491 - Less Liquid Lands Losing Lichens

Lichens on rock By Jesse Noar CC BY 4.0

This episode: Trends of declining lichen populations and biocrust cover overall match trends of increasing temperatures in Colorado dryland!
Download Episode (6.4 MB, 9.3 minutes)

Show notes:

Microbe of the episode: Cherry chlorotic rusty spot associated partitivirus

Takeaways:

Global climate change is affecting almost every natural system on the planet, in predictable and also sometimes unexpected, complex ways. Microbes perform key roles in many different ecosystems, providing and recycling important nutrients and even macroscopic structure. One example of this is biocrusts in dryland environments, such as areas in the western US with low annual rainfall. Microbes other organisms form a stable surface binding soil and sand particles together, helping to retain moisture and prevent erosion and transformation of land into desert.

In this study of a Colorado park over more than 20 years, important species of symbiotic fungi and photosynthetic microbes in the form of lichens have declined significantly. The land is mostly untroubled by grazing or human activity, but changes in climate and moisture and the presence of invasive plants could affect lichens. However, the temperature increase over the decades showed the best correlation with the lichen decline. The loss of these species could lead to nutrient shortages in the long term for these communities.

Journal Paper:

Finger-Higgens R, Duniway MC, Fick S, Geiger EL, Hoover DL, Pfennigwerth AA, Van Scoyoc MW, Belnap J. 2022. Decline in biological soil crust N-fixing lichens linked to increasing summertime temperatures. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 119:e2120975119.

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476 - Bamboo Breakdown Benefits Beetle Babies

Bamboo
By I Kenpei,
CC BY-SA 3.0

This episode: Beetles inoculate bamboo with a fungus that consumes the bamboo sugars to feed the beetle larvae!
Download Episode (7.7 MB, 11.2 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Saccharomyces cerevisiae virus L-BC (La)

News item

Video: Lizard beetle laying its egg

Takeaways

The structural polymers that make up plants, such as cellulose, can be difficult for many organisms to digest. Some kinds of bacteria and fungi can do it, and some animals (cows, pandas, termites) partner with these microbes to be able to eat otherwise indigestible plant material. This includes insects such as leaf-cutter ants that farm external gardens of microbes, providing them plant material and then eating the resulting microbial growth.

In this study, the lizard beetle lays its eggs in bamboo and inoculates the walls of the bamboo with a fungus that provides food to the larvae. Chemical analyses suggest that the fungus only consumes the simple sugars in the bamboo rather than breaking down the tougher polymers, which raises questions about the evolution of this interaction.

Journal Paper:
Toki W, Aoki D. 2021. Nutritional resources of the yeast symbiont cultivated by the lizard beetle Doubledaya bucculenta in bamboos. Sci Rep 11:19208.

Other interesting stories:

• Using bacteria to detect and target colon cancer for imaging (paper)
• Filters made from kombucha cultures could work better than synthetic types

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464 - Prodding Pollen's Popping Process

Pollen
(fromWikipedia)

This episode: Certain nectar-dwelling bacteria can induce pollen to germinate to access their tasty proteins!

Download Episode (6.0 MB, 8.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Clostridium oceanicum

News item

Takeaways

Nectar in flowers seems like it would be a great place for microbes to live, since it has so much sugar, but it's actually somewhat difficult to thrive solely in and on nectar. The carbon in sugar is only one essential element for life, and there's enough of it that it can be overwhelming to the osmotic balance of many microbes. Pollen could provide more nutrients in the form of protein and the nitrogen that comes with it, but it is difficult to penetrate its hard shell.

In this study, certain kinds of bacteria that live in nectar were able to access more pollen protein than other microbes by inducing pollen to germinate, growing out of its shell, or burst and release the protein directly. These microbes only benefited from pollen that were still alive and able to germinate, and not from those that had been disabled.

Journal Paper:
Christensen SM, Munkres I, Vannette RL. 2021. Nectar bacteria stimulate pollen germination and bursting to enhance microbial fitness. Curr Biol 31:4373-4380.e6.

Other interesting stories:

• Bacteria recycling plastic into vanilla flavor

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454 - Hitchhiking Horticultural Helpers

Bacteria carrying spores
By Muok et al. 2021
ISME J, CC BY 4.0

This episode: Spores of some bacteria latch onto the tails of other bacteria and ride along as they move around in the soil!

