A very special edition of Bik’s Picks on this International Women’s Day: Soil decomposition on Mount Kilimanjaro, genome of a Ruminococcus associated with IBS, survival of microbes during the digestion of cheese.

Human oral microbiome

Editorial: Oral Biofilm Architecture at the Microbial Scale – Maria D. Ferrer – Trends in Microbiology

Human reproductive tract microbiome

Cervical Microbiota Associated with Risk of Higher Grade Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia in Women Infected with High-Risk Human Papillomaviruses – Chandrika J Piyathilake – Cancer Prevention Research

Human gut microbiome

Isolation and whole genome sequencing of a Ruminococcus-like bacterium, associated with irritable bowel syndrome – Ulla Hynönen – Anaerobe

Opinion: Gut microbiota impact on stroke outcome: Fad or fact? – Katarzyna Winek – J Cereb Blood Flow Metab

Review: Mechanisms linking the gut microbiome and glucose metabolism – Kristina M Utzschneider – J Clin Endocrinol Metab

Review: Gut Microbiome and Kidney Disease in Pediatrics: Does Connection Exist? – Tetyana L. Vasylyeva – Frontiers in Microbiology

Review: The complex interplay of diet, xenobiotics, and microbial metabolism in the gut: Implications for clinical outcomes – Mariia Taguer – Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics

Review: Obesity and Asthma: Microbiome-metabolome Interactions – Stephanie A Shore – American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology

Animal models

Gut Microbiota-Induced Immunoglobulin G Controls Systemic Infection by Symbiotic Bacteria and Pathogens – Melody Y. Zeng – Immunity

Plant, root, and soil microbiome

Methodological Guidelines for Accurate Detection of Viruses in Wild Plant Species – Christelle Lacroix – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Rice bacterial endophytes: isolation of a collection, identification of beneficial strains and microbiome analysis – Iris Bertani – Environmental Microbiology

Sulfur Fertilization Changes the Community Structure of Rice Root-, and Soil-Associated Bacteria – Sachiko Masuda – Microbes and Environments

Do shifts in life strategies explain microbial community responses to increasing nitrogen in tundra soil? – Minna Männistö – Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Temperature sensitivity and enzymatic mechanisms of soil organic matter decomposition along an altitudinal gradient on Mount Kilimanjaro – Еvgenia Blagodatskaya – Scientific Reports

Influence of pesticide seed treatments on rhizosphere fungal and bacterial communities and leaf fungal endophyte communities in maize and soybean – Rachel Nettles – Applied Soil Ecology

Forest understory plant and soil microbial response to an experimentally induced drought and heat-pulse event: the importance of maintaining the continuum – Isabell von Rein – Global Change Biology

Water and extremophile microbiome

Abundance and Biogeography of Picoprasinophyte Ecotypes and Other Phytoplankton in the Eastern North Pacific Ocean – Melinda P. Simmons – Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Metagenomic 16s rrna investigation of microbial communities in the Black Sea estuaries in South-West of Ukraine – Oleksandra Bobrova – Acta Biochimica Polonica

Waste and pollution microbiology

Contaminant-Degrading Microorganisms Identified Using Stable Isotope Probing – Alison M. Cupples – Chemical Engineering & Technology

Food microbiology

Survival of lactic acid and propionibacteria in low- and full-fat Dutch-type cheese during human digestion Ex vivo – Aleksandra Martinovic – Letters in Applied Microbiology

Metagenomics and bioinformatics

Review: Targeted metagenomics of active microbial populations with stable-isotope probing -Sara Coyotzi – Current Opinion in Biotechnology

Infection and microbiology

Diagnosis of Bacterial Bloodstream Infections: A 16S Metagenomics Approach – Saskia Decuypere – PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Microbes in the news

Fibre and protein enhance gut bacteria in children – Malene Sommer Christiansen – Science Nordic

Extreme Microbiome Project Aims to Characterize Microbes Living in Harsh Environments – Monica Heger – Genome Web

UTI bacteria use hooks to hang on inside you when you pee – Clare Wilson – New Scientist

Science, publishing and career

Statistical significance and its part in science downfalls – Hilda Bastian – PLOS Blogs

Microbiology and Nature in Video Games – Alex Alexiev – MicroBEnet

Tricon2016: The Microbiome: Sorting Out the Hype from the Hope – Bonnie Feldman – Storify

Leap day, giant viruses, and gene-editing – Dawn Field – Oxford University Press blog
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