microTalk

Guinea worm infections have been plaguing mankind throughout recorded history. The Carter Center took the lead in the guinea worm eradication effort in the 1980’s, when there were over 3 million cases per year. Through concentrated effort, this disease is on the brink of extinction, with only 14 human cases in 2023!  Adam Weiss, MPH, is the director of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program at the Carter Center. microTalk caught up with Adam at the ASM Microbe conference in Atlanta in a live session to discuss the imminent extinction of guinea worm disease. Weiss talks about how seeing the disease first-hand led to President Carter’s and Weiss’ passion for eradication, how behavior modification was key to guinea worm eradication, how a reservoir in dogs affects eradication efforts, and how being in the Peace Corps influenced his career path. Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/yt7cDHZhThI Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA). Adam Weiss, M.P.H. (Carter Center) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA). Jesus Romo, Ph.D. (UTSA).

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are threatening modern society by making antibiotics obsolete. Dr. Nizet is a Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Pediatrics at UCSD, as well as the faculty lead for the UCSD Collaborative to Halt Antibiotic-Resistant Microbes (CHARM). His laboratory studies how the human immune system interacts with microbial pathogens, with particular focus on antibiotic resistant bacteria and how to treat them. Dr. Nizet discusses how his training as a physician helps drive the research in his laboratory, how repurposing therapeutic drugs could help fight antimicrobial resistance, how taking advantage of host immune responses can enhance the treatment of infectious diseases, how the success of modern medicine is training some bacteria to become pathogenic, how nanobots made from algae can be used to treat difficult infections, and how the environment at UC San Diego contributed to the success of his lab. This episode was supported by the do-it-yourself mail-order Gram stain kit.* Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Victor Nizet, M.D. (UC San Diego) Venus Stanton (UTSA) Jesus Romo, Ph.D. (UTSA) * "Ads" heard on microTalk are for parody purposes only, there are no actual products for sale.

Houston, we definitely do NOT have a problem…with interviewing Dr. Kate Rubins, NASA astronaut.  Dr. Rubins is a virologist who has spent over 300 days in space, performing experiments aboard the International Space Station, where she was the first person to sequence DNA in space. We caught up with Dr. Rubins at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston, where she discusses what it felt like the first time she saw the earth from space, some of the difficulties in performing research without gravity, how to study the microbiome of the ISS, how the international inhabitants of the ISS communicate with each other, and the spur-of-the-moment event that led to her becoming an astronaut. This episode was supported by Cestodium, a new weight-loss program.* Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Kate Rubins, Ph.D. (NASA) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Jesus Romo, Ph.D. (UTSA) *The recorded ads heard on microTalk are for parody purposes only, there are no actual products for sale.

Dr. Hyun Jung Kim, an Assistant Professor at Cleveland Clinic specializes in coaxing human cultured cells to differentiate and form tissues resembling the gastrointestinal tract, in order to study microbe-GI interactions.  Dr. Kim discusses his surprising discovery of how common immortalized cultured cells can differentiate and form something that resembles a gut-on-a-chip, how these guts-on-a-chip can be used to study diseases like inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer, how the addition of a microbiome to the gut-on-a-chip allows the bacteria to retain diversity unlike in a test tube, how the gut-on-a-chip could be valuable for personalized medicine, and the things he misses about Texas since moving from there. This episode was supported by Eezy Breezy Poke, an elegant at-home vaccine service. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Hyun Jung Kim, Ph.D. (Cleveland Clinic) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Jesus Romo, Ph.D. (UTSA)

Plague and anthrax are feared diseases due to high mortality rates following pulmonary exposure, and both are considered potential bioweapons.  Dr. Virginia Miller, professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and ASM President, studies plague, as well as other Gram negative bacteria. Dr. Theresa Koehler, emeritus professor at UTHealth Houston and ASM president-elect, is an expert in anthrax.  microTalk caught up with Dr. Miller and Dr. Koehler at ASM Microbe 2023 in Houston to discuss these biothreat agents. Dr. Miller discusses why she studies plague, the differences between bubonic and pneumonic plague, why Klebsiella pneumoniae poses a growing health threat, and what it was like being John Mekalanos’ first Ph.D. student. Dr. Koehler discusses why anthrax is considered a potential bioweapon, why significant scientific progress was made following the anthrax attacks of 2001, why gardeners shouldn’t worry about catching anthrax, and her first failed experiment.  Both discuss their vision for ASM and the role it plays in microbiological research and society. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Virginia Miller, Ph.D. (UNC Chapel Hill) Theresa Koehler, Ph.D. (UT Health Houston) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Jesus Romo, Ph.D. (UTSA)

Dr. John Coates, a professor at the University of California Berkeley specializes in environmental microbiology and how microbes can be utilized to resolve problems in industry.  microTalk caught up with Dr. Coates at the ASMicrobe conference in Houston and discussed his research in applied and environmental microbiology.  Dr. Coates discusses an unexpected discovery of how microbes drive the iodine cycle on earth, how sequencing microbes in the oceans has been beneficial for identifying novel biochemical activities, how climate change has stimulated his research into the “bioeconomy”, why he’s optimistic that science can mitigate the effects of climate change, and how Berkeley is a remarkable place to do science. This episode was supported by miniScope, the portable keychain microscope. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) John Coates, Ph.D. (UCSD) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Jesus Romo, Ph.D. (UTSA)

The study of evolution has experienced a tremendous revolution with the advances in current sequencing technologies enabling e.g. rapid whole genome sequencing.  Dr. Vaughn Cooper, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh who studies evolution in microbes, has taken advantage of these technologies to delve into how microorganisms adapt and evolve in different environments. microTalk caught up with Dr. Cooper at the ASM Microbe conference in Houston and discussed microbial evolution with him.  Dr. Cooper discusses the power of next generation sequencing for the study of evolution, how mutation rates affect evolution, how providing hands-on evolution experiments to high school students can stimulate the next generation of scientists, how scientists need to work to combat public distrust of science, how antibiotic resistance evolves in the presence of immunodeficiency, and how his initial experience with baculoviruses hooked him into a lifelong study of evolution. This episode was supported by Darbie’s pinworm detection kit, to combat nematodes in your bikini bottom. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Vaughn Cooper, Ph.D. (University of Pittsburgh) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Jesus Romo, Ph.D. (UTSA)

Malaria continues to have a significant impact on humans. The Plasmodium parasites are transmitted through mosquito bites, and the disease has a tremendous impact on global health. Dr. Debopam Chakrabarti, a professor at the University of Central Florida who specializes in malaria. Dr. Chakrabarti discusses the history of the search for antimalarials, the problem of parasite drug resistance, how undergraduates can help to discover the next antimalarials, whether eradication of mosquitoes will eliminate malaria, and his challenging passion in growing roses in Florida. This episode was supported by ArchaeaMingle.com, for single-celled organisms looking for a steamy time. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Debopam Chakrabarti, Ph.D. (University of Central Florida) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Jim McLellan (UTSA)

Exosomes are small vesicles that that facilitate communication between eukaryotic cells. They resemble mini-cells, and act like carrier pigeons, trafficking various “payloads” among cells. Dr. Ramin Hakami is a Professor of Microbiology at George Mason University. Dr. Hakami studies how infectious diseases are modulated by exosome signaling. Dr. Hakami talks about how exosomes can deliver messages to cells, how Rift Valley Fever and Plague affect exosome signaling within infected hosts, how exosomes provide specificity and a “reply all” function to signaling, how being in a Nobel lab affected his approach to science, and his alternate career as a salsa dancer.  This episode was supported by IV Rehydration Therapy, the treatment that prevents explosive diarrhea from inhibiting your social life. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Ramin Hakami, Ph.D. (George Mason University) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)

Coxiella burnettii causes Q Fever, a zoonotic disease that is rarely acquired by humans. But Q Fever has a history of being developed as a bioweapon because of its ability to be spread by aerosols and cause debilitating but not lethal disease.    Dr. Stacey Gilk is an Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center who studies Coxiella.  Dr. Gilk talks about what makes Q Fever a potential biothreat agent, how figuring out how to grow Coxiella outside of cells revolutionized the study of this bacterium that was thought to only grow intracellularly, how a large outbreak in the Netherlands led to the deaths of thousands of dairy goats, how cholesterol affects the ability of Coxiella to grow, how falling in love with Toxoplasma led her to pursue infectious disease research, and what a wonderful place Nebraska is to do science.  This episode was supported by Gordo Sheepsay’s My Dope Microscope, the kitchen appliance that may literally save your life. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Stacey Gilk, Ph.D. (Univ. Nebraska Medical Center) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Jesus Romo, Ph.D. (UTSA)

There have been dramatic declines in amphibian populations around the world, and one of the culprits is the disease Chytridiomycosis.  This is a skin disease of amphibians caused by two different species of Batrachochytrium fungi, and it has decimated frog and salamander populations and even driven some to extinction.    Dr. Anat Belasen is a post-doctoral scientist at the University of Texas Austin who studies Chytridiomycosis.  Dr. Belasen discusses how some amphibians are highly susceptible to this disease whereas others are resistant, why amphibian skin is so important for their well-being, how frogs can be considered a biological indicator of the health of an ecosystem, how farmed bullfrogs may be spreading the disease around the world, how genetic susceptibility screening and microbiomes may be used to try and stop the population decline, and how she’s been a frog lover for her entire life.  This episode was supported by Gordo Sheepsay’s My Brave Little Autoclave, the kitchen appliance that may literally save your life.  Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Anat Belasen, Ph.D. (U.T. Austin) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)

Microbiology textbooks teach that bacteria are so small that they cannot be seen without a microscope, and that they do not contain organelles or a nucleus. Then along comes Thiomargarita magnifica and smashes this dogma. T. magnifica is a giant bacterium that reaches 2 cm in length and can be easily seen with the naked eye. These bacteria, about the size of an eyelash, grow in mangrove swamps.  Dr. Jean-Marie Volland is a scientist at the Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories.  Dr. Volland has characterized the surprising properties of T. magnifica, and he discusses why T. magnifica is found in mangrove swamps, how it overcomes the limitations of nutrient diffusion that keeps most bacteria small, how sulfur oxidation expands the ability of organisms to live in extreme environments, how symbiotic relationships between bacteria and other cells are ubiquitous despite going against survival of the fittest, how studying in Guadeloupe and Austria influenced his interest in symbiosis, and how looking for things in atypical environments leads to novel discoveries.  The microCase for listeners to solve is about Gordo Sheepsay, the temperamental chef of a cooking competition show who eats something more life-threatening than haute cuisine.   Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Jean-Marie Volland, Ph.D. (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)

Vibrios are marine bacteria that live in aquatic environments with a lot of other microbes, and occasionally a particular strain will arise that can cause serious disease in humans and can spread through the population in pandemics.  V. cholerae causes large pandemics of cholera, and V. vulnificus causes sporadic cases of necrotizing fasciitis.  Genomic sequencing has allowed scientists to follow the evolution of pathogens as they pass through the human population, and highlighted specific genomic changes that are associated with disease. Dr. Salvador Almagro-Moreno is an assistant professor in the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Central Florida.  Dr. Almagro-Moreno is studying how pathogens emerge from a background of relatively harmless environmental organisms.   Dr. Almagro-Moreno discusses how Vibrios can arise that cause disease, how the environment can influence pathogenic traits that are advantageous inside of a host, how oysters may be a training ground for Vibrio vulnificus pathogenesis in humans, how growing up on an island in Spain sparked his interest in marine pathogens, how climate change has impacted Vibrio-related disease, and how playing flamenco guitar keeps him sane.  The microCase for listeners to solve is about France Holiday, an anti-vax social media influencer who gets more than she bargained for while promoting an antibacterial drinking straw.  Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Salvador Almagro-Moreno, Ph.D. (University of Central Florida) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA) Cameron Lloyd (UTSA)

One of the consequences of the “Antibiotic Era” has been the increased occurrence of infections caused by Clostridioides difficile, also known as “Cdiff”, which in some cases can be life-threatening.  Antibiotics alter the microbes that live in the gastrointestinal tract (the “microbiome”) allowing Cdiff to thrive and cause disease. Dr. Vincent Young is professor in the departments of Internal Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Michigan Medical School.  Dr. Young is an expert on Cdiff and its interactions with the microbiome.  Dr. Young discusses how Cdiff infections have increased over the past several decades, how fecal transplants have been wildly successful at treating recurrent Cdiff infections, how banking fecal samples can be beneficial, how the gastrointestinal microbiome can influence Cdiff infection, and how playing keyboard in a band has been an important side job.  The MicroCase for listeners to solve is about Speedy Marathon, a cross-country runner who gets more than just a shrimp on the barbie when he runs Down Under.  Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Vincent Young, M.D., Ph.D. (Univ. of Michigan) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)  

Dr. John Mekalanos (Harvard Medical School) has devoted his career to the study of bacterial pathogens, with a special emphasis to understanding Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes the deadly disease cholera.  And what an amazingly productive research path he has followed, from the discovery and characterization of the regulon that controls V. cholerae virulence, to the identification of the pilus that allows the bacteria to colonize the intestine, to the discovery of the bacteriophage that encodes the cholera toxin.  His (relatively) recent discovery of the Type VI Secretion System and characterization of its role in inter-bacterial competition and host modulation has had broad impact on all aspects of microbiology. Dr. Mekalanos received the 2022 ASM Lifetime Achievement Award for all of his tremendous contributions to our understanding of bacterial-host interactions. Dr. Mekalanos talks about the background of some of the seminal discoveries from his laboratory, how important his laboratory personnel (graduate students, postdoctoral fellows) have been to his success, his thoughts on the eradication of cholera through vaccination, and how his love of poker has contributed to his success as a scientist.   Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) John Mekalanos, Ph.D. (Harvard Medical School) Karla Satchell, Ph.D. (Northwestern University)

Watch out for this kind of “Crypto” Currency: Cryptosporidium is a parasite that causes diarrheal disease in humans.  Cryptosporidiosis is a common cause of waterborne disease in the U.S., and responsible for serious and potentially fatal infections in HIV positive individuals and malnourished infants.  Dr. Boris Striepen is a Professor of Pathobiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.   Dr. Striepen studies Cryptosporidium and how it causes disease.  Dr. Striepen talks about how Cryptosporidium multiplies rapidly and has sex inside your intestines, how Cryptosporidium is similar to its cousin the malaria parasite, how genetics can help in the search for new drugs, how someone can catch cryptosporidiosis from a swimming pool or a petting zoo, how bacteria influence the virulence of parasites, and how science beat a career as a harmonica player in a blues band.   The microCase for listeners to solve is about the great, fantabulous, one and only Montana Jones, and his adventure in the Congo that almost led to his demise. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Boris Striepen, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA) Huntyr Menezes (UTSA) Michelle Neiner (UTSA)

Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of diarrheal disease in humans. However, C. jejuni is also naturally found in chickens and doesn’t cause them any problems, so people frequently get sick from eating undercooked chicken. Dr. David Hendrixson is a Professor of Microbiology at the UT Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Hendrixson studies C. jejuni and how it causes disease. Dr. Hendrixson talks about why C. jejuni is preferentially found in chickens and other birds, how C. jejuni is also associated with the paralytic condition Guillain-Barre syndrome, how the motility of C. jejuni helps it cause disease, how the motility appendage (the flagellum) of C. jejuni is a beautiful nanomachine, why C. jejuni microaerophilic growth leads to underreporting of Campylobacter disease, could disease be reduced by preventing C. jejuni colonization of chickens, and how an off-the-cuff comment by his postdoctoral mentor led him to jump into a challenging and rewarding field of research. The microCase for listeners to solve is about Dusty Broome, a curio shop owner who gets a mysterious illness while cleaning out his shed. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) David Hendrixson, Ph.D. (UT Southwestern Medical Center) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)

Our eyes are one of the most sensitive areas on our bodies, and they are constantly bathed in microbes, and yet we rarely get eye infections. However, certain microbes can take advantage of minor injuries to the eye and cause very serious infections that can lead to blindness. Dr. Eric Pearlman is a Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California Irvine and the Director of the Institute for Immunology. Dr. Pearlman studies how the immune system is able to fight against bacteria and fungi that manage to infect the cornea. Dr. Pearlman talks about how the eye is a specialized site that is resistant to microbial infections, what types of microbes can infect the eye, how neutrophils help protect the eye, how fungi can cause more serious eye infections due to lack of effective antifungals, why damage to the cornea results in so much pain, why everyone chopping wood should wear eye protection, and how his fascination with parasites led to him studying river blindness. The microCase for listeners to solve is about Ally Louia, whose mid-life crisis leads to an exotic vacation and a potentially deadly disease. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Eric Pearlman, Ph.D. (University of California Irvine) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)

Cheese is delicious, and also the product of a complex mixture of microbes. Different communities of microbes produce the wide variety of cheeses made around the world. Dr. Rachel Dutton is an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Diego who studies cheese microbiomes. Dr. Dutton talks about how cheese is made, how the cheese microbiome is a great model for understanding how microbes interact with each other, how the microbial community determines what type of cheese is made, how her experience working on a cheese farm influenced her research, how the long history of cheesemaking practices gives great insight into microbial interactions, where the holes in Swiss cheese come from, and how studying the cheese microbiome has the added benefit of being able to eat your experiments. microTalk was pleased to be joined by Dr. Jimmy Ballard (University of Oklahoma Health Science Center) when this podcast was recorded at the ASM Microbe 2019 conference in San Francisco, CA. The microCase for listeners to solve is about Houser Sampson, whose voracious appetite for sushi causes him to come down with a mysterious illness. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Rachel Dutton, Ph.D. (University of California San Diego) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA) Jimmy Ballard (OUHSC)

Candida albicans is the most common cause of fungal disease in the United States. C. albicans can cause serious and often fatal systemic infections, especially in hospitalized patients with underlying conditions. Dr. Cornelius Clancy is an Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and the Director of the XDR Pathogen Lab. Dr. Clancy talks about the clinical implications of fungal infections, how a physician should communicate with patients, how the unique perspective of a clinician enhances research, why there is a lack of effective antifungal drugs, why the societal cost needs to be factored into the cost of antimicrobials, why there has never been a better time to do science, and what the right motivation is to choose medicine as a career. The microCase for listeners to solve is about Alf Viddersane, who gets sick along with all his family and friends at his 50th birthday party. Participants: Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA) Cornelius Clancy, M.D. (University of Pittsburgh) Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA) Mylea Echazarreta (UTSA)