Publications
My research work is oriented to try to comprehend complex communities of microorganisms. Here you can find a list of our scientific publications with some personal comments (here is a link to all our scientific publications in PubMed although not all of our papers are available on PubMed). Here you can find me in Loop and you could also look here for our presentations in Conferences.
ORCID stand for Open Researcher and Contributor ID and here is my ORCID account.
Scientific publications
2023
49. Garcia-Mazcorro JF et al. 2023. Fecal Microbial Composition and Predicted Functional Profile in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Differ Between Subtypes and Geographical Locations. Microorganisms 11(10):2493.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a multifactorial digestive disorder affecting millions of people around the world. There is evidence to suggest that the gut microbiota is involved in this disorder but the relationship remains obscure. In this work, we present interesting data about fecal microbiota composition and potential function in patients with IBS from Veracruz (Mexico) and London (UK).
48. Manzanares-Miranda N, Garcia-Mazcorro JF et al. 2023. Microbial Populations in Ruminal Liquid Samples from Beefmaster Bulls at both Extremes of RFI values. Microorganisms 11(3):663.
Feed efficiency is a complex phenomenon with a close interlink between the animal host, its microbiome, and the environment. In this work, it was interesting that Succiniclasticum was found to be lower in abundance in high-efficiency animals, because this taxon is capable of converting succinate to propionate as the sole energy-yielding mechanism. We are not the only ones that have shown this (see this paper).
2022
47. Villalobos-Gómez J, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Marroquin-Cardona AG, Kawas JR. 2022. Probióticos, prebióticos, posbióticos y más allá: hacia una manipulación exitosa de la salud gastrointestinal en perros y gatos. Vanguardia Veterinaria, Edición 113, Septiembre-Octubre 2022.
46. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Ramos-Zayas Y, Kawas JR, Suchodolski JS. Inmunología e interacciones entre hospedero y microorganismos en gatos y perros sanos. Por invitación del Dr. Jesús Villalobos del Hospital Veterinario del Valle. Manual de Gastroenterología en Perros y Gatos. Multimédica Ediciones Veterinarias. ISBN: 978-84-18636-12-7. *Book chapter.
45. Amieva-Balmori M, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Martínez-Conejo A, Hernández-Ramírez GA, Garcia-Zermeño KR, Rodríguez-Aguilera O, Aja-Cadena M, Cortés-Barradas M, Quigley EMM, Remes-Troche JM. 2022. Fecal bacterial microbiota in constipated patients before and after eight weeks of daily administration with Bifidobacterium infantis 35624. Revista de Gastroenterología de México S2255-534X(22)00084-6.
Bifidobacterium is an interesting bacterial taxon that attracted increased attention in the last decades of the 20th century (see Gibson and Roberfroid 1995). Hundreds of studies have used different species and strains of this taxon as probiotics in humans and other animals. In this study, Dr. Remes and his team investigated the use of Bifidobacterium infantis strain 35624 in constipated women. In my opinion, the study is interesting for various reasons, and the microbe itself has also recently been the subject of intense research (Tarracchini et al. 2021, available at the Micro Library). I thank Dr. Amieva, Dr. Remes and the rest of their team for considering my input in this and other research projects.
44. Marroquin-Cardona AG, Deng Y, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Johnson NM , Mitchell NJ, Tang L, Wang JS, Harvey RB, Phillips TD. 2022. Aflatoxin B1 sorption and safety of dietary sodium bentonite in sprague-dawley rats. Clays and clay minerals 70:165-181.
My role in this paper was mainly related to the use of SAS in the statistical analysis.
2021
43. Gamez-Valdez JS, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Montoya-Rincon AH, Rodriguez-Reyes DL, Jimenez-Blanco G, Perez-Cabeza de Vaca R, Alcorta-Garcia MR, Brunck M, Lara-Diaz VJ, Licona-Cassani C. 2021. Differential analysis of the bacterial community in colostrum samples from women with gestational diabetes mellitus and obesity. Scientific Reports 11:24373(2021).
