Open Postdoc Position at University of Oregon BioBE

The Biology and the Built Environment Center (BioBE) is currently seeking a post-doc to investigate fundamental questions surrounding the role of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi archaea, and protists) in the built environment and in relation to human health outcomes. Learn more and apply here. (https://careers.uoregon.edu/en-us/job/527294/post-doctoral-scholar-in-microbial-ecology)

New paper of potential interest on economic development and the human microbiome

There is a new paper out of possible interest. Source: Stagaman K, Cepon-Robins TJ, Liebert MA, Gildner TE, Urlacher SS, Madimenos FC, Guillemin K, Snodgrass JJ, Sugiyama LS, Bohannan BJM. 2018. Market integration predicts human gut microbiome attributes across a gradient of economic development. mSystems 3:e00122-17. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00122-17.     Abstract: Economic development is marked by dramatic …

Two new papers exploring the characteristics of infant microbial exposures

Early-life microbial exposure has been recognized to have a crucial role in immune development. Exposure in the actual infant breathing zone (BZ), influenced by the resuspension of floor dust, however, is little explored. Two recently published papers tackle this issue by assessing infant exposure to biological particulate matter (fluorescent biological aerosol particles, FBAPs) and microbial …

New paper: Taxonomic annotation of public fungal ITS sequences from the built environment – a report from an April 10–11, 2017 workshop (Aberdeen, UK)

The report (and the data) from our Sloan-funded taxonomic annotation workshop on fungi in the built environment was just published in MycoKeys: https://mycokeys.pensoft.net/article/20887/list/4/ Abstract Recent DNA-based studies have shown that the built environment is surprisingly rich in fungi. These indoor fungi – whether transient visitors or more persistent residents – may hold clues to the rising …

Provisional Committee Announced: Management of Legionella in Water Systems

Legionella is a bacterium found in drinking water distributions systems, as well as premise plumbing, hot tubs, hot water heaters, cooling towers, and other building water systems. At high enough concentrations and when inhaled, Legionella can cause Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac fever, the former of which can be fatal if infected people are not treated …

Nominate an Expert: Managing Legionella in Water Systems

An update on this story Managing Legionella in Water Systems Nominate Experts for an Upcoming Consensus Project The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will undertake a project on the management of Legionella in water systems. An ad hoc committee will review the state of science with respect to Legionella contamination of water systems and issue a report that will: describe the microbial …

Want to become a “Guardian of Microbial Diversity” support microbe collections

Collections of microbial cultures are critical tools in studying the microbial world around us. I have learned this from personal experience.  The DSMZ for example, was absolutely essential to the entire GEBA (Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea) project I coordinated via the DOE-JGI.  I recommend that everyone out there find ways to support various …