Download Episode (5.5 MB, 8.0 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Bohle iridovirus

News item

Takeaways

The soil is a complex environment, and microbes that live in soil need complex lifestyles to thrive. There are many examples of cooperation, competition, and other adaptations to highly varied situations.

In this study, bacteria that grow like filamentous fungi don't have the mechanisms to move autonomously, but their spores can hitch rides on other kinds of bacteria that swarm through the soil using their propeller-like tails called flagella to push themselves toward the plant roots they prefer to grow near.

Journal Paper:
Muok AR, Claessen D, Briegel A. 2021. Microbial hitchhiking: how Streptomyces spores are transported by motile soil bacteria. ISME J.

Other interesting stories:

• "How microbes in permafrost could trigger a massive carbon bomb"

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441 - Hyphal Hijacker Helps Harvests

Fungus growing in root
By Zhang et al. 2020
Molec Plant 13:1420-1433
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

This episode: A fungus-infecting virus transforms the fungal foe into a friend of its host plant!

Download Episode (6.1 MB, 8.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Hepacivirus J

News item

Takeaways

Viruses can be useful for treating various diseases, especially bacterial infections and cancer. Their ability to target certain cell types specifically makes them great at hunting down and killing disease-causing cells without harming the body's healthy tissue. And just as bacteriophages can work to treat bacterial disease in us, fungal viruses could help to treat serious fungal infections in crop plants.

In this study, a fungus-infecting virus goes beyond treating a deadly fungal disease in rapeseed plants. Fungus infected with this virus no longer causes disease, but lives in harmony with the host plant, protects it from other fungal diseases, and even helps it to grow better.

Journal Paper:
Zhang H, Xie J, Fu Y, Cheng J, Qu Z, Zhao Z, Cheng S, Chen T, Li B, Wang Q, Liu X, Tian B, Collinge DB, Jiang D. 2020. A 2-kb Mycovirus Converts a Pathogenic Fungus into a Beneficial Endophyte for Brassica Protection and Yield Enhancement. Mol Plant 13:1420–1433.

Other interesting stories:

• Engineering E. coli to turn carbon dioxide into biomass
• Radiation super-resistant bacteria survive 1 year exposed to low Earth orbit

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431 - Conductive Cables Control Carbon

Cable bacteria around
plant roots
From Scholz et al. 2020
Nat Commun 11:1878

This episode: Cable bacteria around rice roots transport electrons and help prevent formation of methane!

Thanks to Vincent Scholz for his contribution!  
Download Episode (5.7 MB, 8.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Vibrio alginolyticus

News item

Takeaways

Transforming other things into methane is a great way to make a living for some kinds of microbes. These tend to live under still water, like in rice fields or wetlands, or in the guts of cattle. And while this methane could be useful as natural gas if collected, it's a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide when released into the atmosphere.

In this study, cable bacteria were inoculated into rice pots in the lab. Cable bacteria transfer electrons from deeper down in the ground up to the surface to generate energy, and in the process generate sulfate. This sulfate allows other microbes to outcompete the methane producers, reducing the amount of methane produced from rice cultivation in the lab. This may be helpful to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from rice agriculture.

Journal Paper:
Scholz VV, Meckenstock RU, Nielsen LP, Risgaard-Petersen N. 2020. Cable bacteria reduce methane emissions from rice-vegetated soils. 1. Nat Commun 11:1878.

Other interesting stories:

• Viruses in fecal transplants, not just bacteria, may be useful for health
• Superworms and their symbiont bacteria can degrade styrofoam

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423 - Roundworm Riders Route Rootworm Resistance

Western corn rootworm adult

By Siga, CC BY-SA 4.0

This episode: Helping insect-killing bacterial symbionts of nematodes evolve resistance to chemicals that major corn pests use to defend themselves!


Download Episode (10.0 MB, 14.0 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Listeria virus PSA

Takeaways

Interactions between species and even kingdoms in nature can be complex and multilayered. This means that when we want to intervene to cause a particular outcome, there may be multiple points at which we can act, but the consequences may be hard to predict.

