Longum Arm of the LAw

Bif idobacterium longum, doing their bit to protect us from rogue bacteria.

LAter wIth LACto when microbes

and your immune system meet for a chat.

nAturAL survIvor

the adventures of Bacil lus subti l is, he’s one tough cookie.

mICroBeChef the heat is on in

the kitchen. meet the finest microbial chefs in the business.

grAnD InsIDes follow the

enterobacter family as they redesign their home (your body).

LIstIngs what’s on

this week.

referenCes find out about the science bit.

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from the editor...

The microbial world that exists in (and on) our bodies is a microcosm of the human world. It contains an array of communities and systems. It is a functioning society that, like ours, is constantly changing and evolving.

So how would this society document these events? In our world we use television to record and repackage our events, desires, fears and prejudices as colourful entertainment. Bellyvision imagines what a microbial television network might look like, exploring a selection of stories from across our body’s microbial community.

01

Longum Arm of the LAw

NEW SERIES

★★★★☆ RECOMMENDED - 6pm, GUTV, Channel 012

“ LuCkILy for us humAns

we hAve the support

of A speCIAL forCe of

heLpfuL mICroBes CALLeD

BIfIDoBACterIum Longum.”

microbial societies,

l ike our own, are

finely balanced systems.

whilst most of our microbial

inhabitants l ive peaceful ly

in our bodies and do us

no harm (in many cases

do us a lot of good),

every so often a rogue

element can cause chaos.

e. col i is a common resident

in the lower intestine of

humans, most strains are

harmless and some actually

help us by generating

vitamin k2 which improves

bone health.

other strains however,

such as e. col i o157:h7,

can cause severe food

poisoning by releasing

harmful toxins that trigger

diarrhoea and can even

lead to kidney fai lure.

Luckily for us humans

we have the support

of a special force of

helpful microbes called

Bif idobacterium longum

(B. longum).

B. longum are another

common resident of

a healthy human gut,

where they help to

digest carbohydrates.

fortunately this process

releases a useful

by-product (acetate),

which in-turn activates

anti- inflammatory genes.

this can prevent damage

to the intestinal wall

and stops the harmful

toxins released by e. col i

o157:h7 from entering

the bloodstream.

In a recent interview Chief

Constable of the B. longum

squad, Biff Long, said,

“we don’t want to be

heroes, we’re just doing

our jobs”.

well Biff and co, keep up the

good work!

“WE’RE JUST DOI NG OUR JOBS”

03 02

t -cells are vital players

in our immune system,

where they identify ‘self’

or ‘foreign’ cells, helping

the body target invaders.

Juvenile t-cells are trained in

an organ called the thymus,

where they learn which cells

are human (self) and which

are not (foreign).

microbial cells however

are not technically ‘self ’ ,

yet most exist quite happily

inside us without being

attacked by our immune

system’s defences.

researchers found that

t-cells in the colon had

different receptors to

those in other organs.

this suggests that

microbes provide

when LACto met t-CeLL

‘CELL’EBRITY NEWS

“ mICroBIAL CeLLs teChnICALLy

Aren’t ‘humAn’, yet most LIve

quIte hAppILy InsIDe us wIthout

BeIng AttACkeD By our Immune

system’s DefenCes.”

★★★★★ MUST SEE - LATE WITH LACTO - 6pm, INTESTAVISION, Channel 100

additional local training to

the juvenile t-cells, not in the

thymus but where most of

our microbes live, in the gut.

so there may be a

mechanism that helps

the immune system to

differentiate between

types of foreign bacteria,

harmful and friendly.

whilst the exact details

of this process are

unknown, it is clear that our

immune system and

our microbial inhabitants share

a finely balanced relationship.

this balance going awry

is thought to be a factor

in illnesses like ulcerative

colitis and Crohn’s disease,

so doctors hope that

unravelling the mysteries

of the t-cell/microbe

relationship could herald

breakthroughs in the

treatment of these conditions.

“MICROBES HAVE TAUGHT ME A LOT”

▲ t-cell image ©sweatyimages

05 04

Bacillus subti l is is a

microbe most commonly

found in soil but is also

present in the human gut.

It is a real adventurer

and an all round tough cookie,

able to adapt to a range

of environments.

Bacillus subtilis is well suited

to use in laboratory research

(a ‘model organism’) so has

been exposed to some serious

challenges.

swimming away from danger,

migrating large distances

blown on the wind, disposal of

radioactive waste and space

travel... it’s all in a days work.

BACILLus suBtIL Is : nAturAL survIvor

NEW SERIES

★★★★☆ RECOMMENDED - 9pm, Steve, Channel 105

this amazing toughness

lies in its ability to reduce

itself to a dormant state (an

endospore) if nutrient levels or

environment are unsuitable.

this allows Bacillus subtilis

to survive against drought,

acidity, heat and even

radiation for decades until

conditions improve.

this talent led B. subtilis to

be a regular visitor on space

missions, including a trip to the

International space station.

An experiment conducted

using B. subtilis, found that

in spore form it could survive

in space for up to 6 years,

especially if protected from

uv rays by meteorite dust.

this supports the theory

that microorganisms could

potentially travel from

one planet to another

via meteorites. which could

even be the cause of l i fe

on earth. whoa!

