July - 2025

How plastic pollution may influence antimicrobial resistance

A new study reveals an alarming number of mechanisms throughout the life-cycle of plastic that could enhance or spread antimicrobial resistance. Plastic pollution, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and climate change are some of the greatest global challenges currently facing society and yet, research and mitigation efforts are often not joined up. Vast quantities of plastics are produced and used each year, with an estimated 376 million metric tons of plastic produced globally in 2020, with almost a quarter of the world's plastic waste being mismanaged or littered.   Source: Phys

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LAHB: New bioplastic can lose 80% of its mass after 13 months

Researchers have demonstrated a new eco-friendly plastic that decomposes in deep ocean conditions. In a deep-sea experiment, the microbially synthesized poly(d-lactate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate) (LAHB) biodegraded, while conventional plastics such as a representative bio-based polylactide (PLA) persisted. Submerged 855 meters underwater, LAHB films lost over 80% of their mass after 13 months as microbial biofilms actively broke down the material. This real-world test establishes LAHB as a safer biodegradable plastic, supporting global efforts to reduce marine plastic waste.   Source: Phys

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Microbes in deep-sea volcanoes can help scientists learn about early life on Earth, or even life beyond our planet

People have long wondered what life was first like on Earth, and if there is life in our solar system beyond our planet. Scientists have reason to believe that some of the moons in our solar system—like Jupiter's Europa and Saturn's Enceladus—may contain deep, salty liquid oceans under an icy shell. Seafloor volcanoes could heat these moons' oceans and provide the basic chemicals needed for life. Similar deep-sea volcanoes found on Earth support microbial life that lives inside solid rock without sunlight and oxygen. Some of these microbes, called thermophiles, live at temperatures hot enough to boil water on the surface. They grow from the chemicals coming out of active volcanoes.   Source: Phys

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Simple model predicts soil microbiome metabolism shifts with environmental changes

Just like any living organism, the soil has its own metabolism. Plants, worms, insects, and most importantly, microorganisms in the soil break down organic matter, consume and generate nutrients, and process other materials to give the soil a life of its own. Soil microbiomes, which drive much of the metabolism in these ecosystems, are immensely complex—comprised of thousands of species with untold interactions and dynamics.   Source: Phys

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June - 2025

When bacteria get hungry, they kill—and eat—their neighbors, research reveals

Scientists have discovered a gruesome microbial survival strategy: when food is scarce, some bacteria kill and consume their neighbors. The study, published in Science, was conducted by an international team from Arizona State University, ETH Zurich, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). The researchers show that under nutrient-limited conditions, bacteria use a specialized weapon—the Type VI Secretion System (T6SS)—to attack, kill, and slowly absorb nutrients from other bacterial cells.   Source: Phys

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Marine fungi could help feed the world and fight disease

Fungi are nature's recyclers and chemists, turning waste into useful products and creating an array of enzymes and compounds. By harnessing this potential through fungal biotechnology (using fungi to develop products and technologies for various applications), we can create sustainable materials, food and processes that help solve global challenges like food shortages, pollution and climate change. Fungal biotechnology supports a "circular economy," where resources are reused instead of wasted. Fungi can help make our food supply more stable and eco-friendly, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions. But to fully unlock what is possible, we need to better understand different fungi and develop new tools to work with them to find solutions.   Source: Phys

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Hidden skin defenders: Blood bacteria compounds show promise against aging effects

People go to great lengths to maintain youthful-looking skin with masks, creams and serums. Now, researchers have discovered compounds with anti-aging properties hidden beneath our own skin. The three molecules, produced by a bacterium in the blood, reduced damage and inflammatory responses in human skin cell cultures. These findings, published in the Journal of Natural Products, could lead to new treatments for aging skin.   Source: Phys

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Ocean mud locks up much of the planet's carbon—we're digging deep to map these ancient stores

Mud is messy. For some, it's a plaything. To many, it can mean real hardship. Mud, though, is often overlooked, particularly when it lies out of sight. Deep down at the bottom of the sea, it is one of the most important natural archives of Earth's past—holding clues of shifting climates, coastlines, ocean conditions and carbon storage. Our research is the first to use computer models to trace how thick, carbon-rich mud patches on the seafloor have formed over thousands of years—helping to locate hidden carbon stores and understand the seafloor's long-term role in the climate system. This mud is a carbon time capsule.   Source: Phys

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May - 2025

Invasive rats and rainforest mammals are sharing gut microbes as urban areas grow

As urban development continues to creep further into Earth's oldest and most diverse rainforests, a Swansea University-led study reveals native and invasive small mammals aren't just adapting to their changing habitats—they may also be sharing their microbes. Published in Molecular Ecology, the study explores the gut microbial communities of hundreds of small mammals—three rats and one shrew species—across habitat areas from city to rainforest in Borneo. Swansea Ph.D. student Alessandra Giacomini led the study, supervised by Dr. Tamsyn Uren Webster and Dr. Konstans Wells, who oversee the University's research in biodiversity and animal health.   Source: Phys

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Microbial monitoring in reef waters offers accessible tool for ecosystem management

