This Week in Microbiology

TWiM explains how an enhanced domestication method allows for growth of uncultured bacteria, and identification of the oncogene SLC35F2 as is a high-specificity transporter for the micronutrients queuine and queuosine.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson. Guest: Mark O. Martin

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Domestication method for uncultured bacteria (ISME Comm)
• Transporter for the micronutrients queuine and queuosine (PNAS)
• How diet and microbiome can impact your health (UF blog)
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TWiM explains a candidate signature of health in the gut microbial community, and how an intestinal bacterium exacerbates cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and Petra Levin.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• A candidate signature of health in the gut microbiome (Cell Host Microbe)
• 204,938 reference genomes from the human gut microbiome (Nat Biotech)
• A human gut metagenome-assembled genome catalogue spanning 41 countries (Nat Micro)
• A comprehensive ruminant microbial catalog (Gigascience)
• Bacteroides acidifaciens exacerbates cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury (Cell Host Microbe)
• The Great Ozempic Experiment (NY Times, paywall)
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TWiM explains how to use microbes to enhance maize yield and reduce corn rootworm damage, and how the human microbiota modulates IgE-mediated reactions to foods through allergen metabolism.

Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin, and Michele Swanson.

Guest: Mark O. Martin

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Harnessing Microbes for Crop Production (Phytobiome J)
• Microbes take on corn rootworm (Science)
• Microbial metabolism of food allergens (Cell Host Microbe)
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TWiM reveals the archaeal roots of eukaryotic life, and a building a gut malabsorption biosensor with bacteria.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• The archaeal roots of eukaryotic life (PNAS)
• Building a malabsorption biosensor (Cell)
• Engineering gut biosensors with microbes (Nature)
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TWiM discusses the use of bacteriophage-loaded microneedle patches for targeted and minimally disruptive foodborne pathogen decontamination, and a conjugal gene drive-like system that efficiently suppresses antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

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Links for this episode:

• Bacteriophage-loaded microneedle patches for food (Sci Adv)

• Gene drive to suppress antibiotic resistance (npj antimicrob and resistance)

• CRISPR gene drives (Syntego)

• Bier laboratory

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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Nancy and Maggie join TWiM to share how and why they created a freely available ebook of TWiM-based science literacy resources and classroom exercises that support teaching across key microbiology and molecular biology topics.

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Links for this episode:

• Podcast annotation and resources in microbiology (Iowa State U)

• Curriculum guidelines for undergraduate microbiology (ASM)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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TWiM explains how mechano-bactericidal surfaces made from diverse materials and patterned with spikes kill bacteria on contact, and virus-host evolution is reshaped by microgravity aboard the International Space Station.

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Links for this episode:

• Mechano-Bactericidal Surfaces (Adv Sci)

• Piercing pathogens (ASM)

• Natural bactericidal surfaces (Small)

• Virus-host evolution in microgravity (PLoS Biol)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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TWiM explains the finding that owning a dog during adolescence alters the microbiota and improves mental health, and the molecular basis for multidrug efflux by an anaerobic-associated resistance-nodulation-cell division transporter.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and Petra Levin.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Dog ownership and the microbiome during adolescence (iScience)
• Molecular basis for multidrug efflux (Nat Comm)
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TWiM explains how S. aureus pathogenicity is a dynamic, niche-specific choreography that constantly recalibrates in response to the host microenvironment, and short chain fatty acids produced by commensal microbiota reduces its competitive fitness.

Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and Petra Levin.

Guest: Mark O. Martin

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Links for this episode:

• Niche-specific fitness of S. aureus at the wound edge (Nat Comm)

• Commensal derived short chain fatty acids attenuate S. aureus (mBio)

• Ditch the term pathogen (Nature)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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TWiM explains how competition for nutrients anticipates and potentially mitigate drug side effects on the gut microbiota, and metabolic control of porin permeability influences antibiotic resistance.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt and Petra Levin

Guest: Mark O. Martin

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Links for this episode:

• Nutrient competition predicts drug effects on microbiota (Cell)

• Metabolic control of porin permeability influences antibiotic resistance in E coli (Nat Micro)

• Santiago Cano-Muniz

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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TWiM explains a biological mechanism that links sulfur and iron cycling in anoxic environments, and "swashing," a form of surface movement in which bacteria migrate without active propulsion.

Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, and Petra Levin

Guest: Mark O. Martin

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• Sulfur and iron cycling in anoxic environments (Nature)
• Bacterial surface migration by swashing (J Bacteriol)

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Music used on TWiM is by Ronald Jenkees.

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TWiM reveals the bacteria, acids, and enzymes behind yogurt made with ants, and a defined set of microbes that reproduces attributes of fine flavor chocolate fermentation

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Petra Levin

Guest: Mark O. Martin

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Links for this episode:

• Making yogurt with ants (iScience)

• The Alchemist Restaurant

• How to make classic tuiles (MasterClass)

• Defined microbes for chocolate (Nat Micro)

• Microbial chocolatiers of fine flavour (Nat Micro)

• Blind taste every chocolate bar (YouTube)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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TWiM explores two different ways that bacteria defend against phages through the synthesis of cyclic nucleotides.

Hosts: Michael Schmidt and Mark O. Martin

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Links for this episode:

• Decoy cyclic nucleotides in phage defense (Nature)

• CRISPR defense with nucleotides (Nature)

• A decoy defence molecule to set a trap for viruses (Nature)

• Cyclic oligonucleotide-based antiphage signaling system immunity (Curr Opin Immunol)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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TWiM explains studies that show that the oral bacterial and fungal microbiome are risk factors for pancreatic cancer, and the gut microbiome and pyruvate metabolism of older adults are a link between sleep quality and frailty.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Oral microbiome and pancreatic cancer risk (JAMA Oncol)
• 2025 Cancer Facts & Figures (ACS)
• Periodontal Disease: The Good, The Bad, and The Unknown (Front Cell Infect Micro)
• Socransky's disease complexes (Microorg)
• Microbiome, pyruvate metabolism, sleep quality, and frailty (Cell Rep)
• Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (pdf)
• How to score the sleep quality index (pdf)
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TWiM reveals a Vibrio as the causative agent of sea star wasting disease, and using microcolony-seq to uncover phenotypic inheritance from single cells.

Hosts: Michael Schmidt and Michele Swanson

Guest: Mark O. Martin

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Links for this episode:

• Agent of sea star wasting disease (Nat Ecol Evol)

• Sea star wasting mystery solved (Nat Ecol Evol)

• Phenotypic inheritance from single cells (Cell)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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TWiM explores the varied and distinct microbiome of trees, and an array of biopesticidal metabolites against mosquito larvae isolated from a Mediterranean island.

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Links for this episode:

• Microbiome of trees (Nature)

• Biopesticides from a Mediterranean island (Appl Environ Micro)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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TWiM pays tribute to Elio Schaechter, former TWiM host, blogger, and microbiologist extraordinaire, then reviews the finding that Archaea produce peptidoglycan hydrolases that kill bacteria - a form of competition.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson and Petra Levin.

Guest Mark O. Martin.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Elio Schaechter (Wikipedia)
• Elio Schaechter Funeral Service (video)
• Archaea produce peptidoglycan hydrolases that kill bacteria (PLoS Biol)
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TWiM discusses outbreak of Legionnaires disease in Harlem NY, an automated whole genome sequencing platform for bacterial strain typing in clinical microbiology laboratories, building E. coli with a 57-codon genetic code.

Links for this episode

• Legionnaires' disease outbreak in NY (NY Health)
• Automated whole genome sequencing for clinical labs (J Clin Micro)
• Sequencing workflow for outbreaks (J Clin Micro)
• Rewriting code of life (NYTimes)
• E. coli with a 57-codon genetic code (Science)
• E. coli with one stop codon (TWiM 330)

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

TWiM explains a study that examines pathogen presence in ancient humans and concludes that zoonoses emerged 6500 years ago with the domestication of livestock, and determination of universal rules that govern plasmid copy number.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, and Petra Levin

Guests: Mark O. Martin

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Links for this episode:

• Human pathogens in ancient Eurasia (Nature)

• What once ailed us (NY Times)

• Rules of plasmid copy number (Nature Comm)

• Scaling laws of plasmids (Nature Comm)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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TWiM explores the use of gas sensors and machine learning to identify microbes and antimicrobial resistance in clinical specimens, and how a harmful algal bloom species releases thiamin antivitamins to suppress competitors.

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Links for this episode:

• Microbial and antimicrobial resistance diagnostics (Cell Biomaterials)

• Thiamin antivitamins suppress algal competitors (mBio)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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TWiM explains two strategies for bacterial competition for resources: by laying down a slippery lipid and pushing away competitors, or by breaking open cells with a spike, liberating essential nutrients.

