BacterioFiles 172 - Sunlight-Snackers Seize Sparks

This episode: Some photosynthetic bacteria can use electricity for their metabolism to make useful stuff too!

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Show notes:
News item 1/News item 2/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Plants and their associated root microbes seem to evolve together (paper)

What was thought to be pigments in fossil feathers might actually have been bacteria

Yeast cells help understand how Alzheimer's drug works in humans

Bacteria help plants clean up metal-contaminated soils

Understanding how bacteria colonize our bodies

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!

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This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles 171 - Segments Select Specific Strains

This episode: Ahmed Gomaa and I discuss how to keep some microbes and get rid of others using bacteria's own immune system!

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Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

New, simpler genetic switch controls cancer-killing viruses more specifically

Bacteria help plants grow better in drought conditions (paper)

Sometimes not-so-clean could be healthy

Different kinds of rooms have different microbes

Peat acts as sink for microbial electrons, keeping them from producing methane (a greenhouse gas)

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter, MicrobeWorld, or Facebook

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles 170 - Good Copper, Bad Copper

This episode: With guest host Susan Gardner! We discuss nitrogen-fixing plant-friendly bacteria that help plants grow in copper-contaminated soil, helping to clean it up!

Download Episode (19.1 MB, 20.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Liquid crystals could be even more useful with bacteria in them

Adding bacteria can affect plants' microbiome and metabolism (paper)

New FDA-approved bank for fecal transplant material

New way of testing and improving potential Salmonella-based vaccines

Cacao microbe helps protect plant from pathogens (paper)

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter, MicrobeWorld, or Facebook

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.

BacterioFiles 169 - Microbes Meddle with Mesophilic Malaria

This episode: Ambient temperature seems to affect how much insect bacteria can interfere with transmission of malaria!

Download Episode (7.85 MB, 8.5 minutes)

Show notes:
News item/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

One kind of yeast divides age-related damage evenly between daughter cells instead of giving all of it to one

How gut bacteria break down fiber we eat

Making interesting art/clothing with dangerous bacteria

Study of how soil microbes react to warming environment (paper)

Gut bacteria associated with obesity are more common in some places than in others

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter, MicrobeWorld, or Facebook

This show features music from Mevio's podsafe Music Alley.