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#microbes
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Lunar polar regions could have microbes, modeling study suggests
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-lunar-polar-regions-microbes.html
Phys.org · Lunar polar regions could have microbes, modeling study suggests
Engineered yeast boosts D-lactic acid production, advancing eco-friendly biomanufacturing
https://phys.org/news/2025-03-yeast-boosts-d-lactic-acid.html
phys.orgEngineered yeast boosts D-lactic acid production, advancing eco-friendly biomanufacturingGreat recipes require the perfect combination of ingredients—biotechnology recipes are no exception. Researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University have discovered the ideal genetic "recipe" to turn yeast into a tiny yet powerful eco-friendly factory that converts methanol into D-lactic acid, a key compound used in biodegradable plastics and pharmaceuticals.
You know that thing about sufficiently advanced #technology being indistinguishable from #magic ?
That's how I feel about #bread.
And #beer.
And #preserving vegetables in brine.
Let's hear it for good guy #microbes.
Emulsion technique boosts plant growth with bacteria
https://phys.org/news/2025-03-emulsion-technique-boosts-growth-bacteria.html
phys.orgEmulsion technique boosts plant growth with bacteriaResearchers have demonstrated a technique for successfully encapsulating bacteria that can then be stored and applied to plants to improve plant growth and protect against pests and pathogens. The technique opens the door to creating a wide range of crop applications that allow farmers to make use of these beneficial bacteria in conjunction with agrochemicals. The paper, "Pickering Emulsion for Enhanced Viability of Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria and Combined Delivery of Agrochemicals and Biologics," is published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
Pink snow tints the edges of Antarctica https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2025-03-24/pink-snow-tints-the-edges-of-antarctica.html
"The #algae that covers Mount Reina Sofía in patches is Sanguina nivaloides, a species first described in 2019. The meaning of its scientific name in Latin is eloquent: blood in the snow. Each creature has a single cell, about 20 thousandths of a millimeter in size, with a molecule inside that gives it its characteristic red color: #astaxanthin... the same pigment that produces the color of salmon"
Exciting work studying the chemical bonds in membrane lipids of #archaea (#marine #microbes) which are often used for #paleoclimate reconstructions suggests improvements to #temperature reconstructions.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X25000925
Ancient marine organism's dual-layer structure reveals both past and present ocean environments https://phys.org/news/2025-02-ancient-marine-dual-layer-reveals.html
A cosmopolitan calcifying benthic #foraminifera in agglutinated disguise as a geochemical recorder of coastal environments https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2413054122
"This species has a remarkable hidden feature—an inner shell made of calcium carbonate beneath its outer layer of gathered particles... [this] made them an excellent recorder of environmental conditions."
MDPIDirect Meta-Analyses Reveal Unexpected Microbial Life in the Highly Radioactive Water of an Operating Nuclear Reactor CoreThe pools of nuclear reactor facilities constitute harsh environments for life, bathed with ionizing radiation, filled with demineralized water and containing toxic radioactive elements. The very few studies published to date have explored water pools used to store spent nuclear fuels. Due to access restrictions and strong handling constraints related to the high radioactivity level, nothing is presently known about life in water pools that directly cool nuclear cores. In this work, we investigated the microbial communities in the cooling pool of the French Osiris nuclear reactor using direct meta-omics approaches, namely, DNA metabarcoding and proteotyping based on 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing and on peptide analysis, respectively. We identified 25 genera in the highly radioactive core water supply during operation with radionuclide activity higher than 3 × 109 Bq/m3. The prevailing genera Variovorax and Sphingomonas at operation were supplanted by Methylobacterium, Asanoa, and Streptomyces during shutdown. Variovorax might use dihydrogen produced by water radiolysis as an energy source.
New publication: #Liming enhances the abundance and stability of #nitrogen-cycling #microbes: the buffering effect of long-term lime application. #grassland #nitrification #Nfixation #denitrification #limestone
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-025-01889-2
SpringerLinkLiming enhances the abundance and stability of nitrogen-cycling microbes: the buffering effect of long-term lime application - Biology and Fertility of SoilsLime application (liming) has historically been used to ameliorate soil acidity in grasslands. Liming effectively improves soil pH, plant productivity, and soil physicochemical properties, but the long-term impact of acidity control by liming on key microbial nitrogen (N)-cycling genes in semi-natural grasslands is unknown. We investigated the effect of 65 years of liming on N-cycling processes in the limed and control plots of the Ossekampen long-term grassland experiment in the Netherlands. These plots have not received any other fertilizers for 65 years. Soil sampling and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission measurements were conducted three times in spring and four times in summer, and quantitative real-time PCR was performed to determine the absolute abundances of N-cycling genes, including ammonia-oxidation (amoA-AOB, amoA-AOA, amoA-comammox), denitrification (nirS, nirK, nosZ), nitrate ammonification (nrfA), and N-fixation (nifH) genes. Long-term liming increased the absolute abundances of nitrifiers, denitrifiers, and nitrate ammonifiers. Soil N2O emissions did not differ significantly between liming and control treatments. Additionally, liming had a buffering effect that maintained the population of N-cycling microbes against seasonal variations in abundance. Our results indicate that improving soil acidity through liming potentially facilitates microbial N-cycling processes without increasing N2O emissions.
