This Week in Microbiology

This Week in Microbiology is a podcast about unseen life on Earth.

333: When Mutualists Murder 06/07/2025

333: When Mutualists Murder 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: , , and . Subscribe to TWiM (free) on , , , , or by Become a of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Links for this episode When a (mBio) A lasting (Nat Rev Micro) A (Nat Micro) for vaccination (Nat Micro) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/36899440

332: Fibromyalgia Pain and the Gut Microbiome 05/23/2025

332: Fibromyalgia Pain and the Gut Microbiome 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: , , and . Become a of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Links for this episode (Cell) Gut microbiota and (Neuron) Gut pain eases after (Nature) and fibromyalgia pain (Ann Neurol) Altered (Pain) (Intl J Rheum Dis) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/36692520

331: Radar Love in Bacteria 04/26/2025

331: Radar Love in Bacteria 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: , , and Guest . Become a of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Links for this episode (Int J Syst Evol Biol) (Cell) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/36320450

330: More mouth Microbiology 04/11/2025

330: More mouth Microbiology 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: , , and . Become a of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Links for this episode Engineering (Nature) (mBio) Microbial complexes in (J Clin Periodontol) (Microorg) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/36103800

329: Bacteria Hunt With Grappling Hooks 03/17/2025

329: Bacteria Hunt With Grappling Hooks TWiM explains Pasteur’s relentless hunt for microbes in the air, and how bacteria hunt for prey by ixotrophy - using grappling hooks! Hosts: , , and . Become a of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Links for this episode Pasteur’s hunt for (NYTimes) (Science) (STC) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/35737855

328: Capturing Shigella With Filopodia 02/28/2025

328: Capturing Shigella With Filopodia 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: , , and . Subscribe to TWiM (free) on , , , , or by Become a of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Links for this episode National Black (CDC) (Nature Microbio) (Cell Rep) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/35474875

327: Freezing and Anti-Freezing With Bacteria 02/06/2025

327: Freezing and Anti-Freezing With Bacteria 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: , , and . Become a of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Links for this episode Worm microbiomes produce (Sci Adv) in Antarctic fishes (Sciece) Enhancement of (PNAS) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/35182315

326: I Have One Word For You: PETase! 01/24/2025

326: I Have One Word For You: PETase! 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: , , . Guest . Subscribe to TWiM (free) on , , , , or by Become a of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Links for this episode Discovery of (Science) formation (Nat Micro) (Vimeo) (Immunol Rev) (Science) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/34996100

325: Microbes Making Methane 01/10/2025

325: Microbes Making Methane TWiM reveals that record high atmospheric methane growth has been driven by microbes, and the cecum as an adaptive niche for Salmonella typhi. Hosts: , and Michele Swanson. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on , , , , or by Become a of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Links for this episode Why a potent (WaPo) Microbial emissions drove (PNAS) in the cecum (mBio) (The Collector) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/34812935

324: Back To School for TWiM 12/27/2024

324: Back To School for TWiM 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: and Guests: , , and Subscribe to TWiM (free) on , , , , or by Become a of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Links for this episode Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/34626710

323: Better Concrete With Microbes 12/13/2024

323: Better Concrete With Microbes 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: , , and and . Subscribe to TWiM (free) on , , , or by Become a of TWiM. Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Links for this episode Construction (Appl Env Micro) (Sci Tot Environ) (Front Struct Civil Eng) (Cell Rep) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/34425155

322: Photohydrolysis Decontamination Reduces Healthcare-associated Infections 11/22/2024

322: Photohydrolysis Decontamination Reduces Healthcare-associated Infections 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: , , and . Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode (mBio) Novel (Am J Inf Control) UVC-LED to (Appl Envir Micro) systems (ACS Photonics) area (CDC) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/34099416

321: The Microbes in Your Food 11/08/2024

321: The Microbes in Your Food 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: , , and . Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode (CDC) d (Gates Foundation) of foods (Food Microbiol) (YouTube) (YouTube) Methods for (Appl Micro Biotech) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/33854977

320: Rockstars of USAMRIID 10/25/2024

320: Rockstars of USAMRIID 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: , and . Guests: Norman Kreiselmeir, Christopher K Coat, Keersten Ricks, and Eric Nguyen Links for this episode: (TWiV 200) Unintentional importation of (Emerg Inf Dis) Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode emissions (WaPo) Precision (Audacious Project) genes (Nat Commun) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/33618667

319: The Dark Side of the Rumen 10/11/2024

319: The Dark Side of the Rumen 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: , , and . Subscribe to TWiM (free) on , , , , or by Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode emissions (WaPo) Precision (Audacious Project) genes (Nat Commun) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/33425627

318: How To Pick a Winner 09/27/2024

318: How To Pick a Winner 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: , , and . Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode (Sci Rep) by Stephen Jay Gould ? (PNAS) (PLoS Biol) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/33239172

