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Microbial ecology is the study of the interactions of microorganisms with their environment, each other, and plant and animal species. It includes the study of symbioses, biogeochemical cycles and the interaction of microbes with anthropogenic effects such as pollution and climate change.
In this study, the authors employ metagenomics to explore the impact of environmental pollution on the human gut microbiome using samples from a cohort living in a very polluted area in Southern Italy, showing that pollutants degradation genes are more abundant in subjects with higher blood levels of those specific xenobiotics.
Bacterial-fungal interactions can stimulate the production of specialised microbial metabolites. Here, Richter et al. use co-culture experimental evolution to show that the presence of a fungus selects for increased surfactin production in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, which inhibits fungal growth and facilitates the competitive success of the bacterium.
Microbial migration profoundly impacts ecosystems. Here, the authors introduce a statistical approach to explore microbial dispersion following fecal microbiota transplant, uncovering dependencies between colonizing taxa, with insights into community dynamics.
Iron and phosphorus exist at low concentrations in surface waters and may be co-limiting resources for phytoplankton growth. Here, the authors show that phosphorus deficiency increases the growth of iron-limited cyanobacteria through a PhoB-mediated regulatory network.
In this study, Carrasco Flores et al. report that the bacterium Mycetocola lacteus protects the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii from the antagonistic activity of Pseudomonas protegens.
Multidisciplinary culture-dependent and -independent techniques elucidate the unique microbial nitrogen cycle in nutrient-poor coastal Antarctica soils and reveal the contribution of novel key microbes to their nitrogen budget.
The clinical translation of therapeutics on the basis of human gut microorganisms is hampered by our limited knowledge of how microbes survive and adapt to fluctuating conditions in the gut. The systematic exploration of gut microbiome survival strategies and trade-offs will thus enable the design of more efficient microbiome-based interventions.
Metatranscriptomic data from more than 2,000 mosquitoes of 81 species show that the composition of mosquito viral communities is determined more by host phylogeny than by climate and land-use factors, which will help to inform arbovirus surveillance.
Characterizing bacterial responses to mixtures of chemical pollutants reveals interactive effects among pollutants. Our study highlights the predictability and resilience of microbial responses to complex mixtures of pollutants, offering the potential for improvements in ecotoxicological assessments.