June 2026 - Microbes of the Earth
This collection features content from across The Microbiologist on the microbes found in all of the Earth’s environments, and the ways the are being harnessed for human, animal, plant, and planetary health.” The issue will be updated across the month and include news, features, careers, videos, and opinion. If you would like to feature your work in this issue, please contact the editorial team.
News in Microbes of the Earth
- Previous
- Next
Features in Microbes of the Earth
Features in Microbes of the Earth
Under the microscope: extremophiles of the Earth
Extremophiles are microbial organisms that live in extreme environments normally considered uninhabitable. Over the past few decades, extremophiles have been discovered in increasingly bizarre and unexpected environments around the globe, including within acid lakes, plastic recycling centres and even in radioactive sites such as Chernobyl.
Read story
Losing the Earth’s bounty
Farmland degradation and soil erosion have caused food shortages and the collapse of civilizations throughout human history. Today, soil degradation is a growing driver of global threats such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and food insecurity. Loss of soil, the resource that supports production of 95% of the food supply, ...
Bottling the extremes: culturing the hidden microbiomes of caves and deserts
Imagine an environment so extreme that most life cannot survive: a pitch-dark cave deep beneath the mountains of Northern Spain, or a hyper-arid desert in Chile where rainfall is virtually non-existent. These are not lifeless wastelands. Beneath cave walls and within the dusty top layer of desert soils, thriving communities of cyanobacteria, green algae, and fungi quietly engineer their ecosystems: fixing carbon, weathering rock, and cycling nutrients in conditions that would defeat most organisms on Earth.
Opinions on Microbes of the Earth
Fertile ground: The rise of soil viral ecology
- Previous
- Next
Our next special issue of 2026 will be published in August, and be entitled Microbes and Culture. If you would like to feature your work in the next issue, please contact the editorial team. Access to previous special issues can be found here.