In this study, action was taken to counteract the damage the Western corn rootworm causes to corn crops, using a tiny roundworm that attacks the insect pest with deadly bacteria. The rootworm defends itself by accumulating plant-produced toxins that inhibit the bacteria. Directed evolution was used to make the bacteria more resistant, and this led to more effective killing of the pest.

Journal Paper:
Machado RAR, Thönen L, Arce CCM, Theepan V, Prada F, Wüthrich D, Robert CAM, Vogiatzaki E, Shi Y-M, Schaeren OP, Notter M, Bruggmann R, Hapfelmeier S, Bode HB, Erb M. 2020. Engineering bacterial symbionts of nematodes improves their biocontrol potential to counter the western corn rootworm. 5. Nat Biotechnol 38:600–608.

Other interesting stories:

• Altering pathogenic bacteria to reduce disease with genome-integrating phage (paper)
• Bacteria could inhibit fungus that causes deadly disease of bananas (paper)

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BacterioFiles 415 - Global Glomus Growth Guesses

How mycorrhizal fungi work

By Nefronus, CC BY-SA 4.0

This episode: A global estimate of plants and their root fungi shows how agriculture may have greatly affected soil carbon storage over time!

Download Episode (5.7 MB, 8.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Rhizobium virus RHEph4

News item

Takeaways
Even small organisms can have a big effect on the climate of the planet if there are enough of them. This includes trees, which are small relative to the planet, and also includes the fungi that attach to the roots of trees and other plants. These mycorrhizal fungi thread subtly through the soil, some occasionally popping up mushrooms, and transfer valuable nutrients they gather to the trees in exchange for carbon fixed from the air.

Knowing how big an effect a given kind of organism has requires knowing how much of it is around. This study collates data from various surveys of global plant populations and the fungi that interact with their roots, to estimate a global picture of the fungi below our feet. It estimates that a kind of fungus that stores more carbon in the soil may have been replaced in many areas with fungi that store less, or no fungi at all, due to the transformation of land from wild areas to farmland.

Journal Paper:
Soudzilovskaia NA, van Bodegom PM, Terrer C, Zelfde M van’t, McCallum I, Luke McCormack M, Fisher JB, Brundrett MC, de Sá NC, Tedersoo L. 2019. Global mycorrhizal plant distribution linked to terrestrial carbon stocks. Nat Commun 10:1–10.

Other interesting stories:

• Phages bind to fish mucosal surfaces and protect from infection
• Examining how archaea affect meteorites

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BacterioFiles 413 - Finding Fire Fungi Footholds

Pyrophilous fungus
Pholiota highlandensis

This episode: Some fungi only form fruiting bodies after forest fires; where do they hide the rest of the time? At least for some of them, the answer is: inside mosses!

Thanks to Daniel Raudabaugh for his contribution!

Download Episode (6.2 MB, 9.0 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Nocardia brevicatena

News item

Takeaways
Forest fires can do a lot of damage, but life grows back quickly. Certain kinds of plant seed actually only germinate after a fire, and a similar thing is true of certain kinds of fungi: they only form fruiting bodies (like mushrooms, for spreading spores) after a fire. For plants, the advantage may come from increased access to light with some or all of the canopy burned away, and fungi may benefit from less competition on the ground. But in between burn events, these fire-loving (pyrophilous) fungi seem to disappear. Where do they go?

The study here sought an answer, suspecting an association with some mosses that reappeared soon after a forest fire in North Carolina in 2016. They looked for fungi lurking as endophytes inside moss and other samples, both by growing them on agar and by DNA sequencing, and they found a number of different known pyrophilous fungi. Some of these were in soil, or samples from outside the burned area, but the majority were inside mosses growing in the recently burned zone.

Journal Paper:
Raudabaugh DB, Matheny PB, Hughes KW, Iturriaga T, Sargent M, Miller AN. 2020. Where are they hiding? Testing the body snatchers hypothesis in pyrophilous fungi. Fungal Ecol 43:100870.

Other interesting stories:

• Probiotic yeast species could inhibit pathogenic yeasts (paper)
• Plant passes on nitrogen fixing symbionts to offspring

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BacterioFiles 412 - Carbon Concentration Complicates Crop Cooperation

Wheat plants
By Bluemoose, CC BY-SA 3.0

This episode: Looking at the effects of almost doubling CO₂ concentrations on the interaction between wheat varieties and beneficial fungi!

