Cutaneous Rosai-Dorfman disease.

Rosai-Dorfman disease, also known as sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy, is a benign disorder of histiocyte proliferation that usually affects the lymph nodes. Cutaneous Rosai-Dorfman disease (CRDD) is a rare extranodal variant that is strictly limited to the skin. We report a patient with CRDD of the trunk.

Metagenomic analysis indicates that stressors induce production of herpes-like viruses in the coral Porites compressa.

During the last several decades corals have been in decline and at least one-third of all coral species are now threatened with extinction. Coral disease has been a major contributor to this threat, but little is known about the responsible pathogens. To date most research has focused on bacterial and fungal diseases; however, viruses may also be important for coral health.

Functional metagenomic profiling of nine biomes.

Microbial activities shape the biogeochemistry of the planet and macroorganism health. Determining the metabolic processes performed by microbes is important both for understanding and for manipulating ecosystems (for example, disruption of key processes that lead to disease, conservation of environmental services, and so on). Describing microbial function is hampered by the inability to culture most microbes and by high levels of genomic plasticity.

Biodiversity and biogeography of phages in modern stromatolites and thrombolites.

Viruses, and more particularly phages (viruses that infect bacteria), represent one of the most abundant living entities in aquatic and terrestrial environments. The biogeography of phages has only recently been investigated and so far reveals a cosmopolitan distribution of phage genetic material (or genotypes). Here we address this cosmopolitan distribution through the analysis of phage communities in modern microbialites, the living representatives of one of the most ancient life forms on Earth.

Microbial ecology of four coral atolls in the Northern Line Islands.

Microbes are key players in both healthy and degraded coral reefs. A combination of metagenomics, microscopy, culturing, and water chemistry were used to characterize microbial communities on four coral atolls in the Northern Line Islands, central Pacific. Kingman, a small uninhabited atoll which lies most northerly in the chain, had microbial and water chemistry characteristic of an open ocean ecosystem.