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 use bacteria to produce muconic acid from plants
Researchers have engineered a soil bacterium to synthesize muconic acid, a valuable chemical in the manufacturing industry, from plant matter.
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NewsStudy finds promising signs of resistance to beech leaf disease
A new study has found evidence that the development of beech leaf disease symptoms is genetically controlled, providing the first indication that some American beech trees may have natural resistance to the disease.
NewsDesert alga could hold the key to more resilient crops
A single-celled green alga from the sand dunes of the Negev Desert has, within just a few years, become a key model organism in modern photosynthesis research. Chlorella ohadii helps researchers better understand plants’ adaptability to extreme environmental conditions.
NewsYosemite toad killer may be hiding in animals’ own homes
The Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) fungus has long been thought to live in and infect threatened Yosemite toads through their skin when they were in the water. Biologists have discovered that previously healthy toads emerged from winter hibernation burrows heavily infected, suggesting that the fungus proliferates underground in winter.
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News
Student earns competitive fellowship for research on corn’s defense against bacteria
New funding has been awarded for research focused on understanding how plants protect themselves against pathogens. Peyton Sorensen looks specifically at corn and two of its bacterial pathogens: Xanthomonas and Clavibacter, which cause bacterial leaf streak and Goss’s bacterial wilt and blight, respectively.
NewsSoil Stars join forces to develop ambitious challenges to tackle global soil degradation
Scientists, farmers, policymakers, business leaders, investors and leading voices from science and culture have joined forces to develop ambitious new challenges designed to harness the power of soil microbes to tackle global soil degradation.
NewsWealth and health aren’t the only indicators of national happiness – there are also cats. And their parasites!
National happiness is influenced by complex relationships beyond basic economic factors, according to a study that finds that cats and their parasites are strongly correlated with both positive and negative happiness scores worldwide.
NewsFrom silent killer to cellular fuel: chemist unlocks nature’s carbon monoxide sensors
While carbon monoxide (CO) is widely feared as an odorless, deadly household hazard, nature views it quite differently. In the microscopic world, carbon monoxide serves as an essential cellular messenger and a vital lifeline of energy for microbes thriving in harsh environments.
NewsHow and where mcrobes die in soil influences residues, organic matter, and soil health
Healthy soils depend not just on plant inputs, but also on the remains of microbes. A new study found that microbial residues build up when they bind to fine-textured, non-crystalline minerals that are rich in reactive iron.
NewsChinese mangrove sediments reveal scale-dependent assembly of fungal communities
Researchers collected 300 sediment samples from seven representative mangrove wetlands across six national nature reserves along the southeastern coast of China. The team employed dual-amplicon high-throughput sequencing to simultaneously characterize fungal and prokaryotic communities.
NewsFirst insight into the virome composition of the vulnerable Naemorhedus griseus
The Chinese goral (Naemorhedus griseus) has been identified as a vulnerable species on the Red List of China’s Biodiversity. Scientists performed the whole virome profiling of a rescue-failed Naemorhedus griseus, which identified a diverse viral community across multiple organ tissues of the animal.
NewsIn African lakes, microbes living on algae reduce a powerful greenhouse gas
Lakes emit as much methane as agriculture. Researchers have shown that, in 79 African lakes, bacteria living on the surface of microalgae act as a natural filter. The greener the water becomes, the more these methanotrophs break down this powerful greenhouse gas.
NewsPromega launches Paradyme™ 27GY STR System, mnimising stutter artifacts in forensic DNA analysis
Promega Corporation has launched Paradyme™ 27GY STR System, the first commercially available short tandem repeat (STR) analysis kit to include the company’s Reduced-Stutter Polymerase (RSP). This novel enzyme significantly reduces the most common type of confounding artifact in forensic DNA analysis.
NewsGroundbreaking research to sequence Antarctic genomes from microbes to whales
A molecular microbial ecologist and biological oceanographer has been awarded $18.4 million to lead a project that will pave the way for the next generation of Antarctic research. This research infrastructure will enable researchers to understand how Antarctic life has evolved and adapted to extreme conditions, while also seeding innovation.
NewsAFYREN and Terrial renew their partnership for French-manufactured potash fertilizers
AFYREN and Terrial today announce the renewal of their strategic partnership with the signing of a new multi-year fertilizer supply contract, worth several tens of millions of euros This long-term contract strengthens both companies’ commitment to making French agriculture more sustainable and less dependent on international fertilizer markets.
NewsThe Andes were supposed to stop this cacao killer - they didn’t
Black pod disease destroys up to a quarter of the world’s cacao every year. A study provides the first comprehensive portrait of Phytophthora palmivora’s genetic structure in Colombia. Researchers genotyped and virulence-tested 73 isolates gathered from 48 locations across the country’s three main cacao-growing regions.
NewsStudy finds community-led dog vaccination could save children’s lives
A community-based approach to vaccinating dogs against rabies could help protect countless children in Africa and other areas from one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, according to a new study. The new approach also maintained more consistent vaccination coverage throughout the year.
NewsWearable nanotech could combat nerve agents
Fungi-inspired nanoparticles could someday provide a new way to help soldiers fight back against deadly nerve agents on the frontline. Scientists developed a nanoparticle-based compound that, when mixed into clothing dyes, could limit the impact of chemicals commonly found in pesticides, insecticides and nerve agents.
NewsRoot gene panel reveals hidden apple replant disease
In-depth research is needed to identify biomarkers that can diagnose apple replant disease (ARD) consistently across diverse soils. Researchers measured the expression of 90 candidate genes in the roots of ARD-sensitive ‘M.26’ apple plants grown in soils from 151 German sites.
NewsOne Health model links spillover, microbiomes and governance to global risk
Global health risks continue to emerge where people, animals and the environment meet. A new review highlights that managing these threats requires more than reacting to individual outbreaks: health systems need to monitor the biological, ecological and institutional conditions that allow risks to build.
NewsNew tool closes gap on untapped potential of phages
A new tool to mutate bacteriophages – viruses that infect bacteria – provides a big leap forward in both our understanding of how they function, and our ability to harness their full potential. The new method allows for genome-wide mutagenesis of bacteriophages using CRISPR-Cas technology.
NewsResearch advances understanding of tick-borne Powassan virus
Researchers characterized changes in brain microRNAs during Powassan virus infection. MicroRNAs are tiny, natural molecules that help regulate how cells function by controlling protein production. The researchers found that these important regulators were widely disrupted as the infection progressed.
NewsHigh-altitude wetland reveals a distinctive genetic signature in DNA polymerase genes
Metagenomic analysis shows that DNA polymerase genes from China’s Napahai plateau wetland form distinctive evolutionary clusters, highlighting how geography and local environmental conditions may shape microbial genetic diversity.