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STEWARDS OF A CHANGING PLANET: COMMENTARIES FROM ISME13 PLENARY LECTURERS
Microorganisms are increasingly recognized as key stewards of life on Earth. Their roles range from maintenance of human health to global nutrient cycling. They are also key responders or contributors to disease and to changing climate. To highlight aspects of the importance of microorganisms for our health and the environment, the ISME13 Symposium (August 22-27, 2010, Seattle, WA, USA) invited leading experts to provide plenary lectures on current topics in microbial ecology. The plenary lecturers were also invited to contribute commentaries to the The ISME Journal that reflect the content of their lectures. The commentary topics include discussions at the microscopic scale, such as biofilms, mycorrhizae and ecological strategies of big sulfur bacteria, to macroscale discussions of impacts of a changing climate on the microbial communities in oceans and the Arctic. Processes of interest include bacterial and archaeal contributions to ammonia oxidation as well as model systems to study host microbe interactions in the gut. In summary, this unique collection of commentaries describes examples of current trends in the field of microbial ecology and provides important guidance for future research.
Editorial
Commentaries
‘Designer’ mycorrhizas?: Using natural genetic variation in AM fungi to increase plant growth FREE
Ian R Sanders
ISME J advance online publication, 8 July 2010; doi:10.1038/ismej.2010.109
Big sulfur bacteria FREE
Bo Barker Jørgensen
ISME J advance online publication, 15 July 2010; doi: 10.1038/ismej.2010.106
Biofilms: structures that may facilitate cell–cell interactions FREE
Jonathan P Remis, J William Costerton and Manfred Auer
ISME J advance online publication, July 15, 2010; doi:10.1038/ismej.2010.105
Microbial ecosystem responses to rapid climate change in the Arctic FREE
Warwick F Vincent
ISME J advance online publication, 15 July 2010; doi:10.1038/ismej.2010.108
Dangerous shifts in ocean ecosystem function? FREE
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
ISME J advance online publication, 8 July 2010; doi: 10.1038/ismej.2010.107
Ammonia oxidation: different niches for bacteria and archaea? FREE
Christa Schleper
ISME J advance online publication, 15 July 2010; doi:10.1038/ismej.2010.111
Creating and characterizing communities of human gut microbes in gnotobiotic mice FREE
Jeremiah J Faith, Federico E Rey, David O’Donnell, Maria Karlsson, Nathan P McNulty, George Kallstrom, Andrew L Goodman and Jeffrey I Gordon
ISME J advance online publication, 22 July 2010; doi:10.1038/ismej.2010.110