rabbits."

TWiM #99: Careers in Biodefense Mar 04, 2015

Show notes

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Maria Julia Marinissen, Edward H. You, and David R. Howell

Vincent meets up with Maria, Edward, and David at the ASM Biodefense and Emerging Infections Research meeting to talk about alternative careers for scientists.

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, via RSS feed, by email or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

A video version of this episode is available at microbeworld.org/twim Links for this episode:

TWiM #98: Bacteria and eukaryotes get horizontal Feb 19, 2015

Show notes

The TWiM crew ponders the question of how a bacterium finds its middle when dividing, then divulge the transfer of interbacterial antagonism genes to eukaryotes, where they may function in innate defense.

Links for this episode:

Size independent symmetric division (Nat Commun)
How does a bacterium find its middle? (Nat Struct Biol)
Genes transferred from bacteria augment eukaryotic defenses (Cell)
Antibacterial gene transfer (eLife)
Letters read on TWiM #98 on TWiM 98

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