Editors in Conversation

In this episode of Editors in Conversation mBio edition, Marvin Whiteley speaks with Macy Pell and Shannon Manning about how group B Streptococcus (GBS) responds to antibiotics given during childbirth to prevent newborn infections.
 
GBS can cause serious neonatal disease, and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis has greatly reduced early-onset infections. But some GBS strains persist after treatment.
 
The conversation explores a recent mBio study comparing GBS isolates collected from the same individuals before and after antibiotic treatment and childbirth. Rather than simply acquiring new resistance genes, persistent strains accumulated mutations associated with adaptation, including the emergence of strains with unusually high mutation rates.
 
Pell and Manning discuss what these findings reveal about bacterial persistence, evolution under antibiotic pressure, and why understanding GBS survival may require looking beyond antibiotic resistance alone.
 
Relevant links:
 
Genomic adaptation in group B Streptococcus following intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis and childbirth https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mbio.03966-25 (Macy E. Pell, Heather M. Blankenship, Jennifer A. Gaddy, H. Dele Davies, Shannon D. Manning.)
 
Guests:
Macy E. Pell, PhD
Department of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology
Michigan State University
 
Shannon D. Manning, PhD
Department of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology
Michigan State University

Equitable access to healthcare, and more specifically diagnostic testing, remains elusive globally, negatively impacting the health and wellbeing of all people. A not-so-distant illustration was access to testing during the COVID-19 pandemic, when testing sites globally, including here in the United States, underserved the very populations who bore a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 cases and deaths. There is a tremendous opportunity for research on diagnostic access, as well as the epidemiology and diseases that impact underrepresented groups, in clinical microbiology.
In 2026, JCM launched a new section, entitled "Diagnostic Access and Equity". In today's episode of Editors in Conversation, I'm joined by the Editor overseeing this section, Dr. Ellie Theel, and one of our editorial board members, Dr. Shawn Lockhart of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to discuss diagnostic access, equity and what the clinical microbiology community is doing to move the needle on these issues.
Guests:
Elitza Theel, Ph.D., D(ABMM)
Shawn Lockhart, Ph.D., D(ABMM)
Links: 
Remote regions, rapid recognition: performance and timeliness of BIOFIRE FilmArray BCID2 for diagnosing bloodstream infection in remote northern Australia
This episode is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 
Visit asm.org/jcm to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. 
If you plan to publish in JCM, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

Multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections remain one of the most urgent public health challenges worldwide, with some infections approaching the limits of available treatment options. In this special edition of Editors in Conversation, we celebrate the remarkable 10-year tenure of Dr. Laurent Poirel, whose pioneering work has profoundly shaped our understanding of antimicrobial resistance. Through his unique perspective, we will explore the evolving landscape of resistance in Gram-negative organisms, reflect on the major advances and challenges of the past decade, and discuss what the future may hold for this rapidly changing field. 
View this episode: https://youtu.be/3OuzU4HjZcY
Topics discussed:
The most important events in Gram-negative resistance in the last 10 years
How the antibiotic pipeline has responded to the challenge of Gram-negative resistance
How the field would move in the next 10 years.
Guest:
Laurent Poirel, Ph.D. Senior Researcher, Medicine Section. University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland, Editor AAC 2016-2026.
Links:
This episode is brought to you by the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Journal. 
Visit asm.org/aac to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in AAC, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.

New imaging and measurement approaches are revealing previously hidden aspects of microbial life, challenging long-held assumptions and creating opportunities to answer questions that were once out of reach. Marvin Whiteley, Heran Darwin and Jeffrey Moffitt talk about how technological innovation is transforming microbiology.
Guests:
Heran Darwin, Ph.D. - NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Jeffrey Moffitt, Ph.D. - Boston Children's Research
This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by mBio® and hosted by mBio Editor in Chief, Marvin Whiteley, Ph.D. 

Visit journals.asm.org/journal/mbio to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.

Receive up to 50% off fees when you publish in mBio® or any of the ASM journals by becoming an ASM member. Sign up at asm.org/joinasm.

It starts out with a couple of stomach twinges, maybe a little nausea, maybe some sharp pains, and then… before you know it, you are running to the closest toilet with which you become very, very familiar. Cyclospora causes frequent watery diarrhea with sometime "explosive" bowel movements, but is typically a relatively rare cause of infectious diarrhea.

However, the U.S. is in the midst of one of the largest documented cyclosporiasis outbreaks. How does one acquire this parasite? What are the risks? And – most importantly for our audience – how does the lab approach diagnosis?
Guests:
Daniel Rhoads, M.D.
Bobbi Pritt, M.D.
Marc Couturier, Ph.D., D(ABMM)
Links: 
This episode is brought to you by the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 
Visit asm.org/jcm to browse issues and/or submit a manuscript. If you plan to publish in JCM, ASM Members get up to 50% off publishing fees. Visit asm.org/joinasm to sign up.