Benchmarking short-, long- and hybrid-read assemblers for metagenome sequencing of complex microbial communities.

Metagenome community analyses, driven by the continued development in sequencing technology, is rapidly providing insights in many aspects of microbiology and becoming a cornerstone tool. Illumina, Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) and Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) are the leading technologies, each with their own advantages and drawbacks. Illumina provides accurate reads at a low cost, but their length is too short to close bacterial genomes.

Vaginal microbiota and spontaneous preterm birth in pregnant women at high risk of recurrence.

We describe vaginal microbiota, including species and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), during pregnancy and their associations with recurrent spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB). We performed a prospective cohort study in a tertiary referral centre in the Netherlands, among pregnant women with previous sPTB <34 weeks' gestation. Participants collected three vaginal swabs in the first and second trimester.

The interrelation between microbial immunoglobulin coating, vaginal microbiota, ethnicity, and preterm birth.

Background: Vaginal microbiota composition is associated with spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB), depending on ethnicity. Host-microbiota interactions are thought to play an important underlying role in this association between ethnicity, vaginal microbiota and sPTB.

Methods: In a prospective cohort of nulliparous pregnant women, we assessed vaginal microbiota composition, vaginal immunoglobulins (Igs), and local inflammatory markers.

Proteomic and morphological insights into the exposure of Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 planktonic cells and biofilms to aluminium.

Aluminium (Al) is one of the most popular materials for industrial and domestic use. Nevertheless, research has proven that this metal can be toxic to most organisms. This light metal has no known biological function and to date very few aluminium-specific biological pathways have been identified.