488 - Social Slimes Synchronize Sorties

Fonticula alba
By Toret et al. 2022
Curr Biol 32:1962
CC BY 4.0

This episode: Slime mold amoebas Fonticula alba have interesting and unique foraging and reproductive behaviors!
Download Episode (7.3 MB, 10.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Cajanus cajan Panzee virus

News item

 

Takeaways

How did life develop from single-celled organisms acting independently into the complex, multicellular organisms we see and are today? Although it is difficult to look back through time to study how ancient organisms may have developed along this path, it is possible to investigate modern organisms that occupy a zone in between single-celled and multicellular, to see if we can get some hints to our own development, and also learn about some interesting microbes along the way!

This study into the social amoeba, or slime mold, Fonticula alba, finds that the individual amoebal cells in a population join together into collectives and break apart into individuals at different stages of their complex life cycle, depending on the status of the bacteria around them that they forage as prey. The investigators tease out the various pathways taken by these amoebas.

Journal Paper:

Toret C, Picco A, Boiero-Sanders M, Michelot A, Kaksonen M. 2022. The cellular slime mold Fonticula alba forms a dynamic, multicellular collective while feeding on bacteria. Curr Biol 32:1961-1973.e4.

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

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BacterioFiles 418 - Special Sea Species Swallows Cells

New microbe engulfing prey
By Shiratori et al. 2019
Nat Commun 10(1):1-11, CC BY 4.0

This episode: A newly discovered species of bacteria consumes other bacteria as prey by engulfing them!

Also a note to listeners: Because things are hectic at work right now (unless that changes due to current events), I'm planning to put the show on hold for a few weeks. So if you don't see new episodes, that's why.


Download Episode (8.7 MB, 12.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: SARS-CoV-2! This is the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19, the current pandemic. For more up-to-date information, please refer to the American Society for Microbiology, This Week in Virology, and other reputable sources. Stay healthy!

Takeaways
There are bacteria living almost every different lifestyle you can think of, including predatory, preying on other bacteria. Since bacterial cells are usually quite rigid, bacterial predators usually consume others either by burrowing inside them or digesting them from outside, rather than engulfing prey like eukaryotes often do.

The study here discovers a new kind of bacteria, in the group called Planctomycetes, known for having unusually flexible cells and internal compartments like eukaryotes. This new species does engulf its prey, including bacteria and even tiny algae, and digests them inside itself. It possesses multiple adaptations that suit it for this lifestyle.

Journal Paper:
Shiratori T, Suzuki S, Kakizawa Y, Ishida K. 2019. Phagocytosis-like cell engulfment by a planctomycete bacterium. Nat Commun 10:1–11.

Other interesting stories:

• Engineering a common industrial yeast strain to fix carbon dioxide (paper)
• Lake microbes convert microplastics into essential fatty acids

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

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BacterioFiles 393 - Prokaryote Partner Prevents Pathogen Potency

Acanthamoeba
By J Lorenzo-Morales et al. (2015).
Parasite 22: 10, CC BY 4.0

This episode: Bacterial symbionts of amoebas help them survive bacterial infection, and prevent pathogens from spreading to others as much!

Download Episode (7.5 MB, 8.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Eubacterium dolichum

News item

Takeaways
Amoebas are free-living, single-celled organisms, but they have some things in common with some cells of our immune system (macrophages). For example, certain bacterial pathogens can infect both in similar ways. So it can be useful to study the interactions of amoebas and bacteria to learn about our own immune defenses.

In this study, the amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii has another bacterial symbiont that helps it resist killing by the bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila. Once the amoebas recovered from the infection, they were more resistant to future challenges. Even better, the symbiont prevented the pathogen from transforming into a more spreadable form like it does when infecting amoebas alone.

Journal Paper:
König L, Wentrup C, Schulz F, Wascher F, Escola S, Swanson MS, Buchrieser C, Horn M. 2019. Symbiont-Mediated Defense against Legionella pneumophila in Amoebae. mBio 10:e00333-19.

Other interesting stories:

• RNA-cutting CRISPR/Cas system induces bacterial dormancy to prevent phage replication
• Gut bacteria degrade/modify many different kinds of drugs (paper)

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

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BacterioFiles 392 - Magnetic Microbes Maneuver Marine Manager

Calkinsia aureus
By djpmapleferryman
Uploaded by Shureg, CC BY 2.0

This episode: A marine protist can orient itself along magnetic fields thanks to bacterial symbionts on its surface that make magnetic nanoparticles!

