This Week in Microbiology

Latest Episodes:

TWiM #77: Zombie plants and no pain, no gain May 01, 2014

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Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michelle review how a pathogen promotes plant attractiveness to insect vectors, and activation of sensory neurons that modulate pain and inflammation by bacterial infection.

TWiM #76: Genetic biopixels and a pathogenic sweet tooth Apr 11, 2014

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Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michelle discuss the use of bacteria to build a genetic sensor for heavy metals, and how host sugars help enteric pathogens to expand after antibiotic treatment.

TWiM #75: Pellicles on pickle jars Mar 27, 2014

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Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michelle discuss a symbiosis between a bacterium and fungus that increases the virulence of oral biofilms, and the assembly of amyloid fibers, which are needed for biofilm formation.

TWiM #74: It came from the Siberian permafrost Mar 12, 2014

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Vincent, Elio, and Michael discuss a huge 30,000 year old virus recovered from Siberia, and nested symbiosis facilitated by horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to insect.

TWiM #73: Eyeing root nodule development Feb 27, 2014

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Vincent, Michael, and Michele discuss how soil-dwelling bacteria induce the formation of root nodules on legumes via a protein called CYCLOPS.

TWiM #72: The benefits of virulence Feb 13, 2014

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Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michele review how microbial virulence can be increased as a consequence of community surveillance and adaptation to macrophages.

TWiM #71: Colon cancer's little shop of horrors Jan 22, 2014

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Vincent, Michael, and Michele explain how the gut microbiome modulates colon tumorigenesis, and regulation of intestinal macrophage function by the microbial metabolite butyrate.

TWiM #70: A paroxysmal cough Dec 18, 2013

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Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michele discuss evidence that the acellular pertussis vaccine fails to prevent infection and transmission in nonhuman primates, and the use of bacterial cytological profiling to identify pathways targeted by antibiotics.

TWiM #69: Bacterial DNA in the human genome Nov 27, 2013

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Vincent, Elio, Jo, and Michele review evidence for bacterial DNA integrated into the human genome, and control of the symbiont population in an insect midgut.

TWiM #68: The fungus among us Nov 14, 2013

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Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michele discuss the amazingly high level of intergenera gene exchange among haloarchaea in an Antarctic lake, and the diversity of fungi on residential surfaces and the human forehead.

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