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The latest edition of Microbiology Today is now available to read online. This issue, titled ‘Industrial Microbiology’ provides a comprehensive overview of latest research, developments and activities related to the industrial aspect of microbiology.
 

Investigators at University Medical Centre (UMC) Utrecht, The Netherlands, and Yale University, USA, have isolated and characterised two new bacterial species from patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The previously unknown bacterial species, which were named Allobaculum mucilyticum and Allobaculum fili, are isolated from the intestinal microbiota from two different patients and are the first members of the Allobaculum genus found in humans. In-depth characterisation revealed that the strains were highly efficient in breaking down the protective mucus layer of the gut and provoked potent immune responses. These findings highlight the potential role for bacteria in the pathogenesis of IBD and may contribute to future preventive therapy. 

The first ever systematic review of its kind confirms that taking probiotics alongside antibiotics can protect against some of the negative impacts of antibiotics on the human gut microbiome. The review is reported in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, published by the Microbiology Society.

When it comes to disease-causing microbes, bacteria and viruses usually steal the spotlight. But there is another, often overlooked, microbial foe that is a grave cause for concern. Fungal pathogens cause an estimated 1.5 million human deaths and destroy a third of the global crop yield each year. Despite this impact on human health and food security, the number of antifungal drugs available is extremely limited.

The Journal of Medical Microbiology (JMM) is pleased to announce the return of its popular online seminar series.

Potentially harmful microbes overwhelm the healthy gut microbiota in intensive care patients, research has found. Research published in the journal Microbial Genomics assessed how the diversity and makeup of the gut microbiome varied during patients’ time in the intensive care unit (ICU). The gut microbiome is the complex community of bacteria and other microbes that reside in the gut, and plays an important role in health and wellbeing.

The makeup of the bacterial community that lives in the gut has been identified as a risk factor for bowel cancer. Research has found that the composition of the intestinal microbiome – the complex community of bacteria and other microbes that reside in the gut – can influence an individual’s chances of developing cancer in the bowel.

Researchers are concerned that attitudes to hygiene are being undermined by the hygiene hypothesis, and that this misleading misnomer could contribute to the spread of infectious disease.

Today at the Microbiology Society’s Annual Conference, researchers will show that the overall balance of the bacteria on a person’s skin, rather than the presence or absence of a particular bacterial strain, appears to be an important factor for acne development and skin health.