Gene editing tool could help reduce spread of antimicrobial resistance

25 May 2023

A new tool which could help reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance is showing early promise, through exploiting a bacterial immune system as a gene editing tool.

Antimicrobial resistance is a major global threat, with nearly five million deaths annually resulting from antibiotics failing to treat infection, according to the World Health Organisation.

Bacteria often develop resistance when resistant genes are transported between hosts. One way that this occurs is via plasmids – circular strands of DNA, which can spread easily between bacteria, and swiftly replicate. This can occur in our bodies, and in environmental settings, such as waterways.

The Exeter team harnessed the CRISPR-Cas gene editing system, which can target specific sequences of DNA, and cuts through them when they are encountered. The researchers engineered a plasmid which can specifically target the resistance gene for Gentamicin – a commonly used antibiotic.

In laboratory experiments, the new research, published in Microbiology, found that the plasmid protected its host cell from developing resistance. Furthermore, researchers found that the plasmid effectively targeted antimicrobial resistant genes in hosts to which it transferred, reversing their resistance.

Lead author David Walker-Sünderhauf, of the University of Exeter, said: “Antimicrobial resistance threatens to outstrip covid in terms of the number of global deaths. We urgently need new ways to stop resistance spreading between hosts. Our technology is showing early promise to eliminate resistance in a wide range of different bacteria. Our next step is to conduct experiments in more complex microbial communities. We hope one day it could be a way to reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance in environments such as sewage treatment plants, which we know are breeding grounds for resistance.”

The research is supported by GW4, the Medical Research Council, the Lister Institute, and JPI-AMR. The paper is entitled ‘Removal of AMR plasmids using a mobile, broad host-range, CRISPR-Cas9 delivery tool’, and is published in Microbiology.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The paper ‘Removal of AMR plasmids using a mobile, broad host- range CRISPR- Cas9 delivery tool’ by David Walker- Sünderhauf, Uli Klümper, Elizabeth Pursey, Edze R. Westra, William H. Gaze and Stineke van Houte is published in Microbiology at the following URL: https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.001334 

DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.001334

For more information please contact [email protected] 

About the Microbiology Society 

The Microbiology Society is a membership charity for scientists interested in microbes, their effects and their practical uses. It has a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes, schools, and other organisations. Find out more at microbiologysociety.org. For further information please contact [email protected]

About the University of Exeter    

The University of Exeter is a Russell Group university that combines world-class research with high levels of student satisfaction. Exeter has over 30,000 students and sits within the Top 15 universities in The Guardian University Guide 2023, and in the top 150 globally in both the QS World Rankings 2022 and THE World University Rankings 2023. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), more than 99% of our research were rated as being of international quality, and our world-leading research impact has grown by 72% since 2014, more than any other Russell Group university.  

https://www.exeter.ac.uk/ 

For further information:  

University of Exeter  

Press Office  

07768 511866

[email protected]   

Image: iStock/Artur Plawgo.

Transformative Agreement Signed between the Microbiology Society and The Joint University Librarians Advisory Committee (JULAC)

22 May 2023

The Microbiology Society and the Joint University Librarians Advisory Committee (Hong Kong) are pleased to announce a transformative agreement starting in 2023. The Publish and Read model will allow affiliated researchers of six universities to publish an unlimited number of Open Access (OA) articles in hybrid and fully OA titles, as well as having full read access the Society’s journals portfolio.

JULAC has taken a strong stance and mission to support Open Scholarship as a part of cost-saving for their institute. For more information about their Open Scholarship statement click here.

Flora Ng, JULAC Chair and CIO / University Librarian, The University of Hong Kong: “As stated in the JULAC’s Position Statement on Open Scholarship, JULAC is committed to enabling Open Access (OA) to research publications. This agreement with the Microbiology Society is an example of the tangible support that libraries can provide to their institution’s researchers in making their work OA.”

Peter Cotgreave, Chief Executive of the Microbiology Society: “We are delighted to announce our collaboration with JULAC. We publish for the benefit of our community and our growing Publish and Read model directly aligns with JULAC’s commitment to the development of a comprehensive, interconnected set of information resources and services benefiting student, staff, and faculty alike.”

