Volume 49, 2025

Specific microbial pathogens have evolved the capacity to sense immune mediators and use these signals to adapt and prepare against an incoming immune attack.

Specific microbial pathogens have evolved the capacity to sense immune mediators and use these signals to adapt and prepare against an incoming immune attack.

Physical spaces where microorganisms are absent but could, in theory, persist are discussed. The mechanisms for the formation of these uninhabited but habitable spaces at macro and micro scales are discussed with examples. The use of these physical spaces in hypothesis testing is explored, especially as negative control environments to investigate geochemical and geological processes in the presence of life. The prevalence of habitable spaces on Earth and other planetary bodies is discussed.

This review shapes the state of bacteria-ectomycorrhizal fungi interactions—a currently neglected subfield of microbial ecology that has critical impacts for fundamental and applied aspects of forest ecology, restoration, and management.

Summary of our perspectives for studies of microbial functional diversity and redundancy. We outline our first perspective (Persp. 1): retrieving microbial genomes from multiple biomes, studying the presence of a validated set of effect traits across taxa, and computing standardized metrics of their functional diversity and redundancy. Our second perspective (Persp. 2) consists of studying the importance of microbial functional diversity and redundancy for the rate (measured with incubations with labeled elements), resistance, and resilience (measured in disturbance experiments) of microbial ecosystem processes. Our final perspective (Persp. 3) focuses on predicting future patterns of microbial functional diversity and redundancy in order to identify tipping points for microbiomes that could lead to shifts in ecosystems. This work could be based on linking the patterns of microbial functional diversity and redundancy with environmental variables for which future predictions exist.

This review discusses the range of methods used in studying cable bacteria to highlight key techniques in the field and explore areas for potential innovation.

Systems metabolic engineering of microorganisms has enabled the efficient biosynthesis of a diverse range of monocyclic aromatic compounds, offering a promising alternative for the green and sustainable production of these compounds.

Microbial volatile organic compounds produced by microorganisms in extreme environments have often evolved as specific adaptations to enhance microbial survival.

The review summarizes current literature on effects of bile acids and their metabolites on clostridial spore germinant receptor proteins, their structural organization in germinosomes in spore membranes, and the occurrence of anaerobic spore forming bacteria in the gut together with the evidence that adaptation to bile acids as germinants is a consequence of a life cycle both inside and outside the digestive tract.

The review delves into advancements at the forefront of Pneumocystis epidemiology, host specificity, and evolution, with a focus on new developments that challenge the long-standing prevailing belief in its strict adherence to host specificity and coevolution with respective host species.

The authors provide insights into the regulation of toxin–antitoxin systems expression at both the RNA and protein levels when bacteria are (i) within a microbial community, (ii) targeted by the host’s immune response, and (iii) exposed to xenobiotics.

Electrical signaling in filamentous fungi.

The intricate relationships between ambrosia gall midges and their fungal symbionts provide a compelling model for studying insect–fungus coevolution and mutualism, with significant implication for understanding insect speciation and host plant specialization.

This review explores how plant exudates facilitate the recruitment and assembly of beneficial microbial communities, enhancing plant health and productivity through mechanisms like nutrient provision, chemical signaling, and pathogen suppression, while emphasizing their potential in sustainable plant health management strategies.

A review of the current literature on LuxR solo, SdiA, an eavesdropping protein found in a subset of the family Enterobacteriaceae.

This review discusses the contribution of phenotypic heterogeneity in fungi to pathogenesis and antifungal drug resistance.

An updated genotyping scheme for the causative agent of leprosy, Mycobacterium leprae, has been compiled in this review, which also includes the newly reported M. leprae genotypes identified using recent whole genome sequencing studies from different parts of the world and thus will be useful for molecular epidemiological and phylogeographical investigations.

In this review, we summarize the challenges in establishing synthetic pathways for assimilation of C₁ feedstocks in microbes and how to solve these issues towards a circular bioeconomy.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a key model bacterium in antiphage defense research, based on its genomic adaptability and diversity, combined with a panel of diverse phage isolates.

This review discusses the contribution of phenotypic heterogeneity in fungi to pathogenesis and antifungal drug resistance.