Download Episode (8.1 MB, 11.8 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Lato River virus

News item

Takeaways
As the world's population grows, feeding everyone will grow more challenging. Advances in technology in the past have made today's population possible, but future advances may be needed, especially in the face of an increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Soil microbes that partner with crop plants for the benefit of each may be part of the solution. One option to explore is a group called mycorrhizal fungi, which associate with plant roots to extend their nutrient-gathering ability, in exchange for carbon compounds produced by photosynthesis. This study examined the influence of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on the interaction of several varieties of wheat with these fungi.

Journal Paper:
Thirkell TJ, Pastok D, Field KJ. Carbon for nutrient exchange between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and wheat varies according to cultivar and changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. Glob Change Biol.

Other interesting stories:

• Microbes could make paper whitening more environmentally friendly (paper)
• Compound from rotifers could prevent transmission of eukaryotic parasite

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

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BacterioFiles 407 - Fungus Facilitates Phototroph Feeding

Various Phomopsis fungi

Probably the last episode of the year. See you in the next!

This episode: Fungus living inside plants helps them form partnerships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria!

Download Episode (5.9 MB, 8.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Prevotella intermedia

Takeaways
Plants are very good at acquiring carbon, but they can often use some help with other nutrients. Many form partnerships with microbes such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria or mycorrhizal fungi that can help gather nutrients from the soil better than the plants' own roots.

In this study, legume plants could form a partnership with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in its roots, but a fungus living inside the plant could enhance this partnership even more, increasing the amount of nitrogen acquired and influencing the community of microbes around the plant roots in ways favorable to all partners.

Journal Paper:
Xie X-G, Zhang F-M, Yang T, Chen Y, Li X-G, Dai C-C. 2019. Endophytic Fungus Drives Nodulation and N₂ Fixation Attributable to Specific Root Exudates. mBio 10:e00728-19, /mbio/10/4/mBio.00728-19.atom.

Other interesting stories:

• Diet could affect antibiotic impact on the gut microbiome
• Feeding gut microbes particular preferred foods can manipulate the community structure

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

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BacterioFiles 397 - Plant Promotes Pathogen-Prohibiting Partner

Bacillus subtilis

By Y tambe, CCBY-SA 3.0

This episode: Plants stimulate their root bacteria to compete better, and these bacteria help the plants resist disease!

Download Episode (7.3 MB, 10.6 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Bacillus circulans

Takeaways
In some ways, plants' roots are like our gut. They both absorb nutrients, and they both have complex communities of microbes living alongside the host cells. These microbes can assist their hosts in various ways, and get fed in return.

In this study, one species of root bacterium is able to compete against others by producing an antimicrobial compound. The plant stimulates this production with chemical signals, and benefits from its symbionts' increased competitiveness because the bacterium helps the plant resist infection.

Journal Paper:
Ogran A, Yardeni EH, Keren-Paz A, Bucher T, Jain R, Gilhar O, Kolodkin-Gal I. 2019. The Plant Host Induces Antibiotic Production To Select the Most-Beneficial Colonizers. Appl Environ Microbiol 85:e00512-19.

Other interesting stories:

• Plant virus influences aphid viral infection, which possibly increases spread of both
• Producing bioplastics from low-cost carbon sources (paper)

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BacterioFiles 380 - Plant Promoter Produces Polymer

Herbaspirillum-like bacteria
in banana plants
Scientific Figure on
ResearchGate. CC BY-NC 4.0

This episode: A microbe that boosts plant growth needs to make storage polymers for both itself and the plant's sake!

Download Episode (7.1 MB, 7.75 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Suid gammaherpesvirus 3

Takeaways
Bacteria that promote plant growth are fascinating and not too hard to find. Plants and microbes make good partners by each contributing something the other needs. Plants make sugars via photosynthesis that microbes can use as food, and microbes can gather nutrients that plants can't make, can drive off pathogens, and can contribute to plant growth in other ways.

However, plants aren't making sugars all the time, because the sun goes down every day. So what do partner microbes do at these times? In this study, a beneficial microbe Herbaspirillum seropedicae was found to produce a storage compound called polyhydroxyalkanoate, or PHA, that it could use to store food for times of scarcity. Mutants of this microbe that could not make the storage compound weren't very beneficial for their plant partners.