Our Publish and Read model continues to grow from strength to strength since its launch in 2020 – supporting organisations and researchers to participate in and benefit from OA publishing:

• Unlimited OA publishing: any article published in Society journals where the corresponding author is from a Publish and Read institution will be OA by default.
• Unlimited usage: any user associated with a Publish and Read institution can access the entire archive of Society content, back to 1947, for reading and for text and data mining.

Authors can check if their institution is eligible here.

Publish and Read will be across all the Society’s six journals, including hybrid titles Microbiology, Journal of General Virology, Journal of Medical Microbiology, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, and fully OA titles Access Microbiology, Microbial Genomics.

Microbiology Society

The Microbiology Society is a membership charity for scientists interested in microbes, their effects and their practical uses. It has a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes, schools, and other organisations.

Contact: Valida Delalic, Renewals and Retentions Manager, The Microbiology Society –[email protected]

JULAC
The Joint University Librarians Advisory Committee was established in 1967 by the Heads of Universities Committee. It is a forum to discuss, coordinate, and collaborate on library information resources and services among the libraries of the eight tertiary education institutions funded by the University Grants Committee of the Hong Kong SAR Government.

Contacts:

Ella Fu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong – [email protected]    

Flora Lee, City University of Hong Kong – [email protected]

Kevin Lau, Hong Kong Baptist University – [email protected]   

Janice Chia, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University – [email protected]

Kevin Ho, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – [email protected]

Kwan Yin Yee, The University of Hong Kong – [email protected]

Microplastics can help dangerous bacteria to survive on Scottish beaches 

14 April 2023

Plastic pollution is a global issue – an estimated 2.3 million tonnes of it is thought to be floating in the world’s oceans – but we are only just realising the magnitude of its effects on human health.   

It seems that microplastics are found everywhere; in freshly fallen snow, our blood and even a human placenta. They’re found throughout our water systems and, with no definitive way of removing them, their long-term impact on human health is still to be fully realised. However, it’s now clear that their presence could put the public at immediate risk. Recent research has found dangerous bacteria are able to survive the journey from sewage treatment plants to beaches on microplastic pollution, and has even found drug-resistant bacteria colonising microplastics on Scottish beaches.
 

It has been understood for some time that microplastics provide a protective environment (the so-called ‘plastisphere’) in which bacteria can survive in wastewater. For the first time, researchers at the University of Stirling, Scotland, have tracked how that could enable bacteria to survive the journey to the sea and make their way onto our beaches, where they can come into contact with humans.   

Lead researcher, Rebecca Metcalf, supervised by Professor Richard Quilliam, subjected microplastics colonised by bacteria in wastewater to the different environments that they would likely pass through on their way to our beaches. Metcalf and her team found that, not only could bacteria such a E. coli survive the entire journey, but that viable bacteria also survived for 7 days on the sand.   

“The plastic is providing a substrate for transferring pathogens from wastewater, and through river water, estuary and seawater, and finally up onto the beaches where they are much more likely to come into contact with humans” explains Metcalf. “Other surfaces where bacteria colonise, such as seaweed, wouldn’t necessarily go through that transfer route.”   

Concerned by their findings, Metcalf wanted to see if this theoretical survival was happening on real beaches in Scotland. They collected polyethene and polystyrene plastic waste from 10 Scottish beaches and screened them for 7 target bacteria that cause disease in humans. Alarmingly, they found that these bacteria were present in virtually all of the samples, with some showing resistance to our most commonly used antibiotics.   

This is worrying in light of sewage leaks and wastewater overflows onto our beaches: “We already have sewage ending up in the environment that contains harmful bacteria. But the plastics are transporting bacteria into places where they are more likely to come into contact with people” according to Metcalf.   

“We hope that our research will add to the growing overarching evidence and support for increasing public awareness and ultimately pushes towards legislative changes for plastic discharge to the environment.”    

Research still needs to take place to fully understand the potential risk that this may pose to those bathing at Britain’s beaches, as the likelihood for these pathogens to cause disease in humans is unknown. Researchers still urge the public to take care around plastic pollution but stress the importance of removing plastic from our beaches. “Don’t be afraid of taking part in a beach clean, it is vital that we remove the plastics from our beaches and dispose of them correctly, but I would encourage the public to wash their hands or use gloves.”  

NOTES TO EDITOR

Rebecca Metcalf will present her data at this year’s Microbiology Society Annual Conference at Birmingham International Convention Centre, which runs 17-20 April 2023. Her talk “Human bacterial pathogen survival and persistence on the surfaces of environmental microplastic pollution” will take place on Thursday 20 April 10:45am.

