A Metagenomic Investigation of Spatial and Temporal Changes in Sewage Microbiomes across a University Campus.

Wastewater microbial communities are not static and can vary significantly across time and space, but this variation and the factors driving the observed spatiotemporal variation often remain undetermined. We used a shotgun metagenomic approach to investigate changes in wastewater microbial communities across 17 locations in a sewer network, with samples collected from each location over a 3-week period. Fecal material-derived bacteria constituted a relatively small fraction of the taxa found in the collected samples, highlighting the importance of environmental sources to the sewage microbiome.

Chronic stress and captivity alter the cloacal microbiome of a wild songbird.

There are complex interactions between an organism's microbiome and its response to stressors, often referred to as the 'gut-brain axis'; however, the ecological relevance of this axis in wild animals remains poorly understood. Here, we used a chronic mild stress protocol to induce stress in wild-caught house sparrows (Passer domesticus), and compared microbial communities among stressed animals, those recovering from stress, captive controls (unstressed) and a group not brought into captivity. We assessed changes in microbial communities and abundance of shed microbes by culturing cloacal samples on multiple media to select for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and fungi.

Elevational Constraints on the Composition and Genomic Attributes of Microbial Communities in Antarctic Soils.

The inland soils found on the Antarctic continent represent one of the more challenging environments for microbial life on Earth. Nevertheless, Antarctic soils harbor unique bacterial and archaeal (prokaryotic) communities able to cope with extremely cold and dry conditions. These communities are not homogeneous, and the taxonomic composition and functional capabilities (genomic attributes) of these communities across environmental gradients remain largely undetermined.

Skin microbiome and acne vulgaris: Staphylococcus, a new actor in acne.

Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes), the sebaceous gland and follicular keratinocytes are considered the three actors involved in the development of acne. This exploratory study investigated the characteristics of the skin microbiota in subjects with acne and determined microbiota changes after 28 days of application of erythromycin 4% or a dermocosmetic.

Skin Microbiome in Patients With Psoriasis Before and After Balneotherapy at the Thermal Care Center of La Roche-Posay.

Background: Changes in the composition of microbial communities that colonize skin have been linked to several diseases including psoriasis. Nevertheless, the intra-individual dynamics and how these communities respond to balneotherapy remain poorly understood.

Methods: This open label study was conducted between July and September 2012.

The ecology of microscopic life in household dust.

We spend the majority of our lives indoors; yet, we currently lack a comprehensive understanding of how the microbial communities found in homes vary across broad geographical regions and what factors are most important in shaping the types of microorganisms found inside homes. Here, we investigated the fungal and bacterial communities found in settled dust collected from inside and outside approximately 1200 homes located across the continental US, homes that represent a broad range of home designs and span many climatic zones. Indoor and outdoor dust samples harboured distinct microbial communities, but these differences were larger for bacteria than for fungi with most indoor fungi originating outside the home.

Fungi identify the geographic origin of dust samples.

There is a long history of archaeologists and forensic scientists using pollen found in a dust sample to identify its geographic origin or history. Such palynological approaches have important limitations as they require time-consuming identification of pollen grains, a priori knowledge of plant species distributions, and a sufficient diversity of pollen types to permit spatial or temporal identification. We demonstrate an alternative approach based on DNA sequencing analyses of the fungal diversity found in dust samples.

Microbiome of affected and unaffected skin of patients with atopic dermatitis before and after emollient treatment.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder that results in areas of dry, itchy skin. Several cultivation-dependent and -independent studies have identified changes in the composition of microbial communities in these affected areas over time and when compared to healthy control individuals. However, how these communities vary on affected and unaffected skin of the same individual, and how these communities respond to emollient treatment, remains poorly understood.

Temporal variability is a personalized feature of the human microbiome.

Background: It is now apparent that the complex microbial communities found on and in the human body vary across individuals. What has largely been missing from previous studies is an understanding of how these communities vary over time within individuals. To the extent to which it has been considered, it is often assumed that temporal variability is negligible for healthy adults.

Cellular neuroinflammation in a lateral forceps compression model of spinal cord injury.

Postinjury inflammation has been implicated in secondary degeneration following injury to the spinal cord. The cellular inflammatory response to injury has not been described in the lateral compression injury model, although various types of compression injuries account for ∼20% of human spinal cord injuries (SCI). Here, we used forceps to induce a moderate compression injury to the thoracic spinal cord of female Sprague-Dawley rats.

Home life: factors structuring the bacterial diversity found within and between homes.

Most of our time is spent indoors where we are exposed to a wide array of different microorganisms living on surfaces and in the air of our homes. Despite their ubiquity and abundance, we have a limited understanding of the microbial diversity found within homes and how the composition and diversity of microbial communities change across different locations within the home. Here we examined the diversity of bacterial communities found in nine distinct locations within each of forty homes in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, USA, using high-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene.

A jungle in there: bacteria in belly buttons are highly diverse, but predictable.

The belly button is one of the habitats closest to us, and yet it remains relatively unexplored. We analyzed bacteria and arachaea from the belly buttons of humans from two different populations sampled within a nation-wide citizen science project. We examined bacterial and archaeal phylotypes present and their diversity using multiplex pyrosequencing of 16S rDNA libraries.

A direct PCR approach to accelerate analyses of human-associated microbial communities.

Since the composition of the human microbiome is highly variable both within and between individuals, researchers are increasingly reliant on high-throughput molecular approaches to identify linkages between the composition of these communities and human health. While new sequencing technologies have made it increasingly feasible to analyze large numbers of human-associated samples, the extraction of DNA from samples often remains a bottleneck in the process. Here we tested a direct PCR approach using the Extract-N-Amp Plant PCR Kit to accelerate the 16S rRNA gene-based analyses of human-associated bacterial communities, directly comparing this method to a more commonly-used approach whereby DNA is first extracted and purified from samples using a series of steps prior to PCR amplification.

Voluntary exercise induces structural remodeling in the hearts of dystrophin-deficient mice.

In this exploratory study, we test the hypothesis that voluntary exercise affects the progression of dystrophic changes in the left ventricle of the heart. Wild-type (C57BL/10ScSn) and dystrophin-deficient (mdx) mice, aged 7 weeks, were divided into sedentary and exercise-treated groups and tested for differences in cardiac histomorphometry. Exercised mdx mice were found to exhibit significantly enlarged ventricles and thinner lateral ventricular walls than sedentary mdx mice (P < 0.

The chondrogenic response to exercise in the proximal femur of normal and mdx mice.

Background: Submaximal exercise is used in the management of muscular dystrophy. The effects of mechanical stimulation on skeletal development are well understood, although its effects on cartilage growth have yet to be investigated in the dystrophic condition. The objective of this study was to investigate the chondrogenic response to voluntary exercise in dystrophin-deficient mice.