Journal Paper:
Alves LPS, Amaral FP do, Kim D, Bom MT, Gavídia MP, Teixeira CS, Holthman F, Pedrosa F de O, Souza EM de, Chubatsu LS, Müller-Santos M, Stacey G. 2019. Importance of Poly-3-Hydroxybutyrate Metabolism to the Ability of Herbaspirillum seropedicae To Promote Plant Growth. Appl Environ Microbiol 85:e02586-18.

Other interesting stories:

• Probiotic could help prevent viral infection (paper)
• Some bacteria can cut off their propellers when lacking food to power them

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BacterioFiles 373 - Plant Pilots Prevent Parching

Emmer wheat

This episode: Beneficial fungi found inside wild grain plants help wheat plants grow better with less water!

Download Episode (7.1 MB, 7.75 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Beijerinckia indica

Takeaways
As we have microbial communities in our guts, on our skin, and in various other places in and on our bodies, plants also have beneficial microbial symbionts around their roots, on their leaf surfaces, and even inside their tissues. These microbes can be bacteria, fungi, or other, and can help plants gather nutrients, resist diseases or pests, and other things.

In this study, some fungi living in grain plants—called endophytes, or "inside plants"—can help wheat tolerate drought and grow better with less water. Studying this system could lead to breakthroughs in wheat farming, all thanks to microbes.

Journal Paper:
Llorens E, Sharon O, Camañes G, García‐Agustín P, Sharon A. Endophytes from wild cereals protect wheat plants from drought by alteration of physiological responses of the plants to water stress. Environ Microbiol.

Other interesting stories:

• Searching bacterial metabolites for new insect repellants
• Antibiotic disruption of gut microbes can also mess with skeletal health
• Fibers derived from wood could encourage healthy gut microbes (paper)

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

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BacterioFiles 372 - Roundworm Riders Repel Raiders

Nematode
By Bob Goldstein, UNC Chapel Hill
CC BY-SA 3.0

This episode: Bacteria that help nematodes prey on insects also help keep fungi from stealing their kills!

Download Episode (7.4 MB, 8.1 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Artogeia rapae granulovirus

Takeaways
Soil is an incredibly complex ecosystem, with many different interactions constantly happening between plants, insects, bacteria, fungi, and other organisms, not to mention a large variety of shifting environmental conditions. All of these are competing with some and cooperating with others to try to survive and thrive the best they can.

One interesting interaction takes place between small roundworms in the soil, called nematodes, and bacteria they carry around that cause disease in insects. These nematodes prey on insects by injecting the bacteria into them, which kill and start digesting the insects. The nematodes then feed on the insects and the bacteria until the resources have been exhausted, and then move on to the next insect, taking some bacteria with them again.

In this study, the scientists wondered how these partners deal with competitors in the soil that might want to take advantage of their resources. They discover that the bacteria produce compounds that can repel and inhibit fungi that might otherwise steal their kills.

Journal Paper:
Shan S, Wang W, Song C, Wang M, Sun B, Li Y, Fu Y, Gu X, Ruan W, Rasmann S. The symbiotic bacteria Alcaligenes faecalis of the entomopathogenic nematodes Oscheius spp. exhibit potential biocontrol of plant- and entomopathogenic fungi. Microb Biotechnol.

Other interesting stories:

• Mice given gut microbes from healthy human babies don't get milk allergies
• New fungal species living in glaciers are losing their homes as glaciers disappear
• Toxins from cyanobacterial blooms can product tiny animals from pathogens

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

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BacterioFiles 364 - Polyproteins Promote Producing Pabulum

Nitrogenase enzyme
By Jjsjjsjjs - Own work,
CC BY-SA 3.0

This episode: Engineering other organisms to fix nitrogen by combining the required enzyme components into giant proteins that then get cut into the regular-sized subunit components!


Download Episode (10.5 MB, 11.5 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Blastochloris sulfoviridis

Journal commentary (paywall)

Journal Papers:
Yang J, Xie X, Xiang N, Tian Z-X, Dixon R, Wang Y-P. 2018. Polyprotein strategy for stoichiometric assembly of nitrogen fixation components for synthetic biology. Proc Natl Acad Sci 115:E8509–E8517.