The Microbiology Society’s principal goal is to develop, expand and strengthen the networks available to its members so they can generate new knowledge about microbes and share it, driving us towards a world in which microbiology provides the maximum benefit to society. Find out more at microbiologysociety.org.

For more information please contact [email protected]

This work was supported by the UKRI Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) as part of the project, “Microbial hitchhikers of marine plastics: the survival, persistence & ecology of microbial communities in the ‘Plastisphere’” [grant number NE/S005196/1] 

Image: iStock/pcess609 

Image: iStock/pcess609.

Kombucha to kimchi: which fermented foods are best for your brain? 

14 April 2023

The consumption of fermented products is on the rise, and drinks like kombucha and kefir have gone viral in their popularity. But is there more to this than consumers searching for natural and healthy foods?  

Many countries around the world have their own staple fermented foods which are ingrained into culture and diet. It can’t be a coincidence that this has happened again and again. It seems logical that fermented foods offer more than a method of preservation.  

Diet can hugely impact your mental health and previous research has shown that some foods are particularly good at positively impacting your brain. Fermented foods are a source of tryptophan, an amino acid key to the production of serotonin, a messenger in the brain which influences several aspects of brain function, including mood. The foods may also contain other brain messengers (known as neurotransmitters) in their raw form. It’s no surprise then that research has shown that eating fermented foods may have various long- and short-term impacts on brain function, such as reducing stress. But which foods have the biggest impact on brain health?  

Researchers at APC Microbiome, University College Cork, and Teagasc (Ireland’s Agriculture and Food Development Authority) in Moorepark, Cork, Ireland are currently working on a large study to finally answer this question. Ramya Balasubramanian and the team at APC compared sequencing data from over 200 foods from all over the world, looking for a variety of metabolites that are known to be beneficial to brain health.   

The study is still in it’s initial stages, but researchers are already surprised by preliminary results. Ramya explains, “I expected only a few fermented foods would show up, but out of 200 fermented foods, almost all of them showed the ability to exert some sort of potential to improve gut and brain health”. More research is needed to fully understand which groups of fermented foods have the greatest effects on the human brain, but results are showing an unexpected victor. 

“Fermented sugar-based products and fermented vegetable-based products are like winning the lottery when it comes to gut and brain health”, explains Ramya.  

“For all that we see on sugar-based products being demonised, fermented sugar takes the raw sugar substrate, and it converts it into a plethora of metabolites that can have a beneficial effect on the host. So even though it has the name ‘sugar’ in it, if you do a final metabolomic screen, the sugar gets used by the microbial community that’s present in the food, and they get converted into these beautiful metabolites that are ready to be cherry picked by us for further studies.”  

These further studies are what’s next for Ramya. She plans to put her top ranked fermented foods through rigorous testing using an artificial colon and various animal models to see how these metabolites affect the brain.   

Ramya hopes that the public can utilise these preliminary results and consider including fermented foods in their diet as a natural way of supporting their mental health and general well-being. 

NOTES TO EDITOR

Ramya Balasubramanian will present her data at this year’s Microbiology Society Annual Conference at Birmingham International Convention Centre, which runs 17-20 April 2023. She will present her poster, “Exploring the neuromodulatory potential of an arsenal of fermented foods” on Monday 17 April 16:30-17:40. 

The Microbiology Society’s principal goal is to develop, expand and strengthen the networks available to its members so they can generate new knowledge about microbes and share it, driving us towards a world in which microbiology provides the maximum benefit to society. Find out more at microbiologysociety.org.

For more information please contact [email protected]

The APC Microbiome Ireland is a research institute funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) through the Irish Government’s National Development Plan (Grant Number SFI/12/RC/2273_P2).

Image: iStock/marekuliasz 

Image: iStock/marekuliasz .

Air pollution is not just a human problem – it’s also changing the gut of British bumblebees

14 April 2023

Research finds that exposure to air pollution changes bumblebee gut bacteria.

Human activity is contributing to pollution that is affecting our health. According to WHO estimates, atmospheric air pollution is estimated to cause 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide per year. Scientists and the public alike are well aware of how human activity and pollution is affecting our heath, but new research has identified how bumblebees may be caught in the crossfire.  

