This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"In the fight against global hunger, dairy milk plays an important part. Now, according to new research, there might be a way to make milk even more nutritious. Researchers previously discovered that even when fed the same diet, some cows make higher-protein milk than others. To find out why, they recently examined the microbiome of cows’ rumens. Multi-omics analysis showed that a large proportion of variations in milk protein yield, or MPY, could be traced to differences in rumen microbiota. A closer look revealed that cows producing high-protein milk hosted a high abundance of certain species of bacteria, including Prevotella, and lower abundances of methane-producing bacteria. This unique assembly of microbes could help cows increase their microbial protein synthesis and amino acid supply, improving their MPY. These findings could help clarify the microbiome- and host-dependent contributions to MPY and inform precision feeding and genetic strategies to increase milk quality and production..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

In this problem-based learning module, students will examine how natural selection is involved in the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria.  They will evaluate methods to preventing antibiotic resistant bacteria from developing.  Finally students will synthesize a plan to educate community members on preventing the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The gut microbiome (GM) plays an integral role in overall human health, yet over 70% of human GM species have never been cultured, and these microbes may hold important clues into the function of the human GM and GM-host interactions. To address this gap, researchers recently cultured 10,558 bacterial isolates representing 400 GM species from 239 healthy human donors. Of the 400 cultured species, 102 new species were identified and characterized, 28 new genera and 3 new families were proposed, and 115 genomes were newly sequenced. These data were used to construct the human Gut Microbial Biobank, an open-access resource containing taxonomic and genetic information on over 80% of the dominant microbial taxa in the human gut. Although numerous gut microbes remain uncultured, the Gut Microbial Biobank sheds new light on the identities and functions of the microbes composing the human GM and has potential applications in the development of next-generation probiotics..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The activated sludge (AS) process is used to treat sewage or industrial wastewater. In this process, pollutants are removed by a diverse group of microorganisms. Because AS is a unique, controllable engineered ecosystem, its attributes make it attractive to ecologists studying microbial community assembly. A recent study reports a new machine learning approach that can distinguish metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) of AS bacteria from those of other environments. Using this method, the researchers identified some functional features that are likely viral for AS bacteria to adapt to treatment bioreactors. They found that few microorganisms are shared between different wastewater treatment plants, although some AS MAGs may have been missed due to short sequencing read length or low sequencing depth..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The second most common cause of cancer-related death is colorectal cancer, and even after surgical treatment, this disease has a high rate of recurrence. While the gut microbial community, or microbiota, is thought to play a role in colorectal cancer progression, it has largely not been explored as a prognostic tool on a whole microbial community level. To close this gap, researchers recently evaluated the pre-surgery gut microbiota of over 300 patients with colorectal cancer. They found that high levels of Prevotella bacteria were associated with lower risks of colorectal cancer progression and death. While increased risk was associated with other bacteria like an Alistipes species, Pyramidobacter piscolens, Dialister invisus, and Fusobacterium nucleatum. A model using five potentially prognostic bacteria was able to accurately predict colorectal cancer progression and outperformed widely accepted clinical biomarkers like lymphatic invasion..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

The nitrogen cycle game helps you learn how nitrogen atoms move through various forms including soil, the atmosphere, plants and animals. Actions such as lightening, bacteria digestion, plant assimilation, plant death, animal death, herbivorism and nitrogen fixing plant bacteria move nitrogen from one form to another.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Human activity is driving an increase in the amount of atmospheric reactive nitrogen. California grassland growth is typically limited by the amount of available nitrogen. Thus, more available nitrogen leads to more plant biomass, which means more carbon is deposited in the soil. Both the increase in nitrogen itself and the increase in carbon affect soil microbes. To better understand these impacts, a recent study examined microbial metabolic functioning in experimental grassland plots in California. These plots had been maintained for 14 years with increased nitrogen deposition mimicking the predicted levels for the end of the 21st century. This increased deposition led to an increased abundance of fast-growing bacterial species, as well as an increased capacity to use easily accessible, or labile, carbon sources. In contrast, the community's capacity to degrade recalcitrant carbon sources was unchanged or even decreased by elevated nitrogen..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Horizontal gene transfer helps shape bacterial communities and drives the spread of antibiotic resistance. Of the three horizontal gene transfer pathways, conjugation has been studied the most in the context of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics themselves can trigger these transfers, but the impact of other types of pharmaceuticals in natural environments remains to be explored. To close this gap, researchers examined several common non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals in a model of wastewater treatment plant activated sludge. The tested compounds covered multiple drug classes including an anticonvulsant, a lipid-lowering drug, a β-blocker, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Environmentally relevant concentrations of the compounds promoted conjugative transfer of IncP1-α, a plasmid that carries antibiotic resistance. Exposure to these compounds spread IncP1-α across entire microbial communities..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Antibiotics are known to impact the bacteria in our gut microbiome, but their impact on gut fungi has been understudied. It is thought that antibiotics increase the fungal population by decreasing the competition from bacteria for nutrients. But a recent study found that the antibiotic amoxicillin-clavulanic acid has the opposite effect. By examining samples from mice and a small number of human infants, researchers found that this treatment triggered a decrease in intestinal fungi. The treatment also led to a total remodel of the fungal and bacterial population structures in the mouse gut microbiomes. Specifically, the fungal community gained a higher proportion of Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Valsa groups, and the bacterial community had an increase in bacteria belonging to Enterobacteriaceae. Many Enterobacteriaceae reduce the fungal growth but among them E. hormaechei was particularly active in vitro and in vivo..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Phytoplankton blooms are a common event in coastal areas and represent a dramatic increase in available nutrients for opportunistic heterotrophic bacteria. The interaction between these two groups plays a key role in oceanic carbon cycles, but little is known about the specific responses of the bacterial community during a bloom. A recent study examined the bacterial community from a costal Akashiwo sanguinea bloom. They characterized the dissolved organic matter found in the bloom and the dominant bacterial groups. Then they isolated a representative species from each of the three dominant groups to analyze in more detail. The researchers found that these species exhibited "genome streamlining", which is defined by a small genome size, low density of non-coding sections, and low GC content. These representatives also had fewer transporter and protein breakdown genes than related species. Each also had a unique metabolic signature when exposed to multiple dissolved organic nitrogen compounds..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Microbial life can be found in nearly every environment on earth. These tiny organisms can significantly impact their surroundings, be it deep-sea microbes influencing the ecology of the ocean floor or the human gut microbiome affecting health. Metagenomics, or the analysis of microbial DNA in different environments, has dramatically increased what is known about microbial life. These sequencing-based techniques are not dependent on culturing microbes, which can be an incredibly difficult undertaking. However, isolating and cultivating microbes remains important to both confirm and expand upon those results. Moreover, cultivated microbes could potentially be used as probiotics or biocontrol agents or for industrial purposes. To date, most environmental microbes remain uncultured, but metagenomic data can be leveraged to help researchers isolate and cultivate new ones..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This lesson plan is a Problem-Based Learning Lesson Plan, which means that the students will work together in groups to complete portions of the lesson. There are also portions of the lesson that require individual work, but they always share their findings with their classmates, whether in person or online.

