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This Week in Microbiology

Podcast This Week in Microbiology

Bacteria Inside a Fungus Sabotage Plant Defenses

October 10, 2026

How bacterial endosymbionts enhance fungal virulence by disrupting the protective rhizobiome, and the development of rationally engineered Salmonella typhimurium strains with enhanced safety and antitumor efficacy.

DNA Damage as Defense Against Bee Pathogens

September 26, 2026

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Why Vegetables Are Good for Your Heart

September 12, 2026 | Podcasts

The finding that Bunsen burners do not decrease deposition of microbe-containing particles, and how gut microbiota generate dinitrosyl iron complexes with cardiometabolic benefits.

When Gut Bacteria Share Chromosomes

August 30, 2026

How movement of DNA among gut bacteria drive large-scale genome mosaicism, and validation of a method for detection of Cyclospora cayetanensis in outbreak-linked fresh produce.

Bacteria and Colon Cancer Recurrence

August 14, 2026

The discovery of avirulent bacterial signature associated with the development of recurrence following colorectal cancer surgery, and phage-derived proteins and conjugates that induce pilus detachment.

Nitrogen Fixation Goes Eukaryotic

July 31, 2026 | Podcasts

The major implications of the link between plastic pollution and antimicrobial resistance, and the discovery of a new organelle, the nitrogen-fixing nitroplast.

Remembering Elio at Tufts

June 12, 2026

Recorded at Tufts University, a tribute to Elio Schaechter who was chair of Molecular Biology and Microbiology for 23 years.

Bacteria Complete Your tRNA

May 08, 2026 | Podcasts

How an enhanced domestication method allows for growth of uncultured bacteria, and identification of the oncogene SLC35F2 as is a high-specificity transporter for the micronutrients queuine and queuosine.

How a Gut Microbe Worsens Heart Disease

April 24, 2026 | Podcasts

A candidate signature of health in the gut microbial community, and how an intestinal bacterium exacerbates cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Microbial Metabolism of Food Allergens

April 10, 2026 | Podcasts

How to use microbes to enhance maize yield and reduce corn rootworm damage, and how the human microbiota modulates IgE-mediated reactions to foods through allergen metabolism.

Microbial Gut Biosensors

March 27, 2026 | Podcasts

The archaeal roots of eukaryotic life, and a building a gut malabsorption biosensor with bacteria.

Resistance Reboot

March 06, 2026 | Podcasts

The use of bacteriophage-loaded microneedle patches for targeted and minimally disruptive foodborne pathogen decontamination, and a conjugal gene drive-like system that efficiently suppresses antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

TWiM Goes to College

February 13, 2026 | Podcasts

Nancy Boury and Maggie Schlarman share how and why they created a freely available ebook of TWiM-based science literacy resources and classroom exercises that support teaching across key microbiology and molecular biology topics.

Punctured to Death by Spikes

January 30, 2026 | Podcasts

How mechano-bactericidal surfaces made from diverse materials and patterned with spikes kill bacteria on contact, and virus-host evolution is reshaped by microgravity aboard the International Space Station.

The Bark Side of the Microbiome

January 21, 2026 | Podcasts

Owning a dog during adolescence alters the microbiota and improves mental health, and the molecular basis for multidrug efflux by an anaerobic-associated resistance-nodulation-cell division transporter.

At Wound’s Edge

January 02, 2026 | Podcasts

How S. aureus pathogenicity is a dynamic, niche-specific choreography that constantly recalibrates in response to the host microenvironment, and short chain fatty acids produced by commensal microbiota reduces its competitive fitness.

Metabolism and Porin Permeability

December 12, 2025 | Podcasts

How competition for nutrients anticipates and potentially mitigate drug side effects on the gut microbiota, and metabolic control of porin permeability influences antibiotic resistance.

Faster than rocks!

November 28, 2025 | Podcasts

A biological mechanism that links sulfur and iron cycling in anoxic environments, and “swashing,” a form of surface movement in which bacteria migrate without active propulsion.