In this new series we join

Bacillus subtilis for more

amazing adventures.

“ BACILLus suBtILIs Is A mICroBe

most CommonLy founD In soIL

But Is ALso present In the

humAn gut.

It Is A reAL ADventurer

AnD An ALL rounD tough CookIe,

ABLe to ADApt to A rAnge

of envIronments.”

07 06

7000 years ago, a l ittle

while before electrical

refrigeration, preserving

foods was a real headache.

microbes though, already

had an answer.

many ancient civi l isations

found that by encouraging

desirable bacteria they

could f ight off the bad

bacteria that caused

the food to spoil .

this is called fermentation.

During fermentation,

microbes (bacteria,

yeast or both) convert

sugars and other

carbohydrates into alcohols,

carbon dioxide or acids.

Luckily for us humans,

not only does fermentation

preserve food for

extended periods, but

in many instances it

improves flavour and

nutritional value.

the production of bread,

soy sauce, salami, beer,

wine, sauerkraut, kimchi,

creme fraîche, cheese

and chocolate all uti l ise

fermentation in some

form. so the real stars

of the kitchen may not

be celebrity chefs but

the humble microbe.

mICroBeChefCookIng Doesn’t get more mICroBIAL thAn thIs!

NEW SERIES

★★★★☆ RECOMMENDED6pm, MBBC2, Channel 102

“ we Are Just BegInnIng to unDerstAnD the extent to whICh

mICroBes BenefIt the humAn BoDy; But humAns, knowIngLy

or unknowIngLy hAve Been hArnessIng the power of

mICroBes for mILLennIA. through fooD! ”

FINALS WEEk SpECIAL

weissella

koreensis

k imchi is a traditional

korean dish made

from fermented vegeta-

bles. this delicious and

flavoursome dish is

something of a korean

institution eaten with

nearly every meal.

It contains an

extraordinary cocktail

of healthy bacteria.

In fact, several new

species have been

discovered whilst

studying the microbial

makeup of kimchi.

weissella koreensis is

one of the new kids on

the block (isolated

in 2002) and plays

a vital role in the

fermentation process

at low temperatures,

contributing to kimchi’s

unique flavour.

penici l l ium

roqueforti

microbes are sensational

cheese makers. they are vital

to the cheese making process,

without them cheese as we

know it would not exist. there

are several microbial cheese

making dynasties.

the ‘Lactic Acid Bacteria’

family act as ‘starter

cultures’ kicking the process

off. ‘propionibacterium’

make the famous holes in

swiss cheese. the infamous

‘Brevibacterium’ family make

dangerously stinky cheeses,

as well as causing ‘cheesy’

foot odour.

of all the microbial

‘fromagers’ the real big

cheese is penicillium

roqueforti. It is responsible

for nearly every variety

of blue cheese; stilton,

gorgonzola, Cabrales and of

course roquefort are all in

p. roqueforti’s repertoire.

Lactobacillus

sanfranciscensis

sourdough is an ancient

form of bread making

dating from at least 3700BC,

although it is likely to be older.

It uses the fermentation of

Lactobacillus and the naturally

occurring yeasts in wheat

to generates carbon dioxide

bubbles, aerating the dough.

the name sourdough comes

from san francisco during

the gold rush. Lactobacillus

sanfranciscensis makes a local

(particularly sour) dough starter

which the gold prospectors

would take into the mountains

to keep them fed. they kept it

close to their body in pouches

to protect it from frost;

so a ‘sourdough’ became

a term for a gold miner and

for their favourite bread.

san francisco’s American

football team even has a mascot

called sourdough sam.

09 08

our inner community of

microbes is one of the

many bui lding blocks that

make up the human body.

whilst they are not human

cel ls they have evolved

alongside us to such an

extent that they are now

intrinsical ly l inked with the

functioning of our bodies.

this is especial ly true

when it comes to diet;

the food we eat has

a large effect on shaping

our microbiome, and

equally our microbiome

can dramatical ly affect

the shape of our bodies.

grAnD InsIDes

NEW SERIES

★★★★★ MUST SEE - 8pm, Microbiota 4, Channel 404

A 2012 study found that

a particular microbe,

enterobacter cloacae

B29, made up 35% of the

gut bacteria in an obese

volunteer and that the toxins

it released exacerbated

hypertension, diabetes and

hyperglycaemia. further

experiments found that

having a high fat diet caused

the enterobacter population

to thrive.

After the volunteer was

moved on to a whole grain

based low fat diet for 9

weeks, losing 30kg (4.7st),

the enterobacter population

in the gut had plummeted

to 1.8%. the decrease in

toxins also led to recovery

from hyperglycaemia and

hypertension.

so whilst not all people

with a high fat diet become

obese, the presences of

enterobacter could greatly

increases the likelihood of

obesity, as well as potentially

increasing the severity of the

related illnesses.

