{"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":"274 1","pages":"325-325"},"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}
{"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":"11 1","pages":"293-295"},"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}
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":"11 1","pages":"289-289"},"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":"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":"11 1","pages":"288-288"},"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":"9 5 1","pages":"241-242"},"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}
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":"11 1","pages":"262-267"},"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":"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":"11 1","pages":"234-234"},"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":"11 1","pages":"240-241"},"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}
{"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":"11 1","pages":"281-281"},"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":"11 1","pages":"242-243"},"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}