Recent research from the University of Leicester, UK, has identified that air pollution affects the intricate web of microbes that are all around us. Populations of bees are also declining worldwide, so the Leicester team are investigating whether these two factors are connected. Researchers are now looking into the effects of air pollution on the bee gut microbiome, a community of beneficial bacteria vital to maintaining bee health.

The team are researching how air pollution affects bee’s beneficial gut bacteria and microbiome composition, and the subsequent impact on bee health. Dr Hannah Sampson, first author on the study, explains “We know that pollution is a massive issue globally and we know that bee decline seems to be increasing over the last few years. Maybe they’re linked, as bees are constantly exposed to these pollution particulates in the air.” 

The bumblebee has a delicate gut microbiome, that has coevolved with bee species over millions of years. The balance of the bacteria in the bee gut microbiome is vital to maintaining bee health, and any disruption to this microbiome could pose a risk not only to bee health but to pollination and global food security. Snodgrassella alvi is a beneficial member of the bee gut microbiome, that colonises bees’ large intestine in a structure called a biofilm. A biofilm is a protective matrix that promotes bacterial colonisation on surfaces (e.g. like plaque on teeth). S. alvi is especially important as it is one of the initial colonisers of the bee gut microbiome.

Dr Sampson, part of the air pollution bacteria team led by Professor Morrissey at the University of Leicester, grew S. alvi in lab conditions and exposed it to black carbon air pollution. She found that exposure to black carbon changed the behaviour of S. alvi and the structure and formation of the bacteria’s biofilm. This is worrying as any disruption to this could have knock-on effects to the overall composition and function of the bee gut microbiome.  

Researchers also looked at the effects of black carbon pollution on live bumblebees. They sampled bees before and after exposure and measured the abundance of bacteria in their gut to observe any differences. The researchers found that there was a significant change in the abundance of two beneficial bacteria that are vital to the health of the bee gut microbiome.  

Whilst Dr Sampson urges caution on concluding that air pollution directly contributes to bee population decline from this initial study, she is clear on the importance of understanding this interaction to learn how to better protect our planet: “More research needs to take place as air pollution is having a much greater impact than we think. Air pollution affects microbial communities. Changes to these important communities could have detrimental effects on lots of different ecosystems that affect bees and also directly affect humans.”  

NOTES TO EDITOR

Hannah Sampson will present her data at this year’s Microbiology Society Annual Conference at Birmingham International Convention Centre, which runs 17-20 April 2023. Her talk “Air pollution’s affect on microbial dynamics” will take place on Thursday 20 April 11:45am. 

The Microbiology Society’s principal goal is to develop, expand and strengthen the networks available to its members so they can generate new knowledge about microbes and share it, driving us towards a world in which microbiology provides the maximum benefit to society. Find out more at microbiologysociety.org.

For more information please contact [email protected]

Image: iStock/Aiyrat Zakirov 

Image: iStock/Aiyrat Zakirov .

Transformative Agreement Signed between the Microbiology Society and Indian Institute of Science Bangalore

16 March 2023

The Microbiology Society and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore are thrilled to announce a transformative Publish and Read agreement starting in 2023. This marks the Microbiology Society’s first agreement of its kind in India, continuing its goal to support Open Access (OA) publishing for microbiologists across the globe.

Publish and Read is designed to boost opportunities for researchers and institutions alike, with no author fees and minimal administration. Affiliate authors at the IISc Bangalore will be able to enjoy full read access and unlimited OA publishing in all six Society titles. What’s more, Publish and Read supports the work of the Microbiology Society, a not-for-profit with an international membership.

Peter Cotgreave, Chief Executive of the Microbiology Society:

“We are delighted to announce this new partnership with the IISc Bangalore, empowering its scientists to share internationally important research more widely than ever with uncapped OA. At the Microbiology Society, we’re proud to be growing the Publish and Read model into new regions, offering a simple, sustainable solution in an increasingly Open global scientific community.”

Francis Jayakanth, Scientific Officer at the IISc Bangalore:

“Implementing a Publish and Read license agreement in support of Open Access publishing is a win-win situation for our Institute and researchers. It promotes knowledge sharing, enhances the visibility and reputation of our researchers, and saves costs while providing access to the latest research.”

Affiliated researchers at Publish and Read institutions are entitled to:

• Unlimited OA publishing: papers with a corresponding author from a Publish and Read institution will be OA by default.
• Unlimited usage: full access to the entire archive of Society content, back to 1947, for reading and for text and data mining.

