Latest News

Latest News

Congrats to Sahana Mohan on her research fellowship!

The Provost’s Undergraduate Fellowship (PUF) is a competitive award which supports undergraduate students doing research or creative projects under the guidance of UC Davis faculty members. We are so pleased that Sahana's proposal was selected for funding! In her project, she will be investigating the microorganisms in fermented lentils. She plans on quantifying, isolating, and identifying microorganisms present in the lentil ferments. She hopes to find some unique lactic acid bacteria and learn about their metabolism and how they may be useful for supporting human health.

New ISAPP podcast - 2024 year in review

In this episode, ISAPP’s current President Prof. Maria Marco PhD and past President Prof. Dan Merenstein join the podcast hosts for a conversation about highlights in biotic science from the past year. Prof. Marco points out a paper published in Nature Microbiology, the result of an ISAPP discussion group exploring whether diet may be a confounder of biotic effects in clinical studies. The group concluded that scientists should work with dietitians to include data on participants’ habitual diet in future studies on biotics – particularly with on prebiotics.

New EATLAC review on fermented fruits and vegetables

Lacto-fermented fruits and vegetables (FVs) such as kimchi, sauerkraut, and fermented olives and nonalcoholic juices have a long history as dietary staples. Herein, the production steps and microbial ecology of lacto-fermented FVs are discussed alongside findings from human and laboratory studies investigating the health benefits of these foods.

How do we know if a microbe is dead?

It remains a challenge in microbiology fully enumerage living (viable) microbes. This has implications for probiotics and other biotics research. You can find the blog post here. 

New Publication: Inclusion of diet in probiotic and prebiotic studies

Diet is a major determinant of the gastrointestinal microbiome composition and function, yet our understanding of how it impacts the efficacy of prebiotics and probiotics is limited. In an ISAPP led paper published in Nature Microbiology, we examined current evidence of dietary influence on prebiotic and probiotic efficacy in human studies, including potential mechanisms.

New podcast with Maria - what is a probiotic?

Check out the discussion and resources provided on this recent UC Davis podcast. We talk about the state of the science on probiotics and why the diverse microbes in fermented foods should not be called probiotics. It was fun to taste some different fermented foods and biotic products available in the supermarket today,

Congratulations to Dr. Lei Wei!

Congratulations to Lei on completion of her dissertation research and PhD degree in Microbiology. Her dissertation, "Bioactivity of secreted compounds made by fermented vegetable-associated lactobacill" includes a detailed review on the bioactive compounds in lacto-fermented fruits and vegetables and several chapters dedicated to understanding the impacts of fermented food metabolites broadly and bacteriocins specifically in the digestive tract. We are thrilled that Lei will be continuing her work in the Marco lab as a Postdoc starting November 2024.

Glory Bui wins ISAPP SFA poster award

Glory Bui (PhD student MGG) received the honor of a coveted poster award at the annual International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) meeting in Sitges, Spain. The award was given to two students by the Student Fellows Association (SFA). Congratulations to Glory on her excellent research and presentation on diffusible factors made by L. casei in milk which improve intestinal epithelial barrier function.

New project to prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistance

We are excited to share the news that we are launching a new project to reduce antibiotic use and risk of antimicrobial resistance in pig production. This $21.2 million, 5-year PIG-PARADIGM project is funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Our lab is teaming up with other researchers at UC Davis and at universities in Denmark and the Netherlands. We will be studying how to prevent the need for antibiotics during pig weaning by improving digestive tract resilience through the gut microbiome.

Congratulations to Ruchita on the completion of her MS research

We are excited to share the news that Ruchita Uttarwar completed her MS research and graduated this June. Her thesis is titled "Effect of amoxicillin clavulanate on the intestinal microbiota and metabolomes of mice administered yogurt and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12". We are thrilled for her upcoming manuscript and bright future ahead.