Ant Yogurt and Fine Chocolate

November 07, 2025 | Podcasts

The bacteria, acids, and enzymes behind yogurt made with ants, and a defined set of microbes that reproduces attributes of fine flavor chocolate fermentation.

Nucleotides to the Defense

October 25, 2025 | Podcasts

Two different ways that bacteria defend against phages through the synthesis of cyclic nucleotides.

The Microbiome, Pancreatic Cancer, and Sleep Quality

October 11, 2025 | Podcasts

Studies that show that the oral bacterial and fungal microbiome are risk factors for pancreatic cancer, and the gut microbiome and pyruvate metabolism of older adults are a link between sleep quality and frailty.

Sea Star Wasting Disease

September 26, 2025

Vibrio as the causative agent of sea star wasting disease, and using microcolony-seq to uncover phenotypic inheritance from single cells.

Microbes in Trees and Plants

September 12, 2025 | Podcasts

The varied and distinct microbiome of trees, and an array of biopesticidal metabolites against mosquito larvae isolated from a Mediterranean island.

Missing the Company of Elio

August 29, 2025 | Podcasts

Paying tribute to Elio Schaechter, former TWiM host, blogger, and microbiologist extraordinaire, and review of the finding that Archaea produce peptidoglycan hydrolases that kill bacteria - a form of competition.

Rewriting the Code of Life

August 16, 2025 | Podcasts

Outbreak of Legionnaires disease in Harlem NY, an automated whole genome sequencing platform for bacterial strain typing in clinical microbiology laboratories, building E. coli with a 57-codon genetic code.

Lifestyles of the Plasmids

July 31, 2025 | Podcasts

A study that examines pathogen presence in ancient humans and concludes that zoonoses emerged 6500 years ago with the domestication of livestock, and determination of universal rules that govern plasmid copy number.

The Volatilome of Biofluids

July 18, 2025 | Podcasts

The use of gas sensors and machine learning to identify microbes and antimicrobial resistance in clinical specimens, and how a harmful algal bloom species releases thiamin antivitamins to suppress competitors.

Slip Slidin’ Away

July 04, 2025 | Podcasts

Two strategies for bacterial competition for resources: by laying down a slippery lipid and pushing away competitors, or by breaking open cells with a spike, liberating essential nutrients.

Fungal Smuggle

June 20, 2025 | Podcasts

How microbiological analysis of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn has revealed an antimicrobial resistance reservoir and bioremediation potential, and fungicide resistance in Fusarium graminearum, the fungus recently smuggled into the US.

When Mutualists Murder

June 06, 2025 | Podcasts

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.

Fibromyalgia Pain and the Gut Microbiome

May 23, 2025 | Podcasts

The unique and extreme microbial and chemical environment on the International Space Station, and the connection between the gut microbiome and pain in fibromyalgia.

Radar Love in Bacteria

April 26, 2025 | Podcasts

Isolation of a novel bacterial species isolated from the China Space Station, and how a chemical radar allows bacteria to detect and kill predators.

More Mouth Microbiology

April 11, 2025 | Podcasts

How to recode E. coli so it uses only one stop codon, and an exploration of the mechanisms of bacterial adhesion within dental plaque.

Bacteria Hunt With Grappling Hooks

March 17, 2025

Pasteur’s relentless hunt for microbes in the air, and how bacteria hunt for prey by ixotrophy - using grappling hooks!

Capturing Shigella With Filopodia

February 28, 2025 | Podcasts

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

Freezing and Anti-Freezing With Bacteria

February 07, 2025 | Podcasts

The remarkable abilities of bacterial ice nucleating proteins to promote freezing of water, and cryoprotective proteins produced by worm microbiomes that prevent freezing.

I Have One Word For You: PETase!

January 24, 2025 | Podcasts

The discovery of microbial enzymes, PETases, that can degrade ubiquitous plastics, and how exogenous peptidoglycan is a danger signal to trigger biofilm formation.

