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Environmental microbiology is the scientific study of microorganisms in the environment. This discipline includes air microbiology, soil microbiology and water microbiology.
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.
Active hydrothermal vents are hotspots of life in the deep sea, but even after hot springs go extinct, highly productive microbial communities continue to thrive on the chemical energy in the minerals left behind.
Testing 255 combinations of chemicals versus bacterial communities shows species diversity contributes to resilience against increasingly complex stressor mixtures.
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.
Active hydrothermal vents are hotspots of life in the deep sea, but even after hot springs go extinct, highly productive microbial communities continue to thrive on the chemical energy in the minerals left behind.
In this study, Achberger et al. report that microbial communities of inactive hydrothermal deposits contribute to primary productivity in the deep sea.
Decomposer microbiomes are universal across cadavers regardless of environmental conditions, and they use complex cross-feeding and interkingdom interactions to break down organic matter.
The spread of vector-borne infectious diseases is driven by a complex array of environmental and social drivers, including climate and land-use changes. Global and regional action is urgently needed to tackle carbon emissions and deforestation to halt future outbreaks.