microbial communities
- Special Issue Perspective | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceUsing Cultivated Microbial Communities To Dissect Microbiome Assembly: Challenges, Limitations, and the Path Ahead
As troves of microbiome sequencing data provide improved resolution of patterns of microbial diversity, new approaches are needed to understand what controls these patterns. Many microbial ecologists are using cultivated model microbial communities to address this challenge.
- Editor's Pick Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceTree Leaf Bacterial Community Structure and Diversity Differ along a Gradient of Urban Intensity
In natural forests, tree leaf surfaces host diverse bacterial communities whose structure and composition are primarily driven by host species identity. Tree leaf bacterial diversity has also been shown to influence tree community productivity, a key function of terrestrial ecosystems. However, most urban microbiome studies have focused on the built environment, improving our understanding of indoor microbial communities but leaving...
- Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyTotal Lipopolysaccharide from the Human Gut Microbiome Silences Toll-Like Receptor Signaling
While the ability for humans to host a complex microbial ecosystem is an essential property of life, the mechanisms allowing for immune tolerance of such a large microbial load are not completely understood and are currently the focus of intense research. This study shows that an important proinflammatory pathway that is commonly triggered by pathogenic bacteria upon interaction with the host is, in fact, actively repressed by the...
- Editor's Pick Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceDiversity and Activity of Communities Inhabiting Plastic Debris in the North Pacific Gyre
Marine plastic debris is a growing concern that has captured the general public’s attention. While the negative impacts of plastic debris on oceanic macrobiota, including mammals and birds, are well documented, little is known about its influence on smaller marine residents, including microbes that have key roles in ocean biogeochemistry. Our work provides a new perspective on microbial communities inhabiting microplastics that includes...
- Editor's Pick Research Article | Applied and Environmental ScienceProteomic Stable Isotope Probing Reveals Taxonomically Distinct Patterns in Amino Acid Assimilation by Coastal Marine Bacterioplankton
An estimated 50 gigatons of carbon is annually fixed within marine systems, of which heterotrophic microbial populations process nearly half. These communities vary in composition and activity across spatial and temporal scales, so understanding how these changes affect global processes requires the delineation of functional roles for individual members. In a step toward ascertaining these roles, we applied proteomic stable isotope...