Download Episode (7.2 MB, 7.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Chlorocebus pygerythrus polyomavirus 3

Takeaways
Various kinds of bacteria can orient their movement along a magnetic field. These are called magnetotactic, and they use this ability to swim toward or away from the surface of their aquatic habitat, to adjust their oxygen exposure according to their preference.

No eukaryotic microbes have yet been discovered that can sense and react to magnetic fields like these prokaryotes. In this study, however, a protist was discovered that can do it via its partnership with ectosymbionts, or bacteria attached to its surface, that sense magnetism and orient their host's movement. In return, factors of the host's metabolism may feed its symbionts.

Journal Paper:
Monteil CL, Vallenet D, Menguy N, Benzerara K, Barbe V, Fouteau S, Cruaud C, Floriani M, Viollier E, Adryanczyk G, Leonhardt N, Faivre D, Pignol D, López-García P, Weld RJ, Lefevre CT. 2019. Ectosymbiotic bacteria at the origin of magnetoreception in a marine protist. Nat Microbiol 4:1088–1095.

Other interesting stories:

• Fungus infects mosquitoes and quickly kills them with engineered toxin
• Nose microbe helps mediate immune response to flu virus, in mouse study (paper)

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

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BacterioFiles 382 - Small Scavengers Suck Sizeable Cells

Rhodotorula prey yeast

By A doubt, CC BY-SA 3.0

This episode: Fungus-hunting amoebas have different strategies for detecting and preying on single-celled and filamentous fungi!

Also, a personal note: I'm going to be taking a few weeks off the podcast to be able to take full advantage of spring, but I'll be back as soon as the weather gets too hot.

Download Episode (7.5 MB, 8.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Chondromyces catenulatus

Takeaways
Amoebas in the microbial world are like powerful predators, going around gobbling up whatever they find that's small enough, by a process called phagocytosis, in which they surround their prey with their cell membrane and engulf it. It's similar to macrophages or white blood cells as part of our immune system in our bodies.

The prey of amoebas includes bacteria, large viruses, and single-celled fungi called yeasts. In this study, scientists showed that some yeasts make great food sources for a certain kind of amoeba called Protostelium aurantium, while others either lack nutritional value or hide from the predators by covering up certain recognition molecules on their cell wall.

They found that the amoebas could also consume the spores of filamentous fungi, and could even attack the filaments, or hyphae. In this latter case, instead of engulfing the large filaments, they pierced the cells and extracted their contents, an approach named ruphocytosis, from the Greek for suck or slurp.

Journal Paper:
Radosa S, Ferling I, Sprague JL, Westermann M, Hillmann F. The different morphologies of yeast and filamentous fungi trigger distinct killing and feeding mechanisms in a fungivorous amoeba. Environ Microbiol.

Other interesting stories:

• Finding potential antimicrobials from ant bacteria

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

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BacterioFiles 378 - Medusa Makes Marble Microbes

Medusavirus

Yoshikawa et al. 2019 J Virol.

This episode: Newly discovered giant virus from a hot spring turns its amoeba hosts to stone!

Download Episode (6.7 MB, 7.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Listeria virus P70

News item

Takeaways
Viruses come in endless different shapes, sizes, and genetic configurations. Even within the group called giant viruses there is a large amount of variety. Many of their genes are unknown, without homology to any other sequences we have acquired in other areas of life. There is great potential to learn interesting things from these viruses.

In this study, a new giant virus is discovered. Like many others, this infects amoebas, and causes them to transform from dynamic, shape-shifting cells into hard little cyst-like circles. This ability gave it the name Medusavirus. It's the first giant virus found in a relatively hot environment (a hot spring), and among other interesting features, it shows signs of multiple instances of gene transfer to and from its amoeba host.

Journal Paper:
Yoshikawa G, Blanc-Mathieu R, Song C, Kayama Y, Mochizuki T, Murata K, Ogata H, Takemura M. 2019. Medusavirus, a novel large DNA virus discovered from hot spring water. J Virol JVI.02130-18.