Microbes Making Methane

January 10, 2025 | Podcasts

Record high atmospheric methane growth has been driven by microbes, and the cecum as an adaptive niche for Salmonella typhi.

Back To School for TWiM

December 27, 2024 | Podcasts

Live from ASMCUE 2024, the conference on undergraduate education.

Photohydrolysis Decontamination Reduces Healthcare-associated Infections

November 22, 2024 | Podcasts

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%.

The Microbes in Your Food

November 08, 2024 | Podcasts

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.

Rockstars of USAMRIID

October 25, 2024 | Podcasts

How research conducted at USAMRIID leads to vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and training programs that protect both warfighters and civilians.

The Dark Side of the Rumen

October 11, 2024 | Podcasts

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.

How To Pick a Winner

September 27, 2024 | Podcasts

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.

Bat White-nose Syndrome

September 13, 2024 | Podcasts

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.

Food Addiction and the Gut Microbiome

August 23, 2024 | Podcasts

Exploring 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.

How Pseudomonas Became A Global Pathogen

August 09, 2024 | Podcasts

The 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.

Microbes Sculpt Our Planet and Manage Inflammation

July 27, 2024 | Podcasts

Deep-dwelling microbes that sculpt our planet, and the use of microbes in bioelectronics to manage inflammation.

Could Fungal Pathogens Outsmart US?

July 12, 2024 | Podcasts

The beneficial roles of fungi along with their mischievous and deadly impacts and how committed experts are researching ways to save us and our food supplies.

Cry Havoc!, and Let Slip the Phages of Healing

June 28, 2024 | Podcasts

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.

Starvation vs Dehydration: Who Loses, Who Wins?

May 12, 2024 | Podcasts

The plasticity of the adult human small intestinal stoma microbiota, and survival and rapid resuscitation that permit limited productivity in desert microbial communities.

Stomach Acid Can Be Your Friend

April 26, 2024 | Podcasts

A charcuterie invasion, and how that acid in your stomach may protect from the invading hordes of microbes.

Living in a Community World

April 13, 2024 | Podcasts

Fusobacterium nucleatum clade that dominates colorectal cancer, and surface colonization by Flavobacterium johnsoniae promotes its survival in a model microbial community.

Attaching and Effacing on a Pedestal

March 30, 2024 | Podcasts

A case of E. faecium bacteremia treated with combination bacteriophage and antibiotic therapy, and how dopamine receptor D2 confers colonization resistance via microbial metabolites.

Spirulina Smoothies

March 15, 2024 | Podcasts

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.

The Marvel of MAC

March 02, 2024 | Podcasts

The ongoing cholera outbreak in Africa, and research showing that gut complement induced by the microbiota blocks pathogens and spares commensal bacteria.

A New blue Cheese-making Fungus

February 17, 2024 | Podcasts

A new population in the blue cheese-making fungus Penicillium roqueforti and identification of a quorum-sensing autoinducer and siderophore in uropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Can Our Microbiome Break Our Hearts?

February 02, 2024 | Podcasts

A database of genome sequences of thousands of Mycobaterium tuberculosis, allowing association with resistance phenotypes to 13 antibiotics, and microbe-derived uremic solutes that enhance thrombosis potential in the host.

Itching and Scratching and New Antibiotics

January 26, 2024 | Podcasts

The mechanism for the S. aureus itch and scratch induced skin damage, and discovery of a novel class of antibiotics that targets the lipopolysaccharide transporter.

Another Year is Microbial

January 09, 2024 | Podcasts

The use of phage diversity in cell-free DNA to identify bacterial pathogens in human sepsis cases, and the evolution, persistence, and host adaptation of a gonococcal antimicrobial resistance plasmid that emerged in the pre-antibiotic era.

Marvels of Microbiology

December 15, 2023 | Podcasts

A new antibiotic in soil, Barbara Iglewski’s passing, and Elio returns for an appearance.

Teaching with TWiM

December 01, 2023 | Podcasts

How two professor use TWiM to teach undergraduates, microbiology.