Corals everywhere on the planet live in harmony with microscopic organisms. Many corals get their vivid colors from microscopic algae which lives inside the corals' tissue and provides the coral with food. Even in the water surrounding coral reefs, there is a microscopic soup of bacteria, archaea, and other types of microbes that respond to changes in the habitat and can indicate whether or not the coral reef is healthy. In a new paper published in Cell Reports Sustainability, authors Amy Apprill, associate scientist in Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and Jennifer L. Salerno, marine biologist and associate professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University, detail just how valuable these surrounding microbial communities are for coral reef monitoring and conservation.   Source: Phys

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Antimicrobial resistance: Through the lens of research and innovation

The impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is not a future threat: it is a present and escalating crisis that demands urgent, unified action. The new AMR Lens report, "Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Innovation in Australia," provides a timely and data-driven perspective on how research, innovation, and cross-sector collaboration are shaping our response to one of the greatest threats to global health. Over time, the effectiveness of antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs has steadily declined, as disease-causing microorganisms adapt and become resistant. As a result, once-routine procedures and surgeries may soon become too dangerous to perform, and deaths from currently treatable infections will rise.   Source: Phys

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Biodiversity in Antarctic soils may be greatly underestimated after surprising discovery

Two important concepts in evolutionary biology, mutualism and altruism, were first made famous by the colorful anarchist prince Peter Kropotkin. He argued that cooperation could be an equally powerful driver of evolution as competition. Crucially, he was inspired by his youth as a geographer in the Russian Far East, where he observed how, in particular, the harsh climate favored cooperation, both within and between species.   Source: Phys

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April - 2025

Fungi dwelling on human skin may provide new antibiotics

University of Oregon researchers have uncovered a molecule produced by yeast living on human skin that showed potent antimicrobial properties against a pathogen responsible for a half-million hospitalizations annually in the United States. It's a unique approach to tackling the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. With the global threat of drug-resistant infections, fungi inhabiting human skin are an untapped resource for identifying new antibiotics, said Caitlin Kowalski, a postdoctoral researcher at the UO who led the study.   Source: Phys

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Molecule can disarm pathogenic bacteria without harming beneficial microbes

A consortium of researchers with multidisciplinary skills, coordinated by INRAE and including the CNRS, the Université Paris-Saclay and Inserm, has identified a molecule capable of "disarming" pathogenic bacteria in the face of the immune system, without any negative effects on the host microbiota, promising a new strategy to combat antibiotic resistance. These results, already patented and recently published in Nature Communications, are leading to the development of new drugs.   Source: Phys

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Mushroom-based composting can cut farm waste, pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes

The intensification of global agriculture results in significant disposal challenges, with 14 billion tons of crop straw and 125 million tons of livestock manure produced annually. Traditional composting often fails due to low lignocellulose degradation efficiency and the persistence of pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Additionally, the use of antibiotics, like oxytetracycline in livestock, increases the transmission of these ARGs and pathogens in soil-plant systems, threatening agricultural safety and the environment. To tackle this issue, a research team from the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has employed microbial conversion technology to create a closed-loop system that links crop straw, livestock manure, and spent mushroom substrates, promoting the green and efficient use of organic matter to support crop growth. The paper is published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.   Source: Phys

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Mechanical compression induces multicellular organization in archaea

Archaea—one of the three primary domains of life alongside bacteria and eukaryotes—are often overlooked and sometimes mistaken for bacteria due to their single-celled nature and lack of a nucleus. Yet, archaea are found across diverse environments, from oceanic plankton to the human microbiome. Despite their superficial similarity to bacteria, their genetic makeup has long suggested a closer evolutionary relationship with eukaryotes, the domain encompassing plants and animals. This new research uncovers a remarkable capacity within archaea to organize beyond their single-celled existence under specific physical conditions.   Source: Phys

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March - 2025

Degradable bioplastics offer a smart solution to nitrogen pollution

By 2050, we will need to feed almost 1.8 billion more people, when our global population reaches around 10 billion. We have less land available for agriculture due to urban sprawl (and other competing needs), but we also need to avoid clearing more forested land for farms, while boosting crop production at the same time. . Source: Phys

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Emulsion technique boosts plant growth with bacteria

Researchers have demonstrated a technique for successfully encapsulating bacteria that can then be stored and applied to plants to improve plant growth and protect against pests and pathogens. The technique opens the door to creating a wide range of crop applications that allow farmers to make use of these beneficial bacteria in conjunction with agrochemicals. The paper, "Pickering Emulsion for Enhanced Viability of Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria and Combined Delivery of Agrochemicals and Biologics," is published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. Source: Phys

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Microplastics could be fueling antibiotic resistance

Microplastics—tiny shards of plastic debris—are all over the planet. They have made their way up food chains, accumulated in oceans, clustered in clouds and on mountains, and been found inside human bodies at alarming rates. Scientists have been racing to uncover the unforeseen impacts of so much plastic in and around us. Source: Phys

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Earth's hidden carbon recyclers: Sulfur bacteria team up to break down organic substances in the seabed

