microTalk

Genomics-based technologies have revolutionized science. From microarrays to next-generation sequencing, genomics technologies are having a tremendous positive impact on all aspects of human health.

Dr. Joe DeRisi is a professor at the University of California San Francisco and co-president of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. DeRisi has been at the forefront of developing and using genomics-based technologies to address infectious disease challenges.

DeRisi talks about how genomics helped solve the mystery of dying leopard sharks in San Francisco bay, how a "virochip" array helped identify the SARS virus, how genomics can help identify unknown causes of encephalitis, how the sewer may hold the key to predicting infectious disease outbreaks, how computational capabilities represent the current bottleneck to global benefit from genomics technologies, and how the early mysteries surrounding the AIDS epidemic led him into science.

microTalk was thrilled to be joined by Julie Wolf, "Meet the Microbiologist" podcast host from ASM, when this podcast was recorded at the ASM Microbe 2019 conference in San Francisco, CA.

The microCase for listeners to solve is about Tess Tamoni, a retired teacher who gets a nasty infection while on vacation at a tropical resort.

Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Joe DeRisi, Ph.D. (University of California San Francisco) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA) Julie Wolf (ASM)

One reason is because the overwhelming bacterial members of the microbiome keep the fungi in check.

Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum is a professor at Case Western University and the director of the Center for Medical Mycology, who studies fungal pathogens, such as Candida, Aspergillus, and Cryptococcus. Ghannoum talks about how changes in the bacterial microbiome cause the fungi to overgrow and cause disease, how bacteria and fungi can "play together" to cause problems, how diet, lifestyle, and probiotics can help keep the bad fungi from overgrowing, how scientific data is needed to analyze the effect of diet and probiotics on the microbiome, and how if he wasn't a scientist, he'd like to be Anthony Bourdain.

The microCase for listeners to solve is about Nirvana, a young yoga prodigy who gets a potentially fatal disease while trying out a difficult yoga pose.

Get ASM's 2019 Fungal report now available at https://asm.org/fungal2019

Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mahmoud Ghannoum, Ph.D. (Case Western University) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA) Anish Saikumar (UTSA) Richardo Sanchez (UTSA)

The presence of bacterial toxins in a remote coral reef got Stanley Maloy thinking about the evolution of pathogens, and where "emerging diseases" come from.

Dr. Stanley Maloy is a professor at San Diego State University who studies Salmonella, which causes gastrointestinal illness as well as more systemic disease in various hosts.

He is the associate vice president for research and has been involved in the development of a number of biotech companies, and he's a great storyteller to boot.

Maloy talks about how thinking about bacterial pathogens from the bug's point of view provides new insight into pathogen evolution, how "Muller's ratchet" can explain Salmonella pathogen evolution, how metagenomics allows scientists to see new "worlds" that hadn't been imagined before, how the environment in San Diego stimulates collaborative and international research, and how his first use of a Bunsen burner almost led to the lab burning down.

The microCase for listeners to solve is about Kong Ill King, the dictator of a secretive nation who gets a potentially fatal disease while on a visit to an amusement park.

Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Stanley Maloy, Ph.D. (San Diego State University) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)

Bacteriophages ("phages"), or bacterial viruses, are the most abundant biological entity on the planet, and the microbial world is shaped by these predators and parasites.

The ability of bacteriophages to specifically target and kill their prey is being explored as an alternate therapy to antibiotics against various bacterial diseases.

Dr. Graham Hatfull is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh who studies Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, and the phages that infect it.

Hatfull directs the Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) program along with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Hatfull talks about how the SEA-PHAGES program has allowed entering students at more than 100 colleges and universities around the country to discover thousands of new phages, how phages isolated from the program were used to save the life of a patient infected with Mycobacterium, what the prospects are for phage therapy being used as treatment for other diseases, how bacterial resistance to phage infection impacts phage therapy, and how important research experience can be for students.

microTalk was joined by Dr. Jimmy Ballard when this podcast was recorded at the ASM Microbe 2019 conference in San Francisco, CA.

The microCase for listeners to solve is about Buck Shott, an aging Western movie stunt double who comes down with a potentially fatal infection after filming an action scene for "The Old, the Ancient, and the Geriatric".

Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Graham Hatfull, Ph.D. (University of Pittsburgh) Jimmy Ballard, Ph.D. (University of Oklahoma) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)

Frequent urges to go "number one" can be the symptom of a urinary tract infection (UTI), one of the most common types of bacterial infections in humans. Usually the treatment of UTIs is quick and effective, but sometimes the organisms causing the infection can get into the kidneys and cause serious and even fatal disease.

Dr. Harry Mobley is a professor at the University of Michigan who studies UTIs caused by Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis. Mobley talks about the mystery of why some people get recurrent UTIs, the amazing ability of P. mirabilis to swarm, how E. coli in the GI tract is a source of UTIs, what are the prospects of a vaccine against UTIs, and how a trip to the CDC set him on his career path.

The microCase for listeners to solve is about Chad, a young college graduate who goes to his namesake country Chad, only to come down with a horrifying infection.

