{"title":"The National Microbiome Initiative","authors":"T. Schmidt","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.288.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.288.1","url":null,"abstract":"We squeezed together under a small roof near the guard station just outside of the White House to avoid the drenching rain. There was excitement in the air as we waited for the launch of The National Microbiome Initiative (https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/05/13/announcing-national-microbiome-initiative). I thought about the cloud of microbes surrounding each of us and how with something as simple as a breath or a handshake, our microbiomes were intermingling. Nature might have selected for such exchanges as a means to maintain the diversity of our microbiomes, but a microbial interchange with people gathered from around the country was definitely not in our evolutionary past.","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.11.288.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640367","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":"Warming, High Carbon Dioxide Change Soil Microbiomes","authors":"B. Digregorio","doi":"10.1128/microbe.11.241.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/microbe.11.241.1","url":null,"abstract":"Warmer temperatures and elevated carbon dioxide significantly alter soil microbiome structure and functions, according to Jizhong Zhou and Maggie Yuan at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and collaborators at several institutions in the United States and China. In looking at microbial communities in active layers of Alaskan tundra, these researchers say those communities respond to increased warmth by releasing more carbon than they trap. Separately, in wetlands, global warming and higher levels of carbon dioxide induce changes in the soil microbiomes, fostering “an unusual biogeochemical profile,” according to Felix Beulig and Kirsten Kusel of Friedrich Schiller University Jena in Jena, Germany, and their collaborators.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/microbe.11.241.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640121","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":"How Climate Change affects Microbial Ecosystems (and Vice Versa)","authors":"S. Maloy, T. Schmidt","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.234.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.234.1","url":null,"abstract":"The American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) periodically hosts colloquia that bring together experts on important topics in microbial sciences. The conclusions are published in short reports (FAQs) that explain the issues in language that is accessible to the general public. These FAQs are often used by teachers, politicians, and others who are interested in the topics.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63639779","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":"Host Gene Expression Signatures Tell Viral from Bacterial Infections","authors":"C. Potera","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.240.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.240.1","url":null,"abstract":"Bacterial and viral pathogens elicit different gene signatures in blood cells of hosts that they infect, according to Purvesh Khatri of Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., and his colleagues. These signatures, if incorporated into routine clinical tests, could be used to distinguish between these two major types of infections early on, and thus could help clinicians to avoid prescribing unnecessary antibiotics that contribute to antibiotic resistance, they point out.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640051","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}
E. Kujawinski, M. Moran, Aron Stubbins, R. Fatland
{"title":"The Ocean Microbiome: Metabolic Engine of the Marine Carbon Cycle","authors":"E. Kujawinski, M. Moran, Aron Stubbins, R. Fatland","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.262.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.262.1","url":null,"abstract":"Microorganisms are the foundation of the marine carbon cycle. Photosynthetic cyanobacteria and eukaryotic phytoplankton in the surface ocean use solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into energy-rich organic compounds (“carbon fixation”) that are then released when the organisms are grazed or lysed. This in turn fuels a dynamic community of heterotrophic bacteria in both the surface and deep oceans. Over a year, oceanic phytoplankton species fix as much carbon as do land plants.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/MICROBE.11.262.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640457","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:The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health: BOOKS","authors":"C. Badgley","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.281.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.281.1","url":null,"abstract":"“The hidden half of nature” refers to the microbial world within us, beneath our feet, and throughout Earth's ecosystems. Readers of this magazine already know the amazing facts about microbial numbers, their ancient origin, their metabolic diversity and many symbioses, and their critical roles in nutrient cycling and human health. But to the public, microbes are enigmatic, menacing (especially as they are discovered in more and more places), and to be eliminated with antibiotics. The news that more cells in our bodies are microbial than human is remarkable but disquieting.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640191","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":"Mitochondrial Ancestor Joined Late with Other Bacteria, then Shed Genes","authors":"Marcia Stone","doi":"10.1128/microbe.11.242.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/microbe.11.242.1","url":null,"abstract":"The host cell that engulfed the alpha-proteobacterial ancestor of mitochondria billions of years ago was complex and full of pathways and processes from diverse other bacteria, according to Alexandros Pittis and Toni Gabaldon from the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, Spain. It apparently partnered late, as “mito-late,” during eukaryogenesis, and subsequently shed many genes en route to modern times. Details about mito-late appeared 3 March 2016 in Nature (doi:10.1038/nature16941), while details about mitochondrial gene shedding appeared 24 February 2016 in Cell Systems (doi.org/10.1016/j.cels.2016.01.013).","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63640272","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":"Gas Plasmas Gently Rid Contact Lenses, Other Surfaces of Pathogens","authors":"D. Holzman","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.238.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.238.1","url":null,"abstract":"Gas plasmas consisting of ionized air at ambient temperature can disinfect contact lenses in 2 minutes, according to Michael G. Kong of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., and his collaborators at several universities in the United Kingdom. The procedure is effective against bacteria, spores, fungi, and even cysts of Acanthamoeba protozoans, which are notoriously difficult to kill or remove from such surfaces. Thus, treating lenses with such plasmas will likely be effective in preventing keratitis, a serious inflammation of the cornea that can lead to blindness. Details appeared 18 March 2016 in Applied and Environmental Microbiology (doi:10.1128/AEM.03863–15).","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63639805","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":"US Policy Proposals for Gain-of-Function Research Raise Global Questions","authors":"J. Fox","doi":"10.1128/microbe.11.239.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/microbe.11.239.1","url":null,"abstract":"Officials seem poised to accept the updated broad framework for assessing gain-of function (GoF) research proposals that the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) developed last year, making it the basis for federal policy. As part of a painstaking vetting of those proposals, NSABB members presented their draft guidance publicly under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in Washington, D.C., in March, asking for feedback from scientific and science policy experts.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63639866","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":"Adapting to Predators in the Publishing Biome: Predatory publishers produce low-quality publications at great cost to both authors and the public, acquiring content largely through deception","authors":"Robin Hunziker","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.236.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.236.1","url":null,"abstract":"As the recipient of the email above, you might be reasonably confused about what you just read, particularly if you skipped over the footnotes. Did ASM just invite you to publish in its Journal of Bacteriology? If not, is ASM sponsoring some sort of new open access journal to build off of its Journal of Bacteriology? Is there some other connection? Unfortunately, misleading solicitations like this one are becoming increasingly common as a new breed of publisher—affectionately dubbed “predatory publishers”—continues to emerge.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/MICROBE.11.236.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63639991","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}