When glaciers retreat, microbes take over
Researchers demonstrated that the first microbes to colonize recently deglaciated soil can extract nutrients from air and rock to survive…
Category: Microbiology
Using bacteria to fight fungal brown rot
Scientists compared the effectiveness of traditional chemical fungicides and newer biological fungicides in killing the fungus responsible…
Does the Arctic Ocean regulate or amplify global warming?
Researchers found that interactions between methane gas and seawater affected greenhouse gas emissions from the Arctic Ocean during a past…
Biofertilizers change plants’ natural microbes
Scientists tested how mixtures of plant-growth-promoting bacteria affect the microbial communities of different sunflower varieties for use…
How do cells merge?
Researchers imaged previously unseen structures that help cell membranes merge without spilling their contents.
Scientists probe plant-based soil cleanup
Researchers tested plant-based soil remediation methods and found that adding beneficial microbes to copper-contaminated soil improved…
Could we find DNA on Mars?
Scientists used a highly sensitive DNA sequencing method to identify microbes from rock samples exposed to radiation levels equivalent to…
Hidden bacteria dominate Earth’s deep soils
Scientists showed that an understudied bacterium is widespread in deep soils worldwide and adapted to life with very little energy.
Why do deep-sea microbes have such small appetites?
The deep sea is one of Earth’s largest reservoirs of carbon, yet microbes don’t consume very much of it. Researchers showed that this is…
Gases power diverse microbial life in caves
Researchers found that cave-dwelling microbes use atmospheric trace gases like methane and carbon monoxide as sources of energy and carbon.