This Week in Microbiology

TWiM 82: Betrayal and compromise

July 10, 2014

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

Vincent, Michael, Elio and Michele discuss how an endosymbiont betrays its aphid host to alert plant defenses, and a new immunosuppressive cell that allows infection of neonates.

Right click to download TWiM#82 (51 MB .mp3, 71 minutes).

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Links for this episode

Endosymbiont protein betrays aphid (PNAS)
Plant immune system (Nature)
Plant defenses against pathogens (Am Phyt Soc)
New neonatal defense against infection (Nature)
Marty Blaser and Bill Maher (YouTube)
Two days from any village (YouTube)
Letters read on TWiM 82

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiM 81: Cold iron is the master of them all

June 28, 2014

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson

Vincent, Michael, and Michele discuss how iron might disperse bacterial biofilms in carotid arterial plaques, and controlling Salmonella by modulating host iron homeostasis.

Right click to download TWiM#81(49 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:

Biofilm bacteria in carotid arterial plaques
Oral bacteria in carotid plaques (Eur J Clin Invest)
Controlling Salmonella by modulating host iron homeostasis (Nat Med)
Mesenteric lymph nodes (Wikipedia)
TWiV 282: Tamiflu and tenure too
Cold Iron by Rudyard Kipling
Image credit
Letters read on TWiM 81

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiM 80: Hurling fleas and designer chromosomes

June 11, 2014

Xenopsylla cheopis Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, and Michele Swanson

Vincent, Elio, and Michele discuss how to synthesize a designer yeast chromosome, and deciphering the genetic changes path that allowed Yersinia pestis to be transmitted by fleas.

Right click to download TWiM#80 (52 MB .mp3, 54 minutes).

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Links for this episode:

Total synthesis of a yeast chromosome (Science)
Evolution of Y. pestis to flea-borne transmission (Cell Host Micr)
Proventricular valve (Wikipedia)
Image: flea with Y. pestis proventricular mass
Letters read on TWiM 80

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiM 79: A community of microbiologists

May 29, 2014

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson

Vincent, Michael, and Michele review highlights of the 2014 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Boston, MA.

Right click to download TWiM#79 (49 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:

ASM General Meeting 2014
ASMCUE
Video of Listeria infection (one, two)
Where pathogens can linger on airplanes (ASMLive)
Coral reef ecosystems lab
TWiV 286: Boston TWiV party
Letters read on TWiM 79

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiM 78: A bacterium grows in Brooklyn

May 15, 2014

MacConkey's agar Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, and Michael Schmidt

Vincent, Elio, and Michael consider a fungal pathogen of insects that acquired a gene from its host that facilitates infection, and presence of gram-negative nosocomial pathogens on community surfaces near hospitals in Brooklyn.

Right click to download TWiM#78 (46 MB .mp3, 63 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:

An insect gene makes a fungus pathogenic (PLoS Path)
Fungi growing out of insects (one and two)
Community surfaces harbor bacterial pathogens (Am J Inf Cont)
Healthcare-associated infections (NEJM)
Image credit
Letters read on TWiM 78

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiM 77: Zombie plants and no pain, no gain

May 1, 2014

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

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michelle review how a pathogen promotes plant attractiveness to insect vectors, and activation of sensory neurons that modulate pain and inflammation by bacterial infection.

Right click to download TWiM#77 (49 MB .mp3, 68 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:

Phytoplasma effector hijacks plant reproduction (PLoS Biol)
Phyllogen induces phyllody (Plant J)
Hacking aphid behavior (TWiV #70)
Demeanors, moods, and microbes (Microbe)
Bacteria activate sensory neurons to immunomodulate (Nature)
Image credit
Letters read on TWiM 77

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiM 76: Genetic biopixels and a pathogenic sweet tooth

April 11, 2014

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

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michelle discuss the use of bacteria to build a genetic sensor for heavy metals, and how host sugars help enteric pathogens to expand after antibiotic treatment.

Right click to download TWiM#76 (48 MB .mp3, 67 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:

Sensing array of radically coupled biopixels (Nature)
Synchronized genetic clocks (YouTube)
Synchronization of 32 metronomes (YouTube)
Quorum sensing – Bonnie Bassler (YouTube)
Host sugars help antibiotic-mediated expansion of enteric pathogens (Nature)
Finding a sugary foothold (Cell Host Micr)
Letters read on TWiM 76

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiM 75: Pellicles on pickle jars

March 27, 2014

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

Vincent, Elio, Michael, and Michelle discuss a symbiosis between a bacterium and fungus that increases the virulence of oral biofilms, and the assembly of amyloid fibers, which are needed for biofilm formation.

Right click to download TWiM#75 (59 MB .mp3, 81 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:

My podcast Vinny (TWiV #277)
Accessory protein for B. subtilis amyloid formation (J Bact)
Natto
Microbial amyloids (Trends Micro)
Functional bacterial amyloid (Cell Mol Life Sci)
Symbiosis in early-childhood dental caries (Inf Immun)
Human Dental Plaque showing iodophilic polysaccharide synthesis (photo)
Letters read on TWiM 75

Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]

TWiM 74: It came from the Siberian permafrost

March 12, 2014

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, and Michael Schmidt.

Vincent, Elio, and Michael discuss a huge 30,000 year old virus recovered from Siberia, and nested symbiosis facilitated by horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to insect.