This Week in Microbiology

TWiM describes isolation of a novel bacterial species isolated from the China Space Station, and how a chemical radar allows bacteria to detect and kill predators. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Petra Levin. Guest Mark O. Martin. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Niallia tiangongensis from the China Space Station (Int J Syst Evol Biol) Bacterial chemical radar (Cell) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains how to recode E. coli so it uses only one stop codon, and an exploration of the mechanisms of bacterial adhesion within dental plaque. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Engineering E. coli with one stop codon (Nature) Bacterial adhesion in dental plaque (mBio) Microbial complexes in subgingival plaque (J Clin Periodontol) Bacterial clusters in periodontal and peri-implant diseases (Microorg) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains Pasteur's relentless hunt for microbes in the air, and how bacteria hunt for prey by ixotrophy - using grappling hooks! Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Pasteur's hunt for microbes in the air (NYTimes) Bacterial predation by ixotrophy (Science) Enter the pirates (STC) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM describes Shigella infection is facilitated by interaction of human enteric α-defensin 5 with a colonic epithelial receptor, and an amino acid change in RNA polymerase that leads to resistance to β-lactams by preventing dysregulation of amino acid and nucleotide metabolism Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode National Black HIV/AIDS awareness day (CDC) Shigella infection and human enteric alpha-defensin 5 (Nature Microbio) RNA polymerase amino acid change and resistance to beta-lactams (Cell Rep) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains the remarkable abilities of bacterial ice nucleating proteins to promote freezing of water, and cryoprotective proteins produced by worm microbiomes that prevent freezing. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Worm microbiomes produce crytoprotective proteins (Sci Adv) Biological antifreeze in Antarctic fishes (Sciece) Enhancement of bacterial ice nucleators (PNAS) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explores the discovery of microbial enzymes, PETases, that can degrade ubiquitous plastics, and how exogenous peptidoglycan is a danger signal to trigger biofilm formation. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson. Guest Mark O. Martin. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Discovery of PET depolymerases (Science) Exogenous peptidoglycan triggers biofilm formation (Nat Micro) What is a biofilm? (Vimeo) Peptidoglycan as a PAMP/MAMP (Immunol Rev) Light organ formation triggered by peptidoglycan (Science) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reveals that record high atmospheric methane growth has been driven by microbes, and the cecum as an adaptive niche for Salmonella typhi. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Why a potent greenhouse gas is rising (WaPo) Microbial emissions drove record high atmospheric methane growth (PNAS) Salmonella biofilm formation in the cecum (mBio) Typhoid Mary (The Collector) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

From ASMCUE 2024, the conference on undergraduate education, TWiM speaks with Becky, Melanie, and Katriana about their careers and how they use TWiM in undergraduate microbiology education. Hosts: Michael Schmidt and Mark O. Martin Guests: Becky Seipel-Thiemann, Melanie Melendrez-Vallard, and Katriana Popichak Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM describes how to make concrete more ‘green' by using microbes, and bacterial bioluminescence as an important regulator of multitrophic interactions in the soil. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Mark O. Martin. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Links for this episode Construction nanobiotechnology for concrete (Appl Env Micro) Self-healing concrete (Sci Tot Environ) Microbe-inspired self-healing concrete (Front Struct Civil Eng) Bacterial bioluminescence regulates multitrophic interactions in the soil (Cell Rep) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains how ticagrelor alters the membrane of S. aureus and enhances the activity of vancomycin and daptomycin without eliciting cross-resistance, and the development of a novel continuous disinfectant technology that decreases healthcare-associated infections in ICUs by 70%. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Ticagrelor and S. aureus (mBio) Novel disinfectant technology (Am J Inf Control) UVC-LED to inactivate foodborne pathogens (Appl Envir Micro) UV disinfection systems (ACS Photonics) High-touch surfaces in specialized patient care area (CDC) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv  