Participants:

Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Harry Mobley, Ph.D. (University of Michigan) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA) Stephen Sinatra (UTSA)

Summer brings warm beach weather, and with it come gruesome news reports of "flesh eating disease" that people catch from the ocean.

Vibrio vulnificus is a marine bacterium that prefers warmer seawater, and it can infect wounds and cause necrotizing fasciitis, also known as "flesh eating disease", that can rapidly turn into a fatal infection.

Dr. Karla Satchell is a professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University who studies the toxins made by V. vulnificus and other Vibrios that allow them to cause disease. Satchell talks about how people get infected with V. vulnificus, who is most at risk for catching flesh eating disease, how global warming is increasing V. vulnificus infections, how MARTX and other toxins help V. vulnificus cause disease, why oysters are a source of V. vulnificus, and how a scientist from Oklahoma sparked her interest in research. microTalk was joined in this discussion by Karla's son Grant Satchell.

The microCase for listeners to solve is about Wolf Burns, a celebrity survival expert who comes down with a potentially fatal disease while trying to make his way out of the Ozark Mountain wilderness.

Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Karla Satchell, Ph.D. (Northwestern University) Grant Satchell Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)

One of the more gruesome parasitic infections is that of the guinea worm: these 3 feet long worms typically emerge from painful boils in the feet to release eggs, and have to be slowly wound onto a stick over the course of days to weeks to pull them them out of the infected person's leg.

This debilitating infection afflicted 3.5 million people per year in 1986, when the Carter Center (founded by President Jimmy Carter) took the lead in the effort to eradicate guinea worm disease. Through concentrated effort, this disease is now on the brink of extinction with only a handful of cases in a couple of countries.

Adam Weiss, MPH, is the director of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program at the Carter Center. Weiss talks about how debilitating guinea worm disease is for infected people, how the worms seem to evade immunity, how the guinea worm has been eradicated without vaccines or drugs but rather behavior modification, how seeing the disease first-hand led to President Carter's and Weiss' passion for eradication, how dogs have recently been found to act as a reservoir, and how being in the Peace Corps led him on his life path.

The microCase for listeners to solve is about Brad and Janet, a newly engaged couple who both come down with a disease during planning for their polar bear-themed wedding.

Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Adam Weiss, M.P.H. (Carter Center) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)

The earth is warming up, and many aspects of life on earth are changing with the changing climate. Increased global temperature has multifactorial impacts on living organisms, including microbes.

Dr. Sanghoon Kang is an assistant professor at Baylor University who studies climate change and its effects on microbial communities. Dr. Kang talks about impacts of climate change on infectious diseases, how increased ocean temperatures lead to increased human infections and destruction of corals, how scientific literacy can help combat climate change, how sustainability is key to human survival on the planet, how Waco TX is trying to build a biotech sector, and about his missed opportunity of becoming a movie star.

The microCase for listeners to solve is about May O'Naise, a commercial pilot for a budget airline who becomes sick on a quick flight from Dallas to Fort Worth.

Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Sanghoon Kang, Ph.D. (Baylor University) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)

Candida albicans is the most common fungal infection of humans. C. albicans can cause superficial infections like thrush or vaginitis when it overgrows within healthy individuals, but it causes much more serious disease when it infects immunocompromised individuals. C. albicans can form a matrix-encased biofilm on indwelling medical devices that serves as a source to seed systemic infections in patients.

Dr. David Andes is a professor at the University of Wisconsin and also the chief of Division of Infectious Disease who studies fungal infections.

Dr. Andes talks about the problem of fungal biofilms and antifungal resistance, how the biofilm matrix protects fungi from antifungals, the critical importance of developing new antifungals, and how mixing clinical duties and laboratory research is important for the advancement of fungal treatment.

The microCase for listeners to solve is about Sartha Mewart, a TV and media personality who gets an infection after her stint in prison.

Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) David Andes, M.D. (University of Wisconsin) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Jose Lopez-Ribot, Ph.D., Pharm.D. (UTSA) Daniel Montelongo Jaregui (UTSA) Maggie Donohue (UTSA) Katie Quigley (UTSA)

Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common sexually transmitted bacterial disease in the U.S. Chlamydia infections in women can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, and in the worst cases ectopic pregnancy or sterility.

C. trachomatis are obligate intracellular bacteria, which has made studying the genetics of virulence particularly difficult.

Dr. Mary Weber is an assistant professor at the University of Iowa who studies C. trachomatis. Dr. Weber talks about some of the difficulties studying this unusual obligate intracellular bacterium, how recent advances are providing hope for new therapeutics and vaccines, why antibiotics are not sufficient to prevent Chlamydia infection, how vaccines against STDs also need to also address the social issues surrounding sexual activity, and how reading "Outbreak" led to her career in microbiology.

The microCase for listeners to solve is about Jim Bagg, a not-very-talented college football player who gets an infection during practice that could be life-threatening.

Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mary Weber, Ph.D. (University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Daniel Montelongo Jaregui (UTSA)