Authors can check if their institution is eligible here.

Publish and Read covers the complete Society portfolio, including fully OA titles Microbiology, Microbial Genomics and Access Microbiology and hybrid titles Journal of General Virology, Journal of Medical Microbiology and International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.

Microbiology Society

The Microbiology Society is a membership charity for scientists interested in microbes, their effects and their practical uses. It is one of the largest microbiology societies in Europe with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools.

Contact: Valida Delalic, Renewals and Retentions Manager – [email protected]

Indian Institute of Science Bangalore

The IISc, founded in 1909, is a leading research institution in India known for its world-class facilities, exceptional faculty, and innovative research in various fields of science, engineering, and technology. The Institute is dedicated to promoting scientific research and education and has played a significant role in shaping the scientific and technological landscape of India. With state-of-the-art research facilities and a vibrant academic community, the IISc is a hub for cutting-edge research and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Contact: K. Nirmala Devi, Officiating Librarian – [email protected]

Transformative Agreement Signed between the Microbiology Society and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

27 February 2023

The Microbiology Society and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences are pleased to announce a transformative agreement starting in 2023. The Publish and Read model will allow affiliated researchers the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences to publish an unlimited number of Open Access (OA) articles in hybrid and fully OA titles, as well as having full read access the Society’s journals portfolio. The Microbiology Society are represented in China by the Charlesworth Group.

Yuefei Wang, Director of Resource Construction and Service Department of Agricultural Information Institute of CAAS: “OPEN science is the essential attribute of scientific research, and it is also the inevitable trend of the new scientific research paradigm in the digital and information age. After thorough evaluation, National Agricultural Information System has officially signed an open access transformative agreement with the Microbiology Society in 2023, which includes all titles of Microbiology Society journals. This transformative agreement will further promote the academic influence of scientific research achievements of CAAS, enhance academic exchanges and dissemination, and also help the library to manage the overall management of publishing and literature subscription funds and costs, which is of great pioneering significance.”

Peter Cotgreave, Chief Executive of the Microbiology Society: “We are thrilled to announce this agreement with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, a national organization leading internationally significant agriculture-related research. This deal demonstrates the continued growth of the Society’s Publish and Read model, empowering more scientists across the world: affiliated researchers will be able to publish Open Access with minimal administration and no author fees, increasing opportunities for global impact.”

The number of international institutions opting into Publish and Read agreements with the Society is set to double year-on-year since its launch in 2020. 

Affiliated authors with Publish and Read Institutions are entitled to:

• Unlimited OA publishing: any article published in Society journals where the corresponding author is from a Publish and Read institution will be OA by default.
• Unlimited usage: any user associated with a Publish and Read institution can access the entire archive of Society content, back to 1947, for reading and for text and data mining.

Authors can check if their institution is eligible here.

Publish and Read will be across all the Society’s six journals, including hybrid titles Microbiology, Journal of General Virology, Journal of Medical Microbiology, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, and fully OA titles Access Microbiology, Microbial Genomics.

Microbiology Society

The Microbiology Society is a membership charity for scientists interested in microbes, their effects and their practical uses. It is one of the largest microbiology societies in Europe with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools.

Contact: Valida Delalic, Renewals and Retentions Manager –[email protected]

Andrew Smith: Andrew Smith, Global Product & Marketing Director, The Charlesworth Group, [email protected] 

Canada’s Federal Science Libraries Network to join the transformative agreement between the Microbiology Society and Consortia Canada

07 February 2023

The Microbiology Society is pleased to announce Canada’s Federal Science Libraries Network (FSLN) has joined the successful Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and four Canadian consortia from 2023.

The Publish and Read model will allow affiliated researchers of seven government departments to publish an unlimited number of Open Access (OA) articles in hybrid and fully OA titles, as well as having full read access to the Society’s journals portfolio. This effectively makes it the first publisher deal covering both academic and government consortia in Canada. 

Peter Cotgreave, Chief Executive of the Microbiology Society said:
“This agreement shows the strength of support for the Society’s move to Open Access in Canada, and we are proud it is the first to cover both academic and government consortia who have come together in this coordinated initiative. We are delighted that our OA strategy will benefit Canadian research.”

