TWiM 69: Bacterial DNA in the human genome

acinetobacterHosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, Jo Handelsman and Michele Swanson

Vincent, Elio, Jo, and Michele review evidence for bacterial DNA integrated into the human genome, and control of the symbiont population in an insect midgut.

Right click to download TWiM #69 (51 MB .mp3, 71 minutes).

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TWiM 68: The fungus among us

tested surfacesHosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, Michael Schmidt and Michele Swanson.

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michele discuss the amazingly high level of intergenera gene exchange among haloarchaea in an Antarctic lake, and the diversity of fungi on residential surfaces and the human forehead.

Right click to download TWiM #68 (51 MB .mp3, 71 minutes).

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TWiM 67: Black mushrooms and RNA thermosensors

auricularia auricula-judaeHosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, and Michael Schmidt

Vincent, Elio, and Michael discuss how temperature triggers Neisseria menigitidis immune evasion, and protection of mice from ionizing radiation by feeding them black mushrooms.

Right click to download TWiM #67 (55 MB .mp3, 75.5 minutes).

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TWiM 66: The shape of a container

outer membrane vesiclesHosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, Michael Schmidt and Michele Swanson

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michele discuss the curious outer membrane vesicles of Neisseria meningitidis, and sources of Clostridium difficile infection revealed by genome sequencing.

Right click to download TWiM #66 (50 MB .mp3, 68 minutes).

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TWiM 65: Leanness is transmissible

two mice

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Michele Swanson.

Vincent and Michelle reveal how the human gut microbiota can modulate obesity in mice.

Right click to download TWiM #65 (35 MB .mp3, 51 minutes).

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TWiM 64: URI and UTI at ICAAC in Denver

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, James Gern, and James R. Johnson.

Vincent and Michael recorded this episode at the 53rd ICAAC in Denver, where they spoke with James Gern and James Johnson about rhinoviruses and extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli.



Right click to download TWiM #64 (56 MB .mp3, 77 minutes).

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TWiM 63: Superantigens, S. aureus, and the armpit microbiome

grapes

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt and Michele Swanson

Vincent, Michael, and Michelle discuss how a Staphylococcus aureus superantigen is critical for pathogenesis in a rabbit model, and the relationship of body odor to the axilla microbiome.

Right click to download TWiM #63 (59 MB .mp3, 85 minutes).

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TWiM 62: Breaking bad and protein chain mail

Streptococcus pneumoniae

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Michael Schmidt

Vincent and Michael discuss how infection with influenza A virus disperses Streptococcus pneumoniae biofilms leading to disease, and an amazing protein chainmail in a viral capsid.

Right click to download TWiM #62 (55 MB .mp3, 80 minutes).

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TWiM 61: The irony of probiotics

iron

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter and Michele Swanson.

Vincent, Elio, and Michele review how horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to an insect genome enables a tripartite nested mealybug symbiosis, and how probiotic bacteria work by competing for iron in the intestine.

 

Right click to download TWiM #61 (44 MB .mp3, 60 minutes).

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Links for this episode:

Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM 60: Microbial electrochemistry and diversity-generating retroelements

Legionella

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter and Michael Schmidt

Vincent, Elio, and Michael discuss how an error-prone reverse transcriptase produces enormous diversity in a Legionella protein, and using microbes to convert waste into bioelectricity and chemicals.

 

Right click to download TWiM #60 (50 MB .mp3, 71 minutes).

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, via RSS feed, by email or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app.

Links for this episode:

Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

About the Hosts of TWiM

Vincent Racaniello, Ph.D. (@profvrr) is Higgins Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at Columbia University Medical Center. He has been studying viruses for over 40 years. He teaches virology to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as medical, dental, and nursing students. His lectures are available online at iTunes University, YouTube, and Coursera.


Michael Schmidt, Ph.D. (TWiM) is the Professor and Vice Chairman of Microbiology and Immunology and Director of the Office of Special Programs at the Medical College of South Carolina. Dr. Schmidt is leading a team of infectious disease specialists from three health sciences centers and engineers from industry.

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