Scientists recently discovered a novel relationship between a shelled amoeba and an unknown flagellate using single-cell transcriptomics
A new study is the first to report a shelled microbial eukaryote housing a flagellated microbial eukaryote. This shows there is much we do not know about the microbial world.
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Buried in the Himalayas: What wetland soil Is telling us about climate change
High up in the Indian Himalayan Region lie wetlands that most of us will never see. New research suggests these quiet, high-altitude wetlands are playing a far bigger, and far more substantial, role in the planet’s carbon budget than anyone expected, say Shweta Kadam and Dr Om Prakash Sharma who sits on AMI’s Climate Action Advisory Group.
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Faster results, harder decisions: interpreting syndromic panels in microbiological clinical practice
Every generation in diagnostic microbiology has tried to answer the same questions more quickly. Is an infection present? What is causing it? What should happen next? What has changed dramatically is how rapidly, and how broadly, laboratories can now search for answers to these questions.
Tracking the invisible: monitoring microbial processes in freshwater ecosystems using fluorescence sensing
Rivers are dynamic ecosystems driven by microbial processes that regulate carbon and nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition, and oxygen consumption. Despite their central role in river health, microbial processes remain mostly invisible in routine water quality monitoring programmes, which continue to focus primarily on physicochemical parameters.
How indigenous microbes could rescue the Niger Delta
Benzene contamination from decades of oil exploitation has turned the Niger Delta’s groundwater into a slow-acting poison for millions of people. Yet the solution may already be living in the contaminated sediment itself, if only the political will exists to deploy it.
Under the Lens video series
The Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 4
The microscopic organisms living around plant roots may hold the key to reducing agriculture’s reliance on chemical fertilisers and other non-renewable inputs, according to plant microbiome researcher Dr Davide Bulgarelli.
The Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 3
Is raw milk safe to drink? Prof Emmanuel Adukwu is joined by Prof Nicola Holden and Dr Gil Domingue for a conversation on the societal, scientific, and health implications of this pertinent question.
The Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 2
In our second episode, Dr Callum Cooper joins Professor Emmanuel Adukwu to talk about all things bacteriophage, from alternatives to antibiotics, social impact, and regulation.
The Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 1
In our first episode, Professor Raquel Peixoto joins Professor Jack Gilbert for a deep dive into coral reefs, microbes, and the future of our planet.
The Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 4
The Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 3
The Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 2
The Microbiologist: Under the Lens | Episode 1
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Maybe Vitamin C isn’t just expensive urine after all
“Expensive urine” has become a convenient way of dismissing vitamin supplements taken in doses beyond what our bodies have an immediate need for. But if some unabsorbed vitamin C remains in the gastrointestinal tract, it raises an interesting question about how it could be interacting with the gut microbiome.
Shigella: A phenotypic genus in a genomic era
In an era where evolutionary relationships can be resolved down to the single-nucleotide level, Shigella stands out as a relic of phenotype-based classification: a label built on lost traits rather than shared ancestry. Yet the genus persists, defended by appeals to clinical utility, says Georgina Donovan.
Menopause may have a link to fungal skin infections
For decades, skin concerns associated with menopause, like dry skin, itching, and redness, have often been dismissed as superficial cosmetic concerns inherent to biological ageing. But these changes may reflect the underlying shifts in skin biology.
From evidence to action: how to bridge the gap between scientists and decision-makers to solve global One Health challenges
Reflections from the AMI Policy Team’s recent workshop at the 9th World One Health Congress.
Food and innovation: Reflections from FOODMicro 2026
AMI Food Security Advisory Group member Professor Marciane Magnani, a Full Professor of Food Science at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), Brazil, reflects on her experiences of FOODMICRO 2026 in Slovenia.
Horizon Award winners one year on: What are they up to?
The nominations for the Horizon Awards are in - and the judges are making their decisions. While we await the big announcement, we’ve been catching up with the superstars who won in 2025.
Dietary creatine shows little independent effect on the oral microbiome
Dietary creatine does not appear to have a meaningful independent effect on the oral microbiome. In a nationally representative study of more than 3,800 US adults, initial associations largely disappeared after researchers accounted for demographic factors and the wider diet.
Engineered Salmonella kills tumours. A salt-triggered gel keeps it from poisoning the mice
In mice with melanoma, the hydrogel matched free bacteria at shrinking tumours while cutting weight loss by 82% and reversing liver and spleen damage; it sets in seconds on sodium already present in the abdomen.
Tiny cracks and a nine-volt battery could help fight deadly superbugs
Scientists have uncovered an unlikely ally in the fight to prevent infections before they take hold. They have found that carefully controlled microscopic cracks can enhance the performance of an antibacterial coating, which helps destroy dangerous bacteria when activated with a small electrical charge.
Food security
Sauce-flavor Baijiu distillers’ grains offer nutritional and functional value
A new review examines the nutritional composition, fermentation upgrading and feeding applications of sauce-flavor Baijiu distillers’ grains. It considers microbial structures, organic acids, peptides and polyphenols alongside conventional nutrients. Studies in cattle, poultry and pigs illustrate how processing and diet formulation shape feeding outcomes.
Clean Water
Viral spillover underwater: review maps how aquatic viruses leap between species and how to catch the next jump early
When pathogens leap between species, the textbook cases are terrestrial: influenza from birds, Ebola from wildlife, SARS-CoV-2 at a market. A review argues that equal attention should go to water, the world’s fastest-growing food production sector and where viruses move readily among fish, amphibians, reptiles and crustaceans.
Researchers discover novel host-bacteria symbiotic structure in deep-sea mollusc
Researchers have discovered a previously unknown specialized organelle structure in a deep-sea mollusc living at cold seeps in the South China Sea. The deep-sea mollusc Chaetoderma shenloong evolved the dracosphera to maintain symbiosis with bacteria and adapt to extremely oxygen-depleted environments.