Other interesting stories:

• Bacteria on frog skin have antifungal potential
• Phages could enhance effectiveness of antibiotics against pathogen biofilms (paper)
• Cement-generating bacteria could make coal ash easier to store safely

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

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BacterioFiles 329 - Special Secreting Structure Studied

Type 6 Secretion System protein
By User:Astrojan, CC-BY 4.0

This episode: New type of secretion system discovered that bacteria use to stab amoeba predators to escape their digestion!

Download Episode (7.8 MB, 8.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Avastrovirus 1

News item

Journal Paper:
Böck D, Medeiros JM, Tsao H-F, Penz T, Weiss GL, Aistleitner K, Horn M, Pilhofer M. 2017. In situ architecture, function, and evolution of a contractile injection system. Science 357:713–717.

Other interesting stories:

Gut microbe metabolites keep yeasts from taking over (paper)

Ancient fungi extracted minerals that helped ancient plants create oxygen

How microbes survive on and affect tombstones (paper)

Stomach bacterium produces interesting anti-inflammatory compound (paper)

Finding archaea in the human lung, gut, skin, and nose (paper)

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

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Episode outline:

BacterioFiles 276 - Single-cell Slime School

Physarum polycephalum on a log

By frankenstoen - flickr, CC BY 2.5 

This episode: Individual slime molds show the ability to learn about their environment!
Download Episode (8.8 MB, 9.6 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
Boisseau RP, Vogel D, Dussutour A. 2016. Habituation in non-neural organisms: evidence from slime moulds. Proc R Soc B 283:20160446.

Other interesting stories:

Lactobacilli could control fungal plant pathogen (paper)

Probiotics may not be helpful if one is genetically unable to respond to them

Activity of gut microbes can affect nervous system inflammation

Biofilms develop good electrical conductivity (paper)

Three ways antibiotics affect more than just infections

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

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BacterioFiles 271 - Dictyostelium Delivers DNA Deathtraps

Sentinel cells fluorescing green
Credit: Xuezhi Zhang

This episode: Slime molds have special cells that capture and kill bacteria using traps made of DNA!
Download Episode (11.2 MB, 12.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Follow-up study from ep 255 group related to this study

Link to Audiommunity episode about Neutrophil Extracellular Traps

Journal Paper:
Zhang X, Zhuchenko O, Kuspa A, Soldati T. 2016. Social amoebae trap and kill bacteria by casting DNA nets. Nat Commun 7:10938.

Other interesting stories:

Making E. coli produce propane fuel (paper)

Bacteria can convert algae directly into ethanol (paper)

Certain chronic virus infections could indicate your family history

Viruses can transfer pigment production ability between bacteria

Different sizes of bacteria impose different limitations

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

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BacterioFiles 255 - Colonizer Controls Carrier Cultivation

Amoeba spores with bacteria inside
DiSalvo et al. 2015

This episode: Some bacteria seem to cause slime mold amoebas to carry around other bacteria for food!
Download Episode (12.4 MB, 13.5 minutes)

Show notes:
News item

Journal Paper:
DiSalvo S, Haselkorn TS, Bashir U, Jimenez D, Brock DA, Queller DC, Strassmann JE. 2015. Burkholderia bacteria infectiously induce the proto-farming symbiosis of Dictyostelium amoebae and food bacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112:E5029–E5037.

Other interesting stories:

Fish oil vs. lard affect gut microbes differently

Engineered mix of engineered bacteria produce controlled oscillations

Mutation and selection makes better biomass-degrading enzymes

Antibodies can be produced inside bacteria (paper)

Fungus can be used to kill mosquitoes (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

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

BacterioFiles Micro Edition 138 - Slime Sustains Sidekick Pseudomonas

This episode: Slime mold cells carry bacteria with them, some for food and some for chemical warfare!

Download Episode (6.4 MB, 7 minutes)

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

Other interesting stories:

**Vaccines using Salmonella could now pass through the stomach, becoming more effective
**C-section might not be as good for infants' gut communities
**Useful RNA-based technique for modifying biotech cells' metabolism
**Protein allows gut cells to tolerate good bacteria and depend on them for protection from pathogens
**Bacteria may be better way to clean chemicals from water supply

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 Micro Edition 135 - Prodigious Pandora Particles Perceived

This episode: New giant virus discovered, with a genome larger than that of some eukaryotes!

