<description>&lt;p&gt;TWiM explains how mechano-bactericidal surfaces made from diverse materials and patterned with spikes kill bacteria on contact, and virus-host evolution is reshaped by microgravity aboard the International Space Station.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-right: 5pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; Become a&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a style="text-decoration: none;" href= "http://www.microbe.tv/contribute"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #1155cc; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; patron&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; of TWiM.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin: 0pt 5pt 0pt 1pt; text-indent: -4pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 0pt 4pt;"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; Links for this episode:&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;ul style= "margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"&gt; &lt;li dir="ltr" style= "list-style-type: disc; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;" aria-level="1"&gt; &lt;p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-right: 5pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" role="presentation"&gt;&lt;a style="text-decoration: none;" href= "https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202505976"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #1155cc; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; Mechano-Bactericidal&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #404040; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; Surfaces (Adv Sci)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li dir="ltr" style= "list-style-type: disc; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #404040; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;" aria-level="1"&gt; &lt;p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-right: 5pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" role="presentation"&gt;&lt;a style="text-decoration: none;" href= "https://asm.org/articles/2026/january/piercing-pathogens-new-anti-biofilm-strategy"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #1155cc; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; Piercing&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #404040; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; pathogens (ASM)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li dir="ltr" style= "list-style-type: disc; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #404040; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;" aria-level="1"&gt; &lt;p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-right: 5pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" role="presentation"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #404040; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; Natural bactericidal surfaces (Small)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;li dir="ltr" style= "list-style-type: disc; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #404040; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;" aria-level="1"&gt; &lt;p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-right: 5pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" role="presentation"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #404040; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; Virus-host evolution in&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a style="text-decoration: none;" href= "https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003568"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #1155cc; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; microgravity&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #404040; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; (PLoS Biol)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong style= "caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; &lt;p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 8pt;"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a style= "text-decoration: none;" href= "http://ronaldjenkees.com/"&gt;&lt;span style= "font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #18689a; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; Ronald Jenkees&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; and used with permission.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong id= "docs-internal-guid-79a79147-7fff-77e5-f4bf-d7302dccc3bd" style= "caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal;"&gt; &lt;span style= "font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; Send your microbiology questions and comments to&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #18689a; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"&gt; twim@microbe.tv&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

This Week in Microbiology

Vincent Racaniello

349: Punctured to Death by Spikes

FEB 1, 202658 MIN
This Week in Microbiology

349: Punctured to Death by Spikes

FEB 1, 202658 MIN

Description

TWiM explains how mechano-bactericidal surfaces made from diverse materials and patterned with spikes kill bacteria on contact, and virus-host evolution is reshaped by microgravity aboard the International Space Station. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode: Mechano-Bactericidal Surfaces (Adv Sci) Piercing pathogens (ASM) Natural bactericidal surfaces (Small) Virus-host evolution in microgravity (PLoS Biol) Music used on TWiM is composed and performed by Ronald Jenkees and used with permission. Send your microbiology questions and comments to [email protected]