Impact of Lung Microbiome and Racial Disparities on Asthma

November 16, 2023 | Podcasts

Better training for a non-academic career, and racial disparities in airway microbiota in obesity and asthma research.

Bacterial-electronic Sensor Pill

November 03, 2023 | Podcasts

How a coating of lipoproteins provides a stabilizing environment on the inner membrane of Bacillus subtilis spores, and a miniaturized device that integrates genetically engineered probiotic biosensors with a custom-designed photodetector and readout chip

Bacterial Channels in Plant Cells

October 07, 2023 | Podcasts

A dispute about whether the mycobiome plays a role in the development of cancer, and the structure and function of channels that are delivered to plant cells by pathogenic bacteria.

Uncultured and Unmutable

September 22, 2023 | Podcasts

How phages avoid tRNA-targeting host defenses, and discovery of a new antibiotic from an uncultured bacterium that binds to an immutable target.

You’ll Scream After Ice Cream

September 08, 2023 | Podcasts

The ice cream manufacturing environment harbors psychrotrophic bacteria, and identification of a deadly bacterial strain causing widespread deaths of newborns in Uganda.

Aerosol Phage Therapy, Alpha-Gal Aptamers for MRSA

August 25, 2023 | Podcasts

Personalized aerosilized phage therapy for a chronic lung infection, and using the combination of antibiotic and a DNA molecule that binds alpha-gal to reduce S. aureus infection in vivo.

Breast Milk Bioactives

August 11, 2023 | Podcasts

Breast milk bioactives are essential for development of the infant microbiome and immunity, and how capsule mutants of Klebsiella pneumoniae can affect bacterial pathogenesis.

Biogeography of Tectonics and Teeth

July 29, 2023 | Podcasts

How photoferrotrophic bacteria initiated plate tectonics over 2500 million years ago, and how two bacteria work together to cause childhood tooth decay.

Houston, We Have Mimi Goldschmidt

July 14, 2023 | Podcasts

Mimi Goldschmidt, her remarkable career in microbiology which included training astronauts to safely bring moon rocks back to Earth.

Viral Defense and Counter-Defense

June 30, 2023 | Podcasts

cGAS mediated ubiquitination to counter infection, and viral sponges that sequester nucleotide signals to inactivate immunity.

Cancer and E. coli

June 09, 2023 | Podcasts

A potential connection between a bacterial protein that damages DNA, and human cancers, and how to synthesize antimicrobial natural products from reconstructed bacterial genomes of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic.

When Replicas Do Not Replicate

May 20, 2023 | Podcasts

The high variability in the rate and amount of current production from microbial fuel cells, and how bacteria link their growth rate to external nutrient conditions via a protein that functions as a cellular rheostat.

Integrons and invasion

May 05, 2023 | Podcasts

Environmental integrons, bacterial genetic elements notorious for their role in spreading antibiotic resistance, and how Salmonella invasion is controlled by competition among intestinal chemical signals.

How Plague Got Deadly

April 23, 2023 | Podcasts

A new type of satellite virus that requires only phage tails for producing infectious virus particles, and that highly virulent plague bacteria differs from its innocuous enteric predecessor by its resistance to lysis by human complement.

Flies, Pigs, and Squid

April 08, 2023 | Podcasts

Housefly dispersal of antimicrobial resistant bacteria, and a reproductive organ in squid linked to symbiotic bacteria.

Quorum Sensing In The Gut

March 24, 2023 | Podcasts

Quorum-sensing systems that regulate intestinal inflammation and permeability caused by P. aeruginosa, and how plasmids manipulate bacterial behavior through translational regulatory crosstalk.

At-home Evolution With Yeast

March 10, 2023 | Podcasts

A protocol for evolving caffeine-tolerant yeast by high school students in the home, and how predator-prey dynamics change when multiple bacteria grow together in biofilms.

Microbes Making Jet Fuel

February 16, 2023 | Podcasts

The synthesis in bacteria of new energy-dense biofuels that can replace rocket and jet fuels, and the use of nanopore sequencing to improve diagnosis and treatment of patients with serious infections.

