BacterioFiles 249 - Spores Survive Spaceship Scorching

Basalt disc in heat shield after re-entry
Slobodkin et al. 2016, Fig 4

This episode: Bacterial spores can survive atmospheric entry on an artificial meteorite!

Download Episode (10.7 MB, 11.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Fermenting chocolate with domesticated yeasts could make it better than natural fermentation

Bacteria could control robot body in fairly complex behaviors (podcast)

Plants' hormones affect the microbial communities around their roots

Ocean microbes make clouds that reflect extra sunlight

Emphasizing the importance of microbes in the soil

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

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BacterioFiles 248 - Tiny Travelers Transport Toxin Trashers

Swarming P. vortex (red)
carrying cargo (green).
Finkelshtein et al. 2015

This episode: Bacteria that swarm around in groups carry other bacteria with them that can be helpful for degrading toxins!

Download Episode (14.2 MB, 15.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper/Explanatory video

Other interesting stories:

Bacterium can help biofuel-producing algae grow better (paper)

Super-tolerant yeasts found in high volcanic place in super-dry desert (paper)

Bacteria living in even non-legume plants (like rice) could fix nitrogen for their host

Algae are becoming more popular as alternative protein in food

Microbiome resistance to C. difficile infection depends on many bacteria together

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

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BacterioFiles 247 - Animalcule Acetate Ameliorates Asthma

This episode: Feeding mice high-fiber diets reduces their risk of allergic airway disease, even across generations!

Download Episode (12.1 MB, 13.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

Challenging bacteria with other bacteria can help for discovering useful chemicals they produce

Bacteria's CRISPR systems can affect their own genome structure (paper)

Observing bacterial communities to sense pollution in the environment (paper)

Fruit fly bacteria reduce aggression and fighting among males

Bacterial nanoparticles can enhance x-rays

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

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BacterioFiles 246 - Prowling Protist Predator Packs

This episode: Amoebas in soil gang up on and eat much larger roundworms!

Download Episode (10.5 MB, 11.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Journal Paper
Video of amoebas eating worm
Discussion on This Week in Microbiology

Other interesting stories:

Fungi living inside plants produce potential anticancer compound (paper)

Local bacteria help protect and nurture crops in Nigeria (paper)

Squished bacteria grow as pancake-shaped cells (paper)

Bacteria living in fungi that help plants have many genes taken from their hosts (paper)

Engineering yeast that produce opiates cheaply

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