{"title":"Hydrogen from Rocks Can Furnish Microbial Ecosystems with Energy","authors":"B. Digregorio","doi":"10.1128/microbe.11.149.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/microbe.11.149.1","url":null,"abstract":"The grinding of glacial ice along silicate rocks releases enough hydrogen gas to support the energy needs of some microbial ecosystems, all at 0°C, including those containing Thiobacillus, Rhodoferax, Geobacter, and a diversity of methanogens, according to Jon Telling at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom (UK) and his collaborators there and in the United States. The research has important implications for subglacial environments that acted as refuges, enabling microorganisms to survive during the Neoproterozoic glaciations, also called Snowball Earth. Details appeared 8 November 2015 in Nature Geoscience (doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2533).","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63636462","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":"Reemergent, Likely Neurotropic Zika Virus Evokes Massive Response","authors":"J. Fox","doi":"10.1128/microbe.11.144.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/microbe.11.144.1","url":null,"abstract":"After being discovered nearly 70 years ago, the Zika virus took its sweet time before being reclassified as a public health menace. However, since late last year, it zoomed to the top of the charts. Thus, both international and national health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Ga., are giving it high-profile attention. WHO officials in February declared the virus “a public health emergency of international concern.” Reflecting that concern, many scientific publishers recently announced that they are lifting embargos and granting immediate open access to reports on this subject in hopes of more quickly bringing this worrisome upstart virus under better control.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/microbe.11.144.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63636236","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":"Therapeutic Potential of CRISPR Research Raising Safety and Ethics Questions","authors":"Marcia Stone","doi":"10.1128/microbe.11.150.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/microbe.11.150.1","url":null,"abstract":"CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing is a potential treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), according to Charles Gersbach from Duke University in Durham, N.C., and his collaborators there and elsewhere. However, at this stage, that editing is directed to an exon 23 deletion in the mdx model of the disease in mice, with CRISPR/Cas 9-based editing changing “expression of a modified dystrophin gene in place of the defective one, [leading to] partial recovery of functional dystrophin protein in skeletal and cardiac muscle, improvement of muscle biochemistry, and significant enhancement of muscle force,” they report. “This is the first time CRISPR has been successfully delivered throughout the body with a translational approach to treat grown animals with genetic diseases,” points out Christopher Nelson, the lead author of their report that appeared 31 December 2015 in Science (doi:10.1126/science.aad5143).","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/microbe.11.150.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63636314","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 Microbiome of Human Decomposition: Studying microbial communities involved at every stage of cadaver decomposition is leading to a more precise understanding of the overall process","authors":"S. Bucheli, A. Lynne","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.165.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.165.1","url":null,"abstract":"Deep in the primordial forest of eastern Texas, we watch our team of undergraduate and graduate students taking swab samples from a pair of human cadavers that we placed at the Southeast Texas Applied Forensics Science (STAFS) facility of Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Huntsville. Our highly choreographed sampling regime, which focuses on bacterial communities, includes swabbing seven body sites on each cadaver, collecting nearby soil samples, tabulating temperatures, and collecting cadaver-associated flies. We do this daily until the bodies begin to dry out, then sample every other day for another month, then once weekly for yet another month, then once per month for 6 months until only dry bones remain. We continue taking soil samples for approximately one year longer.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/MICROBE.11.165.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63636988","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 Road to Discovery: A Short History of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: BOOKS","authors":"S. Maloy","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.181.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.181.1","url":null,"abstract":"Like a handful of other research institutions, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has had an impressive impact on science. Beginning with a focus on phage, CSHL played an important role in the development of molecular biology, and has continued to be at the forefront of scientific discovery. One reason for this is that it attracts a diverse flock of scientists from around the world and fosters an atmosphere of vigorous, open scientific discussion and debate that starts in the morning and often goes late into the night. This stimulates scientists to immerse themselves in engaging arguments about why, how, and what's next.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/MICROBE.11.181.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63636683","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":"Microbe Mentor:Elevator Pitches","authors":"Lisa Kozlowski, Shilpa Gadwal","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.179.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.179.1","url":null,"abstract":"In preparation for the upcoming ASM Microbe 2016 conference in Boston, Mass., Microbe Mentor will be featuring two back-to-back issues on topics chosen to help attendees achieve the most benefits from the meeting. In this article, Microbe Mentor will address the topic of elevator pitches. Next month, Microbe Mentor will talk about navigating the career activities that can be expected at ASM Microbe 2016.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63637031","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 Dead and Their Microbes: Various microbial ecologies come into play as a corpse decomposes, releasing nutrients along with commensal microbes, which then compete with those in soil","authors":"J. DeBruyn","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.119.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.119.1","url":null,"abstract":"There is life after death, and it is mainly microbial. Ernest Hemingway published in 1933 his essay, “A Natural History of the Dead,” based on his experiences as an ambulance driver during World War I. He saw parallels between decaying corpses along battlefields and the ecosystems described by naturalists of his day, asking “can we not hope to furnish the reader with a few rational and interesting facts about the dead? I hope so.”","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/MICROBE.11.119.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63636025","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":"CRISPRs, Engineered into Plants, Protect Them From Damaging Viruses","authors":"Marcia Stone","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.103.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.103.1","url":null,"abstract":"Engineering the CRISPR/Cas9 system to protect tobacco-like Nicotiana benthamiana plants from the tomato yellow leaf-curl virus (TYLCV) geminivirus leads to a “significant reduction in viral accumulation and disease symptoms,” report Magdy Mahfouz and his colleagues at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. This same approach can likely be used to protect a variety of crop plants against other viruses, underscoring its broad applicability, they point out.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63635855","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":"Bacteria Can Be Predators, Too","authors":"T. Schmidt","doi":"10.1128/MICROBE.11.94.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/MICROBE.11.94.1","url":null,"abstract":"As a reminder of how even carefully laid plans can go awry, I have a small collection of seashells in my office with holes that have been precisely drilled through the hard, calcium carbonate shells. Through a combination of chemical dissolution and a sharp, drill-like tongue, predatory cone snails bored the holes in these shells of fellow mollusks and harvested a lifetime of hard work in the oceans. Life is not fair.","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/MICROBE.11.94.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63643896","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":"Not-So-Large Charge: Deep-Sea Microbes Directly Consume Electricity","authors":"D. Holzman","doi":"10.1128/microbe.11.101.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1128/microbe.11.101.1","url":null,"abstract":"The bacterium Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans can thrive on electrons obtained directly from an electrode when its usual energy source—iron—is unavailable. This switch from using an inorganic element to consuming electricity itself as a source of electrons “demonstrates a previously unknown bioenergetic versatility,” say Ryuhei Nakamura of the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science in Saitama, Japan, and his collaborators. Thus, electrons might be a primary energy source for these bacteria while dwelling within the deep-sea hydrothermal ecosystems in which they are found, they point out. Details appeared in the September 2015 Frontiers in Microbiology (doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.00994).","PeriodicalId":87479,"journal":{"name":"Microbe (Washington, D.C.)","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1128/microbe.11.101.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"63635791","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}