The phenomenon of resistance of Escherichia coli strains in free‐living animals has been constantly expanding in recent years. However, the data are still fragmented and, due to the growing threat to public health, there is a constant need to search for and analyse new reservoirs and indicate their role and importance in the circulation of resistance genes in the environment. Therefore, the target

With rates of community‐associated Clostridium difficile infection (CA‐CDI) increasing worldwide, potential reservoirs/sources of C. difficile in the community are being sought. Since C. difficile is found in animal manure and human biosolids which are composted for agricultural purposes, composted products could be a source. In this study, the presence of C. difficile in composted products, and their

Resistance‐Nodulation‐Division (RND) efflux pumps are relevant determinants of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia multidrug resistance as they can extrude a broad range of antibiotics and compounds involved in virulence and physiological functions. S. maltophilia, an environmental bacterium, was shown to be associated with amoebae and able to multiply inside them. To explore whether S. maltophilia RND efflux

Relationships between collective scientific knowledge and country's economic prosperity and competitiveness have been described. Hence, interaction between industry and academic institutions is seen as a way to valorize this knowledge at social and economic levels. The ability to translate scientific knowledge in social and economic benefits is now receiving most of the funding for public research

Freshwater bloom‐forming cyanobacteria densely grow in the aquatic environments, leading to an increase in the viral‐contact rate. They possess numerous antiviral genes, as well as cell differentiation‐ and physiological performance‐related genes, owing to genome expansion. Their genomic features and unique lifestyles suggest that they coexist with cyanoviruses in ways different from marine cyanobacteria

Antimicrobial resistance among isolates from wild animals is increasingly reported. Extended‐spectrum beta‐lactamase (ESBL)‐producing Enterobacteriaceae, and particularly Escherichia coli, have spread worldwide as one of the most common multidrug‐resistant organisms. The aim of this study was to determine the carriage rate of ESBL‐producing E. coli isolates and their genetic characteristics in wild

Shewanella sp., the progenitors of blaOXA‐48‐like genes are increasingly reported with the possession of different blaOXA‐48‐like variants. This study aims to characterize blaOXA‐731, a new variant of a blaOXA‐48‐like gene identified in Shewanella sp. isolated from the aquatic environment in Myanmar. Phylogenetic analysis of the blaOXA‐731 sequence with other blaOXA‐48‐like variants showed that it

Dual stable isotope probing has been used to infer rates of microbial biomass production and modes of carbon fixation. In order to validate this approach for assessing archaeal production, the methanogenic archaeon Methanosarcina barkeri was grown either with H2, acetate or methanol with D2O and 13C‐dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). Our results revealed unexpectedly low D incorporation into lipids

Escherichia coli O157:H7, a causative agent of haemolytic uremic syndrome, can enter into a viable but non‐culturable (VBNC) state in response to harsh stress. Bacteria in this state can retain membrane integrity, metabolic activity and virulence expression, which may present health risks. However, virulence expression and resuscitation ability of the VBNC state are not well understood. Here, we induced

Ideonella sakaiensis produces an enzyme, PETase, that is capable of hydrolyzing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic. We demonstrate that although I. sakaiensis can grow on amorphous plastic, it does not grow on highly crystalline plastic under otherwise identical conditions. Both amorphous film and amorphous plastic obtained from commercial food containers support the growth of the bacteria, whereas

Vibrio cholerae form biofilm, which is essential for their survival under harsh environmental conditions. The eDNA produced during biofilm formation and interaction with other components like vibrio polysaccharide is less studied in Vibrio cholerae despite its importance in biofilm structure and stability. In this study, we selected two strains of V. cholerae, which produced sufficient extracellular

Microbial biocathodes are gaining interest due to their low cost, environmental friendliness and sustainable nature. In this study, a microbial consortium was enriched from activated sludge obtained from a common textile effluent treatment plant in the absence of organic carbon source to produce an electroactive biofilm. Chronoamperometry method of enrichment was carried out for over 70 days to select

Pseudomonas putida BIRD‐1 is a microorganism that inhabits the rhizosphere and solubilizes phosphate and iron and produces indolacetic acid (Roca et al., 2013). In this study we generated mutant strains that are capable of producing the plant growth stimulating compounds L‐tryptophan and L‐phenylalanine. We prepared clones that overproduce L‐tryptophan by first mutagenizing P. putida BIRD‐1, then by

