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
Viruses found in Antarctic air, including some new to science
It may seem stark and lifeless, but the air around the remote sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia contains viruses, including some that are new to science. Using metagenomics, researchers discovered that South Georgia harbours a diverse and dynamic airborne viral community.
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NewsFoxes and birds could be ‘early warning system’ to survey spread of antibiotic resistance into ecosystems
Wildlife monitoring could alert us to the spread of highly antibiotic resistant bacteria into unexposed ecosystems, highlighting a potential public health strategy.
NewsNovel research reveals the active role that skin cells play in rabies infection
A new study provides direct evidence that keratinocytes can support viral replication and transmit the rabies virus to neurons. The investigators offer a mechanistic explanation for how superficial skin exposures from scratches or minor bites by dogs and bats can lead to neuroinvasion.
NewsResearchers synthesize photosynthetic molecule found in bacteria
Researchers have successfully synthesized bacteriochlorophyll a, a photosynthetic pigment found in bacteria which absorbs infrared light. The work represents the first chemical synthesis of this molecule and could give scientists deeper insights into photosynthetic function and photosynthetic energy.
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News
Study: Microbes show almost universal potential for biodegrading plastics
Researchers have identified more than 600,000 microbial proteins capable of breaking down natural and synthetic plastics, revealing a far broader biodegradation potential across microbes than previously known.
NewsFirst continent-wide map of dominant avian influenza strain explains its spread
Scientists provided the most complete view of bird flu’s spread through wild bird populations across North America, explaining how the dominant strain advanced, maintaining the risk of human infections.
NewsAfrican swine fever is quietly spreading across Nepal’s pig sector
A new study provides the first comprehensive analysis of African swine fever outbreaks in Nepal, revealing a disease that has quietly dismantled livelihoods, disrupted food security, and exposed deep gaps in the country’s animal health system — with no vaccine in sight.
NewsHow soil microbes adapt to life in lakes
Researchers have analyzed the genome of bacteria living in Lake Zurich to conclude that microbes employ two different strategies to colonize new habitats. Some acquire new traits – but others reduce the size of their genome and lose some functions in order to successfully move to a new home.
News‘Safe’ fertilizer linked to extreme water quality loss in Canadian Prairies
Research has found that widespread application of the common farm fertilizer, urea, severely degrades water quality in the Canadian Prairies. Urea added to farm ponds increased growth of algae to levels 10 times higher than seen in other damaged ecosystems, such as Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba.
NewsIn developing immunity to allergens, a little ‘dirty’ goes a long way
Exposure to diverse microbes and proteins early in life creates broad immune memory and a specific antibody that helps block allergic reactions later in life. Rather than overreacting to harmless allergens, an experienced immune system responds in a balanced way.
NewsMolecular biologist Li-Jun Ma wins 2026 Mahoney Life Sciences Prize
Li-Jun Ma has been chosen as this year’s winner of the Mahoney Life Sciences Prize for her work toward mitigating the effects of a fungal pathogen that is causing the functional extinction of the bananas most commonly found in U.S. supermarkets.
NewsFunctional traits, not phylogeny, drive gut microbial assembly in estuarine fish
By examining the gut microbiota of 61 sympatric fish species within the ecologically diverse Pearl River Estuary, researchers utilized this “natural laboratory” to disentangle complex biological drivers without the interference of geographical variation.
NewsStudy reveals hidden damage in stony corals using 3D imaging and AI
Researchers investigating how disease affects coral structure turned to X-ray microcomputed tomography which generates detailed 3D reconstructions down to microscopic pores, which reveal internal skeletal features, including porosity, thickness and structural orientation, in a non-destructive way.
NewsAI spots hidden behavior patterns in self-organizing bacteria
A custom-built artificial intelligence system has helped to uncover how bacterial communities organize themselves, showing that the earliest moments of a biological transition carry far more information than previously considered.
NewsA bacterium from bumblebees can produce vitamin B2 in soya drinks
Researchers have developed a new method that can reduce the time needed to find new bacteria for fermentation. They have now identified a bacterium that can be used both for acidification and to increase the vitamin B2 content of soya drinks.
NewsIntegration of two genes: A valuable strategy for developing virus-resistant tomatoes
Researchers have demonstrated that integration of Ty-1/Ty-3 and Ty-6 resistance genes in tomato plants can confer highly robust resistance to begomoviruses.
NewsLancet Countdown Europe: New report on health and climate change
Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels is not only making the continent economically and politically vulnerable, it also has dramatic consequences for the population’s health. Growing air pollution, heat damage and the climate-related spread of infectious diseases are looming, warns a new report.
NewsWildlife trade increases pathogen transmission
A study combining forty years of legal and illegal wildlife import-export data with compilations of host–pathogen relationships found that wild mammals that are traded are 1.5 times more likely to share infectious agents with humans than those that are not involved in trade.
NewsFrom Asgard to Earth: tiny discoveries hold clues to life’s greatest leap
Stromatolites may hold insights into how complex life began. Researchers have identified a previously unknown microbe living in close partnership with another organism inside these ‘living fossils’.
NewsNative bacteria may break down dioxins without genetic modification
Researchers have demonstrated that native soil bacteria, when treated with decoy molecules, can degrade non-native compounds, including persistent pollutants such as dioxins, without genetic modification.
NewsNon-producing oil and gas wells emit microbial methane at rates 1,000 times higher than previously estimated
Microbial methane leaking from non-producing oil and gas wells is being emitted at rates about 1,000 times higher than previously estimated, according to a new study.
NewsCould your housemates be changing your gut bacteria?
Living with friends may quietly be altering your gut bacteria - according to a new study. Research on a colony of tiny island birds reveals they share more of their gut bacteria with the birds they spend the most time with.
NewsTropical trees are more neighborly, study suggests
Tropical trees are better neighbors than trees in temperate forests, according to a new study. Trees growing closer to the equator have more positive interactions with their neighbors, which may help explain why tropical forests are home to so many tree species.