Feature Channels: Microbiome

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Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridioides difficile, Candida auris, Drug-resistant Shigella. These bacteria not only have difficult names to pronounce, but they are also difficult to fight off. These bacteria may infect humans and animals, and the infections they cause are harder to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent global public health threat.

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Omnitrophota are nano-sized bacteria first discovered 25 years ago. Though common in many environments around the world, until now they've been poorly understood. An international research team produced the first large-scale analysis of Omnitrophota genomes, uncovering new details about their biology and behavior. The team’s findings are reported in the March 16 issue of the journal Nature Microbiology.

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Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have confirmed that bacteria-killing viruses called bacteriophages deploy a sneaky tactic when targeting their hosts: They use a standard genetic code when invading bacteria, then switch to an alternate code at later stages of infection.

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It's sleep awareness week, according to the National Sleep Foundation. It’s important to understand how sleep deprivation can impact your health. Most people recognize that if they don’t get enough sleep, their mood and memory will suffer the next day.

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In decades past, scientists have been unable to conclusively identify human-associated microbes in samples collected above 26,000 feet. This study marks the first time that next-generation gene sequencing technology has been used to analyze soil from such a high elevation on Mount Everest, enabling researchers to gain new insight into almost everything and anything that’s in them.

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Certain enzymes within a class known as bile salt hydrolases (BSHs) can restrict Clostridioides difficile (C. diff.) colonization by both altering existing bile acids and by creating a new class of bile acids within the gut’s microbial environment. The work could lead to “designer” probiotics that protect against disease.

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In a new study published in Nature Medicine, Moffitt Cancer Center physician-scientists, in collaboration with four cancer centers in the United States and Germany, reveal how microorganisms in the gut influence non-Hodgkin lymphoma patient outcomes to a type of cellular immunotherapy called chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR T.

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A whole new world of antibiotics is waiting inside the viruses that infect bacteria. Our scientists are making it easier to study them.

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The paper ‘Weaponising microbes for peace’ by Anand et al, outlines the ways in which microbes and microbial technologies can be used to tackle global and local challenges that could otherwise lead to conflict, but warns that these resources have been severely underexploited to date.

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Scientists previously believed that microorganisms could not use pyrite to grow in oxygen-free conditions. New research shows that certain single-celled microorganisms can dissolve pyrite in the absence of oxygen. These microorganisms mine iron and sulfur from the pyrite to build biocatalysts needed for growth. The results have potential applications in biotechnology.

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Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered how healthy bacteria can escape the intestine, travel to lymph nodes and cancerous tumors elsewhere in the body, and boost the effectiveness of certain immunotherapy drugs. The findings, published in Science Immunology, shed light on why antibiotics can weaken the effect of immunotherapies and could lead to new cancer treatments.

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New methodology and tools his team developed by phage expert Graham Hatful provides the opportunity to watch in unprecedented detail as a phage attacks a bacterium.

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Now, in a surprising new discovery, Harvard Medical School researchers have found that a class of regulatory T cells (Tregs) made in the gut play a role in repairing injured muscles and mending damaged livers. In an even more unexpected twist, the researchers found that gut microbes fuel the production of Tregs, which act as immune healers that go on patrol around the body and respond to distress signals from distant sites of injury.

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The discovery of a strain of bacteria shown to reduce inflammation in the intestine caused by irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) could bring relief to millions of sufferers after being turned into an innovative natural food supplement by University of Bristol biotech spin-out Ferryx.

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Uma colonização específica de micróbios no trato reprodutivo é comumente encontrada em mulheres com câncer de ovário de acordo com um novo estudo do Centro de Medicina Individualizada da Mayo Clinic. A descoberta, publicada na revista Scientific Reports, fortalece a evidência de que o componente bacteriano do microbioma (uma comunidade de microrganismos que também consistem em vírus, leveduras e fungos) é um importante indicador para detecção precoce, diagnóstico e prognóstico do câncer de ovário.