All Microbes of the Earth articles
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NewsUnique symbiosis bestows magnetic sense to single-celled organism
An international team has discovered a previously unknown magnetotactic ciliate that pursues an unusual strategy: partnership with two other organisms inside its cell.
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FeaturesAdvancing animal disease outbreak management in support of a One Health approach
Animal health is often overlooked, with global expenditure reaching just a fraction (around 0.4 percent) of total human health spending, yet it is a crucial component of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) One Health approach. The One Health initiative highlights the commonalities between human, animal and environmental health and aims ...
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FeaturesSoil microbes and the hidden network connecting plants, animals, and humans
Coevolution has shaped Earth’s ecosystems for over a billion years. However, climate change and unprecedented anthropogenic activities have placed immense pressure on the soil ecosystem over the past few decades.
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NewsUnder the Lens: Plant microbiomes could cut agriculture’s dependence on chemicals, says Davide Bulgarelli
Understanding the hidden microbial communities that surround plant roots could pave the way for more sustainable farming, according to award-winning plant microbiologist Dr Davide Bulgarelli in conversation with Professor Emmanuel Adukwu.
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VideoThe Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 4
The microscopic organisms living around plant roots may hold the key to reducing agriculture’s reliance on chemical fertilisers and other non-renewable inputs, according to plant microbiome researcher Dr Davide Bulgarelli.
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NewsBreakthrough study could unlock key to more reliable truffle cultivation
A pioneering study has revealed that growing truffles depends not just on soil conditions, but on a complex underground ecosystem that the truffles may help to engineer themselves.
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FeaturesAzotobacter: a microbial route to green and sustainable ammonia
Ammonia is one of the most important chemicals in modern society. It plays a central role in global food production as the key ingredient in fertilizers that sustain nearly half of the world’s population. Beyond agriculture, ammonia has recently attracted growing attention as a potential carbon-free energy carrier and hydrogen ...
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NewsA soil bacterium turns electricity and carbon dioxide into acetate
A new study shows that a soil bacterium can directly reduce Fe(III) minerals, exchange electrons with electrodes, and use electrode-derived electrons to convert carbon dioxide into acetate under autotrophic conditions.
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OpinionFungi that inspired The Last of Us may hold the key to a pesticide-free agriculture
They may be the stuff of our nightmares, but Aditya Singh Ranout reveals how invisible allies underneath our feet in the form of entomopathogenic fungi are transforming agriculture - and why these fascinating microbes may hold the key to a pesticide-free agriculture.
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NewsSoil bacteria reveal hidden arsenic stress in brick kilns
Researchers collected soils from a shut-down brick kiln area. As arsenic levels increased, bacterial richness and diversity declined, while arsenic-tolerant groups became more abundant. The study also found that bacteria strengthened stress-response pathways and upregulated arsenic-resistance genes.
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NewsThree interlinked factors are needed to sustainably grow microbes for MICP
A new review investigates cost-effective and greener ways to grow microorganisms for use in Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (MICP), a microbial process that precipitates calcium carbonate, and identifies three interlinked factors that determine success or failure.
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FeaturesUnder 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.
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NewsThe greener the street view, the richer the microbiota?
A new study investigates how the Green View Index (GVI) relates to the richness and diversity of bacteria in the Taipei metropolitan area in Taiwan. The more vegetation in the area, the richer its microbial community.
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NewsNew biobank decodes survival secrets of extreme acid mine drainage microbes
Over 97 percent of microorganisms in acid mine drainage have never been cultured, leaving their metabolism and adaptation strategies locked as “microbial dark matter.” Now, a new culturomics‑driven resource called the Microbial Biobank of AMD (mbAMD) changes that.
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NewsÖtzi and his microbiome: a 5,300-year-old relationship
Researchers have obtained a detailed picture of the microbial community associated with the Iceman mummy Ötzi. The study provides insights into a complex microbiome, ranging from the gut flora of a Copper Age human to cold-adapted yeasts.
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News‘Baked’, printed, ready – premiere of architecture made from yeast
Researchers have developed a new, entirely bio-based material from a somewhat unexpected ingredient: yeast. The material is 3D printed and customised for use in architectural and interior design elements that are currently made from non-renewable or fossil-based materials, such as plaster, plastic or synthetic textiles.
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NewsNew study uncovers why the Arctic’s rivers are rusting
Scientists have identified the two biggest reasons that once-pristine rivers across the Arctic are growing cloudy with toxic orange iron particles that smother insects and suffocate fish. As the climate warms, a layer of Arctic soil that had been frozen for millennia has begun to thaw.
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Long ReadsLosing 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, ...
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FeaturesBottling 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.
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NewsResearchers link specific microbiomes to archaeological bone degradation
Well-preserved archaeological bone samples have different microbial communities than heavily degraded bone samples, providing a new understanding of how microbes contribute to bone degradation, according to a study.