Maryse Berkhout

Sialic acid-responsive Parabacteroides is linked to gut barrier integrity in older adults Aging is frequently accompanied by inflammaging—a chronic, low-grade inflammatory state that contributes to functional decline and disease risk. Disruption of the intestinal barrier is increasingly...

#microsky #glycotime #sialic acid

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

#microsky

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! ❤️👩‍🔬🦠

#February11 #womeninscience #microsky

Baby-to-baby strain transmission shapes the developing gut microbiome - Nature A metagenomic survey of babies attending the first year of nursery detected extensive baby-to-baby microbial strain transmission, pointing to social interactions in infancy as crucial drivers of infan...

#NatMicroPicks Baby-to-baby strain transmission shapes the developing gut microbiome - out now in Nature! 👶🦠👶

#microsky #microbiome @nature.com @cibiocm.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Efficient mucin O-glycan degradation by specific mucin degrading intestinal bacteria: towards understanding enzyme-glycan interactions Abstract. Intestinal mucin glycan-degrading bacteria are important for mucus turnover, stimulating mucus production, and producing beneficial metabolites.

Another piece of the microbe-mucin interactions puzzle 🧩:

Enzyme extracts of our favourite mucin glycan degraders cleave different bonds that occur in mucins. 🍬

Expression of glycoside hydrolases also differs per species. ✂️

To each their own! 😋

#glycotime #microsky #mucin
doi.org/10.1093/glyc...

Keystone concept revisited: insights into microbial community dynamics and control - Nature Reviews Microbiology In this Perspective, Garza et al. revisit the keystone concept and discuss its relevance for microbial keystone taxa and functions. For this, they explore the different mechanisms behind keystoneness,...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Unique bifunctional α-sialidase/β-N-acetylgalactosaminidase from Bifidobacterium bifidum acting on the Sda antigen Sda antigens [GalNAcβ1-4(Neu5Acα2-3)Galβ1-O-R] are present at the non-reducing termini of O-glycans of colonic mucins of human. Previously, we reported characterization of two glycoside hydrolase fami...

#microsky #glycotime #glycotimesky #sialic acid

This is fun:

www.jbc.org/article/S002...

Common chemical pollutants inhibit human gut bacteria - Nature Microbiology We uncover hundreds of inhibitory interactions between industrial and agricultural chemicals and gut bacteria. Systematic genetic analyses reveal bacterial survival mechanisms against pollutants and t...

#ResearchBriefing

Inhibitory interactions between industrial and agricultural chemicals and gut bacteria make a case for considering antibacterial activity in chemical safety assessment.

#MicroSky #MicrobiomeSky 🦠🧪💻

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A commensal bacterium secretes effector proteins to establish population heterogeneity in the gut Zagieboylo and colleagues demonstrate that the human commensal Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron secretes two self-targeting proteins that induce heterogeneity within its own population. Differential expre...

#microsky 😳

www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

Probiotic Engraftment of Akkermansia muciniphila in an In Vitro Synthetic Microbial Community - Microbial Ecology Akkermansia muciniphila is a specialist mucin glycan-degrader that is common in the human gut. A. muciniphila is associated with host health and therefore proposed as a next-generation probiotic. Howe...

Akkermansia muciniphila has potential as a next-generation #probiotic, but can it claim a niche and persist in a pre-existing, complex microbial community (in vitro)? 🦠🔍

#microsky
#microbiomesky
#glycotime

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

This suggests that probiotic Akkermansia can engraft and exert its potentially beneficial effects on the host without inducing major compositional and functional changes in the gut microbiota. 🎉

However, this is also an invitation for further research, as these findings are from in vitro work. 🧪

Metaproteomics revealed that A. muciniphila uses some of its most important mucin glycan-degrading enzymes to claim a niche. ✂️

The introduction of Akkermansia did not induce major compositional changes, but Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron increased whereas Bacteroides caccae was reduced. 👀

We studied the engraftment of Akkermansia in vitro by introducing it to our mucin-degrading synthetic community (MDSC). 👩‍🔬

We fed the community mucin glycans. 🍬

Even though all these mucin glycans were already degraded by the community without A. muciniphila, it could still engraft! 💪

Probiotic Engraftment of Akkermansia muciniphila in an In Vitro Synthetic Microbial Community - Microbial Ecology Akkermansia muciniphila is a specialist mucin glycan-degrader that is common in the human gut. A. muciniphila is associated with host health and therefore proposed as a next-generation probiotic. Howe...

