This Week in Microbiology

The TWiMpeeps discuss two symbioses: a parasitoid bacterium of a heterotrophic protist, and fungal parasites in cicadas. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode: Parasitoid bacterium of protist (bioRxiv) Fungal symbiont recruitment in cicadas (PNAS) Fly by virus ( TWiEVO 33 ) The Atlantic "How to Tame a Zombie Fungus" by Ed Yong Image credit Letters read on TWiM 183 Music used on TWiM is c...

The TWiM hosts reveal how to test antimicrobial susceptibility in less than 30 minutes, and a carbonate-sensitive phytotransferrin in diatoms that controls iron uptake. Become a  Patron of TWiM ! Links for this episode: Legionnaire's Disease with Michele Swanson Antibiotic susceptibility in less than 30 min (PNAS) S. saprophyticus growing in microfluidic chip (movie, PNAS) Mother machine (Jun lab)...

Vincent speaks with John Warhol about state microbes, the Periodic Table of the Microbes, and why microbiology is cooler than astrophysics, but they have better TV shows. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest : John Warhol Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts, Android , RSS , or by email. Get the entire ASM Podcast Network via our Microbeworld app . Become a patron of TWiM. Links...

Vincent speaks with Mark O. Martin about microbial centricity, teaching undergraduates microbiology, lux art, painting with glowing bacteria, tardigrades and much more at ASM Microbe 2018. Host: Vincent Racaniello Guest : Mark O. Martin Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts, Android , RSS , or by email. Get the entire ASM Podcast Network via our Microbeworld app . Become a p...

The TwiModulators discuss aerosolization of bacteria and viruses in an ocean-atmosphere mesocosm, and how the common practice of decontaminating produce with chlorine produces viable but non-culturable pathogens . Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode: Taxon-specific aerosolization of bacteria and viruses (Nat Commun) Chlorine produces viable but non-culturable bacteria (mBio) Chlorine w...

The TWiM team travels to ASM Microbe 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia to speak with Christina Kellogg about her career and her research on coral microbial ecology. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello ,  Michael Schmidt ,  Elio Schaechter  and Michele Swanson Guest: Christina Kellogg Subscribe to TWiM (free) on  iTunes ,  Stitcher ,  Android ,  RSS , or by  email.  You can also listen on your mobile device with the...

The TWiM team discuss bacteriophage evolution in a dairy plant, and killing of less fit cells among social microbes. Hosts:   Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , Michele Swanson , and Elio Schaechter . Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app . Links for this episode A decade of phage evolution (Appl En...

Vincent, Michael and Elio note the passing of Stanley Falkow, give E. coli an archaeal membrane, and show how the microbiome can make worms live longer. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , and Elio Schaechter . Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app . Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this ep...

The TWiM team notes the passing of Allan Campbell, and explains how aminoglycoside antibiotics like neomycin enhance host resistance to viral infection. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app . Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this epi...

The TWiMsters explain why untreatable typhoid fever might be on the way, and the evolution of fungal virulence in tropical frogs. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app . Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Extensively drug r...

The Masters of the Microbiological Universe discuss the humongouest fungus, and a commensal bacterium that protects against skin neoplasia. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , Michele Swanson and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app . Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this...

The TWiMmers discuss culture-independent discovery of malacidin antibiotics, and unfolding of relaxase during bacterial conjugation. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , Michele Swanson and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app . Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode...

The TWiM team explores a stingless bee that requires a fungal steroid to pupate, and colonic biofilms containing tumorigenic bacteria in patients with colorectal polyps. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app . Become a patron of TWiM. L...

The TWiM team reveals that spread of plague was likely by human ectoparasites, not rats, and deconstruct a durable, broadly protective protein nanoparticle influenza virus vaccine. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , Michele Swanson and Elio Schaechter. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Ectoparasites and plague (PNAS) SIR model for spread of disease (MAA) Protein nanoparti...

The cast of TWiM reveals how uropathogenic E. coli use a copper-binding protein to treat copper as a nutrient or a toxin, and Antarctic soil bacteria that survive on trace atmospheric gases. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , Michele Swanson and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbew...

Dickson joins the TWiM team to discuss the nasal microbiota of dairy farmers, and attenuation of bacterial virulence by quorum sensing in the maize weevil. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , and Michele Swanson . Guest: Dickson Despommier Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app . Become a patr...

How pandemic influenza viruses suppress immunogenic cell death, and 3D printing of bacteria into functional materials.

Vincent and Elio discuss the reason for poor efficacy of one of the influenza virus vaccines, and using a hyperthermophilic anaerobe to produce hydrogen from fruit and vegetable wastes in seawater. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the ASM Podcast app . Become a patron of...

The TWiM team discusses the use of copper on exercise weights to reduce bacterial burden, and the mechanism of antigenic variation by which a fungus that causes severe pneumonia escapes the immune system. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello , Elio Schaechter, Michael Schmidt , and Michele Swanson Links for this episode: Reducing bacteria on exercise weights with copper (Am J Inf Contr) Antigenic variation i...

From Indiana University, Vincent speaks with Ankur, Julia, and Xindan about their careers and their work on horizontal gene transfer, quorum sensing, and chromosome organization in bacteria. Guests: Ankur Dalia , Julia Van Kessel , and Xindan Wang Watch the video version! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifGCe-qfnA0 Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode: Dalia laboratory Van Kessel labora...

This episode is all about saliva: how certain bacteria survive in it, and how swallowing saliva might cause intestinal inflammation. Links for this episode: Genes for the Streptococcus pyogenes fitness in human saliva (mSphere) Swallowed bacteria drive colonic inflammation (Science) Intestinal inflammation induced by oral bacteria (Science) Human oral microbiome (J Bact) T cell subsets (Nat Rev Im...

The TWiM hosts and associated microbiomes review a fungus destroying salamanders in Europe, and genes for flagella in intracellular bacteria. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , Michele Swanson and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app . Become a patron of TWiM. Links for thi...

From the TWiM team, a discussion of Hurricane Harvey microbiology, and a bacterial enzyme that induces eukaryotic mating. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , Michele Swanson and Elio Schaechter. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app . Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Tainted Ho...

The TWiM team provides an update on Zika virus, and reveals a plasmid on the road to becoming a virus. Hosts:  Vincent Racaniello , Michael Schmidt , and Michele Swanson . Subscribe to TWiM (free) on iPhone , Android , RSS , or by email. You can also listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app . Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Regional Zika update, Americas (PAHO, WHO) F...

The TWiM team pays a tribute to Chris Condayan, and investigates the synergy between virus and the innate immune system for clearing bacterial pneumonia by phage therapy.