Healthy land
Land has a wide variety of uses: agricultural, residential, industrial, and recreational. Microbes play a key role in the terrestrial ecosystem, providing symbiotic relationships with plants. Human use of land has led to the exhaustion of nutrients in soils, contamination of land, and a reduction in biodiversity. Applying our knowledge of microbes will be essential in restoring the biodiversity of affected ecosystems. Greater research into how microbes impact human life on land could all have a positive impact, by increasing crop production, repurposing areas of land and improving microbial biodiversity in soil, land, and water.
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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NewsNext generation biosensor reveals gibberellin’s critical role in legume nitrogen-fixation
Researchers have identified the specific times and location where gibberellin (GA governs) the initiation, growth and function of nitrogen-fixing root nodules.
NewsResearchers collaborate for early monitoring of tar spot disease in corn
Insignum AgTech has begun a collaboration with researchers in Purdue University’s College of Agriculture and College of Engineering to create tools for farmers to identify early stages of tar spot disease outbreaks in their corn plants.
NewsBoosting plant health: the role of gene exchange with bacteria
Scientists have discovered 75 genes that were transferred between small, fast-growing plants (Arabidopsis thaliana) and its bacterial companions, influencing key processes like carbohydrate metabolism and hormone synthesis.
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News
Trees 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.
NewsScientists 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.
NewsAMAST Network launches to battle AMR in the agrifood system
AMAST – the AMR in Agrifood Systems Transdisciplinary Network, has been created to harness perspectives from across agrifood stakeholders and prepare new ways to tackle these challenges.
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.
NewsRhythm led by plants is crucial for symbiosis with nutrient-providing bacteria
Recent research on Lotus japonicus has unveiled that the interaction between legume roots and rhizobia is characterized by periodic gene expression with a six-hour rhythm, maintained with the help of the plant hormone cytokinin.
NewsWastewater could yield thousands of novel viruses, study reveals
Deep metagenomic sequencing of wastewater in Berlin over 17 months shows this technique could help forecast disease outbreaks and monitor the spread of human pathogens. It can also reveal thousands of novel viruses, a new study reveals.
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.
NewsRhizobacteria identified to combat striga and boost sorghum yields in Ethiopia
Researchers have identified potential Striga-suppressing rhizobacteria associated with sorghum, which have been shown to significantly reduce Striga seed germination rates.
NewsResearch unveils rhizobia strains effective against soybean root rot fungal pathogens
Scientists have identified three rhizobia strains which effectively suppressed root rot fungal pathogens in soybeans under both in vitro and greenhouse conditions, demonstrating significant potential as biocontrol agents.
NewsSmall animals acquire genes from bacteria that can produce antibiotics
A group of small, freshwater animals protect themselves from infections using antibiotic recipes “stolen” from bacteria, according to new research.
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.
NewsMicrobes found to destroy certain ‘forever chemicals’
Scientists have discovered specific bacterial species that can destroy certain kinds of “forever chemicals,” a step further toward low-cost treatments of contaminated drinking water sources.
NewsIntensive farming could raise risk of new pandemics
Intensive livestock farming could raise the risk of new pandemics, researchers have warned. A study examines the effect of social and economic factors – which are often overlooked in traditional assessments.
NewsE. coli variant may cause antimicrobial resistance in dogs and humans
Researchers studying antimicrobial-resistant E. coli – the leading cause of human death due to antimicrobial resistance worldwide – have identified a mechanism in dogs that may render multiple antibiotic classes ineffective.
NewsScientists build roadmap to bioengineer plants that produce their own nitrogen fertilizer
Nitrogen fertilizers make it possible to feed the world’s growing population, but they are also costly, harm ecosystems and require a lot of energy to manufacture. However, a few plants have evolved the ability to make their own nitrogen with the help of bacteria. A new study helps explain how ...
NewsReceptors make dairy cows a prime target for influenza
Researchers who examined mammary gland samples from two cows infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza found a rich supply of sialic acid, which could shed light on how the virus attaches to hosts and help develop measures to slow the spread.
