How critical illness alters the microbiome, and the consequences of a sewage spill into an aquatic environment, from the TWiM team.
Michael and Vincent present Spotlights, brief reviews of classic papers in the Journal of Bacteriology, and explain how a single bacterial species can reverse autism-like social deficits in the offspring of obese mice.
The microbiome of hibernating bears, and zebrafish as a model for bacterial sepsis feature in this animal-centric episode of TWiM hosted by Vincent, Michael, and Michele.
Harris joins Vincent, Elio, and Michael to describe multiplex automated genome engineering, a method for targeting many modifications in a population of bacterial cells.
Vincent, Michele, and Michael reveal the discovery of a new species of the spirochaete that causes Lyme disease, and fecal microRNAs that shape the gut microbiome.
The microbophiles investigate the ratio of bacterial to human cells in our bodies, and how placing solar panels on a bacterium enables it to carry out photosynthesis.
On the last episode for 2015, Vincent, Elio, and Michele discuss how soil amoeba hunt nematodes in packs, and the role of mushrooms as rainmakers.
The TWiM team marvels over the finding of a completely nitrifying Nitrospira, and horizontal gene transfer from Wolbachia into an animal genome.
The TWiMeriti reveal a Brazilian social bee that must cultivate a fungus to survive, and diet-mediated reduction in gut colonization by Candida albicans.
Vincent, Elio, and Michele meet with Harry Mobley, Mary O’Riordan, and Vince Young at the University of Michigan, during the designation of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology as a Milestones in Microbiology site. They discuss how the laboratory has advanced the science and teaching of microbiology, and discuss faculty work on uropathogenic E. coli, induction of stress by bacterial infection, and the gut microbiome.
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.