This paper is particularly important for me, because I was honored to be involved in a work where July Gamez "domesticated" QIIME and other bioinformatics tools all by herself! I can only dream on what type of scientist she will become.
42. Elmore SE, Treviño-Espinosa RS, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, González-Barranco P, Sánchez-Casas RM, Phillips TD, Marroquin-Cardona AG. 2021. Evaluation of aflatoxin and fumonisin co-exposure in urine samples from healthy volunteers in northern Mexico. Toxicology Reports 8:1734-1741.
My role in this paper was mainly related to the use of SAS in the statistical analysis.
41. García-Mazcorro JF , Alanis-López C, Marroquin-Cardona AG, Kawas JR. 2021. Composition and Potential Function of Fecal Bacterial Microbiota from Six Bird Species. Birds 2: 42-59.
This is one of the most comprehensive studies of the fecal microbiota in pet birds.
2020
40. García-Mazcorro JF , Kawas JR, Licona-Cassani C, Mertens-Talcott S, Noratto G. 2020. Different analysis strategies of 16S rRNA gene data from rodent studies generate contrasting views of gut bacterial communities associated with diet, health and obesity. PeerJ 8: e10372.
The results confirm previous findings showing a strong study effect on gut microbial composition and raise concerns about the impact of analysis strategies on the membership and composition of the gut microbiota.
39. Kawas JR, García-Mazcorro JF, et al. 2020. Effects of Rumen-Protected Choline on Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics and Blood Lipid Metabolites of Feedlot Lambs. Animals 10 (9): 1580.
38. Remes-Troche JM, Taboada-Liceaga H, Gill S, Amieva-Balmori M, Rossi M, Hernandez-Ramirez G, García-Mazcorro JF , Whelan K. 2020. Nopal fiber (Opuntia ficus-indica) improves symptoms in irritable bowel syndrome in the short term: a randomized controlled trial. Neurogastroenterology and Motility e13986.
I thank Dr. Remes for considering me in this and other research projects.
37. García-Mazcorro JF , Minamoto Y, Kawas JR, Suchodolski JS, de Vos WM. 2020. Akkermansia and Microbial Degradation of Mucus in Cats and Dogs: Implications to the Growing Worldwide Epidemic of Pet Obesity. Veterinary Sciences 7 (2): 44.
I was officially introduced to Akkermansia in an early paper back in 2014, where Akkermansia was higher in the obese control group compared to the treatment groups consuming diets supplemented with carbohydrate-free peach and plum juice. In that paper, we explained that the finding of more Akkermansia in obesity was somehow in disagreement with previous findings suggesting that a high abundance of this taxon was associated with health. To explain this apparent disagreement, we mentioned that this may be due to "phenotypic differences among species within the genus or strains within the species". Later on, in 2016 both sequencing and qPCR showed that obese mice had fewer Akkermansia compared to lean, and that whole-wheat consumption was associated with even lower levels of Akkermansia in obese mice. Many years have passed since these publications, but the excitement about Akkermansia is still on, both in human and veterinary medicine. In this paper, we discuss intestinal mucus degradation in cats and dogs and the possible use of mucus-degraders microorganisms to help obese patients of these animal species. Here is the link to the video abstract.
2019
36. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Kawas JR, Marroquin-Cardona AG. 2019. Descriptive bacterial and fungal characterization of propolis using ultra-high-throughput marker gene sequencing. Insects 10(11), 402.
This paper is important for at least two reasons. First, propolis extracts is used indiscriminately in Mexico and other countries to treat respiratory illness and several other diseases. In Mexico, it is available in a liquid form and it is consumed orally. Second, propolis is related to bees and the microbiota associated with bees and other insects is fascinating. Before this paper came up, there was only one other paper that investigated the microbiota in propolis.
