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A new study, 'Genomic diversity and antimicrobial resistance of Vibrio cholerae isolates from Africa: a PulseNet Africa initiative using nanopore sequencing to enhance genomic surveillance', published in Microbial Genomics today outlines the findings from a collaborative workshop to strengthen local capabilities for disease surveillance.

• Citrus canker, a bacterial disease affecting orange and lemon orchards, has been the target of control and eradication programs in São Paulo state (Brazil) since the 1960’s.
• Despite the measures taken, a study points to the persistence, diversification, and adaptation of the causative bacteria over this period.
• Results indicate that strategies based on genetic knowledge of bacterial strains may be key to more effective control.

Smallpox was once one of humanity’s most devastating diseases, but its origin is shrouded in mystery. For years, scientific estimates of when the smallpox virus first emerged have been at odds with historical records. Now, a new study reveals that the virus dates back 2,000 years further than scientists have previously shown, verifying historical sources and confirming for the first time that the disease has plagued human societies since ancient times.

Down in the depths of the ocean, scientists believe they may have discovered a treasure trove. Not a sunken chest filled with gold coins and lost riches, but perhaps something even more valuable. A soon to be published study has revealed that the gut microbiomes of deep-sea fish are teeming with new antimicrobial molecules that could fight common foodborne infections. The findings shed a new light on this previously untapped resource and could one day pave the way for new antimicrobial medicines.

Antimicrobial resistance remains one of the most serious global challenges of our time, with far-reaching impacts on sustainable development, food security and public health. In 2019, an estimated 1.2 million people died as a direct result of antibiotic resistant infections – and the study estimates millions more deaths were indirectly linked. Researchers have now conducted the largest global study to date of antibiotic resistance genes in the human gut microbiome. They found a correlation between the abundance and diversity of resistance genes in healthy people not taking antibiotics and per capita antibiotic use in a country, demonstrating how the impacts of individual antibiotic consumption diffuse throughout the population.

A species of worm with an appetite for polystyrene could be the key to plastic recycling on a mass scale.

British Yeast Group 2022 is pleased to extend the abstract submission deadline. The deadline for all abstracts to be submitted for the meeting is 6 June 2022, at 23:59 BST.
 

We’re pleased to announce that registration is now open for the monthly Seminar Series from Microbial Genomics.

Microbial Genomics is a Gold Open Access, peer-reviewed journal publishing cutting edge genome research spanning the breadth of microbial life. Since the journal’s launch in 2015, the field of microbial genomics has continued to evolve.

Throughout 2020 we have celebrated the 75^th anniversary of our founding with a year of activities dedicated to demonstrating the impact of microbiologists’ past, present and future – bringing together and empowering communities that help shape the future of microbiology. The final of these digital content hubs is dedicated to Exploring microbiology and genetics.