TWiM focuses on recent foodborne outbreaks of bacterial infections, and how nanopore sequencing technology can be used to identify pathogenic microbes and antimicrobial resistance genes in food products. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Foodborne outbreaks (CDC) Race to nourish a warming world (Gates Foundation) Nanopore sequencing of foods (Food Microbiol) How is Oxford Nanopore used? (YouTube) Introduction to Nanopore sequencing (YouTube) Methods for detecting foodborne pathogens (Appl Micro Biotech) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM travels to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases to learn how research conducted at USAMRIID leads to vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and training programs that protect both warfighters and civilians. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Guests: Norman Kreiselmeir, Christopher K Coat, Keersten Ricks, and Eric Nguyen Links for this episode: U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases Threading the NEIDL (TWiV 200) Unintentional importation of B. pseudomallei into US (Emerg Inf Dis) Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Engineering the cow for less methane emissions (WaPo) Precision microbiome editing (Audacious Project) Giant viruses carry antibiotic resistance genes (Nat Commun) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains a project to engineer the cow microbiome to reduce emissions of methane, and the finding of antibiotic resistance genes in the genomes of giant viruses. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Engineering the cow for less methane emissions (WaPo) Precision microbiome editing (Audacious Project) Giant viruses carry antibiotic resistance genes (Nat Commun) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains how bacterial community structure can be used to predict athletic performance in racehorses, and the idea that a tiny fraction of all species forms most of Nature. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Mark O. Martin. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Microbiome picks a winner (Sci Rep) Picking a Winner by Reading the Form Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes by Stephen Jay Gould How much does it cost to breed a horse? Date of birth and purchase price as foals or yearlings and race performance Rarity as a sticky state (PNAS) How many species on Earth? (PLoS Biol) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains unique modifications in the energy conservation pathways linked to methanogenesis in an Archaeon, and mechanisms of white nose fungal invasion of cells from the Little Brown Bat. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Methyl-reducing methanogenesis (Nature) Pathogenic strategies of Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Science) Adaptive fungal invasion of bat cells (Science) Little brown bat (Critter Catalog) Nature Notes: Little Brown Bat (Harpswell) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM describes experiments to explore gut microbiota signatures of vulnerability to food addiction in mice and humans, and how a phage tail-like protein suppresses competitors in populations of bacteria of plants. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Gut microbiota and food addiction (Probiotics) Blautia may have probiotic properties (Gut Microbes) Blautia wexlerae ameliorates obesity and type 2 diabetes (Nat Commun) Phage tail–like bacteriocin suppresses competitors (Science) What is a bacteriocin? (Front Micro) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explores evolution and host adaptation of Pseudomonas infections of plants, and the impact of COVID-19 on ESBL-producing E. coli on urinary tract and blood infections. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Michael Schmidt. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Evolution and host adaptation of Pseudomonas (Science) Type III secretion system, infection by injection (Nat Comm) Demographic inference with skyline plots (Peer J) Skyline plots (Taming the Beast) Panaroo, a bacterial genome analysis pipeline (Wellcome Sanger Inst) Impact of COVID-19 on ESBL-producing E. coli infections (Antimicro Resist Inf Control) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explores the deep-dwelling microbes that sculpt our planet, and the use of microbes in bioelectronics to manage inflammation. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Deep-dwelling microbes that sculpt our planet (NY Times) Living bioelectronics resolve inflammation (Science) Active biointegrated living electronics for managing inflammation (Science) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

Fungal kingdom frontiersman Dr. Arturo Casadevall, asks, What if Fungi Win? Michael Schmidt and Mark O. Martin discuss with Arturo, his new book and the beneficial roles of fungi along with their mischievous and deadly impacts and how committed experts are researching ways to save us and our food supplies. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Mark O. Martin Guest: Dr. Arturo Casadevall Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/nKJe5xNUocU Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Recorded at ASM Microbe 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. Join us at the next ASM Microbe by visiting us at asm.org/microbe. Matters Microbial Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains a new mechanism for preventing lysogeny through temperate phage-antibiotic synergy, and Salmonella expansion in the murine gut dependency on aspartate derived from reactive oxygen species-mediated microbiota lysis. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Temperate phage-antibiotic synergy (mBio) Salmonella expansion dependent on aspartate (Cell Host Micr) Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis (Wiki) A Genetic Switch by Mark Ptashne Lysis timing and bacteriophage fitness (Genetics) HK97 capsid assembly (Ad Exp Med Biol) Mode of action of fluoroquinolones (Drugs) Salmonella a foodborne pathogen (CDC) Freeman Hrabowski Scholars Program (HHMI) Sam Kaplan - 30 years of Microbiology (McGovern Medical School) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

Today on this episode of TWiM we will learn how limate change may be increasing our risks to infectious disease and then how the Odyssey literally comes alive in our microbial world but fear not, unlike the Trojans, the bacteria are fighting back and have developed resistance to this novel class of newly developed antimicrobials.   