Many Gram‐negative bacteria communicate by using homoserine lactones (HSLs) as quorum sensing (QS) signals in a cell density‐dependent manner. In addition to fatty acyl‐homoserine lactone (acyl‐HSL) signals, certain strains, most of them associated with plants, produce non‐canonical aryl‐HSLs such as cinnamoyl‐HSL. However, the role of aryl‐HSL in endophytic associations remained elusive. Bradyrhizobium

Microbial enzymes often occur as distinct variants that share the same substrate but differ in substrate affinity, sensitivity to environmental conditions, or phylogenetic ancestry. Determining where variants occur in the environment helps identify thresholds that constrain microbial cycling of key chemicals, including the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). To understand the enzymatic basis of N2O

Soil microbiome is one of the most heterogeneous biological systems. State‐of‐the‐art molecular approaches such as those based on single‐amplified genomes (SAGs) and metagenome assembled‐genomes (MAGs) are now improving our capacity for disentailing soil microbial‐mediated processes. Here, we analysed publicly available datasets of soil microbial genomes and MAG's reconstructed from the Amazon's tropical

The genome is the blueprint for life. A genome sequence can be transcribed and translated by molecular machines to assemble an organism capable of replication, sensation, and response. Organisms respond to each other, forming intricate interaction webs that manifest as ecosystems, defining the world we live in and rely on. It all starts with a genome. And if we can build a genome, we can create worlds

Antigen 43 (Ag43) is a self‐recognizing outer membrane protein of Escherichia coli expressed during intracellular growth and biofilm formation, suggesting a role in infection. The expression of agn43 is under phase variation control, meaning that there are regulatory mechanisms adjusting the percentage of agn43‐expressing cells in the population, in addition to mechanisms modulating the transcriptional

Vibrio cholerae O1, a natural inhabitant of estuarine environments, is found in a dormant, viable but non‐culturable (VBNC) state during interepidemic periods. Although the individual roles of abiotic factors affecting VBNC formation have been extensively studied, their interplay in driving this phenomenon remains largely unaddressed. Here, we identified that major abiotic factors synergize with low

Microbial communities play important roles in the biogeochemical cycling of carbon in the Earth's deep subsurface. Previously, we demonstrated changes to the microbial community structure of a deep aquifer (1.4 km) receiving 150 tons of injected supercritical CO2 (scCO2) in a geosequestration experiment. The observed changes support a key role in the aquifer microbiome for the thermophilic CO‐utilizing

The dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) reductase family of enzymes has many subfamilies catalysing unique biogeochemical reactions. It also has many uncharacterized subfamilies. Comparative genomics predicted one such subfamily to participate in a key step of the chlorine cycle because of a conserved genetic association with chlorite dismutase, implying they produce chlorite through chlorate or perchlorate reduction

Surveys of microbial systems indicate that in many situations taxonomy and function may constitute largely independent (‘decoupled’) axes of variation. However, this decoupling is rarely explicitly tested experimentally, partly because it is hard to directly induce taxonomic variation without affecting functional composition. Here we experimentally evaluate this paradigm using microcosms resembling

Photosynthetic bacteria are abundant in alkaline, terrestrial hot springs and there is a long history of research on phototrophs in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Hot springs provide a framework to examine the ecophysiology of phototrophs in situ because they provide natural gradients of geochemistry, pH and temperature. Phototrophs within the Cyanobacteria and Chloroflexi groups are frequently observed

Soluble ligand‐bound Mn(III) can support anaerobic microbial respiration in diverse aquatic environments. Thus far, Mn(III) reduction has only been associated with certain Gammaproteobacteria. Here, we characterized microbial communities enriched from Mn‐replete sediments of Lake Matano, Indonesia. Our results provide the first evidence for the biological reduction of soluble Mn(III) outside the Gammaproteobacteria

Microbes drive the majority of the global carbon cycle. The effect of environmental conditions on selecting microbial functional diversity is well established, and recent studies have revealed the effects of geographic distances on selecting the functional components of marine microbial communities. Our study is the first attempt at establishing the effects of environmental factors on driving the marine

Reef‐building corals live in a mutualistic relationship with photosynthetic algae (family Symbiodiniaceae) that usually provide most of the energy required by the coral host. This relationship is sensitive to temperature stress; as little as a 1°C increase often leads to the collapse of the association. This sensitivity has led to an interest in the potential of more stress‐tolerant algae to supplement