They Forget To Divide

January 27, 2023 | Podcasts

How magnesium modulates cell division frequency of a soil bacillus, and killing of fungi by Acinetobacter baumannii via a Type VI DNase Effector.

A Road Map For Successful Phage Therapy

January 13, 2023 | Podcasts

Successful phage therapy against a mycobacterial lung infection, and how encapsulation of the cell wall protects S. pneumoniae from its major peptidoglycan hydrolase and host defenses.

To Stop or Not To Stop

December 08, 2022 | Podcasts

Stop-codon recoding in bacteriophages that may regulate translation of lytic genes, and how Staphylococcus aureus inhibits Pseudomonas aeruginosa growth.

Bacterial Multicellularity Near An Underground Stream

November 24, 2022 | Podcasts

Over half of human pathogenic diseases are impacted by climate change, and how a novel prokaryote discovered next to an underground stream illuminates the pathway to multicellularity.

The Myth of Clonality

November 11, 2022 | Podcasts

High rates of co-transformation of plasmids in E. coli overturns the clonality myth, and bacterial membrane vesicles as a novel strategy for extrusion of the antimicrobial bismuth in H. pylori.

Bacterial Endosymbionts Block Giant Viruses

October 20, 2022 | Podcasts

How to design a complex gut microbiome, and protection of protists from virus infection by intracellular bacterial symbionts.

The Value of Wiping

September 29, 2022 | Podcasts

How to inactivate norovirus on formica surfaces, and how to achieve antibiotic resistance by suppression of a frameshift mutation in an essential gene.

Metabolism’s Got Rhythm

September 16, 2022 | Podcasts

Activation of natural product synthesis using CRISPR interference in Streptomyces, and how light/dark and temperature cycling modulate Electron Flow in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms.

Microbe vs Microbe

August 25, 2022 | Podcasts

A novel mucosal COVID-19 vaccine based on a bacteriophage capsid, and potentiation of C. difficile infection severity by the gut bacterial community.

Magnets and Salt Improve Plastics Production by Archaea

August 09, 2022 | Podcasts

The use of Archaea to produce plastics from molasses wastewater, and a bacterial defense against bacteriophage infection

Bacterial But Not Microbial

July 22, 2022 | Podcasts

Discovery of a bacterium that is visible to the naked eye, and reversible resistance to bacteriophage by shedding of the bacterial cell wall.

Aspergillus and Aspergillum

July 08, 2022 | Podcasts

Surveillance of drug-resistant Aspergillus, and the mechanism of action of a copper dependent antibiotic.

The Honey Badger of Pathogens With Heran Darwin

June 23, 2022 | Podcasts

Heran Darwin's discusses her work on Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Bacteria That Can Record

June 03, 2022 | Podcasts

How spindle-shaped Archaeal viruses evolved from rod-shaped ancestors to package a larger genome, and transcriptional recording by CRISPR acquisition from RNA.

Antiviral Hotspots and Desiccation Tolerance

May 20, 2022 | Podcasts

Hotspots of genetic variation containing reservoirs of anti-phage systems in E. coli phages and their parasitic satellites, and pathogen desiccation tolerance promoted by hydrophilins.

Antimicrobial Antipsychotics

May 06, 2022

Atypical antipsychotic quetiapine promotes multiple antibiotic resistance in E. coli, and treatment with Bifidobacterium lactis probiotic benefits patients with coronary artery disease.

Lavender and Catheters

April 15, 2022 | Podcasts

Lavender oil to disrupt Listeria biofilms, and how treatment of catheters with liquid silicone reduces associated urinary tract infections.

Spot on With T4SS Modulators

April 01, 2022 | Podcasts

A small protein helps ensure that E. coli utilizes a preferred carbon source, and a screening strategy to identify inhibitors of the type IV secretion system

Overwhelming Microbial Greatness

March 18, 2022 | Podcasts

Soil microbiota as game-changers in restoration of degraded lands, and discovery of a centimeter-long bacterium, the biggest yet discovered.

