Climate action
Today we are seeing climate change in action, increased concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases have led to a rise in sea levels, temperatures, and extreme weather patterns. Researchers have acknowledged the pivotal role microorganisms in producing sustainable biofuels, increasing carbon sequestration via soil microbes and reducing methane emissions in landfill sites. Microbial innovation will be vital in moving towards a low carbon economy.
News
Scientists unveil evidence for new groups of methane-producing organisms
A team of scientists has provided the first experimental evidence that two new groups of microbes thriving in thermal features in Yellowstone National Park produce methane.
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NewsTrees reveal climate surprise – bark microbes remove methane from the atmosphere
Tree bark surfaces play an important role in removing methane gas from the atmosphere, according to a new study.
NewsApplied Microbiology International unveils 11 new Global Ambassadors
AMI has announced that it has recruited 11 new Global Ambassadors from around the world. Global ambassadors have a range of expertise and knowledge across regions and sectors, and support and promote applied microbiology and our organisation.
OpinionUnderstanding plant-microbe interactions to improve the cultivation of biofuels
AMI Global Ambassador Ashley Shade and colleagues Nicole Geerdes and Adina Howe examine how plant-associated microbes can be leveraged to support crops grown on marginal lands for use as biofuel feedstocks.
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News
Scientists pinpoint how a red seaweed reduces methane emissions from cows
New research into the microbiome of cattle rumen has implications for addressing a leading contributor to climate warming.
News$1.5M state grant kickstarts efforts to use fungal molecules in batteries, photovoltaics and electronic circuitry
A unique research effort is exploring how complex molecules found in living organisms, such as fungi, could be used to engineer more environmentally friendly energy systems.
NewsStudies explore converting wastewater to fertilizer with fungal treatment
Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) converts biomass into biocrude oil through a high-temperature, high-pressure process. Two new studies explore the use of a fungal treatment to convert the leftover wastewater into fertilizer for agricultural crops.
News‘Talented’ peatland microorganisms have an outsize impact on climate
Leveraging a new genome annotation tool, researchers have identified ‘talented’ microorganisms with genes for transforming polyphenols in peatlands.
NewsEnzyme-embedded PLA plastic can degrade in home-compost or methanization conditions.
A new enzyme-embedded material is proven to fully distintegrate and biodegrade at a much faster rate than the 26-week home-compost certification requirement and is shown to help produce more biomethane, another source of waste recovery.
NewsMassive harmful algal bloom in the Arctic prompts real-time advisories to western Alaskan communities
A summer 2022 research cruise that detected a massive and highly toxic harmful algal bloom (HAB) in the Bering Strait has provided an example of science that utilized new technology to track a neurotoxic HAB and protect remote communities in Alaska.
NewsStudy reveals next steps to uncover early life on Earth
Despite decades of research, there’s still much scholars don’t understand about life’s beginnings and early evolution. A UC Riverside paper has opened the door to understanding more and to framing future studies that could help predict climate change and search for life beyond Earth.
OpinionOnce-subtropical Vibrio infections on the move along coastlines
As new stretches of coastline become vulnerable to potential Vibrio outbreaks in a warming aquatic environment, Applied Microbiology International member Elizabeth Archer examines how human health is inextricably linked with ocean health.
NewsResearchers use microbes to create biodegradable bioplastics from food waste
Researchers are developing biodegradable bioplastics from food waste to give those materials a new – and useful – life.
FeaturesPGPR Strategies for Climate-Resilient Agriculture
In the face of environmental degradation and climate change, farmers are increasingly challenged to sustain productivity and ensure food security.
NewsRetreating glaciers: fungi enhance carbon storage in young Arctic soils
Melting Arctic glaciers are in rapid recession, and microscopic pioneers colonize the new exposed landscapes. A new study has revealed that yeasts play an important role in soil formation in the Arctic.
NewsGiant clams - and their algae - may hold the answers to making solar energy more efficient
Researchers present an analytical model for determining the maximum efficiency of photosynthetic systems based on the geometry, movement, and light-scattering characteristics of giant clams.
NewsFluctuating cellular energy drives microbial bioproduction
Scientists studying ATP dynamics in various fermentation conditions have developed a cost-effective approach to enhance bioproduction through supplementation of ATP-promoting carbon sources.
NewsWe should help coral microbial symbionts evolve heat tolerance in the lab, researchers say
Researchers discuss the potential of improving corals’ chances by inducing the evolution of heat tolerance in their symbionts—the mutualistic microbes that provide corals with nutrients in exchange for shelter and that are expelled during coral bleaching.
NewsMashed up purple marine bacteria make an excellent eco-friendly fertilizer
New research published in npj Sustainable Agriculture reports that biomass made from the purple photosynthetic marine bacterium Rhodovulum sulfidophilum is an excellent nitrogen fertilizer.
NewsOverlooked pathway could be game-changer for ecosystem climate services
The potential for permanent carbon storage in ecosystems that use the oxalate-carbonate pathway (OCP) could be greater than previously estimated, according to a new study.
NewsGiant deep-sea vent tubeworm symbionts use two carbon fixation pathways to grow at record speeds
New research sheds light on how a giant hydrothermal vent tubeworm living in the deep ocean coordinates the two functional carbon fixation pathways used by its symbiotic bacteria to sustain themselves and their host.
NewsMarine heatwaves devastate red gorgonians in the Medes Islands
The increase in the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves in recent decades is one of the effects of global climate change.
NewsScientists unravel drivers of the global zinc cycle in our oceans
The important role of the Southern Ocean in global biological processes and the carbon cycle has been confirmed by a study that, for the first time based on field evidence, reveals the underappreciated role of inorganic zinc particles in these cycles.