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Links for this episode:

• Secreting a slippery lipid (mBio)

• Lysing neighboring cells for nutrients (Science)

• Underwater hockey (YouTube

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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TWiM describes how microbiological analysis of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn has revealed an antimicrobial resistance reservoir and bioremediation potential, and fungicide resistance in Fusarium graminearum, the fungus recently smuggled into the US.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Petra Levin.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Microbiology of the Gowanus Canal (J. Appl. Micro)
• Microbes clean up Gowanus (BrooklynPaper)
• Fungicide resistance in Fusarium (Pathogens)
• Couple smuggles fungal pathogen into US (NBC)
• Fusarium and wheat-management strategies (Pathogens)
• Laboratory Biosafety (pdf)
• NIH Biosafety (NIH)
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TWiM explains how a mutualistic model bacterium can become lethal in a non-symbiotic host, and engineering a kill switch into a tuberculosis vaccine for improved safety.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Petra Levin and Michele Swanson.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• When a mutualist becomes lethal (mBio)
• A lasting symbiosis (Nat Rev Micro)
• A kill switch for BCG (Nat Micro)
• Engineering mycobacteria for vaccination (Nat Micro)
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TWiM explains a study of the unique and extreme microbial and chemical environment on the International Space Station, and the connection between the gut microbiome and pain in fibromyalgia.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, and Michele Swanson.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• ISS chemical and microbial environment (Cell)
• Gut microbiota and fibromyalgia pain (Neuron)
• Gut pain eases after doses of gut microbes (Nature)
• Skin innervation and fibromyalgia pain (Ann Neurol)
• Altered microbiome in fibromyalgia (Pain)
• Intestinal microbiome and fibromyalgia (Intl J Rheum Dis)
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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.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Niallia tiangongensis from the China Space Station (Int J Syst Evol Biol)
• Bacterial chemical radar (Cell)
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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.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• 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)
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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.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Pasteur's hunt for microbes in the air (NYTimes)
• Bacterial predation by ixotrophy (Science)
• Enter the pirates (STC)
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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.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• 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)
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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.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• Worm microbiomes produce crytoprotective proteins (Sci Adv)
• Biological antifreeze in Antarctic fishes (Sciece)
• Enhancement of bacterial ice nucleators (PNAS)
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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.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• 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)
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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.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• 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)
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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

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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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, Michele Swanson and and Mark O. Martin.

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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

• 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)
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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.

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• 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)
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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.

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• 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)
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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)

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• Engineering the cow for less methane emissions (WaPo)
• Precision microbiome editing (Audacious Project)
• Giant viruses carry antibiotic resistance genes (Nat Commun)
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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.

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• Engineering the cow for less methane emissions (WaPo)
• Precision microbiome editing (Audacious Project)
• Giant viruses carry antibiotic resistance genes (Nat Commun)
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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.

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• 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)
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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.

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• 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)
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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.

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• 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)
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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.

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• 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)
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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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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.

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• Deep-dwelling microbes that sculpt our planet (NY Times)
• Living bioelectronics resolve inflammation (Science)
• Active biointegrated living electronics for managing inflammation (Science)
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From ASM Microbe in Atlanta, Georgia, Arturo joins TWiM to reveal the threats that fungi pose to human health, including the notorious Candida auris and many more and how committed experts are researching ways to save us and our food supplies.

Hosts: Michael Schmidt, Mark O. Martin

Guest: Arturo Casadevall

Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/nKJe5xNUocU

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• Disaster mycology (Biomedica)
• Emergence of C. auris (mBio)
• What if fungi win? (JHU Press)
• Thinking about Science: Good Science, Bad Science, and How to Make It Better (Amazon)
• Recorded at ASM Microbe 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. Join us at the next ASM Microbe by visiting us at asm.org/microbe
• Matters Microbial
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Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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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.

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• 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)
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TWiM explores how climate 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.

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Links for this episode:

• Environmental changes fueling diseases (NY Times)
• Global change drivers and risk of infectious diseases (Nature)
• First reported cefiderocol-resistant E. coli in Canada (Clin Micro)
• E. coli cells explode (YouTube)

Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission.

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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.

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• 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)
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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.

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• 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
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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

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• 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)
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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.

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• 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)
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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.

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• Natural products from ancient bacterial genomes (Science)
• Plant mRNAs move into fungal pathogens (Cell Host Microb)
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Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv