In the second episode of Microbiology Lab Pod, a crew consisting of Johan Bengtsson-Palme, Emil Burman, Haveela Kunche and Anna Abramova discusses how to identify novel resistance genes with our special guest Marlies Böhm. We also talk about bacterial virulence: how do bacteria become virulent, how do virulence relate to competition, how do bacteria evade the immune system and can we attenuate virulence using fatty acids? The specific papers discussed in the pod (with approximate timings) are as follows: 7:15 – Böhm, M.-E., Razavi, M., Flach, C.-F., Larsson, D.G.J., 2020a. A Novel, Integron-R ..read more

Finally the lab podcast is back! In this episode Microbiology Lab Pod, the team (Johan Bengtsson-Palme, Emil Burman, Anna Abramova, Marcus Wenne, Mirjam Dannborg and Agata Marchi) discusses the environmental antibiotic resistance in anticipation of the EDAR conference coming up later this week! The specific papers discussed in the pod are as follows: Marcoleta, Andrés E., Patricio Arros, Macarena A. Varas, José Costa, Johanna Rojas-Salgado, Camilo Berríos-Pastén, Sofía Tapia-Fuentes, et al. “The Highly Diverse Antarctic Peninsula Soil Microbiota as a Source of Novel Resistance Genes.” Sc ..read more

In this episode Microbiology Lab Pod, the team (Johan Bengtsson-Palme, Emil Burman, Anna Abramova, Marcus Wenne, Sebastian Wettersten and Mahbuba Lubna Akter, Shumaila Malik, Emilio Rudbeck and Camille Wuyts) discusses the evolution of antibiotic resistance from different perspectives. We also interview Rémi Gschwind about his work on novel antibiotic resistance genes in the EMBARK program. The specific papers discussed in the pod (with approximate timings) are as follows: 7:45 – EMBARK website: http://antimicrobialresistance.eu 26:15 – Seemann, T., 2014. Prokka: rapid prokaryotic genome ..read more

The Microbiology Lab Pod is back with season two. This first episode was recorded on February 4 and has the theme of global change and effects on microbes. The crew (Johan Bengtsson-Palme, Emil Burman, Anna Abramova, Marcus Wenne, Sebastian Wettersten and Mahbuba Lubna Akter) is joined by two guests – Shumaila Malik and Emilio Rudbeck – and talks about the lab’s most recent publication, the one-year covid anniversary, the effects of global warming and other global change factors on soil microbial communities, and thawing permafrost. The specific papers discussed in the pod (with approxima ..read more

In the sixth episode of the Microbiology Lab Pod, recorded on December 17, the crew (Johan Bengtsson-Palme, Emil Burman, Haveela Kunche, Anna Abramova, Marcus Wenne, Sebastian Wettersten and Mahbuba Lubna Akter) talks about Haveela’s master thesis, virtual conferences and bring three Christmas themed papers. The specific papers discussed in the pod (with approximate timings) are as follows: 13:00 – Fulcher, M.R., Bolton, M.L., Millican, M.D., et al., 2020. Broadening Participation in Scientific Conferences during the Era of Social Distancing. Trends in Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.10 ..read more

This is the fifth episode of the Microbiology Lab Pod and has been lying around on my computer almost finished for way too long. It was recorded on September 23, and the bigger-than-ever-before crew (Johan Bengtsson-Palme, Emil Burman, Haveela Kunche, Anna Abramova, Marcus Wenne, Sebastian Wettersten and Mahbuba Lubna Akter) is joined by Fanny Berglund to discuss computational discovery of novel resistance genes. We also discuss antibiotic resistance mechanisms, particularly in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The specific papers discussed in the pod (with approximate timings) are as follows: 5:30 – B ..read more

The fall semester has begun, and with that we have started a new round of recordings of the Microbiology Lab Pod. Our fourth episode was recorded on August 20, and the now-familiar crew (Johan Bengtsson-Palme, Emil Burman, Haveela Kunche and Anna Abramova) has been augmented with two new master students in the lab: Sebastian Wettersten and Mahbuba Lubna Akter. This time, we discuss microbial communities of dead and alive deep-sea hydrothermal vents, look at a model system for pathogenic biofilm formation in the lungs, and check in on why patients with covid-19 commonly lose their sense of ..read more

In the third episode of Microbiology Lab Pod, recorded in June, a crew consisting of Johan Bengtsson-Palme, Emil Burman, Haveela Kunche and Anna Abramova goes into depth with what we knew about the novel coronavirus at the time. We also talk about Emil‘s master thesis, potential alternative antibiotic treatment regimes and the lung microbiome in cystic fibrosis. Unfortunately, the sound quality of this episode is quite bad at times. We have tried to rescue the audio as best as we can, but it is still a bit annoying. We promise to do better next time! The specific papers discussed in the pod (w ..read more

In the very first episode of the Bengtsson-Palme lab podcast, a crew consisting of Johan Bengtsson-Palme, Emil Burman, Haveela Kunche and Anna Abramova discusses the origin of the novel coronavirus, interactions between influenza and the respiratory tract microbiome, resistant bacteria in glaciers, pathway analysis methods, a new genus of bacteria discovered in Gothenburg, as well as life in research during a global pandemic. The specific papers discussed in the pod (with approximate timings) are as follows: 10:15 – Andersen, K.G., Rambaut, A., Lipkin, W.I., Holmes, E.C., Garry, R.F., 2020. T ..read more