Uncovered: 1,000 new microbial genomes

The number of microbes in a handful of soil exceeds the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy, but researchers know less about what's on Earth because they have only recently had the tools to deeply explore what is just ...

Tracking the viral parasites of giant viruses over time

In freshwater lakes, microbes regulate the flow of carbon and determine if the bodies of water serve as carbon sinks or carbon sources. Algae and cyanobacteria in particular can trap and use carbon, but their capacity to ...

The expanding universe of methane metabolisms in archaea

Methane is a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Billions of years ago, methane-producing archaea likely played a key role in determining the composition of the Earth's atmosphere and regulating the global ...

Signatures of selection inscribed on poplar genomes

One aspect of the climate change models researchers have been developing looks at how plant ranges might shift, and how factors such as temperature, water availability, and light levels might come into play. Forests creeping ...

How maize makes an antibiotic cocktail

Maize (Zea mays) produces a plethora of antibiotics called zealexins. Even though scientists have identified at least 15 zealexins, they suspect there are even more to find. Zealexins are produced in every corn variety and ...

First volume of microbial encyclopedia published

The Earth is estimated to have about a nonillion (1030) microbes in, on, around, and under it, comprised of an unknown but very large number of distinct species. Despite the widespread availability of microbial genome data—close ...

A rallying call for microbiome science national data management

Massive amounts of data require infrastructure to manage and store the information in a manner than can be easily accessed for use. While technologies have scaled to allow researchers to sequence and annotate communities ...

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