This episode: A virus designed to target cancer could also help eliminate hidden HIV infections!

Thanks to Nischal Ranganath for his contribution!

Download Episode (8.7 MB, 9.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces pluricolorescens

News item

Journal Paper:
Ranganath N, Sandstrom TS, Schinkel B, C S, Côté SC, Angel JB. 2018. The Oncolytic Virus MG1 Targets and Eliminates Cells Latently Infected With HIV-1: Implications for an HIV Cure. J Infect Dis 217:721–730.

Other interesting stories:

• Gut microbes could affect immune defense against liver cancer

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

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This episode: Some bacteria living around plants can become pathogenic just by gaining a few genes!

Download Episode (9.4 MB, 10.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Alternanthera yellow vein betasatellite

News item

Journal Paper:
Savory EA, Fuller SL, Weisberg AJ, Thomas WJ, Gordon MI, Stevens DM, Creason AL, Belcher MS, Serdani M, Wiseman MS, Grünwald NJ, Putnam ML, Chang JH. 2017. Evolutionary transitions between beneficial and phytopathogenic Rhodococcus challenge disease management. eLife 6:e30925.

Other interesting stories:

• More gut microbe diversity could be good for arteries
• Human gut microbes have enzymes that break down specific plant toxins (paper)
• Gut microbes ferment fiber and modify immune response to protect mice from flu
• Cooperation of plants and fungi breaks down if one finds alternative lifestyle (paper)
• Disproven "arsenic in the DNA" bacterium actually has interesting arsenic detox strategies (paper)

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

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This episode: Fecal microbiota transplants work just as well when taken in pill form as when delivered through a tube!

Download Episode (10.5 MB, 11.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Halobacterium halobium

News item

Journal Paper:
Kao D, Roach B, Silva M, Beck P, Rioux K, Kaplan GG, Chang H-J, Coward S, Goodman KJ, Xu H, Madsen K, Mason A, Wong GK-S, Jovel J, Patterson J, Louie T. 2017. Effect of Oral Capsule- vs Colonoscopy-Delivered Fecal Microbiota Transplantation on Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection: A Randomized Clinical Trial. J Am Med Assoc 318:1985–1993.

Other interesting stories:

• Protein that can form prions important for protecting mice from influenza (paper)
• Figuring out how bacteria in fruit flies kill only males
• Healthy skin microbes could help treat eczema
• Good gut microbe is very comfortable with immune system
• Archaea in bogs could be good microbes for plants too (paper)

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

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This episode: Gut microbe transplants from wild mice protect lab mice from disease!

Download Episode (9.8 MB, 10.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Cabassou virus

News item

Journal Paper:
Rosshart SP, Vassallo BG, Angeletti D, Hutchinson DS, Morgan AP, Takeda K, Hickman HD, McCulloch JA, Badger JH, Ajami NJ, Trinchieri G, Pardo-Manuel de Villena F, Yewdell JW, Rehermann B. 2017. Wild Mouse Gut Microbiota Promotes Host Fitness and Improves Disease Resistance. Cell 171:1015-1028.e13.

Other interesting stories:

• Phage cocktail can eliminate pathogen with minimal collateral damage
• Preventive probiotics given with antibiotics can help keep C. diff away
• Early exposure to dust and bacteria linked with less immune response to stress
• Viruses that help wasps parasitize caterpillars also inhibit plant defenses
• Only one microbe species can live in extremely acidic, almost boiling lake

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

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This episode: A simplified bacterial community in mouse guts doesn't have much community structure, relative to other body areas!

Download Episode (8.8 MB, 9.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Rhodomicrobium vannielii

News item

Journal Paper:
Welch JLM, Hasegawa Y, McNulty NP, Gordon JI, Borisy GG. 2017. Spatial organization of a model 15-member human gut microbiota established in gnotobiotic mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci 114:E9105–E9114.

Other interesting stories:

• Studying the microbes found in Chinese hazy air (paper)
• Sometimes bacteria modify their environment so hard, it kills them (paper)
• Some ants' bacteria produce the pheromones they use for guidance
• Modifying plants' microbiota might be difficult due to microbe diversity

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

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This episode: Phage therapy can work very well when combined with an effective immune response from the host!

