TWiM 259: Sea sawdust

Mark Martin returns to TWiM for a discussion of the frightening global burden of bacterial antibiotic resistance, and a solution to the problem of daylight nitrogen fixation in a cyanobacterium, despite the incompatibility of nitrogenase with oxygen produced during photosynthesis.

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

Guest: Mark O. Martin

Right click to download TWiM #259 (45 MB .mp3, 62 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email.

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 twim@microbe.tv

TWiM 258: A tick’s meal

TWiM explains how bacterial symbionts regulate tick blood feeding activity, and the reasons why antibiotics exist.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Elio Schaechter, and Michael Schmidt

Right click to download TWiM #258 (45 MB .mp3, 61 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email.

Become a Patron of TWiM!

Links for this episode:

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

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

TWiM 257: I have one word for you: plastics

On this episode of TWiM, how phages prevent other phages from invading their hosts without blocking their own reproduction, and plastic-degrading potential of microbes across the Earth.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michele Swanson, and Michael Schmidt

Right click to download TWiM #257 (45 MB .mp3, 61 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email.

Become a Patron of TWiM!

Links for this episode:

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

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

TWiM 256: An mRNA vaccine against ticks

TWiM discusses antigenic variation within dengue virus serotypes, and an mRNA vaccine that induces antibodies against tick proteins and prevents transmission of the Lyme disease agent.

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

Right click to download TWiM #256 (36 MB .mp3, 49 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email.

Become a Patron of TWiM!

Links for this episode:

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

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

TWiM 255: Fleaing the plague

TWiM reveals a study showing that positive interactions among bacteria are far more common than previously thought, and how acquisition of a single gene enabled Yersinia pestis to expand the range of mammalian hosts that sustain flea-borne plague.

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

Right click to download TWiM #255 (36 MB .mp3, 49 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email.

Become a Patron of TWiM!

Links for this episode:

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

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

TWiM 254: Episymbionts are good for you

Mark Martin returns to TWiM for a discussion of the observation that Gram’s stain does not cross the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane, and suppression of gingival inflammation and bone loss through host modulation caused by episymbiotic Saccharibacteria. 

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

Guest: Mark O. Martin

Right click to download TWiM #254 (36 MB .mp3, 49 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email.

Become a Patron of TWiM!

Links for this episode:

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

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

TWiM 253: Cell growth and cell size with Petra Levin

Petra Levin joins TWiM to tell three stories from her laboratory: how starvation induces shrinkage of the bacterial cytoplasm; plasticity of E. coli cell wall and how it influences antibiotic resistance across different environments; and induction of antibiotic resistance by Triclosan. 

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

Guest: Petra Levin

Right click to download TWiM #253 (36 MB .mp3, 49 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email.

Become a Patron of TWiM!

Links for this episode:

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

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

TWiM 252: Electrifying microbial fuel cells

On this episode of TWiM, using colicins to ferry DNA into cells through an iron transporter, and construction of highly efficient microbial fuel cells that produce more electrical current than previously observed.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michele Swanson, and Michael Schmidt

Right click to download TWiM #252 (36 MB .mp3, 49 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email.

Become a Patron of TWiM!

Links for this episode:

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

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

TWiM 251: Biofilms, coronaviruses, and a Shigella vaccine

TWiM explores the role of biofilms in infection by coronaviruses, and development of a Shigella vaccine using outer membrane vesicles derived from Salmonella.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michele Swanson, and Michael Schmidt

Right click to download TWiM #251 (36 MB .mp3, 49 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email.

Become a Patron of TWiM!

Links for this episode:

  • Biofilms and coronaviruses (Appl Envir Micro)
  • Outer membrane vesicle vaccine (Appl Envir Micro)

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

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

TWiM 250: E-Scaffolds and paper stickers

On this episode, an electrochemical scaffold that delivers safe doses of hypochlorous acid to treat wound infections in humans, and a method for sampling and monitoring bacteria and viruses on surfaces using plain paper stickers.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michele Swanson, and Michael Schmidt

Right click to download TWiM #250 (36 MB .mp3, 49 minutes)

Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email.

Become a Patron of TWiM!

Links for this episode:

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

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.

Contribute

Support our work at Patreon, PayPal, and more