317: Bat White-nose Syndrome 09/14/2024

317: Bat White-nose Syndrome 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: , , and . Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode (Nature) (Science) Adaptive (Science) (Critter Catalog) (Harpswell) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/33056012

316: Food Addiction and the Gut Microbiome 08/23/2024

316: Food Addiction and the Gut Microbiome 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: , , and . Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode (Probiotics) (Gut Microbes) Blautia wexlerae ameliorates (Nat Commun) Phage tail–like (Science) ? (Front Micro) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/32719442

315: How Pseudomonas Became A Global Pathogen 08/09/2024

315: How Pseudomonas Became A Global Pathogen 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: and . Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode Evolution and host (Science) , infection by injection (Nat Comm) (Peer J) (Taming the Beast) (Wellcome Sanger Inst) (Antimicro Resist Inf Control) Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/32521182

314: Microbes Sculpt Our Planet and Manage Inflammation 07/27/2024

314: Microbes Sculpt Our Planet and Manage Inflammation TWiM explores the deep-dwelling microbes that sculpt our planet, and the use of microbes in bioelectronics to manage inflammation. Hosts: , , and . Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode Deep-dwelling (NY Times) resolve inflammation (Science) Active for managing inflammation (Science) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/32312767

313: Could Fungal Pathogens Outsmart US? 07/11/2024

313: Could Fungal Pathogens Outsmart US? 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: , Guest: Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/nKJe5xNUocU Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode Disaster (Biomedica) Emergence of (mBio) What if ? (JHU Press) : 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 Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/32104472

312: Cry Havoc!, and Let Slip the Phages of Healing 06/28/2024

312: Cry Havoc!, and Let Slip the Phages of Healing 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: , and . Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode Temperate (mBio) (Cell Host Micr) by Sinclair Lewis (Wiki) by Mark Ptashne and bacteriophage fitness (Genetics) (Ad Exp Med Biol) (Drugs) a foodborne pathogen (CDC) (HHMI) - 30 years of Microbiology (McGovern Medical School) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/31933977

311: Bacteria, beware of siderophore-antibiotic hybrids 06/13/2024

311: Bacteria, beware of siderophore-antibiotic hybrids 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. Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode: fueling diseases (NY Times) and risk of infectious diseases (Nature) E. coli in Canada (Clin Micro) E. coli cells (YouTube) Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by and used with permission. Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected] /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/31726657

310: Starvation vs Dehydration: Who Loses, Who Wins? 05/12/2024

310: Starvation vs Dehydration: Who Loses, Who Wins? 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: , , and . Subscribe to TWiM (free) on , , , , or by Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode Plasticity of small intestinal (Cell Host Micr) (Nat Comm) How (Science Daily) (WikiCommons) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/31247912

309: Stomach Acid Can Be Your Friend 04/26/2024

309: Stomach Acid Can Be Your Friend Today on TWiM, a charcuterie invasion, and how that acid in your stomach may protect from the invading hordes of microbes. Hosts: , and . Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode Commentary: Peeling the onion: Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/31007768

308: Living in a Community World 04/13/2024

308: Living in a Community World 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: , , and . Guest: Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode Distinct (Nature) Bacterial (Nature) A (Nature) Spatial perspective on (Nature) (Yale Med) promotes its survival (mBio) (mBio) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/30806678

307: Attaching and Effacing on a Pedestal 03/30/2024

307: Attaching and Effacing on a Pedestal 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: , , and . Subscribe to TWiM (free) on , , , , or by Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode for E. faecium bacteremia (mBio) Dopamine receptor (Nature) CDC’s Reports of Brett Finlay’s narrated Colonization resistance by (ACS Chem Biol) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/30603248

306: Spirulina Smoothies 03/15/2024

306: Spirulina Smoothies 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: , , and . Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode Natural (Science) (Cell Host Microb) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/30395363

305: The Marvel of MAC 03/02/2024

305: The Marvel of MAC TWiM reviews the ongoing cholera outbreak in Africa, and research showing that gut complement induced by the microbiota blocks pathogens and spares commensal bacteria. Hosts: , , and . Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode (Africa CDC) Deadly (NY Times) in sub-Saharan Africa (Curr Op Ped) spares commensals (Cell) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/30197533

304: A New blue cheese-making fungus 02/17/2024

304: A New blue cheese-making fungus TWiM reveals a new population in the blue cheese-making fungus Penicillium roqueforti and identification of a quorum-sensing autoinducer and siderophore in uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Subscribe to TWiM (free) on , , , , or by Become a of TWiM. Links for this episode New (Evol Appl) (Guardian) (CNRS News) (YouTube) (ASM) (mBio) (Curr Biol) Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to /episode/index/show/twimshow/id/29994258

This Week in Microbiology

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