Carnivorous Vulture Bees

February 25, 2022 | Podcasts

The microbiomes of carnivorous vulture bees and of Gala apples.

Sea Sawdust

February 11, 2022 | Podcasts

The frightening global burden of bacterial antibiotic resistance, and a solution to the problem of daylight nitrogen fixation in a cyanobacterium

A Tick’s Meal

January 20, 2022 | Podcasts

How bacterial symbionts regulate tick blood feeding activity, and the reasons why antibiotics exist.

An mRNA Vaccine Against Ticks

January 13, 2022 | Podcasts

Antigenic variation within dengue virus serotypes, and an mRNA vaccine that induces antibodies against tick proteins and prevents transmission of the Lyme disease agent.

I Have One Word For You: Plastics

January 06, 2022

How phages prevent other phages from invading their hosts without blocking their own reproduction, and plastic-degrading potential of microbes across the Earth.

Fleaing The Plague

November 19, 2021 | Podcasts

Positive interactions among bacteria are far more common than previously thought

Episymbionts Are Good For You

November 06, 2021 | Podcasts

Gram’s stain does not cross the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane, and suppression of gingival inflammation and bone loss through host modulation caused by episymbiotic Saccharibacteria.

Cell Growth and Cell Size With Petra Levin

October 28, 2021 | Podcasts

How starvation induces shrinkage of the bacterial cytoplasm; plasticity of E. coli cell wall and antibiotic resistance; and induction of antibiotic resistance by Triclosan.

Electrifying Microbial Fuel Cells

October 08, 2021 | Podcasts

Using colicins to ferry DNA into cells through an iron transporter, and construction of highly efficient microbial fuel cells that produce more electrical current than previously observed.

Biofilms, Coronaviruses, and a Shigella Vaccine

October 01, 2021 | Podcasts

The role of biofilms in infection by coronaviruses, and development of a Shigella vaccine using outer membrane vesicles derived from Salmonella.

E-Scaffolds and Paper Stickers

September 10, 2021 | Podcasts

An electrochemical scaffold that delivers safe doses of hypochlorous acid to treat wound infections in humans, and a method for sampling and monitoring bacteria and viruses or surfaces using plain paper stickers.

Phage-pathogen and Toxin-antitoxin Conflicts

August 27, 2021 | Podcasts

How temporal shifts in antibiotic resistance elements govern phage-pathogen conflicts, and the intracellular localization of toxin-antitoxin proteins in E. coli.

Borgs Are Real

August 13, 2021 | Podcasts

How to increase diversity in microbiology, and the discovery of Borgs.

Therapy With Paleofeces and Phages

July 30, 2021 | Podcasts

Whether ‘rewilding’ is a way to get back our missing gut microbes, and failure of bacteriophage therapy due to the production of neutralizing antibodies.

Intracellular Niche and Passage

July 19, 2021 | Podcasts

Disruption of a Burkholderia intracellular niche by a cell death program, and an increase in Brucella infectiousness after intracellular passage.

Bacteria That Protect Bees From Fungi

July 03, 2021 | Podcasts

How polysaccharides keep cyanobacteria afloat in the oceans so that they can carry out photosynthesis, and a symbiotic bacterium that protects honey bees from fungal infections.

Chewing for Chicha

June 18, 2021 | Podcasts

Bacteria in human saliva are major components of Ecuadorian indigenous beers, and an unusual E. coli that produces atypical light cream-colored colonies in chromogenic agar.

Beef and Bacillus

June 04, 2021 | Podcasts

The effect of peroxyacetic acid spray on the microbiome and sensory properties of beef, and explores asymmetry of the cell division machinery during sporulation.

Sourdough Starter Microbiomes

May 20, 2021 | Podcasts

The microbiome of sourdough starter cultures, and discovery of a novel family of prokaryotic nanocompartments involved in the metabolism of sulfur.

