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.
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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11
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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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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Decades of research has shown promise for using microbiome science to solve several problems facing agriculture, but these findings have not yet been translated to practical recommendations for growers, according to a team ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 28, 2026
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Depending on others for something you need may feel like a risky proposition—and perhaps a human one. It is actually a survival strategy found in the microbial world, and far more frequently than one might expect. Discovering ...
Ecology
Feb 24, 2026
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51
The role of soil and forests in greenhouse gas sequestration has been studied for a long time. However, forests are also home to invisible organisms that may affect the climate. "Soil, water and peatlands have been studied ...
Ecology
Feb 17, 2026
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14
Back in 2021, Pierre Stallforth and his team at the Leibniz-Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI) showed that bacteria of the genera Pseudomonas and Paenibacillus join forces to protect ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 13, 2026
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24
Microbes could help oak trees cope with environmental change. Publishing in Cell Host & Microbe, a study observing oaks growing in a natural woodland found that the trees' above- and below-ground microbiomes were resilient ...
Ecology
Feb 11, 2026
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