The recent emergence of Vibrio infections at high latitudes represents a clear human health risk attributable to climate change. Here, we investigate the population dynamics of three Vibrio species: Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio cholerae within a British coastal estuarine site, with contrasting salinity and temperature regimes during an intense heatwave event. Water samples

The extraordinary desiccation resistance of the opportunistic human pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii is a key to its survival and spread in medical care units. The accumulation of compatible solute such as glutamate, mannitol and trehalose contributes to the desiccation resistance. Here, we have used osmolarity as a tool to study the response of cells to low water activities and studied the role of

Knowledge of biofilm formation on pollutants in the marine realm is expanding, but how communities respond to substrates during colonization remains poorly understood. Here, we assess community assembly and respiration in response to two different micropollutants, virgin high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) microbeads and textile fibres under different light settings. Raman characterization, high‐throughput

A new autotrophic hydrogen‐oxidizing Chromatiaceae bacterium, namely bacterium CTD079, was enriched from a water column sample at 1500 m water depth in the southern Pacific Ocean. Based on the phylogeny of 16S rRNA genes, it was closely related to a scaly snail endosymbiont (99.2% DNA sequence identity) whose host so far is only known to colonize hydrothermal vents along the Indian ridge. The average

Following the publication of the article by Bray et al. (2020), the authors alerted the Journal to the fact that, in Figure 1, the boxes for amino acids 24, 27, 32, 50, 51, and 57 are incorrectly aligned. The amended Figure is shown below. The Publisher apologises for the mistake. Figure 1 Open in figure viewerPowerPoint Basis for distinguishing e‐pilins from other pilins. Top: Alignment showing the

Bacteria are known to communicate with each other through signalling molecules that regulate gene expression within the population. However, the way in which hydrophobic signals are released and transmitted among bacterial population is not well understood. Recent studies show that membrane vesicles (MVs) are involved in delivering hydrophobic signals, such as in N‐hexadecanoyl‐l‐homoserine lactone

We identified an alphaproteobacterium in the digestive gland of the abalone species Haliotis discus hannai. This phylotype dominated our 16S rRNA clone libraries from the digestive gland of H. discus hannai. Diversity surveys revealed that this phylotype was associated with H. discus hannai and also in another host species, H. gigantea. Whole genome phylogenies placed this bacterium as a new member

Bacterioplankton play a critical role in primary production, carbon cycling, and nutrient cycling in the oligotrophic ocean. To investigate the effect of elevated CO2 and warming on the composition and function of bacterioplankton communities in oligotrophic waters, we performed two trace‐metal clean deck board incubation experiments during the New Zealand GEOTRACES transect of the South Pacific gyre

This study aimed to establish a robust and reliable metaproteomics protocol for an in‐depth characterization of marine particle‐associated (PA) bacteria. To this end, we compared six well‐established protein extraction protocols together with different MS‐sample preparation techniques using particles sampled during a North Sea spring algae bloom in 2009. In the final optimized workflow, proteins are

The importance of short‐chained aliphatic polyamines (PAs) to bacterioplankton‐mediated carbon and nitrogen cycles has been repeatedly proposed. However, bacterial taxa and genes involved in the transformations of different PA compounds and their potential spatial variations remain unclear. This study collected surface bacterioplankton from nearshore, offshore, and open ocean stations in the Gulf of

Anoxic marine zones (AMZs), also known as ‘oxygen‐deficient zones’, contribute to the loss of fixed nitrogen from the ocean by anaerobic microbial processes. While these microbial processes associated with the nitrogen cycle have been extensively studied, those linked to the carbon cycle in AMZs have received much less attention, particularly the autotrophic carbon fixation — a crucial component of

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play central roles in terrestrial ecosystems by interacting with both above and belowground communities as well as by influencing edaphic properties. The AMF communities associated with the roots of the fern Botrychium lunaria (Ophioglossaceae) were sampled in four transects at 2400 m a.s.l. in the Swiss Alps and analyzed using metabarcoding. Members of five Glomeromycota

Studies on bacterial physiology are incomplete without knowledge of the signalling and regulatory systems that a bacterium uses to sense and respond to its environment. Two‐component systems (TCSs) are among the most prevalent bacterial signalling systems, and they control essential and secondary physiological processes; however, even in model organisms, we lack a complete understanding of the signals

The number of social contacts of mammals is positively correlated with the diversity of their gut microbes. There is some evidence that sociality also affects microbes in the respiratory tract. We tested whether the airway microbiota of cetacean species differ depending on the whales' level of sociality. We sampled the blow of blue (Balaenoptera musculus), grey (Eschrichtius robustus), humpback (Megaptera