What Does Flu Do to Your Poo?

May 07, 2021 | Podcasts

How Vibrio biofilms are dispersed by polyamine signals, and the induction of inappetence by respiratory virus infection which causes alteration of the gut microbiome.

Aspirin, Colorectal Cancer, and Fusobacteriu

April 26, 2021 | Podcasts

Aspirin modulation of Fusobacterium nucleatum, a microbe that has been associated with colorectal cancer, and Elio tells us ‘What are vaccines’, a talk he recently gave to members of his community.

The Phoenix of Bacteria

April 09, 2021 | Podcasts

How variants of P. aeruginosa survive antimicrobial treatment, and a decrease in the antimicrobial resistance of the gut microbiome in the presence of the fungus C. albicans.

Parkinson's Disease Gut Microbiome

March 28, 2021 | Podcasts

Analysis of the gut microbiome in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Ten Years of TWiM, a Quality Quorum

March 11, 2021 | Podcasts

Special guests on how microbiology has contributed to our understanding of the microbial world.

Gossamer Wings and Symbionts on the Sea Bottom

February 19, 2021 | Podcasts

Hiring and training expectations for future biomedical life sciences faculty, and the roles of bacterial symbionts in deep-sea hydrothermal vent tubeworms.

Green Algae and Fatty Acids

February 04, 2021 | Podcasts

How DNA of giant viruses has contributed extensively to the genome of green algae.

Corkscrewing through Snot

January 21, 2021 | Podcasts

Salmonella colonization of three-dimensional miniature intestinal organs, and identification of a circadian clock in a non-photosynthetic prokaryote.

Antivirals made by Bacteria

January 08, 2021 | Podcasts

Prokaryotic viperins, ancestors of the eukaryotic enzymes that synthesize antiviral molecules.

Microbial Nanowires

December 24, 2020 | Podcasts

The use of a bacterial protein to make highly conductive microbial nanowires, and how modulin proteins seed the formation of amyloid, a key component of S. aureus biofilms.

It’s a Microbe-Eat-Microbe World

December 10, 2020 | Podcasts

Mark Martin returns to TWiM for a discussion of a predatory bacterium appropriately named Vampirococcus lugosii.

Ancient Bacterial DNA

November 26, 2020 | Podcasts

Control of Campylobacter in raw chicken by zinc oxide nanoparticles in packaging material, and Salmonella enterica genomes from a 16th century epidemic in Mexico.

Dirt is Not Simple

November 05, 2020 | Podcasts

The hidden biochemical diversity in soil-dwelling Actinobacteria that could lead to a second Golden Era of antibiotic discovery

Black in Microbiology with Ninecia Scott and Chelsey Spriggs

October 23, 2020 | Host-microbe-Biology

Black in Microbiology co-founders, survival of Deinococcus bacteria for 3 years in space, and an experiment that addresses the panspermia hypothesis for interplanetary transfer of life.

The Light and Dark Sides of the Fungal World

October 13, 2020 | Podcasts

How bacteria disarm mushroom pathogens, and the role of the CARD9 protein in protective immunity against pulmonary cryptococcosis.

Two Microbes You Might Not Know

September 24, 2020 | Podcasts

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, and Roseomonas mucosa to treat atopic dermatitis

Lag Phase Is No Slouch

September 11, 2020 | Podcasts

How delivery of an enzyme into competitor cells leads to synthesis of (p)ppApp, depletion of ATP, deregulation of metabolic pathways, and cell death, and a refinement of our typical view of bacterial lag phase as a period of nonreplication

One-Hundred-Million Year-Old Bacteria

August 27, 2020 | Podcasts

The genetic mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and 100-million-year-old living bacteria.

The Smell of Soil

August 14, 2020 | Podcasts

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces in an ophthalmology examination room, the ability of stressed populations of Yersinia bacteria to survive antimicrobial treatment within host tissues, and how volatile organic chemicals produced by soil microbes attract arthropods which in turn disperse bacterial spores.