“ our mICroBIome CAn DrAmAtICALLy AffeCt the

shApe of our BoDIes ”

11 10

GUIDE

ChAnneL

mICroBBC 1genomes under the hammer

sphincter watch ..Live

mBBC news & sport

Jeremy Bile show

Loose microbes

A home in the Colon Finding overpriced real estate in the trendy colon area

Bo Comedy quiz show about the bleedin’ obvious

Come Dine with microbes

An hour of bileDiscussing microbiology and hats

Four microbes argue at a dinner party

mICroBBC 2

IntestAvIsIon

mICroBIotA 4

Bottom gear sewage huntersMicrobes move quickly whilst generating methane

Bacteria search for nutrients in sewage, cleaning the water

steve

mBBC news Latest

mBBC news Latest

mBBC news headlinesmBBC news 24

microbe vs foodmicrobes do the funniest things

Mike Erobe has a go at converting fatty food into energy

Funny clips, unfunny narration

gutv

Adverts Adverts more AdvertsDIvA

grand Insides★★★★★ MUST SEEMicrobe family redesigns you

natural survivor★★★★☆ RECOMMENDED Bacillus subtilis extreme survival

Late with Lacto★★★★★ MUST SEELacto meetsT-cell

microbeChef★★★★☆ RECOMMENDED Final’s weekbegins

Longum Arm of the law★★★★☆ RECOMMENDED The B. longum squad are back

whAt’s on

Digestion, Digestion, Digestion Digestion

referenCes

Longum Arm of the Law

Fukuda, S., Toh, H., Hase, K., Os-hima, K., Nakanishi, Y., Yoshimura, K., Tobe, T., Clarke, J.M., Topping, D.L., Suzuki, T. et al.

Bifidobacteria can protect from enteropathogenic infection through production of acetate. Nature 469, 543–547 (2011).

http://www.nature.com/nature/jour-nal/v469/n7331/abs/nature09646.html

Later with Lactobacillus

Stephanie K. Lathrop, Seth M. Bloom, Sindhuja M. Rao, Kath-erine Nutsch, Chan-Wang Lio, Nicole Santacruz, Daniel A. Peter-son, Thaddeus S. Stappenbeck & Chyi-Song Hsieh

Peripheral education of the im-mune system by colonic commen-sal microbiota

http://www.nature.com/nature/jour-nal/v478/n7368/full/nature10434.html

Grand Insides

Na Fei and Liping Zhao (2012)An opportunistic pathogen isolated from the gut of an obese human... The ISME Journal (2013) 7, 880–884

http://www.nature.com/ismej/jour-nal/v7/n4/full/ismej2012153a.html

Neufeld, K., et al. (2011)

Reduced anxiety-like behav-ior and central neurochemical change..

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2982.2010.01620.x/abstract;jsessionid=480E0DB95F94C4AD937BBF9302A43C12.f03t03

John K DiBaise MD, Daniel N

Frank PhD and Ruchi Mathur MD, FRCPC

Impact of the Gut Microbiota on the Development of Obesity: Current Concepts

http://www.nature.com/ajgsup/journal/v1/n1/full/ajgsup20125a.html

Quorum

Melissa B. Miller and Bonnie L. Bassler

Quorum Sensing in Bacteria An-nual Review of Microbiology Vol. 55: 165-199

http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.mi-cro.55.1.165

MicrobeChef

Propionibacterium freudenreichii ssp shermanii A bacterium used in the production of Emmental

http://www.genoscope.cns.fr/spip/propionibacterium-freuden-reichii,467.html

Microbiology of starter cultures

http://www.dairyscience.info/in-dex.php/cheese-starters.html

Jung-Sook Lee, Keun Chul Lee, Jong-Seog Ahn, Tae-Ick Mheen, Yu-Ryang Pyun and Yong-Ha Par

Weissella koreensis sp. nov., isolated from kimchi

http://ijsb.sgmjournals.org/con-tent/52/4/1257.full.pdf

Leo Kline and T. F. Sugihara

Microorganisms of the San Fran-cisco Sour Dough Bread Process Isolation and Characterization of Undescribed Bacterial Species Responsible for the Souring Activity

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC377203/

Kinsella JE, Hwang DH (Novem-ber 1976).

Enzymes of Penicillium roqueforti involved in the biosynthesis of cheese flavour

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub-med/21770

Bacillus subtilis, Natural Survivor

Nguyen K. M. Tam, Nguyen Q. Uyen, Huynh A. Hong, Le H. Duc, Tran T. Hoa, Claudia R. Serra Adriano O. Henriques and Simon M. Cutting

The Intestinal Life Cycle of Bacil-lus subtilis and Close Relatives

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1428398

Horneck G

Responses of Bacillus subtilis spores to space environment: re-sults from experiments in space. Orig Life Evol Biosph. 1993 Feb;23(1):37 52.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub-med/8433836

Stephen Zamenhof, Hela Bursz-tyn, T. K. Ramachandra Reddy, and Patrice J. Zamenhof

Genetic Factors in Radiation Resistance of Bacillus subtilis

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC315600

Ashlee M. Earl, Richard Losick, and Roberto Kolter

Ecology and genomics of Bacil-lus subtilis

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2819312/

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