TWiM explains Pasteur’s relentless hunt for microbes in the air, and how bacteria hunt for prey by ixotrophy - using grappling hooks!

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Pasteur’s hunt for microbes in the air (NYTimes)
• Bacterial predation by ixotrophy (Science)
• Enter the pirates (STC)
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TWiM describes Shigella infection is facilitated by interaction of human enteric α-defensin 5 with a colonic epithelial receptor, and an amino acid change in RNA polymerase that leads to resistance to β-lactams by preventing dysregulation of amino acid and nucleotide metabolism

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• National Black HIV/AIDS awareness day (CDC)
• Shigella infection and human enteric alpha-defensin 5 (Nature Microbio)
• RNA polymerase amino acid change and resistance to beta-lactams (Cell Rep)
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TWiM explains the remarkable abilities of bacterial ice nucleating proteins to promote freezing of water, and cryoprotective proteins produced by worm microbiomes that prevent freezing.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Worm microbiomes produce crytoprotective proteins (Sci Adv)
• Biological antifreeze in Antarctic fishes (Sciece)
• Enhancement of bacterial ice nucleators (PNAS)
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TWiM explores the discovery of microbial enzymes, PETases, that can degrade ubiquitous plastics, and how exogenous peptidoglycan is a danger signal to trigger biofilm formation.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson.

Guest Mark O. Martin.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Discovery of PET depolymerases (Science)
• Exogenous peptidoglycan triggers biofilm formation (Nat Micro)
• What is a biofilm? (Vimeo)
• Peptidoglycan as a PAMP/MAMP (Immunol Rev)
• Light organ formation triggered by peptidoglycan (Science)
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TWiM reveals that record high atmospheric methane growth has been driven by microbes, and the cecum as an adaptive niche for Salmonella typhi.

Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Why a potent greenhouse gas is rising (WaPo)
• Microbial emissions drove record high atmospheric methane growth (PNAS)
• Salmonella biofilm formation in the cecum (mBio)
• Typhoid Mary (The Collector)
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From ASMCUE 2024, the conference on undergraduate education, TWiM speaks with Becky, Melanie, and Katriana about their careers and how they use TWiM in undergraduate microbiology education.

Hosts: Michael Schmidt and Mark O. Martin

Guests: Becky Seipel-Thiemann, Melanie Melendrez-Vallard, and Katriana Popichak

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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TWiM describes how to make concrete more ‘green’ by using microbes, and bacterial bioluminescence as an important regulator of multitrophic interactions in the soil.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and and Mark O. Martin.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Construction nanobiotechnology for concrete (Appl Env Micro)
• Self-healing concrete (Sci Tot Environ)
• Microbe-inspired self-healing concrete (Front Struct Civil Eng)
• Bacterial bioluminescence regulates multitrophic interactions in the soil (Cell Rep)
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TWiM explains how ticagrelor alters the membrane of S. aureus and enhances the activity of vancomycin and daptomycin without eliciting cross-resistance, and the development of a novel continuous disinfectant technology that decreases healthcare-associated infections in ICUs by 70%.

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

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• Ticagrelor and S. aureus (mBio)
• Novel disinfectant technology (Am J Inf Control)
• UVC-LED to inactivate foodborne pathogens (Appl Envir Micro)
• UV disinfection systems (ACS Photonics)
• High-touch surfaces in specialized patient care area (CDC)
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TWiM focuses on recent foodborne outbreaks of bacterial infections, and how nanopore sequencing technology can be used to identify pathogenic microbes and antimicrobial resistance genes in food products.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson.

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• Foodborne outbreaks (CDC)
• Race to nourish a warming world (Gates Foundation)
• Nanopore sequencing of foods (Food Microbiol)
• How is Oxford Nanopore used? (YouTube)
• Introduction to Nanopore sequencing (YouTube)
• Methods for detecting foodborne pathogens (Appl Micro Biotech)
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TWiM travels to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases to learn how research conducted at USAMRIID leads to vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and training programs that protect both warfighters and civilians.

Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Guests: Norman Kreiselmeir, Christopher K Coat, Keersten Ricks, and Eric Nguyen Links for this episode:

• U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
• Threading the NEIDL (TWiV 200)
• Unintentional importation of B. pseudomallei into US (Emerg Inf Dis)

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• Engineering the cow for less methane emissions (WaPo)
• Precision microbiome editing (Audacious Project)
• Giant viruses carry antibiotic resistance genes (Nat Commun)
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Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to [email protected]