Readings and other resources

For instructors: curriculum resources from the American Society for Microbiology

• ASM curriculum guidelines for undergraduate microbiology
• ASM guidelines for biosafety in teaching laboratories

For fellow microbiologists: on methylotrophic bacteria, the phyllosphere microbiome, lanthanides, and microbial diversity

• Vorholt, J. A. Microbial life in the phyllosphere. Nature Reviews Microbiology 10, 828–840 (2012).
• Laforest-Lapointe, I., Messier, C. & Kembel, S. W. Host species identity, site and time drive temperate tree phyllosphere bacterial community structure. Microbiome 4, 27 (2016).
• Iguchi H, Yurimoto H, Sakai Y. Interactions of methylotrophs with plants and other heterotrophic bacteria. Microorganisms 2015; 3: 137–151.
• Kumar, M., Tomar, R. S., Lade, H. & Paul, D. Methylotrophic bacteria in sustainable agriculture. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 32, 120 (2016).
• Skovran, E. & Martinez-Gomez, N. C. Just add lanthanides. Science 348, 862–863 (2015).
• Skovran E, Raghuraman C, Martinez-Gomez NC. Lanthanides in methylotrophy. Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2019;33: 101–116.
• Cavender-Bares, J., Kozak, K. H., Fine, P. V. A. & Kembel, S. W. The merging of community ecology and phylogenetic biology. Ecology Letters 12, 693–715 (2009).
• Shapiro, B. J., Leducq, J.-B. & Mallet, J. What is speciation? PLOS Genetics 12, e1005860 (2016).
• Martiny, J. B. H., Jones, S. E., Lennon, J. T. & Martiny, A. C. Microbiomes in light of traits: A phylogenetic perspective. Science 350, aac9323 (2015).
• Hardy RW, Patro B, Pujol-Baxley C, Marx CJ, Feinberg L. Partial replacement of soybean meal with Methylobacterium extorquens single-cell protein in feeds for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum). Aquaculture Research. 2018;49: 2218–2224.
• Tlusty M, Rhyne A, Szczebak JT, Bourque B, Bowen JL, Burr G, et al. A transdisciplinary approach to the initial validation of a single cell protein as an alternative protein source for use in aquafeeds. PeerJ. 2017;5: e3170.

For kids: on microbial diversity, plant-microbe interactions, and lanthanides

• Bustillos-Cristales R, Pedraza-Pérez Y and Fuentes-Ramírez L (2021) How Rare Are Rare-Earth Elements in Living Things?. Frontiers for Young Minds 9:526870. doi: 10.3389/frym.2020.526870
• Bernaola, L., Stiernberg, J., and Stout, M.J. (2019). Underground Fungi: Friends and Enemies of Rice Plants. Frontiers for Young Minds 7:50. doi: 10.3389/frym.2019.00050
• Flores-Vallejo, R.D.C., Folch-Mallol, J.L., Cardoso-Taketa, A., Villarreal, M.L., and Sharma, A. (2019). Hidden Microbial Helpers Living Inside Plants: Getting to Know Endophytes and Some of Their Applications in Our Daily Lives. Frontiers for Young Minds 7:11. doi: 10.3389/frym.2019.00011.
• Schmidt, J.E., and Gaudin, A.C.M. (2017). “Where Did My Friends Go?”: How Corn’s Microbe Partners Have Changed Over Time. Frontiers for Young Minds 5:37. doi: 10.3389/frym.2017.00037.

For everyone: on microbial competition and sports!

• Youle, M., Rohwer, F., Stacy, A., Whiteley, M., Steel, B.C., Delalez, N.J., Nord, A.L., Berry, R.M., Armitage, J.P., Kamoun, S., et al. (2012). The Microbial Olympics. Nature Reviews Microbiology 10, 583–588.
• Nelson, M.B., Chase, A.B., Martiny, J.B.H., Stocker, R., Nguyen, J., Lloyd, K., Oshiro, R.T., Kearns, D.B., Schneider, J.P., Ringel, P.D., et al. (2016). The Microbial Olympics 2016. Nature Microbiology 1, 16122.
• Cheerleaders, Space, and Microbial Playoffs: Project MERCCURI