TWiM explores the plasticity of the adult human small intestinal stoma microbiota, and survival and rapid resuscitation that permit limited productivity in desert microbial communities. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Plasticity of small intestinal stoma microbiome (Cell Host Micr) Desert microbial communities (Nat Comm) How soil microbes survive in the desert (Science Daily) Negev Desert (WikiCommons) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

Today on TWiM, a charcuterie invasion, and how that acid in your stomach may protect from the invading hordes of microbes. Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode 2024 Salmonella outbreak linked to charcuterie meats  Multitier regulation of the E. coli extreme acid stress response by CsrA Commentary: Peeling the onion: additional layers of regulation in the acid stress response Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reviews a case of E. faecium bacteremia treated with combination bacteriophage and antibiotic therapy, and how dopamine receptor D2 confers colonization resistance via microbial metabolites. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Guest: Mark O. Martin Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Matters Microbial Distinct Fusobacterium dominates colorectal cancer (Nature) Bacterial subspecies that might drive colon cancer (Nature) A bacterial strain linked to colon cancer (Nature) Spatial perspective on bacteria in tumors (Nature) Colorectal cancer in the young (Yale Med) Surface colonization by Flavobacterium johnsoniae promotes its survival (mBio) THOR, a model microbiome (mBio) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reviews a case of E. faecium bacteremia treated with combination bacteriophage and antibiotic therapy, and how dopamine receptor D2 confers colonization resistance via microbial metabolites. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Vincent's interviews at SXSW Bacteriophage and antibiotic therapy for E. faecium bacteremia (mBio) Dopamine receptor D2 confers colonization resistance (Nature) CDC's Reports of Selected E. coli Outbreak Investigations Brett Finlay's narrated EPEC animation Colonization resistance by gut microbial metabolome (ACS Chem Biol) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM discusses the identification of natural products from reconstructed ancient bacterial genomes, and how plant mRNAs move into a fungal pathogen via extracellular vesicles to reduce infection. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Petra Levin. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Natural products from ancient bacterial genomes (Science) Plant mRNAs move into fungal pathogens (Cell Host Microb) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reviews the ongoing cholera outbreak in Africa, and research showing that gut complement induced by the microbiota blocks pathogens and spares commensal bacteria. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Cholera in Southern Africa (Africa CDC) Deadly cholera outbreak in Africa (NY Times) Pediatric cholera in sub-Saharan Africa (Curr Op Ped) Gut complement spares commensals (Cell) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reveals a new population in the blue cheese-making fungus Penicillium roqueforti and identification of a quorum-sensing autoinducer and siderophore in uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode New blue cheese-making fungus (Evol Appl) Threat to Camenbert cheese (Guardian) French Cheese Under Threat (CNRS News) Fungadapt project (YouTube) Microbes Make the Cheese (ASM) Yersiniabactin in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (mBio) Public goods and cheating in microbes (Curr Biol) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reveals a database of genome sequences of thousands of Mycobaterium tuberculosis, allowing association with resistance phenotypes to 13 antibiotics, and microbe-derived uremic solutes that enhance thrombosis potential in the host. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode M. tuberculosis genomes and antimicrobial resistance (PLoS Biol) The CRyPTIC consortium BashTheBug Zooniverse Microbial solutes enhance thrombosis (mBio) Can our microbiome break our heart? (mBio) Pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (EJIFCC) How Kidneys Work Video (Mayo Clinic) What is a metaorganism? (Zoology) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM describes the mechanism for the S. aureus itch and scratch induced skin damage, and discovery of a novel class of antibiotics that targets the lipopolysaccharide transporter.   Become a patron of TWiM.   Links: S. aureus drives itch and scratch behavior (Cell) Staph scratches its itch (Cell) A new class of antibiotics (Nature) A new type of antibiotic (Nature) Novel antibiotic targets LPS transporter (Nature) New antibiotic traps LPS (Nature) Macrocyclic peptide drugs (Science) Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv  

A highly reduced TWiM team presents a study of the use of phage diversity in cell-free DNA to identify bacterial pathogens in human sepsis cases, and the evolution, persistence, and host adaptation of a gonococcal antimicrobial resistance plasmid that emerged in the pre-antibiotic era. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Phages identify sepsis pathogens (Nat Micro) Gonococcal AMR plasmid from pre-antibiotic era (PLoS Genetics) Take the TWiM Listener survey!

On the occasion of TWiM's 300th episode, we discuss how two college students found a new antibiotic in soil, Barbara Iglewski's passing, and Elio returns for an appearance. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Guest: Elio Schaechter Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Barbara Iglewski dies Antimicrobial activity of P. nicotinovorans (MicroPubl Biol) 2 NWTC students found a new antibiotic in soil (Green Bay Press Gazette) ESKAPE bacteria group (Clover) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

