{"title":"Point-of-Care Workable in Developing Countries: HPV in Self-Collected Specimens","authors":"D. Holzman","doi":"10.1128/microbe.11.297.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/microbe.11.297.1","url":null,"abstract":"Point-of-care testing appears workable even under highly difficult circumstances—specifically, when evaluated among women in Papua New Guinea, who are at risk for becoming infected with human papillomavirus, a cause of cervical cancer, according to Andrew Vallely of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and his collaborators. Moreover, self-sampling by these women provides specimens that screen as accurately as do cervical samples that clinicians obtained, these investigators note. They call this finding “critical” for developing same-day, screening-and-treatment procedures for women in this and other developing countries. Details appeared April 13, 2016 in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology (doi:10.1128/JCM.00529–16).","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/microbe.11.297.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tunable Laser Monitors Microbes in Packaged Foods, Medical Supplies","authors":"B. Digregorio","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.295.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.295.1","url":null,"abstract":"Combining a tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer (TDLAS) with wavelength modulation (WM) yields an instrument that can rapidly detect carbon dioxide to monitor microbial growth, including in packaged food products and medical instruments and supplies, according to Jie Shao at Zhejiang Normal University in Jinhua, China, and his collaborators there and at Umea University in Umea, Sweden. Details appeared 20 March 2016 in Applied Optics (doi:10.1364/AO.55.002339).","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/MICROBE.11.295.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Phages Form Liquid Crystals, Shaping P. aeruginosa Biofilms","authors":"Shannon Weiman","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.298.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.298.1","url":null,"abstract":"Through a novel mechanism, bacteriophage particles link with the surfaces of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells and other nearby polymers to form tenacious biofilms, including those that form within the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, according to Paul Bollyky of Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., who spoke during the Bay Area Microbial Pathogenesis Symposium last March in San Francisco. Bacteriophage that reproduce within P. aeruginosa are released and can assemble into liquid crystal structures that surround and protect these bacteria as part of larger biofilms, according to Bollyky, Patrick Secor, William Parks, and their collaborators. Details describing some of this research appeared November 11, 2015 in Cell Host & Microbe (doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2015.10.013).","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Quality Annotations, a Key Frontier in the Microbial Sciences: With genomic sequencing expanding so rapidly, gene annotation lags—posing challenges to catch up while correcting errors as needed","authors":"V. Crécy-Lagard","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.303.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.303.1","url":null,"abstract":"For microbiologists, the sequencing of the genome of the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae in 1995 was a pivotal event, one that transformed the microbiological research enterprise. More than 20 years later, with the genomes of some 85,000 organisms sequenced, including about 70,000 bacterial species, whole genome sequence (WGS) information is being used to design, conduct, and analyze vast numbers of experiments. There is no going back.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/MICROBE.11.303.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Whole-Genome Sequencing Is Taking over Foodborne Disease Surveillance: Public health microbiology is undergoing its biggest change in a generation, replacing traditional methods with whole-genome sequencing","authors":"H. Carleton, P. Gerner-Smidt","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.311.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.311.1","url":null,"abstract":"About 1 in 6 people are sickened with foodborne diseases each year, and for the most part those illness bouts are a nuisance and self-limiting. However, for some vulnerable populations, severe foodborne illnesses can require hospital care and may even lead to death. Once an individual becomes sick enough to visit a physician, he or she typically collects a stool sample to send to a clinical microbiology laboratory for testing and diagnosis. If the clinical laboratory identifies an enteric pathogen, the physician is notified.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/MICROBE.11.311.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Slow Movement on Antibiotic Resistance: Could inspiration to trigger real action on the global medical problems caused by bacterial drug resistance come from a musical source?","authors":"B. Dixon","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.290.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.290.1","url":null,"abstract":"I had just started telling a friend how regrettable it was that many doctors prescribe antibiotics for trivial infections, even for minor troubles that might be virus infections or not even infections at all, when he interrupted—pleading agreement with every word. “You’re quite right,” he insisted, “I would never dream of troubling my doctor for trivial complaints. I go to the Internet and find the antibiotics I want there. Years ago, every time I went to a country where the stuff was available across the counter, I used to stock up.”","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reviews and Resources:Manual of Clinical Microbiology, 11th Ed.: BOOKS","authors":"Daniel P. Haeusser","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.325.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.325.3","url":null,"abstract":"Many readers are doubtless already aware of this extensive and essential reference for current information and practice related to clinical microbiology. Covering organismal biology, disease characteristics, research and diagnostic techniques, antimicrobial agents, and safety practices, the recent 11th edition incorporates the latest findings, particularly the growing genomic and proteomic data available for pathogens. For general interest readers, the opening section of the first volume has excellent chapters of basic information on topics such as microscopy, molecular epidemiology, biothreat agents, and the human microbiome. The remainder of the first volume deals with bacteriology, while the second volume covers virology, mycology, and parasitology. This is obviously an important resource for clinical microbiologists, but it also makes a useful go-to reference for summary and facts needed for teaching the medical/clinical side of the field.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/MICROBE.11.325.3","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63641014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reviews and Resources:Metabolism and Bacterial Pathogenesis: BOOKS","authors":"Daniel P. Haeusser","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.325.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.325.1","url":null,"abstract":"“Although several factors could theoretically contribute to a microorganism's ability to colonize the intestinal ecosystem, effective completion for nutrients is paramount to success.” So the editors reference researcher Rolf Freter in their introduction to this new, integrative text. This volume highlights this truth with a biochemical focus on bacterial pathogens and the human host. This includes chapters on enteric, respiratory, urinary tract, and intracellular pathogens. Some chapters also focus attention on the role of commensal communities, such as in dental plaque or in the gut through interaction with host immunity. More species-specific topics include central carbon metabolism by Borrelia burgdorferi, regulation of Escherichia coli fimbriae by host sialic acid, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa metabolism during infection of cystic fibrosis patients. Though it is sparse in its figures, this is a timely and information-rich collection that should be a welcome resource for many microbiologists.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/MICROBE.11.325.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Bertuzzi, L. Enquist, J. Campos, J. Tiedje, T. Donohue, S. Sharp
{"title":"Journal Impact Factors: Changing the Weather: The Journal Impact Factor is not making a positive contribution to science, and ASM will no longer support it for its journals","authors":"S. Bertuzzi, L. Enquist, J. Campos, J. Tiedje, T. Donohue, S. Sharp","doi":"10.1128/microbe.11.289.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/microbe.11.289.1","url":null,"abstract":"The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is like the weather: everyone talks about it, everyone complains about it, and everyone feels incapable of changing it. Indeed, the scientific community has been held hostage of this measure of impact for a long time, which erroneously became the one and only simple metric to evaluate the impact of a single publication, the prestige of a journal, or the relevance of an individual scientist.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/microbe.11.289.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"New Synthetic Cell Challenges One-Gene, One-Trait Hypothesis","authors":"Marcia Stone","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.293.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.293.1","url":null,"abstract":"“Life is much more like a symphony orchestra than a piccolo player,” J. Craig Venter says about his institute's new synthetic bacterium. It carries a mere 473 genes, a smaller genome than any autonomously replicating cell ever found in nature. That Venter and his collaborators synthesized a new bacterium and brought it to life in a bacterial corpse is not the biggest part of this story. Perhaps more importantly, their synthetic mini microbe, designated JCVI-syn3.0, contains many quasi-essential genes—genes not absolutely necessary for viability but critical for robust growth. This is not the one-gene, one-trait phenomenon that cell reductionists were wishing for, he asserts. Details appeared 25 March 2016 in Science (doi:10.1126/science.aad6253).","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/MICROBE.11.293.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}