Let's Talk Micro

As a new microbiologist sometimes terms like beta-lactams, beta-lactamases, or penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) can be confusing. Are you familiar with the New-Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) and its variants? How many are there? How does this enzyme affect beta-lactam drugs?How about NDM-5? In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. Raneem Pallotta, an infectious diseases pharmacist. In the episode we go over these terms. Dr. Pallotta also talks about an NDM-producing E. coli that harbors PBP3 variants. How do these variants affect beta-lactam antibiotics? Tune in for a great episode.

Link to Dr. Pallotta's article: https://www.contagionlive.com/view/ndm-producing-e-coli-harboring-pbp-insert-variants-emerges-as-new-threat

Link to other articles:

https://bmcmicrobiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12866-017-1012-8

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5527577/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34800710/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32040179/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25634992/

https://www.idsociety.org/practice-guideline/amr-guidance/

Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected]

Want to support the podcast? Here's how:

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro

Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro

En este episodio en español, Luis conversa con la Dra. Verónica Seija. La Dra. Seija es especialista en microbiología y tiene un blog, redes sociales y un podcast donde habla sobre microbiología bajo el nombre MicroClinUY. ¿ Qué motivó a la Dra. a comenzar a hablar sobre microbiología? ¿Qué tipo de contenido encontramos en sus redes sociales y el podcast? ¿Dónde encuentran el podcast? Sintonizen y no se pierdan de una gran conversación.

Enlace al podcast: https://www.microclin.uy/podcast

Enlace a la página web de MicroClinUy: https://www.microclin.uy

Preguntas? Comentarios? Envíen un correo electrónico a [email protected]

Desean apoyar al podcast? Pueden hacerlo de la siguiente forma:

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro

Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro

Luis and Andrea return with a new episode of the AMR series. This time, they are joined by Dr. Nikunj Vyas, and they go over glycopeptides. Whether you are a microbiologist, provider or an ID pharmacist, you are familiar with vancomycin. What is the mechanism of action of glycopeptides? Is there intrinsic resistance? How does a difference in minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) affect treatment? Tune in to learn more.

Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected]

Want to support the podcast? Here's how:

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro

Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro

Throwback to a great episode! Have you worked in a veterinary laboratory? What kind of training do you need? Are you able to work in one as an MLS? Have you thought about what a culture from a veterinary specimen might look like? How do you work those up? What about antimicrobials and guidelines? Kelli Maddock and Sarah Gefroh from the North Dakota State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory join the podcast to answer these questions. They are Medical Laboratory Scientists with experience in human medicine who switched to veterinary medicine.

Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected]

Want to support the podcast? Here's how:

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro

Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro

One of the first episodes published and one of the most downloaded episodes. In it Luis goes over catalase and coagulase.

What are biochemicals? How are they useful in the identification of bacteria? In this episode I start going over biochemicals: catalase and coagulase, two of the most commonly used biochemicals in Clinical Microbiology.

Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected]

Want to support the podcast? Here's how:

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro

Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro

The first episode! Share it with students and peers, In it Luis talks about agar. What is agar? What do we use it for? Various types of agar are discussed like blood agar and MacConkey along with their uses.

Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected]

Want to support the podcast? Here's how:

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro

Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro

A microbicide for Neisseria gonorrhoeae? In this episode Luis is joined by Dr. María Rendón from the University of Arizona. Dr. Rendón joins the podcast to talk about a novel microbicide that was developed which has activity against N. gonorrhoeae . How does it work? Does it affect commensal Neisseria? What about methylation signatures? Tune in to learn more about this microbicide.

Link to articles referenced in episode:

http://microbialcell.com/researcharticles/2019a-so-microbial-cell/

https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S1931-3128%2819%2930347-6

Link to study: https://journals.asm.org/doi/abs/10.1128/aac.00794-24?doi=10.1128/aac.00794-24

Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected]

Want to support the podcast? Here's how:

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro

Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro

Are you familiar with the BioFire system? If you work in microbiology you probably are. How about a joint infections panel for this system? In this episode Dr. Angelica Moran and Jekzaly Arellano join the podcast to talk about a study they did evaluating this panel. Why are joint infections difficult to diagnose? Tune in to learn more.

Link to article: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jcm.00182-24

Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected]

Want to support the podcast? Here's how:

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro

Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro

This week Luis continues going over gram-positive rods: this time Lactobacillus. What is the morphology of Lactobacillus? Biochemicals? Which species are typically seen in humans? Is it pathogenic or normal flora? What about susceptibilities? All great questions. Tune in to find out about this genera.

Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected]

Want to support the podcast? Here's how:

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro

Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro

If you work with MALDI-TOF MS and you read urine cultures, you probably have seen this organism : Actinotignum schaalii. Is this organism significant? What is the gram stain? Biochemicals? Other questions come up such as we do report it? Do we perform susceptibilities ? Tune in to learn about this emerging pathogen and get answers to all these questions.

Questions? Feedback? Send those to [email protected]

Want to support the podcast? Here's how:

Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/letstalkmicro

Buy me a Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/letstalkmicro