This lesson is about germs, bacteria, and communicable diseases. The students will learn about germs and how to prevent the spread of germs. They will also learn how germs and bacteria cause communicable diseases. The students will participate in several activities, and they should have a solid grasp of the subjects by the time they complete the culminating, or final, activity.

Join Scripps Institution's Bill Fenical and learn how recent discoveries of antibiotic-producing Bacteria in the deep oceans suggest that the last remaining resource for new Antimicrobial drugs may well be the microorganisms that inhabit the oceans. (56 minutes)

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The 16S rRNA gene is widely used for bacterial phylogenetics, species delineation, and microbiome research. Historically, researchers assumed that sequence variations in this gene were only due to speciation and inheritance. But there are reports of recombination events and an unreliable phylogenetic signal. To examine this directly, researchers performed four intra-genus analyses and one inter-genus analysis using pathogenic and core human microbiome genera. In all analyses, the 16S rRNA gene was recombinant and subject to horizontal gene transfer. At the intra-genus level, the 16S rRNA gene averaged 50.7% concordance with the species phylogeny, one of the lowest of the core genes. Further analysis found that the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) count was a major factor influencing concordance. 690 ± 110 SNPs would be required to reach 80% concordance, but the average SNP count for the 16S rRNA gene was only 254..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Living cells are divided into two types - procaryotic and eucaryotic. This division is based on internal complexity. This website will provide you with graphic roadmaps to the organization of both of these cell types.

Students are introduced to the growing worldwide environmental problems that stem from plastic waste. What they learn about microplastics and the typical components of the U.S. water treatment process prepares them to conduct three engaging associated activities. During the lesson, students become more aware of the pervasiveness and value of plastic as well as the downstream pollution and health dangers. They learn how plastic materials don’t go away, but become microplastic pollution that accumulates in water resources as well as human and other animal bodies. They examine their own plastic use, focusing on what they discard daily, and think about better ways to produce or package those items to eliminate or reduce their likelihood of ending up as microplastic pollution. A concluding writing assignment reveals their depth of comprehension. The lesson is enhanced by arranging for a local water treatment plant representative to visit the class for Qs and As. In three associated activities, students design/test microplastic particle filtering methods for commercial products, create mini wastewater treatment plant working models that remove waste and reclaim resources from simulated wastewater, and design experiments to identify the impact of microplastics on micro-invertebrates.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"In recent years, the study of microbial communities has greatly benefitted from advances in both genetic sequencing and more traditional culture-based approaches, unlocking their potential to drive the development of new medical treatments like never before, but the techniques used for sample preservation could affect which microbes are ultimately cultured and thus constrain the discovery of previously undescribed species and microbial functions. To better understand how preservation affects the study of anaerobic bacteria in the gut, researchers froze human fecal samples at -80°C after adding Cary-Blair medium with or without 20% glycerol or 5% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to some of them. These preservatives are often used when transporting and freezing fecal and other clinical specimens. They found that the preservation conditions affected the number of bacterial anaerobes cultured from the samples, as well as the recovery of particular genera..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health problem. By the year 2050, more than 10 million people are expected to die from resistant infections. How are researchers tackling that problem? One team is looking at the gut bacteria found in migratory birds. Migratory birds acquire and spread antibacterial resistance genes from their environment with the gut microbiome, serving as a reservoir for these insidious genes. To understand the role of the gut microbiome, researchers gathered fecal samples from migratory birds and their favorite landing spots in China. Genetic analysis revealed 1030 distinct genes conferring resistance to antibiotics including tetracycline, aminoglycoside, β-lactam, and sulfonamide. While the microbes detected in the guts of birds were less diverse than those found in their surroundings, birds carried a greater number of antibiotic resistance genes..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Growers, packing centers, and retailers rely on one another to prevent contamination and keep consumers safe. Four animations illustrate how contamination can spread from field to table and suggest ways to avoid this. Applicable to various tree and ground fruits including cantaloupe, cucumbers, and strawberries, the animations follow the lifespan of an imaginary "purple fruit," highlighting danger points at each stage of the process and suggesting best practices for keeping produce free from contamination. Although the animations are brief, they include "Pause Points" (recommended spots to pause the video) where a presenter can discuss, distribute additional materials or reinforce learning during a training.

I ProteoCool is a an open source with simple but Cool Protocols for newbies in the field of molecular biology and protein chemistry.