35. Guerra-Fuentes NR, Chavez-Bautista M, Treviño-Espinosa RS, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Torres-Castillo JA, Mendez-Albores A, Marroquin-Cardona AG. 2019. Effects of neutral electrolyzed water on tomato seeds contaminated with Fusarium and Aspergillus. Seed Science and Technology 47(2):211-227.
My role in this paper was mostly related to providing statistical advice and using of SAS for statistics and graphs.
34. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Ishaq SL, Rodriguez-Herrera MV, Garcia-Hernandez CA, Kawas JR, Nagaraja TG. 2019. Are there indigenous Saccharomyces in the digestive tract of livestock animal species? Implications for health, nutrition and productivity traits. Animal 14(1): 22-30.
Considering the widespread use of Saccharomyces in animal nutrition, it is surprising that this very important question has not been formally addressed until now.
33. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Rodriguez-Herrera MV, Marroquin-Cardona AG, Kawas JR. 2019. The health enhancer yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in two types of commercial products for animal nutrition. Letters in Applied Microbiology 68:472-478.
The yeast Saccharomyces (particularly S. cerevisiae) has long been used in Animal Nutrition to improve health and boost productivity traits. There are two main products in the market: one containing live yeasts, and the other one containing fermentation products produced through yeast fermentation. This study investigated the presence of live yeasts in these two types of commercial products, and evaluated the effect of temperature and pH in the viability of the microorganisms.
32. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Pedreschi R, Yuan J, Kawas JR, Chew B, Dowd SE, Noratto G. 2019. Apple consumption is associated with a distinctive microbiota, proteomics and metabolomics profile in the gut of Dawley Sprague rats fed a high-fat diet. PLoS ONE 14(3): e0212586.
Apples contain bioactive compounds that can be used as a dietary alternative in patients with weight disorders. This paper shows evidence that the health benefits associated with apple consumption are partly mediated by the gut microbiota.
2018
31. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Rivera-Gutierrez X, Cobos-Quevedo OJ, Grube-Pagola P, Meixueiro-Daza A, Hernandez-Flores K, Cabrera-Jorge FJ, Vivanco-Cid H, Dowd SE, Remes-Troche JM. 2018. First insights into the gut microbiota of Mexican patients with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Nutrients 10(11):1641.
Gluten sensitivity is an important medical issue affecting millions of people around the globe. Growing research is suggesting that the gut microbiota may be involved in the onset and medical presentation of gluten sensitivity in Mexican patients. I thank Dr. Remes Troche for allowing us to collaborate with his team in this important publication.
30. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Noratto G, Remes-Troche JM. 2018. The effect of gluten-free diet on health and the gut microbiota cannot be extrapolated from one population to others. Nutrients 10(10):1421.
Although it may sound obvious, we feel that sometimes it is important to emphasize things like this, particularly among clinical doctors.
29. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Pedreschi R, Chew B, Dowd SE, Kawas JR, Noratto G. 2018. Dietary supplementation with raspberry extracts modifies the fecal microbiota in obese diabetic db/db mice. Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 28(8):1247-1259.
Raspberries are polyphenol-rich fruits with the potential to reduce the severity of the clinical signs associated with obesity, a phenomenon that may be related to changes in the gut microbiota. Further studies are needed to investigate whether the observed differences in microbial communities (e.g., Lachnospiraceae) or metabolites relate to clinically significant differences that can prompt the use of raspberry extracts to help patients with obesity.
28. Avila-Jaime B, Kawas JR, Garcia-Mazcorro JF. 2018. Prediction of functional metagenomic composition using archived 16S rDNA sequence data from the gut microbiota of livestock. Livestock Science 213:28-34.
The volume of microbial genetic terabases in public repositories is getting infamous, yet much of this data has been used only once. This paper used archived data to predict the functional metagenomic composition from the gut microbiota of cows and lambs.
27. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Lage NN, Mertens-Talcott S, Talcott S, Chew B, Dowd SE, Kawas JR, Noratto GD. 2018. Effect of dark sweet cherry powder consumption on the gut microbiota, short-chain fatty acids, and biomarkers of gut health in obese db/db mice. PeerJ 6:e4195.
Cherries are fruits containing fiber and bioactive compounds (e.g. polyphenolics) with the potential of helping patients with diabetes and weight disorders. This paper showed that dietary supplementation with cherries was associated with a distinct colonic microbiota characterized by a higher abundance of mucin-degraders (i.e., Akkermansia) and fiber-degraders (the S24-7 family) as well as lower abundances of Lactobacillus and Enterobacteriaceae. Overall this particular cherry-associated colonic microbiota did not resemble the microbiota in obese or lean controls.
2017
26. Camacho-Ortiz A, Gutiérrez-Delgado EM, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Mendoza-Olazarán S, Martínez-Meléndez A, Palau-Davila L, Baines SD, Maldonado-Garza H, Garza-González E. 2017. Randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effect of fecal microbiota transplant for initial Clostridium difficile infection in intestinal microbiome. PLoS ONE12(12):e0189768.
Fecal microbiota transplantation has become the subject of great scientific and medical scrutinity over the last couple of years. Visit this website (http://thefecaltransplantfoundation.org/) for more interesting information.
25. Mendoza-Olazarán S, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Morfín-Otero R, Villarreal-Treviño L, Camacho-Ortiz A, Rodríguez-Noriega E, Bocanegra-Ibarias P, Maldonado-Garza HJ, Dowd SE, Garza-González E. 2017. Draft genome sequences of two opportunistic pathogenic strains of Staphylococcus cohnii isolated from human patients. Standards in Genomic Sciences 12:49.
Most of the Bacteria in our Planet can be considered as non-pathogenic, only a few can cause disease in higher organisms such as plants and human beings. In this paper we presented an overview of the entire genome of two strains of Staphylococcus cohnii. I thank Dr. Elvira Garza for allowing us to collaborate with her team in this important contribution.
24. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Mills DA, Murphy K, Noratto G. 2017. Effect of barley supplementation on the fecal microbiota, caecal biochemistry and key biomarkers of obesity and inflammation in obese db/db mice. European Journal of Nutrition 57(7):2513-2528.
Barley is a low-glycemic index grain that can be used in dietary interventions to help obese patients. This study showed that barley intake was associated with increased abundances of Prevotella, Lactobacillus, and the fiber-degraders S24-7 compared to both lean and obese controls.
23. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Barcenas-Walls JR, Suchodolski JS, Steiner JM. 2017. Molecular assessment of the fecal microbiota in healthy cats and dogs before and during supplementation with fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and inulin using high-throughput 454-pyrosequencing. PeerJ 5:e3184.
Few companies that commercialize probiotics, prebiotics and their combination (synbiotics) are willing to test their products in scientific research. I heartily thank Viyo for working with us in testing the effect of a prebiotic formulation in gut microbial ecology of cats and dogs.
22. Brown TW, Bani-Yaghoub M, Garcia-Mazcorro JF. 2017. Understanding the competitive and cooperative interactions between probiotics and autochthonous intestinal Bacteria. Journal of Biosciences and Medicines 5:63-80.
We know very little about the interactions between probiotics and indigenous Bacteria. This paper is an important contribution in this relatively unexplored topic.
2016
21. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Castillo-Carranza SA, Guard B, Gomez-Vazquez JP, Dowd SE, Brigthsmith DJ. 2016. Comprehensive molecular characterization of bacterial communities in feces of pet birds using 16S marker sequencing. Microbial Ecology 73(1):224-235.
Researching the gut microbiota of pet birds has many important implications for medical doctors and also for researchers with an interest in host-associated microbiomes.
20. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Barcenas-Walls JR. 2016. Thinking beside the box: Should we care about the non-coding strand of the 16S rRNA gene? FEMS Microbiology Letters 363(16): pii:fnw171.
