Researchers sample and sequence bacteria from biological and environmental sources to learn how to overcome selective pressure

Work in rodents shows that the bacteria living in a mother’s gut can produce immunomodulatory metabolites and influence the production of maternal antibodies—both of which can affect her offspring’s development.

Bacteria in the gut influence the production of antibodies and themselves secrete metabolites. In a pregnant woman, these compounds may influence immune development of her fetus.

The temporary loss of olfaction stops the flies from eating any more of whatever it is that made them sick.

The protein, apolipoprotein L3, destroys invading microbes by acting as a detergent in the cytosol.

Researchers are using experiments and observational studies to look for host genetic variation that could be partly determined by the gut microbiota.

A contaminated ham put bacteriologist Émile Pierre-Marie van Ermengem on the path to discovering the microbe that produces botulinum toxin.

Bacteria that live in the digestive tracts of animals may influence the adaptive trajectories of their hosts.

Researchers report chemical and molecular signatures of microbial activity from millions of years ago in mineral samples from abandoned mines in Sweden and nearby countries.

Unlike other cellular appendages, bacterial nanotubes are made solely of lipids and can connect the cytoplasm of different microbial species.

Ruth Ella Moore had a trailblazing career, overcoming barriers of racism and sexism as she pursued her interest in microbiology.

Several labs have reported the formation of bacterial nanotubes under different, often contrasting conditions. What are these structures and why are they so hard to reproduce?

Differences in how researchers prepare and image samples can lead to discrepancies in their results.

New analyses find that divergent transcription, in which one promoter directs the expression of two adjacent genes oriented in opposite directions, is conserved across all domains of life.

Cammie Lesser will discuss how she turns a probiotic into a drug-delivering machine, while Andrew Y. Koh will describe the connection between the gut microbiota and cancer immunotherapy efficacy.

The researchers found thousands of species not previously documented.

Explore how microbes shape health, disease, and the world beyond

In a trio of studies, researchers follow up on a 40-year-old finding that certain bacteriophages replace adenine with so-called diaminopurine, perhaps to avoid host degradation.

Brock’s discovery of a thermophile bacteria at Yellowstone National Park in 1966 eventually enabled the development of PCR.