Are #Dyson #Spheres Real? : Medium
Surprise Turning of Ancient '#Wheel of #Ghosts' Casts Doubt on #Astronomical Purpose : Science Alert
#Microbes can colonise #Space, produce drugs and create #Energy — researchers are simulating their inner workings to harness how : Down2Earth
Check our latest #KnowledgeLinks
Earth's Underworld Is Full of Life https://www.sciencealert.com/earths-underworld-is-full-of-life-and-it-goes-deeper-than-we-ever-knew
A global comparison of surface and subsurface microbiomes reveals large-scale biodiversity gradients, and a marine-terrestrial divide https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adq0645
"In an ambitious 8-year census, a team has found an astonishing diversity of #microbes living beneath our planet's surface, deeper than anything we've discovered prior... it has turned up lifeforms as deep as 491m below the ocean floor, and even further below land: 4,375m deep"
I, like many other people, used to be largely dismissive of microbes. I've learnt better now, but even I hadn't considered that our futures could be in their hands, or flagella.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1071697
#sciencenews #environment #microbes
EurekAlert!Scientists discover unique microbes in Amazonian peatlands that could influence climate changeResearchers from Arizona State University, along with their colleagues from the National University of the Peruvian Amazon, have identified an unknown family of microbes uniquely adapted to the waterlogged, low-oxygen conditions of tropical peatlands in Peru’s northwestern Amazonian rainforest.
The new research shows these microbes have a dual role in the carbon cycle and the potential to either moderate or intensify climate change. This process can either stabilize carbon for long-term storage or release it into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases, particularly CO2 and methane.
Mapping #Antarctica's hidden ice-free lands: A blueprint for conservation https://phys.org/news/2025-01-antarctica-hidden-ice-free-blueprint.html paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-025-04424-y
"The ice-free lands are home to uniquely adapted flora including micro-forests of #lichens, #moss, and two flowering plants, Antarctic hairgrass and pearlwort. They also sustain a variety of #mites, #springtails, #tardigrades, #nematodes, #algae, and #microbes. #Seabirds have established breeding colonies in these areas too."
How tiny algae shaped the #evolution of giant clams https://phys.org/news/2025-01-tiny-algae-evolution-giant-clams.html https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-07423-8
"T. maxima have evolved more genes for sensors to distinguish friendly #algae from harmful #bacteria, #viruses... it has tuned down some of its immune genes in a way that likely helps the #animals tolerate #microbes... As a result of the weakened #ImmuneSystem, its genome contains a large number of #TransposableElements left behind by viruses. These aspects highlight the tradeoffs of #symbiosis"
Newly discovered #microbes in Amazon peatlands could affect global carbon balance https://phys.org/news/2025-01-newly-microbes-amazon-peatlands-affect.html
Functional insights of novel #Bathyarchaeia reveal metabolic versatility in their role in peatlands of the Peruvian Amazon https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.00387-24
"Under stable conditions, they enable #peatlands to act as vast carbon reservoirs, reducing #climate risks. However, environmental shifts, including drought and warming, can trigger their activity, accelerating #ClimateChange."
#Microbes and #minerals: How microorganisms accelerate calcification https://www.marum.de/en/Microbes-and-minerals.html
Marine #CarbonBurial enhanced by microbial carbonate formation at hydrocarbon seeps https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01960-0
"#Methane and other hydrocarbons are released from the #ocean floor at so-called cold seeps, forming the basis for ecosystems independent of sunlight. The basic process is methane oxidation without oxygen, which is carried out jointly by #archaea and #bacteria."
Scientists Find Signs of Life Deep Inside the Earth
https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-life-deep-inside-earth
Futurism · Scientists Find Signs of Life Deep Inside the Earth
"The new research shows these #microbes have a dual role in the carbon cycle and the potential to either moderate or intensify #ClimateChange. This process can either stabilize carbon for long-term storage or release it into the atmosphere as greenhouse gases, particularly CO2 and methane.
Under stable conditions, these microbes enable #peatlands to act as vast carbon reservoirs, sequestering carbon and reducing climate risks."
https://www.miragenews.com/unique-microbes-found-in-amazon-peatlands-1396840/
Mirage NewsUnique Microbes Found in Amazon Peatlands Affect ClimateComplex organisms, thousands of times smaller than a grain of sand, can shape massive ecosystems and influence the fate of Earth's climate, according
New publication: Bioinoculant-induced plant resistance is modulated by interactions with resident #soil #microbes. #fungi #arthropodpests #spidermites
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40793-025-00667-9
BioMed CentralBioinoculant-induced plant resistance is modulated by interactions with resident soil microbes - Environmental MicrobiomeBackground Entomopathogenic fungi are increasingly used as bio-inoculants to enhance crop growth and resistance. When applied to rhizosphere soil, they interact with resident soil microbes, which can affect their ability to colonize and induce resistance in plants as well as modify the structure of the resident soil microbiome, either directly through interactions in the rhizosphere or indirectly, mediated by the plant. The extent to which such direct versus indirect interactions between bio-inoculants and soil microbes impact microbe-induced resistance in crops remains unclear. This study uses a split-root system to examine the effects of direct versus indirect (plant-mediated) interactions between an entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium brunneum, and resident soil microbes on induced resistance in tomato against two-spotted spider mites. Additionally, the study explores how these interactions influence the composition and diversity of soil fungal and bacterial communities. Results Resident soil microbes reduced the efficacy of M. brunneum to induce resistance against spider mites. This reduction occurred not only when resident microbes directly interacted with the bio-inoculant but also when they were spatially separated within the root system, indicating plant-mediated effects. M. brunneum inoculation did not affect rhizosphere microbial diversity but led to changes in fungal and bacterial community composition, even when these communities were not in direct contact with the inoculant. Conclusions This research highlights the impact of both direct and plant-mediated interactions between bio-inoculants and resident soil microbes on bio-inoculant-induced pest resistance in crop plants and underscores the importance of assessing potential adverse effects of fungal bio-inoculants on native soil communities.