Sulfate-reducing bacteria break down a large proportion of the organic carbon in the oxygen-free zones of Earth, and in the seabed in particular. Among these important microbes, the Desulfobacteraceae family of bacteria stands out because its members are able to break down a wide variety of compounds—including some that are poorly degradable—to their end product, carbon dioxide (CO2). A team of researchers led by Dr. Lars Wöhlbrand and Prof. Dr. Ralf Rabus from the University of Oldenburg, Germany, has investigated the role of these microbes in detail and published the findings of their comprehensive study in the journal Science Advances. Source: Phys

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February - 2025

Hot springs bubble up insights into microbe communities

Boiling hot water bubbles up into pools of vibrant teal and blue. The steam rises, burning anyone who gets too close. The water is acidic—sometimes as acidic as stomach acid. Microbes in a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park have evolved to live in such extreme circumstances. To understand the communities these strange lifeforms create, researchers from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory cataloged microbes living in hot springs in Yellowstone, Iceland, and Japan. Source: Phys

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Mighty marine fungi degrade plastic by eating it, and can be conditioned to do it faster

Plastic is the most prevalent marine pollutant, and plastic surfaces are the fastest growing habitat in the ocean. Researchers at the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa have recently discovered that many species of fungi isolated from Hawai'i's nearshore environment have the ability to degrade plastic, and some can be conditioned to do it faster. The work is published in the journal Mycologia. "Plastic in the environment today is extremely long-lived, and is nearly impossible to degrade using existing technologies," said Ronja Steinbach, who led this research as a marine biology undergraduate student in the UH Mānoa College of Natural Sciences. Source: Phys

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Deep beneath Outokumpu: Smelly volatile organic compounds could reveal new insights into carbon cycle

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are known to be contaminants originating in industrial processes and materials, as well as a reason for substandard indoor air, but they are also formed in nature, including wetlands, forests, volcanoes and hydrothermal vents. Researchers from the University of Helsinki and VTT Technical Research Center of Finland took gas and microbial samples from a deep borehole drilled by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) for research purposes in an area known for its ore deposits in Outokumpu. Source: Phys

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Gut bacteria can alter brain proteins: New glycosylation method uncovers link

Our guts are home to trillions of bacteria, and research over the last few decades has established how essential they are to our physiology—in health and disease. A new study from EMBL Heidelberg researchers shows that gut bacteria can bring about profound molecular changes in one of our most critical organs—the brain. The new study, published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, is the first to show that bacteria living in the gut can influence how proteins in the brain are modified by carbohydrates—a process called glycosylation. The study was made possible by a new method the scientists developed—DQGlyco—which allows them to study glycosylation at a much higher scale and resolution than previous studies. Source: Phys

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January - 2025

Tiny microbe colonies may use electrical signaling to coordinate their behavior

A new study published in Science Advances reveals evidence of electrical signaling and coordinated behavior in choanoflagellates, the closest living relatives of animals. This elaborate example of cell communication offers key insights into the early evolution of animal multicellularity and nervous systems. Researchers from the Burkhardt group at the Michael SARS Centre, University of Bergen, uncovered a remarkable diversity of behaviors within the rosette-shaped colonies of the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta—and the small organisms held even more surprises. Source: Phys

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Microbes can colonize space, produce drugs and create energy. But how?

After so many years learning how microbes work, researchers are now digitally recreating their inner workings to tackle challenges ranging from climate change to space colonization. In my work as a computational biologist, I research ways to get microbes to produce more useful chemicals, such as fuels and bioplastics, that can be used in the energy, agricultural or pharmaceutical industries. Traditionally, researchers have to conduct several trial-and-error experiments on petri dishes in order to determine the optimal conditions microbes need to produce high amounts of chemicals. Source: Phys

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An abundant phytoplankton feeds a global network of marine microbes

One of the hardest-working organisms in the ocean is the tiny, emerald-tinged Prochlorococcus marinus. These single-celled "picoplankton," which are smaller than a human red blood cell, can be found in staggering numbers throughout the ocean's surface waters, making Prochlorococcus the most abundant photosynthesizing organism on the planet. (Collectively, Prochlorococcus fix as much carbon as all the crops on land.) Scientists continue to find new ways that the little green microbe is involved in the ocean's cycling and storage of carbon. Now, MIT scientists have discovered a new ocean-regulating ability in the small but mighty microbes: cross-feeding of DNA building blocks. In a study published Jan. 3 in Science Advances, the team reports that Prochlorococcus shed these extra compounds into their surroundings, where they are then "cross-fed," or taken up by other ocean organisms, either as nutrients, energy, or for regulating metabolism. Prochlorococcus' rejects, then, are other microbes' resources. Source: Phys

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Gene mutation in roots that enhances microbe partnerships could cut fertilizer use

Researchers have discovered a biological mechanism that makes plant roots more welcoming to beneficial soil microbes. This discovery by John Innes Centre researchers paves the way for more environmentally friendly farming practices, potentially allowing farmers to use less fertilizer. Production of most major crops relies on nitrate and phosphate fertilizers, but excessive fertilizer use harms the environment. If we could use mutually beneficial relationships between plant roots and soil microbes to enhance nutrient uptake, then we could potentially reduce the use of inorganic fertilizers. Source: Phys

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