From ASM's Conference for Undergraduate Educators 2023 in Phoenix, TWiM speaks with Amaya Garcia Costas and Gwendolyn Knapp about their approaches to undergraduate microbiology education, and how they use TWiM as part of their curricula. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson. Guest: Amaya Garcia Costas and Gwendolyn Knapp. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode ASMCUE 2023 Teaching in the time of COVID-19 (J Microbiol Biol Edu) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM provides thoughts on providing better training for a non-academic career, and help celebrate Black in Microbiology Week with a 2023 paper by Ari Kozik, a co-founder of Black Microbiologists Association and Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, Petra Levin, Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Better training for a non-academic career (Nat Micro) Nature career site ASM career site Prosper - Unlocking postdoc career potential Airway microbiota in obesity and asthma (J Allerg Clin Immunol) A vision for human microbiome research (mSphere) Microbes in Models (ASM) Climate change and microbes (ASM) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reviews how a coating of lipoproteins provides a stabilizing environment on the inner membrane of Bacillus subtilis spores, and a miniaturized device that integrates genetically engineered probiotic biosensors with a custom-designed photodetector and readout chip to track mediators of inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Petra Levin, Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Lipoproteins stabilize germination apparatus (J Bacteriol) A coating of liposomes (J Bacteriol) Biosensor to detect inflammatory molecules in the gut (Nature) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM discusses a dispute about whether the mycobiome plays a role in the development of cancer, and the structure and function of channels that are delivered to plant cells by pathogenic bacteria. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, and Michael Schmidt. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Cancer microbes disputed (Carl Zimmer) Fungal mycobiome and cancer (Nature) Revisiting fungal mycobiome and cancer (Nature) Bacteria deliver channels to plant cells (Nature) Ice nucleation by bacteria (YouTube) Gram-negative bacterial porins (Curr Protein Pept Sci) Xenopus oocyte toolbox (Cold Spring Harb Protocols) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains how phages avoid tRNA-targeting host defenses, and discovery of a new antibiotic from an uncultured bacterium that binds to an immutable target. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Petra Levin, Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Phages avoid tRNA-targeting host defenses (eLife) Sea phages Actinobacteriophage database New antibiotic from uncultured bacterium (bioRxiv) The age of infection (For Policy) Killing bacteria by teixobactin (Nature) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reveals that the ice cream manufacturing environment harbors psychrotrophic bacteria, and identification of a deadly bacterial strain causing widespread deaths of newborns in Uganda. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, & Michele Swanson. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Pyschrotrophic bacteria in ice cream plants (Appl Environ Micro) Creamery pays fine for contaminated ice cream (US DOJ) Paenibacillus infection of infants in Uganda (The Lancet) Deadly bacterial strain identified (Yale SOM) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains personalized aerosilized phage therapy for a chronic lung infection, and using the combination of antibiotic and a DNA molecule that binds alpha-gal to reduce S. aureus infection in vivo. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Michael Schmidt Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a Patron of TWiM! Links for this episode: Aerosolized phage therapy (Nat Comm) Alpha-gal aptamer and vancomycin for MRSA (Microorg) Alpha-gal syndrome (Front Allergy) Natural antibody protects against viral infection (virology blog) Music used on TWiM is by Ronald Jenkees. Send your microbiology questions and comments to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM reveals that breast milk bioactives are essential for development of the infant microbiome and immunity, and how capsule mutants of Klebsiella pneumoniae can affect bacterial pathogenesis. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, Petra Levin, Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Diet-microbe-host interaction in early life (Science) Human Milk: An Ideal Food (Front Ped) Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (Ann NY Acad Sci) Gut microbiome in early childhood (Nature) Probiotics Infloran and Labinic Cell envelope defects of Klebsiella pneumoniae (Mol Micro) A cautionary tale (Mol Micro) Global mortality associated with bacterial pathogens (Lancet) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM explains how photoferrotrophic bacteria initiated plate tectonics over 2500 million years ago, and how two bacteria work together to cause childhood tooth decay. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, Petra Levin, Guest: Mark O. Martin Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Bacteria initiated plate tectonics (Geophys Res Lett) Medea hypothesis (Sci Am) Earth's ferrous wheel (Nature) The Great Dying (Nova) The Great Oxidation Event (ASM) Banded iron formations (EarthSphere) S. sputigena and tooth decay (Nat Comm) Acid tolerance mechanisms of S. mutans (Fut. Micro.) Halitosis patients' tongue biofilm (Microbiol. Open) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Music used on TWiM is by Ronald Jenkees Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

From ASM Microbe 2023 in Houston, TWiM speaks with Mimi Goldschmidt about her remarkable career in microbiology which included training astronauts to safely bring moon rocks back to Earth. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin. Guest: Mimi Goldschmidt Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Mimi Goldschmidt (Wikipedia) Dr. Millicent “Mimi” Goldschmidt - Women in Microbiology (YouTube) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv

TWiM highlights viral defense and counter-defense: cGAS mediated ubiquitination to counter infection, and viral sponges that sequester nucleotide signals to inactivate immunity. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, Petra Levin. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Ubiquitin-like conjugation by bacterial cGAS (Nature) Jumpin' Jack Flash (TWiV 222) Viral sponges inactivate anti-phage immunity (Trends Micro) cGAS and CD-NTase enzymes (Curr Opin Struct Biol) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv