Healthy land
Land has a wide variety of uses: agricultural, residential, industrial, and recreational. Microbes play a key role in the terrestrial ecosystem, providing symbiotic relationships with plants. Human use of land has led to the exhaustion of nutrients in soils, contamination of land, and a reduction in biodiversity. Applying our knowledge of microbes will be essential in restoring the biodiversity of affected ecosystems. Greater research into how microbes impact human life on land could all have a positive impact, by increasing crop production, repurposing areas of land and improving microbial biodiversity in soil, land, and water.
News
Invasive mosquito species detected in east London
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is undertaking enhanced surveillance and trapping activities following the detection of invasive Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and larvae at nearby residential properties in east London.
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NewsUnderground methane leaks may cultivate microbes that help consume them
Researchers have identified where naturally occurring soil microbes consume methane released from underground natural gas leaks. Methane-consuming microbes were most active in a narrow zone near the surface where methane rising from below meets oxygen entering from the atmosphere.
NewsAn enzyme with potential: New type of plastic-degrading enzyme discovered in bacteria
Researchers have identified a new enzyme that can not only degrade certain polyesters and bioplastics, but also might provide bacteria with resistance to antibiotics. The discovery raises hopes that microorganisms can adapt to plastic degradation more rapidly than previously thought.
NewsWild tomatillos coat fruits with sticky chemical arsenal, study finds
For decades, research on plant chemical defenses has focused on glandular trichomes—the tiny hair‑like structures on leaves and stems that produce and secrete protective compounds. Acyl sugars, a class of specialized metabolites widespread in the nightshade family (Solanaceae), are known to deter insects and fungal pathogens when produced in leaf ...
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News
The SETI Institute and ETH Zurich join forces to search for the origin of life
ETH Zurich and the SETI Institute have announced a strategic scientific partnership investigating the origins of life on planet Earth.
NewsProtecting the peanut: Sensors help fend off fungus
Early detection could be the difference between a healthy peanut crop and a devastating outbreak of Sclerotinia blight — a fungal disease capable of causing significant yield loss.
OpinionWhen do human-driven changes to wildlife microbiomes become a One Health concern?
Animals live in close partnership with communities of microbes that support digestion, immune development, and defence against pathogens, but human activities are changing those partnerships, says Katherine M. Lagerstrom.
NewsAntarctica is home to microbes found nowhere else on Earth
Researchers have found evidence that specific microbes in Antarctica’s soils are endemic — located on the continent and nowhere else on Earth.
NewsPrimed and ready to fight: a nematode pheromone arms plants to battle pathogens
New research has found that a previously unrecognized natural compound can provide lasting protection against a broad range of plant pathogens.
NewsSurvival of the driest: Directed evolution boosts bacterial tolerance to industrial spray-drying by 1000-fold
Spray-drying is the preferred method for producing dry microbial inoculants for agriculture, offering low cost and easy transport. But many beneficial Gram-negative bacteria struggle to survive the rapid dehydration and heat involved.
NewsA single gene change turns susceptible peas into fusarium wilt fighters
New research identifies a single dominant gene, PsFwC9, which confers Fusarium wilt resistance in pea plants.
NewsA hidden susceptibility switch may help potatoes fight late blight
New research reveals how the StRWA2 gene may promote late blight susceptibility by reduce the stability of NLR immune receptors in potatoes.
NewsReview explores the presence, fate, and effects of pharmaceutical compounds in soil and air
Pharmaceutical contamination in soil and air has become a critical environmental concern due to its widespread sources, complex behavior, and long-lasting ecological impacts.
NewsEmergence of Stutzerimonas nitrititolerans co-carrying carbapenem and tigecycline resistance from geese in China
Researchers have found strains of Stutzerimonas nitrititolerans with resistance to meropenem and reduced susceptibility to tigecycline in geese feces in Yangzhou, China.
NewsMeet the future of fashion: Clothes made alive by fungi
Scientists develop a flexible living textile based on caterpillar fungus, which can be used to make self-colouring, self-cleaning and self-repairing clothes.
NewsGreen hydrogen production and storage using alcohols, iron, and baker’s yeast
A new recyclable system uses baker’s yeast to store H₂ in organic molecules and iron ions to release it when needed - offering a promising route toward more sustainable hydrogen production and storage.
NewsCreating yeast strains that aren’t picky eaters
Scientists have engineered yeasts that can simultaneously use different sugars in biomass crops.
NewsGlacier retreat could promote the spread of diseases among bees
A new study shows that glacier retreat and the changing vegetation could influence the spread of certain pathogens between honeybees and wild bees.
NewsPomegranate emerges as a promising natural phytobiotic for veterinary medicine
Researchers have identified a broad range of biological properties in pomegranate with potential for use in medical applications, including antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory and wound-healing effects.
NewsEarthly microbes could survive on the moon
Microbes likely to hitch a ride to space with human explorers could survive in shady spots in the moon’s south pole region.
NewsAntibiotic resistance is an environmental problem, not just a medical one
New research shows that wild farm mice carry around 50% of the antibiotic resistance genes found in livestock.
NewsBiopolymers for better soil
Researchers take a new approach to tackling desertification - adding bacteria and fungi to the sand in order to form structured networks across sand grains, giving them more cohesion.
NewsTexas A&M Engineering leads work on rapid screwworm treatment
A multidisciplinary team is developing three novel wound treatments that quickly kill larvae while reducing chemical residues, offering ranchers and veterinarians a rapid response tool that current screwworm eradication methods cannot provide.