Sustainability

In the past decade, global climate change has come to the forefront of the political and social agenda owing to the growing realization that the Earth's resources are being used in an unsustainable fashion. To highlight the central role of microbial processes in sustainable development, The ISME Journal and Nature Reviews Microbiology present a specially commissioned set of articles that highlight the importance of microorganisms in climatic processes and research the generation of new energy sources, owing to the generous support of the United States Department of Energy.

The topics covered in this Focus include energy conservation by methanogenic archaea, the contributions of soil microorganisms to carbon cycling and global warming and systems biology of the shewanellae. These reviews and perspectives will highlight how microorganisms could contribute to sustainable energy development in the future. The accompanying library collates the most relevant recent publications from across the Nature Publishing Group.