Akkermansia muciniphila has potential as a next-generation #probiotic, but can it claim a niche and persist in a pre-existing, complex microbial community (in vitro)? 🦠🔍

#microsky
#microbiomesky
#glycotime

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#MicroSky: ONE HEALTH: Gut bacteria can influence fertility! Ding et al found certain E. coli strains that protect against drug-induced reproductive damage in worms and mice. These “probiotic helpers” could lead to new ways to support male fertility. Read MBT doi.org/10.1111/1751...

#microsky #mevosky @spp2389.bsky.social

A PhD position is available in my lab to work on:

Emergence and self-organisation of bacterial metabolism in consortia of cross-feeding bacteria.

Please RT

Deadline: 12.11.25

More infos 👇
shorturl.at/rAKAT

Long-read metagenomics for strain tracking after faecal microbiota transplant - Nature Microbiology A long-read metagenomics method empowers faecal microbiota transplantation studies by precisely tracking bacteria from donors to recipients, distinguishing co-existing strains and revealing genomic ch...

OUT NOW - Long-read metagenomics method for strain tracking after FMT #microsky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Photo looking down on four petri dishes, neatly arranged, with what resembles bacteria and mould growing inside created with crochet and embroidery

Elin Thomas, UK textile artist who uses embroidery/crochet to create unique work resembling petri dishes and bacteria spores #womensart

Group photo of PhD defence committee, young doctor and paranymphs

👩‍🎓 I am a doctor now! #PhDone @w-u-r.bsky.social @mib-wur.bsky.social

❤️ Thank you everyone for making the big day - and the entire PhD journey - such a memorable one

🦠 Looking forward to what's next #microsky

📸 Picture by en.phddefencephoto.com

Mucin-dependent transcriptional dynamics of Akkermansia muciniphila in co-culture with human colonic organoids Abstract. Akkermansia muciniphila, a mucin-degrading gut bacterium, contributes to intestinal homeostasis and metabolic disorders, yet its transcriptional

doi.org/10.1093/bbb/...

The role of Akkermansia muciniphila sulfatases in colonic mucin utilisation Akkermansia muciniphila, an obligate mucin degrader, is a major member of the human colonic microbiota and has been associated positive health outcomes. Mucins are complex glycoproteins that contain h...

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Emerging probiotics: future therapeutics for human gut health Fibre-degrading gut anaerobes including important butyrate producers, lactate producers and utilizers, have been proposed here as next-generation probiotic

doi.org/10.1093/fems...

Host-specific microbiome and genomic signatures in Bifidobacterium reveal co-evolutionary and functional adaptations across diverse animal hosts Bifidobacterium are beneficial members of the microbiota across animal hosts. Kujawska et al. demonstrate that bifidobacteria have likely co-evolved more closely with mammals, particularly primates, a...

www.cell.com/cell-host-mi...

#microsky #microbiome

#microsky #microbiomesky

Cell surface polysaccharides in the gut microbiota: occurrence, structure and role The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is colonized by trillions of microorganisms living in a symbiotic relationship with the host. Commensal bacteria in the gut engage in cross-talks with epithelial and...

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

#microsky #microbiome #glycotime

#Editorial

In this month's editorial, we talk about microbial foods. Bacteria and fungi can augment the flavour, composition and sustainability of foods, but more research is needed to push microbial foods — and consumer palates — to new heights.

#MicroSky 🦠

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Niche-specific metabolic phenotypes can be used to identify antimicrobial targets in pathogens The emergence of resistance to traditional antimicrobials increases the need to develop innovative approaches to understanding pathogen function. This study uses a computational data-driven approach t...

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

#microsky

Ecological design of high-performance synthetic microbial communities: from theoretical foundations to functional optimization Abstract. The complexity of natural microbial communities poses significant challenges for predictive manipulation, driving the emergence of Synthetic Micr

Ecological design of high-performance synthetic microbial communities: from theoretical foundations to functional optimization

#SynCom

in #ISMEComms

academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a...

Milk and mucin glycans orchestrate a synthetic infant gut microbiota structure Dietary and gut glycans drive the composition of an in vitro synthetic community of infant gut microbes.

🍼 The full paper is published in @femsjournals.bsky.social Microbiology Ecology👇

#microsky

doi.org/10.1093/fems...

Interactions between a mother’s milk and baby's microbes To explore the interactions between a baby's gut microbes and mother's milk, a study applies a synthetic community of glycan degraders and cross-feeders.

💡 Curious how we applied a synthetic community to study interactions between baby gut microbes and a lot of different sugars?

📖 I wrote a blog for the #FEMSmicroBlog to explain!

🦠 #microsky #microbiomesky #glycotime

fems-microbiology.org/femsmicroblo...