Download Episode (12.9 MB, 14.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Gammapapillomavirus 8

News item about "nightmare bacteria"

Journal Paper:
Roach DR, Leung CY, Henry M, Morello E, Singh D, Di Santo JP, Weitz JS, Debarbieux L. 2017. Synergy between the Host Immune System and Bacteriophage Is Essential for Successful Phage Therapy against an Acute Respiratory Pathogen. Cell Host Microbe 22:38-47.e4.

Other interesting stories:

• Bacteria make antibacterial silver nanoparticles (paper)
• Bacteria produce chemical that could enhance effectiveness of penicillin
• Engineering yeast to produce valuable complex chemicals
• Specific types of gut microbes affect cancer treatment effectiveness
• Microbe-produced enzymes could help clean oil spills

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

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This episode: Paraprobiotics, or killed probiotic bacteria, are studied for health effects, but results and study design are questionable!

Download Episode (11.5 MB, 12.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Phlox virus S

Journal Paper:
Nishida K, Sawada D, Kawai T, Kuwano Y, Fujiwara S, Rokutan K. 2017. Para-psychobiotic Lactobacillus gasseri CP2305 ameliorates stress-related symptoms and sleep quality. J Appl Microbiol 123:1561–1570.

Other interesting stories:

• Parasites infecting ants hide their presence
• Inoculating soybean crops with extra bacteria can help them fix more nitrogen
• Microbes help mice recover from bone marrow transplant (paper)
• Lots of drugs other than antibiotics can harm gut communities (paper)
• Using biofilm as camera film, for imaging

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

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This episode: Figuring out the best way to study the spread of a fungus that kills an invasive tree-eating caterpillar pest!

Download Episode (8.2 MB, 8.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Pasteurella aerogenes

News item

Journal Paper:
Bittner TD, Hajek AE, Liebhold AM, Thistle H. 2017. Modification of a Pollen Trap Design To Capture Airborne Conidia of Entomophaga maimaiga and Detection of Conidia by Quantitative PCR. Appl Environ Microbiol 83:e00724-17.

Other interesting stories:

• Studying the whale microbiome
• Gut bacteria help herbivorous ants get enough nitrogen
• Environment factors can affect our microbes apart from genetic factors
• Fiber could encourage gut microbes to help with type 2 diabetes
• Gut microbes can affect parasitic worm infections

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

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This episode: Certain transposons, genetic elements that move around the genome on their own, have co-opted the bacterial immune system, CRISPR, to use for jumping to new hosts!

Thanks to Dr. Joseph Peters for his contribution!

Download Episode (10.7 MB, 11.75 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces yokosukanensis

Journal Paper:
Peters JE, Makarova KS, Shmakov S, Koonin EV. 2017. Recruitment of CRISPR-Cas systems by Tn7-like transposons. Proc Natl Acad Sci 114:E7358–E7366.

Other interesting stories:

• Microbe found producing antibiotic previously only known to be man-made (paper)
• Modifying genetics to change bacterial colony colors
• Making microbe communities that help plants in specific ways
• Gut microbes can protect mice against death from sepsis
• Fungus affects cicada behavior to infect more hosts

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

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This episode: Unlike most animals, caterpillars don't seem to have a resident gut microbe to help them in various ways!

Thanks to Tobin Hammer for his contribution!

Download Episode (14 MB, 15.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Borrelia graingeri

News item

Journal Paper:
Hammer TJ, Janzen DH, Hallwachs W, Jaffe SP, Fierer N. 2017. Caterpillars lack a resident gut microbiome. Proc Natl Acad Sci 114:9641–9646.

Other interesting stories:

• Improving viral delivery of gene therapy across blood-brain barrier
• Engineered gut bacteria bind bowel cancer and kill it with vegetables
• Making bacteria into synthetic phage factories (paper)
• Preventing contamination of industrial algae cultures using predatory bacteria (paper)
• Finding potential new antibiotics in cockroach microbes (paper)

Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: iTunes, RSS, Google Play. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook