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.

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Lethal Toxoplasma parasite strain killed California sea otters and could threaten other marine life

Necropsies of sea otters show they died of a virulent form of Toxoplasma infection first detected in mountain lions in Canada.

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Expedition to search out invisible life in Galápagos
An international research team led by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) is to search for invisible life in the Galápagos Islands.
Features
Under the microscope: Forest fungi
Explore the different roles that fungi play in our forests as well as in society.
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Study shines new light on ancient microbial dark matter
An international research team reveals a first in-depth look at Omnitrophota – one of the world’s oldest and tiniest bacteria.

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Surge in highly contagious killer fungus poses new threat to amphibians across Africa

The worst wildlife disease in history, chytridiomycosis, began to spread widely in Africa in the year 2000 and may be causing overlooked epizootics, a new study reveals.

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Microbes producing PolyP could cut EU reliance on phosphate rock imports
Use of microbes to produce polyphosphate could help to reduce EU reliance on imports of phosphate rock in the future, according to a team from RWTH Aachen University.
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Algae transformed into unique functional perovskites with tunable properties
Scientists have transformed mineral shells of algae into functional perovskites with unique crystal structures and controllable electro-optical properties.
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Study shows New York City rats carry SARS-CoV-2
Wild rats in the New York City municipal sewer systems and elsewhere in the city have been exposed to SARS-CoV-, a new study has revealed.
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Geoactive fungus mines rare earth elements from monazite ore
Researchers have demonstrated that geoactive fungi can play a significant role in bioweathering of the phosphate mineral monazite, opening a route to biorecovery of important rare earth elements (REEs).
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The way of the crocodile could save humans from deadly fungal infections
A new study by Australian researchers reveals how crocodiles resist fatal fungal infections using a unique pH sensing mechanism despite living in filthy water.
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Lab boost delivered by salt-tolerant PGPB strains offers hope for halophyte cultivation
Several plant growth-promoting bacteria bacterial strains are able to boost growth in halophyte plants under laboratory conditions, offering hope for developing their cultivation in marginal land.
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12 exotic bacteria found to passively collect rare earth elements from wastewater
Scientists have shown that the biomass of some exotic photosynthetic cyanobacteria can efficiently absorb rare earth elements (REEs) from wastewater, to be collected for reuse.
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E coli-based water monitoring technology homes in on heavy metal contamination
Researchers have created an E coli-based water monitoring technology that uses the bacterium as a live sensor to detect heavy metal contamination in water.
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3D printing with bacteria-loaded ink produces bone-like composites
Researchers have published a method for 3D-printing an ink that contains calcium carbonate-producing bacteria. The 3D-printed mineralized bio-composite is unprecedently strong, light, and environmentally friendlly.
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Fashion company joins fibre-to-fibre consortium founded by Carbios, On, Patagonia, PUMA and Salomon
Carbios, a pioneer of biological technologies for reinventing the life cycle of plastics and textiles, has signed an agreement with fashion company PVH Corp to join its fibre-to-fibre consortium founded with On, Patagonia, PUMA, and Salomon1.
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Restricting antibiotics for livestock could curtail spread of AMR infections in people
A California policy restricting antibiotic use in animals raised for food is associated with a reduction in one type of antibiotic-resistant infection in people in the state, according to a new study.
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RIPE researchers add plant protein mechanism into bacteria
A team from the Australian National University (ANU) has modified the protein folding properties of bacteria by adding multiple components from the chloroplast of plants.
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Scientists uncover role of epigenetics in symbiosis between poplar trees and fungi
Scientists have investigated the role of DNA methylation in the mycorrhization of poplar to establish whether epigenetics affects mycorrhization in trees.
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Better instrumentation is needed to detect ancient life on Mars, researchers say
Current state-of-the-art instrumentation being sent to Mars to collect and analyze evidence of life might not be sensitive enough to make accurate assessments, according to researchers.
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Probiotic spray boosts piglets’ gut microbiota - and growth performance
Early-life intervention by spraying compound probiotics can reshape the microbiota composition of the delivery room environment and significantly improve the growth performance and immune function of piglets, a new study shows.
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Climate change portends wider malaria risk as mosquitoes expand range in Africa
Scientists have found that the mosquitoes responsible for transmitting malaria in Africa are spreading deeper into southern Africa and to higher elevations than previously recorded.
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Bright orange lichens use their pigments as a ‘sunscreen’ while avoiding toxic effects
Fungi in orange lichens can avoid the toxic effects of bright pigments, allowing them to handle high UV loads.
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Probiotic blend may deliver double whammy of health benefits when added to animal feed
Researchers have discovered a blend of organisms that not only act as a probiotic in animal feed, but can also inhibit the toxic effects of a mycotoxin in the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line.

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