This paper is one of the most important contributions I feel I have made to science. It is also interesting for me that the paper was published exactly on my 34th birthday (0.3 % probability for this to happen during any given year) and it was chosen as an Editor's choice (<0.3 % probability for this to happen considering all papers that are regularly published in this and other journals).
19. Chaitman J, Jergens AE, Gaschen F, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Marks SL, Marroquin-Cardona AG, Richter K, Rossi G, Suchodolski JS, Weese JS. 2016. Commentary on key aspects of fecal microbiota transplantation in small animal practice. Veterinary Medicine Research and Reports 7:71-74.
Fecal microbiota transplantation has received a lot of interest from the global scientific biomedical community, particularly those involved with human medicine.
18. Barcenas-Walls JR, Ruiz-Uribe AJ, Gomez-Gil B, Garcia-Mazcorro JF. 2016. Ecologia Microbiana, Secuenciacion Masiva y Bioinformatica (Microbial Ecology, Massive Sequencing and Bioinformatics). Celerinet (School of Physics and Mathematics, UANL) Year 4 Vol. VII.
This paper was an effort to bring together the field of Microbial Ecology and Mathematics in my hometown.
17. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Mills DA, Noratto G. 2016. Molecular exploration of fecal microbiome in quinoa-supplemented obese mice. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 92(7).
Aside the findings in gut microbial ecology, in this paper we showed an interesting behavior of body weight gain over time in quinoa-supplemented obese mice.
16. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Ivanov I, Mills DA, Noratto G. 2016. Influence of whole-wheat consumption on fecal microbial ecology of obese diabetic mice. PeerJ 4:e1702.
Obesity is a growing health concern that affects millions of people around the world. One potential alternative to help obese patients is dietary modifications. This study showed that the abundance of Ruminococcaceae, a family containing several butyrate-producing bacteria, was found to be higher in obese mice and mice supplemented with whole-wheat compared to lean mice. Other differences in bacterial abundances suggested that whole wheat supplementation did not generate a lean-like microbiome.
2015
15. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Ruiz-Uribe AJ, Zarate-Ramos JJ. Analisis metagenomico de comunidades complejas de microorganismos. In: Avances en la Ingeniería y las Ciencias Químicas: Su impacto en la innovación industrial y el desarrollo sustentable. Editorial Fundación para la educación Superior Internacional, A.C. ISBN: 978-607-95737-7-5. *Book chapter.
14. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Garza-González E, Marroquín-Cardona AG, Tamayo JL. 2015. Characterization, influence and manipulation of the gastrointestinal microbiota in health and disease. Revista de Gastroenterologia y Hepatologia 38(7):445-66.
The aim of this review was to update clinicians about the role of the gut microbiota in health and disease.
2014
13. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Cruz-Valdéz JC, Marroquín-Cardona AG, Sánchez-Casas RM. 2014. Gastrointestinal microbiota and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Revista de Gastroenterologia de Mexico 79:214-215.
A letter to the Editor about a review paper on the potential role of the gastrointestinal microbiota in Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Here you can find the response from the authors.
12. Noratto GD, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Markel M, Martino HS, Minamoto Y, Steiner JM, Byrne D, Suchodolski JS, Talcott S. Carbohydrate-free peach (Prunus persica) and plum (Prunus domestica) juice affects fecal microbial ecology in an obese animal model. PLoS ONE 2014. 9(7):e101723.
Obesity is a growing health concern that affects millions of people around the world. One potential alternative to help obese patients is dietary modifications. This study showed that several bacterial groups (e.g. Lactobacillus and members of Ruminococcaceae) were found to be more abundant in animals consuming peach juice but especially in animals consuming plum juice (plum juice contained 3 times more total polyphenolics compared to peach juice). The beneficial effects associated with dietary polyphenolics may be mediated by the gut microbiota.