The all-inclusive nature of this deal makes it a first for Canada and the Microbiology Society and opens new collaboration avenues for the Society and researchers in Canada. 

Affiliated authors with Publish and Read institutions are entitled to: 

• Unlimited OA publishing: any article published in Society journals where the corresponding author is from a Publish and Read institution will be OA by default. 
• Unlimited usage: any user associated with a Publish and Read institution can access the entire archive of Society content, back to 1947, for reading and for text and data mining.

Authors can check if their institution is eligible on the Microbiology Society journals website. 

Publish and Read is available across the Society’s six journals, including hybrid titles Journal of General Virology, Journal of Medical Microbiology, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, and fully OA titles Access Microbiology, Microbial Genomics, Microbiology.

Microbiology Society
The Microbiology Society is a membership charity for scientists interested in microbes, their effects and their practical uses. It is one of the largest microbiology societies in Europe with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. 

Our principal goal is to develop, expand and strengthen the networks available to our members so that they can generate new knowledge about microbes and ensure that it is shared with other communities. The impacts from this will drive us towards a world in which the science of microbiology provides maximum benefit to society. 

Contact: Valida Delalic, Retentions and Renewals Manager – [email protected]
Website: www.microbiologyresearch.org 

Federal Science Libraries Network
FSLN supports Government of Canada research, innovation and open science priorities by collaborating in the development and delivery of innovative and transformative infrastructure, systems, tools, resources and services for federal science-based departments and agencies.

Website: https://science-libraries.canada.ca

Open Publishing agreement signed between the Microbiology Society and the Big Ten Academic Alliance Consortium

30 January 2023

The Microbiology Society and the Big Ten Academic Alliance are pleased to announce a three year open publishing agreement from 2023.

The Publish and Read model will allow affiliated researchers at 15 universities to publish an unlimited number of Open Access (OA) articles in hybrid and fully OA titles, as well as having full read access to the Society’s journals portfolio. This agreement has been made possible by Accucoms. 

“The libraries of the Big Ten Academic Alliance are close partners with the researchers, faculty, and authors of our universities to advance open, more equitable scholarship,” said Maurice York, Director of Library Initiatives for the Big Ten Academic Alliance. “Open Publishing agreements such as this are a key part of our strategy for moving toward that ideal. We’re very excited to reach this agreement and add the Microbiology Society journals to our Open portfolio.”

Peter Cotgreave, Chief Executive of the Microbiology Society said:

“We are very pleased to announce this agreement with the Big Ten Academic Alliance in the United States – it demonstrates the reach of the Society’s model for sustainable Open Access and its relevance internationally to academic institutions, facilitating Open Access for more researchers across the globe.” 

“Accucoms are thrilled to have brokered an agreement between BTAA and Microbiology Society leading the charge towards Open Access. This Publish & Read agreement not only gives institutions, but also authors maximum value, by providing unlimited submissions and removing transactional barriers.” Kimberly Blizzard, Commercial Manager – North America, Accucoms.

The number of international institutions opting into Publish and Read agreements with the Microbiology Society is set to double year-on-year since its launch in 2020. 

Affiliated authors with Publish and Read Institutions are entitled to: 

• Unlimited OA publishing: any article published in Society journals where the corresponding author is from a Publish and Read institution will be OA by default. 

• Unlimited usage: any user associated with a Publish and Read institution can access the entire archive of Society content, back to 1947, for reading and for text and data mining. 

Authors can check if their institution is eligible on the Microbiology Society journals website.

Publish and Read is available across the Society’s six journals, including hybrid titles Journal of General Virology, Journal of Medical Microbiology, International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, and fully OA titles Access Microbiology, Microbial Genomics and Microbiology.

Microbiology Society
The Microbiology Society is a membership charity for scientists interested in microbes, their effects and their practical uses. It is one of the largest microbiology societies in Europe with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. 

Our principal goal is to develop, expand and strengthen the networks available to our members so that they can generate new knowledge about microbes and ensure that it is shared with other communities. The impacts from this will drive us towards a world in which the science of microbiology provides maximum benefit to society. 

Contact: Valida Delalic, Retentions and Renewals Manager – [email protected]
Website: www.microbiologyresearch.org/ 

Big Ten Academic Alliance
The Big Ten Academic Alliance is the nation’s preeminent model for effective collaboration among research universities. For more than half a century, these world-class institutions have advanced their academic missions, generated unique opportunities for students and faculty, and served the common good by sharing expertise, leveraging campus resources, and collaborating on innovative programs. Governed and funded by the provosts of the member universities, Big Ten Academic Alliance mandates are coordinated by a staff from its Champaign, Illinois headquarters. The fifteen world-class libraries of the Big Ten Academic Alliance members include Indiana University, Michigan State University, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the University of Chicago.

Contact: Maurice York, Director of Library Initiatives – [email protected] 
Website: www.btaa.org

Accucoms
Contact: Kimberly Blizzard, Commercial Manager – [email protected]
Website: https://www.accucoms.com/ 

New global map of life inside Earth reveals bacteria rich coal

19 January 2023

Coal is surprisingly rich in bacteria according to the world’s first atlas of microbial biodiversity deep under the Earth, which has been developed by Aberystwyth University academics. 

A paper, published in the journal Microbiology, highlights the work of 25 scientists based in ten countries exploring the biodiversity of organisms which live underground.

The study looked at data collected over the last decade and applied advanced computer algorithms to create the first global map of the thousands of species of bacteria living deep below the Earth’s surface.

One of the paper’s authors, geologist Professor Andy Mitchell from Aberystwyth University, explained the background:

“Over the last 15 years, new DNA sequencing technologies have generated vast quantities of data describing the different species of bacteria living in rocks and groundwater, but these studies have usually been very local or regional in their focus.

“As part of the research we looked at developing new computational approaches to collate the data from these studies. It was a matter of joining the dots to a large extent but what it provides is a first step towards understanding the global biodiversity of what lies beneath the Earth’s surface.” 

Speaking about the surprising finding that coal had a very high degree of biodiversity within it, Professor Mitchell added:

“Much of our research in Wales focused on coal mines in the south of the country as the deep seams provide a wealth of scientific information. In this work, we noted that more species of bacteria were found within coals than within other rocks such as dolomite or shale and this was replicated within coal deposits across the other countries.

“This can help inform us on issues such as the capture and storage of carbon in future.”

The study of such microorganisms can also have an impact on daily life. The use of PCR testing during the Covid pandemic originated from research conducted in the 1960s into microbes found in Yellowstone National Park in America.

This current work could have a significant impact on our long-term scientific approaches according to microbiologist Dr Arwyn Edwards of Aberystwyth University:

“As a planet we are facing a biodiversity crisis but we also need to consider how we measure the impact of biodiversity. This innovative work has highlighted information that was not known to us previously and certainly not explored on a global scale.

“What we learn about the world of microbes around us thanks to advances in DNA sequencing technology has the potential to impact significantly on our lives and open the door to new possibilities. It is great that Aberystwyth University has been able to lead on this ground-breaking scientific work and we look forward to continuing to lead the way in pioneering research with scientists from all over the world.”

Along with Aberystwyth University, research institutes in several different countries including Canada, Switzerland and Finland contributed to the study. Much of the work was led by Dr André Soares while he was a PhD student at Aberystwyth University, supervised by Professor Andy Mitchell and Dr Arwyn Edwards.

NOTES TO EDITORS

This paper, A global perspective on bacterial diversity in the terrestrial deep subsurface by A. Soares, A. Edwards, D. An, A. Bagnoud, J. Bradley​, E. Barnhart​, M. Bomberg​, K. Budwill​, S. M. Caffrey, M. Fields, J. Gralnick, V. Kadnikov​, L. Momper, M. Osburn, A. Mu​, J. W. Moreau​, D. Moser​, L. Purkamo​, S. M. Rassner​, C. S. Sheik​, B. Sherwood Lollar​, B. M. Toner, G. Voordouw​, K. Wouters​, A. C. Mitchell is published in Microbiology at the following URL: https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.001172 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001172 

Further Information: Colin Nosworthy, Communications and Public Affairs, Aberystwyth University [email protected] / 07496914301 or contact [email protected]

The Microbiology Society’s principal goal is to develop, expand and strengthen the networks available to its members so they can generate new knowledge about microbes and share it, driving us towards a world in which microbiology provides the maximum benefit to society. Find out more at microbiologysociety.org.

Aberystwyth University www.aber.ac.uk. Registered charity No 1145141.

Image: Dr André Soares analysing the DNA of microbes while underground at The Big Pit Museum during his PhD at Aberystwyth University – Aberystwyth University.