Applied and Environmental Science
Special Issue Perspective | Applied and Environmental ScienceIt Takes a Village: Microbial Communities Thrive through Interactions and Metabolic HandoffsAn enduring theme in microbial ecology is the interdependence of microbial community members. Interactions between community members include provision of cofactors, establishment of redox gradients, and turnover of key nutrients to drive biogeochemical cycles.
Editor's Pick Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceOmics-Based Insights into Flavor Development and Microbial Succession within Surface-Ripened CheeseFermented foods, in particular, surface-ripened cheese, represent a model to explain the metabolic interactions which regulate microbial succession in complex environments. This study explains the role of individual species in a heterogeneous microbial environment, i.e., the exterior of surface-ripened cheese. Through whole-metagenome shotgun sequencing, it was possible to investigate the metabolic potential of the resident...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceVitamin and Amino Acid Auxotrophy in Anaerobic Consortia Operating under Methanogenic ConditionsMicrobial interactions between Archaea and Bacteria mediate many important chemical transformations in the biosphere from degrading abundant polymers to synthesis of toxic compounds. Two of the most pressing issues in microbial interactions are how consortia are established and how we can modulate these microbial communities to express desirable functions. Here, we propose that public goods (i.e., metabolites of high...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceProteomes of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus LBB.B5 Incubated in Milk at Optimal and Low TemperaturesLactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus has a long history of use in yogurt production. Although commonly cocultured with Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus in milk, fundamental knowledge of the adaptive responses of L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus to the dairy environment and the consequences of those responses on the use of L. delbrueckii subsp. ...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceGenome-Enabled Insights into the Ecophysiology of the Comammox Bacterium “Candidatus Nitrospira nitrosa”Nitrospira-like bacteria are among the most diverse and widespread nitrifiers in natural ecosystems and the dominant nitrite oxidizers in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The recent discovery of comammox-like Nitrospira strains, capable of complete oxidation of ammonia to nitrate, raises new questions about specific traits responsible for the functional versatility and adaptation of this genus to a variety of...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceInsights into Butyrate Production in a Controlled Fermentation System via Gene PredictionsThis study demonstrates how bioinformatics tools, such as metagenome functional prediction from 16S rRNA genes, can help understand biological systems and reveal microbial interactions in controlled systems (e.g., bioreactors). Results obtained from controlled systems are easier to interpret than those from human/animal studies because observed changes may be specifically attributed to the design conditions imposed on the system....
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceNon-Toxin-Producing Bacillus cereus Strains Belonging to the B. anthracis Clade Isolated from the International Space StationThe International Space Station Microbial Observatory (Microbial Tracking-1) study is generating a microbial census of the space station’s surfaces and atmosphere by using advanced molecular microbial community analysis techniques supported by traditional culture-based methods and modern bioinformatic computational modeling. This approach will lead to long-term, multigenerational studies of microbial population dynamics in a closed...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceSignificant Impacts of Increasing Aridity on the Arid Soil MicrobiomeWe identify key environmental and geochemical factors that shape the arid soil microbiome along aridity and vegetation gradients spanning over 300 km of the Atacama Desert, Chile. Decreasing average soil relative humidity and increasing temperature explain significant reductions in the diversity and connectivity of these desert soil microbial communities and lead to significant reductions in the abundance of key taxa typically...
Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceGenome Sequence of the Thermotolerant Foodborne Pathogen Salmonella enterica Serovar Senftenberg ATCC 43845 and Phylogenetic Analysis of Loci Encoding Increased Protein Quality Control MechanismsThermal interventions are commonly used in the food industry as a means of mitigating pathogen contamination in food products. Concern over heat-resistant food contaminants has recently increased, with the identification of a conserved locus shown to confer heat resistance in disparate lineages of Gram-negative bacteria. Complete sequence analysis of a historical isolate of ...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceThe Baltic Sea Virome: Diversity and Transcriptional Activity of DNA and RNA VirusesInferred virus-host relationships, community structures of ubiquitous ecologically relevant groups, and identification of transcriptionally active populations have been achieved with our Baltic Sea study. Further, these data, highlighting the transcriptional activity of viruses, represent one of the more powerful uses of omics concerning ecosystem health. The use of omics-related data to assess ecosystem health holds great promise for...