Vincent, Elio and Michael discuss the stability of human coronaviruses on surfaces and in aerosols, and peptidoglycan production by a mosaic consisting of a bacterium within a bacterium within an insect.

Links for this episode:

• Human coronavirus 229E infectivity on common surfaces (mBio)
• Aerosol and surface stability of SARS-CoV-2 (medRxiv)
• Peptidoglycan synthesis by a insect-bacteria mosaic (Cell)
• Letters read on TWiM 213

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

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The TWiM team reviews the coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, and the finding that an IRF deficiency underlies Whipple’s disease. 

• 2019-nCoV case tracking (JHU)
• Clinical features of infection with 2019-nCoV (Lancet)
• Early transmission dynamics of 2019-nCoV (NEJM)
• Isolation of 2019-nCoV (NEJM)
• TLR4 defect in Whipple’s disease (eLife)

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

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

The Fellowship of the TWiM reveal that colorectal cancer-associated microbiota are associated with higher numbers of methylated genes in colonic mucosa, and identification of metabolites needed by the fire blight disease bacterium for virulence in apples.

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Links for this episode:

• Colorectal cancer and the gut microbiome (PNAS)
• Fire blight (YouTube)
• Fire blight spreads north (NY Times)
• E. amylovora auxotrophs (Appl Environ Micro)

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

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

The Microbial Comrades present the oldest osteosynthesis in history, and how a small molecule produced by stressed bacteria is a warning signal that repels healthy populations to promote their survival.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, Michele Swanson and Michael Schmidt

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• P. aeruginosa PQS repels bacteria(J Bact)
• PQS signaling(J Bact)
• Letters read on TWiM 210
• TWiM Listener survey

Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to [email protected]

The TWiM team reveals how ribosome modification resuscitates bacterial persister cells, and explain how a phage tail fiber protein exploits rotation of flagella to move towards the cell membrane.

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Links for this episode:

• Ribosome modification resuscitates persister cells (Environ Micro)
• Flagellotrophic phage targets host with tail fiber (Mol Micro)
• Hydrodynamics of phage migration along flagella (Phys Rev Fluids)

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

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michele Swanson and Michael Schmidt

Guests: Deanna Beatty, Mark Hay, Gina Lewin, Frank Stewart, and Marvin Whiteley

At Georgia Tech, members and trainees of the Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection discuss the identification of pathogen essential genes during coinfections, and how coral management can improve coral defenses against pathogens.

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Links for this episode:

• Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection
• Pathogen essential genes during coinfection (PNAS)
• Managing coral protects from pathogens (Sci Adv)

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

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

From ASM Microbe 2019 in San Francisco, Vincent speaks with Victoria McGovern, Carl Nathan, and Dan Portnoy about advancing human health through innovative collaborations.

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Victoria McGovern, Carl Nathan, and Dan Portnoy

Links for this episode:

• Getting grants (Virulence)
• Nitric oxide synthase protects against tuberculosis (PNAS)
• Actin filaments and Listeria monocytogenes (J Cell Biol)

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

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

The TWiM holobionts pay tribute to Stuart Levy, and reveal the remarkably diverse array of cyclic nucleotides synthesized by bacteria that likely mediate interactions with animal and plant hosts.

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Links for this episode:

• Stuart Levy, Antibiotic Resistance Researcher, Dies
• Resistance fighter (The Scientist)
• Stuart Levy on TWiM 16
• Stuart Levy on Meet the Scientist episode 17
• Segregation of R factors (Nature)
• Infectious drug resistance (Sci Am)
• Spread of antibiotic resistance chickens to humans (Nature)
• Costs of antimicrobial resistance (Clin Inf Dis)
• Bacteria synthesize diverse nucleotide signals (Nature)

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

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

The tetracoccal TWiM team visits Tardigrades on the Moon, and the twelve year quest to isolate an archaeon that provides insights into the emergence of the first eukaryotic cell.

Links for this episode:

• Tardigrades on the moon (Mashable)
• Meet the Tardigrade (WaPo)
• Archaeon at prokaryote-eukaryote interface (bioRxiv)

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

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

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

Host: Vincent Racaniello

Guests: Nicholas Arpaia and Tal Danino

Vincent meets up with Nick and Tal to explain how they engineered E. coli to lyse within tumors and deliver an antibody that causes tumor regression in mice.

Links for this episode:

• Programmable bacteria induce tumor immunity (Nat Med)
• Synchronized cycles of bacterial lysis (Nature)
• TWiM Listener survey

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Become a Patron of TWiM!

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

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]