Publications by authors named "Julia M Kelliher"

Diverse and complex microbiomes are found in virtually every environment on Earth. Bacteria and fungi often co-dominate environmental microbiomes, and there is growing recognition that bacterial-fungal interactions (BFI) have significant impacts on the functioning of their associated microbiomes, environments, and hosts. Investigating BFI remains a challenge, particularly when attempting to examine interactions at multiple scales of system complexity.

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Article Synopsis
  • Comparative analysis of genomes requires collecting and integrating high-quality data using standardized protocols.
  • The Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC) works with researchers to create and uphold the MIxS reporting standard for genomic data.
  • This document explains MIxS structure and terminology, guides users on finding necessary terms, and includes a practical example using soil metagenomes.
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Members of the fungal genus are widely known for their important ecological roles and significant economic value. In this study, we used amplicon and genome sequencing to characterize bacterial communities associated with sexual fruiting bodies from wild specimens, as well as vegetative mycelium and sclerotia obtained from isolates grown . These investigations included diverse representatives from both Elata and Esculenta clades.

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As microbiome research has progressed, it has become clear that most, if not all, eukaryotic organisms are hosts to microbiomes composed of prokaryotes, other eukaryotes, and viruses. Fungi have only recently been considered holobionts with their own microbiomes, as filamentous fungi have been found to harbor bacteria (including cyanobacteria), mycoviruses, other fungi, and whole algal cells within their hyphae. Constituents of this complex endohyphal microbiome have been interrogated using multi-omic approaches.

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Several bacteria have long been known to interact intimately with fungi, but molecular approaches have only recently uncovered how cosmopolitan these interactions are in nature. Currently, bacterial-fungal interactions (BFI) are inferred based on patterns of co-occurrence in amplicon sequencing investigations. However, determining the nature of these interactions, whether the bacteria are internally or externally associated, remains a grand challenge in BFI research.

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Article Synopsis
  • Public sequencing databases offer valuable information for biological researchers but face challenges regarding data accuracy and maintenance, especially for eukaryotic organelle genomes like chloroplasts, which are prone to errors due to their similarity to bacterial genomes.* -
  • Researchers found suspicious chloroplast assemblies in the NIH Reference Sequence collection, revealing instances where bacterial sequences were erroneously integrated into chloroplast ribosomal RNA genes because of their close evolutionary relationships.* -
  • To prevent these contamination errors in future sequencing efforts, it's suggested that methods be improved, such as filtering out bacterial reads from raw data before assembling plastid genomes.*
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  • Recent studies show a significant increase in knowledge about the relationships between fungi and their bacterial associates, which previously focused on a limited number of taxa.
  • This research screened over 700 diverse fungal isolates across 366 genera, revealing a wide range of bacterial associates, including from unexplored fungal groups.
  • Findings suggest that bacterial associations are common in fungal cultures, highlighting the importance of considering these interactions in microbiome research.
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Bacteria-fungi interactions (BFIs) are essential in ecosystem functioning. These interactions are modulated not only by local nutritional conditions but also by the physicochemical constraints and 3D structure of the environmental niche. In soils, the unsaturated and complex nature of the substrate restricts the dispersal and activity of bacteria.

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Background: is a category A infective agent that causes bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic plague. Notably, the acquisition of antimicrobial or multidrug resistance through natural or purposed means qualifies as a potential biothreat agent. Therefore, high-quality antibodies designed for accurate and sensitive diagnostics, and therapeutics potentiating or replacing traditional antibiotics are of utmost need for national security and public health preparedness.

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Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) of the digestive tract in humans. There is evidence that could contribute to IBD. Here, we present the complete genome sequence of a strain designated CavFT-hAR46, which was isolated from a gut intramural cavernous fistulous tract (CavFT) microlesion in a CD patient.

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