{"title":"Zn-mobilizing bacteria improve shoot biomass and zinc content in wheat.","authors":"Belay Berza, Fassil Assefa, Tesfaye Wubet, Undine Behrendt, Sizhong Yang, Paul Reim, Steffen Kolb","doi":"10.1093/femsec/fiag030","DOIUrl":"10.1093/femsec/fiag030","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Enhancing zinc (Zn) content in wheat grains by using Zn-mobilizing rhizosphere bacteria is becoming an eco-friendly and sustainable alternative to conventional approaches such as chemical fertilization. Our study aimed to isolate, screen, and evaluate Zn-mobilizing rhizosphere bacteria to improve its content in wheat biomass. Wheat rhizosphere soils were collected in several wheat planted soils in Ethiopia and Zn-solubilizing bacteria were isolated and screened for their plant beneficial traits. Isolates W8_A, W25_A, and W63_B were selected. Pot experiments were conducted in sterilized river sand supplemented with 0.05% zinc oxide by using these isolates. The experiment consisted of nine treatments in complete randomized design with four replications. Data were means of three independent experiments. W8_A, W25_A, and W63_B exhibited zinc solubilization index > 4.0. Consortium inoculation showed the highest improvements in plant growth. Inoculations improved shoot length and dry weigh on average by 67.4% and 84.2%, respectively compared to the control. On average, 90.2% root and 75.5% shoot Zn content increased compared to the untreated control. Hence, the isolates can be applied for Zn bio-fortification in wheat to combat Zn deficiencies in food grains.</p>","PeriodicalId":12312,"journal":{"name":"FEMS microbiology ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13089531/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147671660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soumahoro Fatoumata Grace, Aw Sadat, Yao Djeha Rosine, Ouattara Bamory, Kouadio Meliton Djezou, Coulibaly Kalpy Julien
{"title":"Ecological assessment of physico-chemical factors influencing the diversity and abundance of cyanobacteria in lakes of Côte d'Ivoire (Kan, Koubi, Loka, and Tiebissou).","authors":"Soumahoro Fatoumata Grace, Aw Sadat, Yao Djeha Rosine, Ouattara Bamory, Kouadio Meliton Djezou, Coulibaly Kalpy Julien","doi":"10.1093/femsec/fiag035","DOIUrl":"10.1093/femsec/fiag035","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic microorganisms found in all aquatic ecosystems. Some species produce toxins, posing risks to human and animal health. In Côte d'Ivoire, information on the composition and dynamics of freshwater cyanobacterial communities remains limited. This study aims to assess the influence of physico-chemical parameters on alpha diversity, cyanobacterial abundance, and phytoplankton biomass, while comparing community responses to anthropogenic pressures (urban, agricultural, and aquaculture). Nine sampling campaigns conducted between March 2023 and May 2024 included in situ measurements (pH, temperature, and turbidity) and laboratory analyses of nutrients and chlorophyll-a. Cyanobacteria were identified microscopically and quantified using a Malassez chamber. A total of 19 genera were recorded. Highly impacted lakes were dominated by opportunistic taxa (Aphanocapsa, Pseudanabaena, and Microcystis), whereas the reference lake was characterized by genera with high ecological plasticity (Cylindrospermopsis and Anabaena). Cyanobacterial abundance was positively correlated with pH and temperature, chlorophyll-a with pH and turbidity, and alpha diversity declined with increasing turbidity. Multivariate analyses (GLM, RDA, and NMDS) confirmed a significant influence of environmental variables on community structure. These findings indicate that cyanobacterial dynamics are primarily driven by physicochemical conditions and the intensity of anthropogenic pressures, highlighting the need for targeted ecological monitoring to support sustainable freshwater management.</p>","PeriodicalId":12312,"journal":{"name":"FEMS microbiology ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13098367/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147580282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alejandro Huerta-Hurtado, Stephania L Tsola, Mark Trimmer, Özge Eyice
{"title":"Salinity and vegetation shape methylotrophic methanogen diversity and potential activity in coastal sediments.","authors":"Alejandro Huerta-Hurtado, Stephania L Tsola, Mark Trimmer, Özge Eyice","doi":"10.1093/femsec/fiag043","DOIUrl":"10.1093/femsec/fiag043","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Anoxic coastal sediments are significant natural sources of the potent greenhouse gas methane where, methylotrophic methanogenesis may predominate. However, the underlying methanogen community composition as well as the impact of salinity levels and vegetation on their diversity and potential activity remain poorly resolved. To assess methane production and characterize methanogen diversity underlying methanol and trimethylamine (TMA) degradation, we incubated anoxic sediments from three sites along the Medway Estuary (UK)-a high-salinity marine site and two brackish sites, one vegetated (saltmarsh with cordgrass) and one non-vegetated. Saltmarsh sediments exhibited the highest methane yields (46% from TMA, 27% from methanol), whereas we did not observe methanogenesis from methanol in the high-salinity marine samples. Methylotrophic methanogen genera Methanolobus, Methanomethylophilus, and