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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Plant microbiota: War and peace under the surface

Scientists unveil the subtle alliances and rivalries that unfold between bacteria and roots, hidden beneath the soil. A new study probed how and when root exudates are released at the microscale relevant to microorganisms.

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Bacteria transform waste polystyrene into nylon precursors

Scientists have succeeded in getting bacteria to break down the molecular building blocks of polystyrene and convert them into useful chemicals.