Collimonas fungivorans Ter331 (CfTer331) is a soil bacterium that produces collimomycin, a secondary metabolite that inhibits the vegetative growth of fungi. Here we show that CfTer331 can also interfere with fungal spore germination and that collimomycin biosynthesis is required for this activity. More specifically, in co‐cultures of Aspergillus niger N402 (AnN402) co‐nidiospores with CfTer331, the

Massive amplicon sequencing approaches to characterize the diversity of microbial eukaryotes in sediments are scarce and controls about the effects introduced by different methods to recover DNA are lacking. In this study, we compare the performance of the melting seawater‐ice elution method on the characterization of benthic protist communities by 18S rRNA gene metabarcoding with results obtained

Bioaerosols are an important component of the total atmospheric aerosol load, with implications for human health, climate feedbacks and the distribution and dispersal of microbial taxa. Bioaerosols are sourced from marine, freshwater and terrestrial surfaces, with different mechanisms potentially responsible for releasing biological particles from these substrates. Little is known about the production

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and rock magnetic study of ferromanganese nodule sample JC120‐104B collected from Clarion‐Clipperton zone (CCZ) in the eastern Pacific Ocean indicate the presence of biogenic magnetite (magnetofossils). First‐order reversal curves (FORCs) and decomposition of isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) curves were used as the main tool for the characterization of

Methylmercury is a neurotoxin that bioaccumulates from seawater to high concentrations in marine fish, putting human and ecosystem health at risk. High methylmercury levels have been found in the oxic subsurface waters of all oceans, but only anaerobic microorganisms have been shown to efficiently produce methylmercury in anoxic environments. The microaerophilic nitrite‐oxidizing bacteria Nitrospina

Copper is an essential element but in excess is highly toxic and therefore cytoplasmic levels must be tightly controlled. Member of the genus Burkholderia are highly resistant to various heavy metals and are often isolated from acidic soils where copper bioavailability is high. In this study, we employed transposon sequencing (Tn‐Seq) to identify copper resistance genes in Burkholderia cenocepacia

Meromictic lakes are stratified lakes that typically stimulate phototrophic anoxic microbial metabolism, including the transformation of sulphur. Less studied are the transformations of mercury in these environments, and the microorganisms, which mediate these reactions. In order to further an understanding of redox species, mercury and microbial populations in meromictic lakes, we examined the geochemistry

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play an important role in maintaining plant diversity and productivity in grassland ecosystems. However, very few studies have investigated how AMF and plant communities co‐vary between contrasting environments in natural ecosystems. Intensive sampling (50 soil samples) was conducted in natural open grasslands at both 3570 and 4556 m on Mount Segrila on the Southeast

Land‐use change has been identified as the most severe threat to biodiversity. Soils are important biodiversity reservoirs, but to what extent conversion of high‐altitude temperate forest to arable land affects taxonomic and functional soil biodiversity is still largely unknown. Shotgun metagenomics was used to determine the taxonomic and functional diversity of bacteria, archaea and DNA virus in terms

The relative importance of host control, environmental effects and stochasticity in the assemblage of host‐associated microbiomes is being debated. We analysed the microbiome among fly populations that were sampled across Europe by the European Drosophila Population Genomics Consortium (DrosEU). In order to better understand the structuring principles of the natural D. melanogaster microbiome, we combined

The spatiotemporal dynamics for marine viral populations has only recently been explored. However, nothing is known about temporal activities of the uncultured Pelagibacter virus vSAG 37‐F6, which was discovered by single‐virus genomics as potentially the most abundant marine virus. Here, we investigate the diel cycling of 37‐F6 virus and the putative SAR11 host using coastal and oceanic transcriptomic

The world's oceans are becoming increasingly polluted by plastic waste. In the marine environment, larger plastic pieces may degrade into nanoscale (<100 nm in at least one dimension) plastic particles due to natural weathering effects. We observe that the presence of 20 nm plastic nanoparticles at concentrations below 200 ppm had no impact on planktonic growth of a panel of heterotrophic marine bacteria

Degradation of amino acids is an important process in methanogenic environments. Early studies in the 1980s focused on isolated clostridia species to study the degradation behaviours. However, it is now well‐recognized that isolated species may not represent those with important roles in situ. This study conducted a continuous enrichment experiment with focus on the comparison of the microbial communities