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.
A study reveals the underground interactions between fungi and oomycetes in twenty Andalusian dehesas, wooded pasturelands typical of the Iberian Peninsula, making it possible to identify the role of water as the main driver ...
Ecology
Dec 16, 2025
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New findings shed light on the mechanisms behind a natural purification process and identify the key microbial "teammates" that enable mosses to remove metals from water. A promising moss species was discovered in abandoned ...
Ecology
Dec 15, 2025
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19
Potentially dangerous staphylococci compete with other bacteria for biotin in the human nasal cavity. This could offer a new point of attack in the fight against the harmful bacteria.
Ecology
Nov 25, 2025
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21
Florida State University oceanographers have discovered a significant connection between small-scale microbial processes and ecosystem-wide dynamics, offering new insights into the mechanisms driving marine carbon storage.
Earth Sciences
Nov 24, 2025
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51
In the cobalt waters off San Diego, the key to tracking a powerful greenhouse gas drifts just below the surface. Tiny ocean microbes living in oxygen-starved waters turn everyday nutrients into nitrous oxide (N₂O)—a compound ...
Ecology
Oct 21, 2025
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23
A research team from the Institute of Applied Ecology (IAE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has clarified the structure and function of synthetic microbial consortia, providing new insights for bioremediation of complex ...
Biotechnology
Oct 10, 2025
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31
Methane—a potent greenhouse gas—constantly seeps from the ocean floor and can rise into the atmosphere. Now, an international team led by scientists with the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences has uncovered ...
Ecology
Aug 22, 2025
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276
There's a thriving community of diverse microbes living in tree wood, a new study led by a Yale School of the Environment team of scientists has found. A single tree hosts about one trillion bacteria in its woody tissue.
Plants & Animals
Aug 6, 2025
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267
As the climate warms and regional drying becomes more frequent, peatlands—some of the planet's most important carbon sinks—are increasingly under threat. But a study led by an international team including scientists from ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 4, 2025
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22
A desert region in northern Mexico sparked the imagination of Prof. Joel Stavans, a physicist who studies the physics of biological processes and is particularly interested in natural bacterial communities. He learned about ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 30, 2025
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