A study adds to evidence linking gut bacteria to liver conditions in people who don’t drink excessive amounts of alcohol. 

A lot happened in the hundreds of millions years separating the first and last eukaryotic common ancestors, but when and how most features arose remains a mystery.

All multicellular creatures interact with bacteria, but some have taken the relationship to another level with highly specialized structures that house, feed, and exploit the tiny organisms.

Specialized structures in plants and animals help attract and mediate communication with bacterial symbionts.

Milk fortifiers of human origin show no evident advantage in the development of the gut microbiota of premature infants over fortifiers derived from cows, while the intake of the mother’s own milk does, two studies suggest.

When consumed for as little as two weeks, common alternatives to sugar affect intestinal bacterial communities, with some reducing the body’s ability to regulate blood glucose levels, a study finds.

Of the pathogens known to have infected humans, more than half may cause more widespread disease as a result of rising temperatures, precipitation changes, or other climate-related factors, a study finds.

A study finds that not only did aquatic bacteria thrive when chemicals washed from degrading plastic were introduced into lake water, they also broke down organic matter more efficiently.

A new study using fairly complete genetic datasets of two phyla of small suspension feeders (Ectoprocta and Entoprocta) reopens the debate on the phylogenetic relationships between them and other animals.

Flavivirus infections alter the skin microbiome of mice to increase the production of a sweet-smelling compound that attracts the viruses’ insect vectors, a study finds.

Making specific alterations to the bacterial population in a rat’s lungs either better protects the animals against multiple sclerosis–like symptoms or makes them more vulnerable, a study finds—the first demonstration of a lung-brain axis.

Scientists in Canada trace how aquatic communities change as Quebec’s Romaine River flows into the sea.

Researchers discover that bacteria break down medicinal compounds for their nitrogen, solving a mystery that has vexed aquatic veterinarians for years.

In work that has not yet been peer-reviewed, researchers present evidence that microbes can and do live inside the venom glands of several dangerous species. It remains unclear whether they’re to blame for infections linked to bites.

By breaking down urea, the animals’ gut bacteria recycle nitrogen, which can be then used to build new molecules during prolonged fasting.