Download Episode (7.5 MB, 8.1 minutes)

Show notes:
News item 1/News item 2/News item 3/News item 4/Journal Paper

Other interesting stories:

**Using bacteria as factories to produce drugs, originally found in plants, cheaply
**Ocean bacteria can "see" by sensing the color of light and adjusting their behavior
**Though many gut viruses are stable, some change rapidly over time
**Reducing need for fertilizer by creating artificial plant-bacteria symbioses
**Fungal symbionts help plants tolerate heat and drought (paper)

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

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BacterioFiles Special Edition - ASM2013 General Meeting Day 4

Presenting my poster

Here's my summary of the fourth and final day of ASM2013, with a special surprise guest appearance at the end!

Session 1: Synthetic Genomics to Create a Minimal Bacterial Cell and Some Other Neat Stuff
Presented by John I. Glass
He talked about the cell with the synthetic genome (full episode 13), and about how important it is to determine what is the minimal amount of genome a cell needs to grow--knowing that, you can start there and build almost anything you want.
He also talked about a new method of producing new flu strains for vaccine production using synthetic nucleic acids, which could greatly shorten the time it takes to get a new vaccine going to counter a pandemic.

Session 2: C. difficile vs. the Microbiota: The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend
Presented by Shonna McBride
When a probiotic (Lactococcus lactis) was grown with C. difficile, the latter was killed.

Session 3: An Intriguing Bacterial Symbiont in the Nucleus of Amoebae
Presented by Frederik Schulz
Interactions between amoebae and bacteria are interesting and also relevant to our health, considering the similarities between amoebae and cells of our immune system. This interaction is particularly interesting: bacteria living inside the nucleus.

Download Episode (5.5 MB, 6 minutes)

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

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BacterioFiles Micro Edition 100 - Protozoa Prevent Pathogen Proliferation

This episode: Amoebae snag pathogenic bacteria in soil and carry them around as a portable snack!

Download Episode (3.9 MB, 4.25 minutes)
Transcript

Show notes:
Journal Paper/Video

Other interesting stories:
**Bacteria could be used to produce pleasing scents
**Plant-dwelling bacteria with particular enzyme could help cut flowers last longer (paper)
**Fragile bacterial crusts are important for desert ecosystems
**Bacteria could protect frogs from deadly fungus plague
**How bacteria help animals eat grass

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

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter, MicrobeWorld, or SciencePodcasters.org

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BacterioFiles Micro Edition 34 - Social Slime’s Sorus Storage

This episode: Slime molds farm their own bacterial food!

Download Episode (4.4 MB, 4.75 minutes)

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

Other interesting stories:
**Some bacteria could probably survive on Mars
**Trying to keep our space travels from contaminating Mars
**How bacteria bore into sea shells
**Extracellular DNA is an important part of bacterial biofilms
**Engineering cheese-maker into fuel producer
**How aerial microbes affect everything

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

Subscribe at iTunes, check out the show at Twitter, MicrobeWorld, or SciencePodcasters.org

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BacterioFiles Episode 10

In this show, I report on four exciting stories: bacteria for digesting sushi; a giant virus that replicates itself, with help; microbes living in Mars-like lakes; and using viruses to generate hydrogen.

(Image credit: Russell Knightley/SPL)

Download Episode (12.4 MB, 13.5 minutes)

Download Sections:
Intro
Story 1
Story 2
Story 3
Story 4
Ending Comments

Show notes:
Story 1: News items 1 2 3 4/Journal paper
Story 2: News item/Journal Paper 1/Journal paper 2
Story 3: News item/Journal paper
Story 4: News item/Journal paper

Other interesting stories:
**Bacteria for decomposing marine plastic pollution

**Algae that take bacterial supplements

**Bacteria that affect greenhouse gases

**Growing new species

**Cyanobacteria that secrete oil

**Slime mold-based computing

**Another hostile lake with microbes in it

**Extremophiles focused on survival

**Dinosaur-age microbial fossils

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

Subscribe at iTunes

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

BacterioFiles Episode 3

In this show, I report on four exciting stories: a new giant virus, bacteria that fight cancer, ancient microbial DNA, and using viruses to modify plants.

Download Episode (8 MB, 9 minutes)

Download Sections:
Intro
Story 1
Story 2
Story 3
Story 4
Ending Comments

Show notes:
Story 1: News item/Journal paper
Story 2: News item/Journal paper
Story 3: News item/Journal paper
Story 4: News item/Journal paper


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

Subscribe at iTunes

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