Other interesting stories:

• How the human microbiota recovers after antibiotic treatment

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

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Episode outline:

BacterioFiles 340 - Plasmid Promotes Plant Pathogenesis

Pathogenic Rhodococcus causing
disfigurement
From: Savory et al, eLife 6:e30925

This episode: Some bacteria living around plants can become pathogenic just by gaining a few genes!

Thanks to Skylar Fuller for her contribution!

Download Episode (9.4 MB, 10.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Alternanthera yellow vein betasatellite

News item

Journal Paper:
Savory EA, Fuller SL, Weisberg AJ, Thomas WJ, Gordon MI, Stevens DM, Creason AL, Belcher MS, Serdani M, Wiseman MS, Grünwald NJ, Putnam ML, Chang JH. 2017. Evolutionary transitions between beneficial and phytopathogenic Rhodococcus challenge disease management. eLife 6:e30925.

Other interesting stories:

More gut microbe diversity could be good for arteries

Human gut microbes have enzymes that break down specific plant toxins (paper)

Gut microbes ferment fiber and modify immune response to protect mice from flu

Cooperation of plants and fungi breaks down if one finds alternative lifestyle (paper)

Disproven "arsenic in the DNA" bacterium actually has interesting arsenic detox strategies (paper)

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

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Episode outline:

BacterioFiles 334 - Measuring Mycelial Moth Muncher Management

Gypsy moth caterpillar
By CharlesC, CC BY-SA 4.0

This episode: Figuring out the best way to study the spread of a fungus that kills an invasive tree-eating caterpillar pest!

Download Episode (8.2 MB, 8.9 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Pasteurella aerogenes

News item

Journal Paper:
Bittner TD, Hajek AE, Liebhold AM, Thistle H. 2017. Modification of a Pollen Trap Design To Capture Airborne Conidia of Entomophaga maimaiga and Detection of Conidia by Quantitative PCR. Appl Environ Microbiol 83:e00724-17.

Other interesting stories:

Studying the whale microbiome

Gut bacteria help herbivorous ants get enough nitrogen

Environment factors can affect our microbes apart from genetic factors

Fiber could encourage gut microbes to help with type 2 diabetes

Gut microbes can affect parasitic worm infections

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

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Episode outline:

BacterioFiles 332 - Moth Minors Missing Microbes

Manduca sexta caterpillar,
tobacco hornworm

This episode: Unlike most animals, caterpillars don't seem to have a resident gut microbe to help them in various ways!

Thanks to Tobin Hammer for his contribution!
Download Episode (14 MB, 15.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Borrelia graingeri

News item

Journal Paper:
Hammer TJ, Janzen DH, Hallwachs W, Jaffe SP, Fierer N. 2017. Caterpillars lack a resident gut microbiome. Proc Natl Acad Sci 114:9641–9646.

Other interesting stories:

Improving viral delivery of gene therapy across blood-brain barrier

Engineered gut bacteria bind bowel cancer and kill it with vegetables

Making bacteria into synthetic phage factories (paper)

Preventing contamination of industrial algae cultures using predatory bacteria (paper)

Finding potential new antibiotics in cockroach microbes (paper)

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

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Episode outline:

BacterioFiles 322 - Parents' Partners Protect Plants

Cacao tree with fruit pods
By Luisovalles
Own work, CC BY 3.0

Happy New Year! This episode: Fungal endophytes transferred from healthy adult plant leaf litter help baby cacao plants resist disease!

Thanks to Dr. Natalie Christian for her contribution!

Download Episode (10.3 MB, 11.25 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Lactobacillus virus Lb338-1

News item
Hear a CBC interview with Dr. Christian about this research

Journal Paper:
Christian N, Herre EA, Mejia LC, Clay K. 2017. Exposure to the leaf litter microbiome of healthy adults protects seedlings from pathogen damage. Proc R Soc B 284:20170641.

Other interesting stories:

Using bacteria to clean up radioactive strontium from water (paper)

Ocean bacteria make themselves slippery instead of sticky to avoid predators (paper)

Which plants grow in tropics depends on how fungi interact with their seeds

Using an antibiotic-sensing protein to control antibiotic production in bacteria

Symbiotic fungi can help plants tolerate stresses better

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

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Episode outline: