Microbial consortia, as a biological process, refers to the dynamic, functionally integrated interactions among multiple co-occurring microbial species that collectively perform metabolic activities not achievable by individual taxa alone. These processes include syntrophy, cross-feeding, metabolic division of labor, and coordinated responses to environmental cues, often regulated through cell–cell signaling and resource partitioning. Within consortia, emergent properties such as enhanced stability, resilience to perturbation, and optimized biogeochemical cycling arise from coupled metabolic networks and spatial organization. Microbial consortia underlie key processes in natural and engineered systems, including nutrient turnover, waste degradation, bioremediation, and host-associated microbiome functions.
Scientists have found a new type of iron-storing protein in a mixture of microbes containing methane-degraders. This discovery underscores the importance of characterizing proteins from microbes that cannot be isolated, thereby ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 23, 2026
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When most people think about corals, they imagine a tropical reef with crystal blue water, teeming with colorful fish. But, in the depths of the cold, murky Gulf of Maine, deep-sea corals thrive, feasting on a steady supply ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 20, 2026
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37
A colony of leafcutter ants is home to more than just one species. Each year, studies reveal new layers of complexity in these ecosystems, where various fungi and bacteria thrive alongside the ants, resulting in countless ...
Ecology
Mar 19, 2026
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A new study, led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Columbia University, identifies a diverse set of molecules released by marine phytoplankton that fuel microbial life and help drive Earth's carbon cycle. ...
Environment
Mar 18, 2026
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Plastic trash has reached the world's most remote locations, from the bottom of the Mariana Trench to the summit of Everest. Hundreds of plastic-eating microbes that could help us clean up have been discovered over the past ...
Evolution
Mar 18, 2026
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Biodegradable plastics could help alleviate the plastic waste crisis that is polluting the environment and harming our health. But how long plastics take to degrade and how environmental bacteria work together to break them ...
Environment
Mar 16, 2026
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A study led by William & Mary's Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS and published in FEMS Microbiology Ecology reveals that microbial communities growing on microplastics in the Chesapeake Bay carry the genetic ...
Ecology
Mar 11, 2026
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Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is among the most damaging pests affecting soybean crops around the world, with current management strategies relying primarily on a very narrow set of resistant soybean varieties, along with crop ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 5, 2026
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By converting plastic waste into a microbe-friendly food source, scientists have built an upcycling pipeline that turns the waste into a variety of useful products. The findings are detailed in the journal Nature Sustainability.
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 4, 2026
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39
Plant growth is supported by millions of tiny soil microbes competing and cooperating with each other as they perform important roles at the plant root, including improving access to nutrients and protecting against pathogens. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 4, 2026
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