2013
11. Bernal-Barragan H, Cerrillo-Soto MA, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Juarez-Reyes AS, Salem AZM. Antibiotics in Animal Nutrition. In: Salem AZM, ed. Nutritional Strategies of Animal Feed Additives. Nova Publishers (link). ISBN: 978-1-62417-002-7. *Book chapter.
10. Blatchford P, Ansell J, de Godoy MRC, Fahey G, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Gibson GR, Goh YJ, Hotchkiss AT, Hutkins R, LaCroix C, Rastall RA, Reimer R, Schoterman M, Van Sinderen D, Venema K, Whelan K. 2013. Prebiotic mechanisms, functions and applications. International Journal of Probiotics and Prebiotics 8:109-132.
This paper was one of the outcomes from my visit to the ISAPP meeting in Cork in 2012.
9. Garcia-Mazcorro JF. 2013. Testing evolutionary models to explain the process of nucleotide substitution in gut bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences. FEMS Microbiology Letters 346:97-104.
The story behind this paper is more exciting than the paper itself. Everything started with a simple thought I had with Faecalibacterim in mind, who is a group of organisms who are common and beneficial for gut health (at least in humans, see this paper published by Sokol et al. in 2008):
Bacteria who are common among many individuals and exert positive effects on it MAY represent the first colonizers: therefore its evolution MAY be more ancient and therefore may have more complex models to explain the nucleotide substitution process in 16S rRNA gene sequences. Makes sense doesn't it? More time in a place = more complexity? However, there is a BIG problem with this thought: why then all ancient bacteria aren't as complex as us or flies or birds? They have been here forever haven't they? Maybe is the opposite: the first colonizers of our bodies (or any other environment for that matter) may have reach "the simpler possible state of stability", where all (or most) 16S subunits differ accordingly to the simpler model.
While there is a lot of room for discussion about this, I presented some interesting data at ISME16 where I showed more exciting results on 16S rRNA gene composition and evolution across all Firmicutes from the Ribosomal Database Project.
8. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Minamoto Y. 2013. Gastrointestinal microorganisms in cats and dogs: a brief review. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria 45:111-124.
The aim of this review was to update fellow veterinarians around the world regarding the gut microbiome of cats and dogs.
2012
7. Suchodolski JS, Markel ME, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Unterer S, Heilmann RM, Dowd SE, Kachroo P, Ivanov I, Minamoto Y, Dillman EM, Steiner JM, Cook AK, Toresson L. 2012. The fecal microbiome in dogs with acute diarrhea and idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease. PLoS ONE 7(12): e51907.
Helping veterinary patients with idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease is challenging. This and other papers aim to find some useful microbial signature in patients with disease to hopefully be able to modify it to promote health.
6. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Suchodolski JS, Jones KR, Clark-Price SC, Dowd SE, Minamoto Y, Markel M, Steiner JM, Dossin O. 2012. Effect of the proton-pump inhibitor omeprazole on the gastrointestinal bacterial microbiota of healthy dogs. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 80:624-636.
Growing evidence suggests that omeprazole and other proton-pump inhibitors, while clinically useful, may lead to a state of intestinal microbial dysbiosis not only in the small intestine but also in the large intestine. This paper is one of few investigating this topic in canine veterinary medicine.
5. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Dowd SE, Poulsen J, Steiner JM, Suchodolski JS. 2012. Abundance and short-term temporal variability of fecal microbiota in healthy dogs. MicrobiologyOpen 1(3):340-347.
Temporal variations of gastrointestinal microorganisms have been investigated in humans, but limited information is available for other animal species. This paper offers valuable information about this important topic. This paper also suggests that Bacteroidetes is a minor component of the fecal microbiota of dogs (see also comments in Handl et al. below).
2011
4. Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Lanerie DJ, Dowd SE, Paddock CG, Grützner N, Steiner JM, Ivanek R, Suchodolski JS. 2011. Effect of a multi-species synbiotic formulation on fecal bacterial microbiota of healthy cats and dogs as evaluated by pyrosequencing. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 78(3):542-554.
Few companies that commercialize probiotics, prebiotics and their combination (synbiotics) are willing to test their products in scientific research. I heartily thank Nutramax Laboratories for working with us in testing the effect of a synbiotic formulation in gut microbial ecology of cats and dogs.
3. Handl S, Dowd SE, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Steiner JM, Suchodolski JS. 2011. Massive parallel 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing reveals highly diverse fecal bacterial and fungal communities in healthy dogs and cats. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 76:301-310.
One of the first massive descriptions of the canine and feline microbiota. Note that this paper showed "unusual" high abundance of Firmicutes (>90%) and low abundance of Bacteroidetes (<3%); however, other papers (see this and this) from our research group also indicate a low abundance of Bacteroidetes in feces of these animal species. This matter is not to be taken lightly, another more recent paper from the same research group (without my involvment this time) about the feline microbiome also showed a low abundance of Bacteroidetes (<1%) yet "unusual" high abundance of Actinobacteria (68%, Whittemore et al. 2018). Another paper also showed a high abundance of Actinobacteria in feces of cats (50.54%, Whittemore et al. 2019). Finally, others have also shown a high abundance of Actinobacteria (42-45%) (Schmid et al. 2018).
2. Marroquin-Cardona AG, Deng Y, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Johnson NM, Mitchell N, Tang L, Robinson A 2nd, Taylor J, Wang JS, Phillips TD. 2011. Characterization and safety of uniform particles size Novasil clay as a potential aflatoxin enterosorbent. Applied Clay Sciences 54:248-257.
My role in this paper was mostly related to the statistical analysis using SAS.
2010
1. Ritchie LE, Burke KF, Garcia-Mazcorro JF, Steiner JM, Suchodolski JS. 2010. Characterization of fecal microbiota in cats using universal 16S rRNA gene analysis and group-specific primers for Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium spp. Veterinary Microbiology 144(1-2):140-146.
This is the first peer-reviewed paper where I participate. The topic of primer-selection in a context of 16S rRNA similarities/dissimilarities in Microbial Ecology is very interesting. Look for example at this paper published in Microbiome and available in our Micro-Library.
Other scientific work
Garcia-Mazcorro JF. 2012. The use of JMP in Microbial Ecology. South Central SAS Users' Group Educational Forum 2012.
Garcia-Mazcorro JF. 2011, my PhD Thesis: Evaluation of the gastrointestinal microbiota in response to dietary and therapeutic factors in cats and dogs using molecular methods. December, 2011.
Garcia-Mazcorro JF et al. 2011 Statistical comparison of relative proportions of bacterial genetic sequences. South Central SAS Users' Group Educational Forum 2011.
To my knowledge this is one of the first publications suggesting the use of the Dirichlet distribution to accurately model sequence data counts. Later on, Holmes et al. (2012) published an interesting article about Dirichlet Multinominal Mixtures for Microbial Metagenomics (link). Even later, I found this recent publication that proposes something else to analyze the data. Interesting link to the software webpage. In there, the authors mention that "this family of probability models (Dirichlet) may not be appropiate for microbiome data because, intrinsically, such models impose a negative correlation among every pair of OTUs". This other publication also mentions this. Bottom line: Dirichlet distribution(s) may not be appropiate for microbiome data after all.
Non-scientific publications
Hola 2030 is an ambitious project aiming to gather as much information as possible about the strong propaganda that started in 2020 on the covid "pandemic". 2030 was chosen because the famous phrase of Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, "in 2030, you will own nothing and be happy". It is my hope that this book can be published in 2025, if I am still around. In the meantime, you can look at some of the material in this webpage.
Before I turned into a scientist at Texas A&M, I wrote and published (2007) a book about Social Philosophy. I was 25 years old at that time. Not many people know this, but the very first draft of this book was burnt to ashes by mistake during a "carne asada" in the city of Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.