Methanofastidiosum were abundant in all original sediments, where metabolic generalist Methanosarcinales were also present. Methanoculleus were the most abundant taxon (31.5%) in original brackish sediments, while they were only at 1% in saltmarsh sediments. Following the amendment with TMA or methanol, Methanolobus dominated all the sediments with methane production (80%-99.5% relative abundance), however Methanoculleus were still in high relative abundance in brackish incubations with methanol or TMA (4.6% and 10%, respectively). These findings indicate that both salinity and vegetation shape the community composition of methylotrophic methanogens in coastal sediments, yet key methylated substrates are primarily metabolized by Methanolobus, regardless of differences in salinity and vegetation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12312,"journal":{"name":"FEMS microbiology ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13137993/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147766906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Olga V Golyshina, Tillmann Lüders, Peter N Golyshin
{"title":"Editorial: thematic issue on thermophiles.","authors":"Olga V Golyshina, Tillmann Lüders, Peter N Golyshin","doi":"10.1093/femsec/fiag045","DOIUrl":"10.1093/femsec/fiag045","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12312,"journal":{"name":"FEMS microbiology ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147766899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jan D Brüwer, Micah Reismann, Antje Wichels, Uwe John, Josefin Schmidt, Cédric L Meunier, Bernhard M Fuchs, Inga V Kirstein
{"title":"Resilience and response of marine microbes to the future ocean and a marine heatwave - insights from a mesocosm experiment.","authors":"Jan D Brüwer, Micah Reismann, Antje Wichels, Uwe John, Josefin Schmidt, Cédric L Meunier, Bernhard M Fuchs, Inga V Kirstein","doi":"10.1093/femsec/fiag042","DOIUrl":"10.1093/femsec/fiag042","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Anthropogenic influences are reshaping ocean conditions, with rising sea surface temperatures, elevated CO2 concentrations, and shifting nutrient dynamics occurring alongside more frequent extreme weather events. While previous studies indicated that various planktonic taxa may be impacted by long-term environmental change, the response of the microbial community remains less explored, and we know particularly little about how short-term events such as marine heatwaves interact with long-term environmental changes. Here, we investigated the impact of a heatwave (+2°C for 5 days) on the microbial community in mesocosms mimicking ambient and future coastal conditions (1000 ppm CO2, +3°C, Nitrogen: Phosphate ratio of 25), according to IPCC predictions (high-emission scenario RCP 8.5) for 2100. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing, fluorescence microscopy, and experimental approaches, to study the microbial community taxonomic composition, cell abundances, virus-like particle abundances, as well as cell division and mortality rates. Our results indicate that future coastal conditions may impact the microbial community composition, biodiversity, as well as the abundance of total bacterioplankton. In contrast, the marine heatwave we simulated had a smaller impact on the microbial community composition, and we did not observe any effect of the heatwave on virus-like particle counts and cell division rates. In conclusion, our findings suggest a certain resilience of the microbial community to short-term thermal disturbances.</p>","PeriodicalId":12312,"journal":{"name":"FEMS microbiology ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13152010/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147766949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hypobaric hypoxia affects gut microbiota of rats through affected community assembly, reduced network resilience, and metabolic reprogramming.","authors":"Xinyang Chen, Yihong Wang, Jianzhuo Feng, Huiqing Chen, Baohui Yao, Fuxin Li, Quanyu Yang, Jiapeng Qu","doi":"10.1093/femsec/fiag039","DOIUrl":"10.1093/femsec/fiag039","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In host-microbe interactions, host diet and environmental stress are key driving factors shaping the gut microbiota. Although previous studies have shown that hypoxia affects the structure and function of the gut microbiota in rodents, most have relied on 16S rRNA gene sequencing and lacked analysis of community assembly mechanisms, co-occurrence networks, and functional pathways. Here, we used metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) to examine the gut microbiota of rats exposed to hypobaric hypoxia (WH, simulated 6000 m altitude) compared to WL group (2100 m altitude). Hypoxia significantly altered β-diversity of gut microbiota, but did not affect its α-diversity. Community assembly was primarily governed by stochastic processes, with hypoxia stress reducing their impact. Microbial co-occurrence networks were dominated by positive correlations, although network resilience and stability declined under hypoxia. Helicobacter and Eubacterium were identified as high-abundance differentiating genera, and Akkermansia muciniphila was significantly enriched in WH group. Functional analysis revealed alterations in pathways related to protein synthesis and carbohydrate metabolism, suggesting that hypoxia may affect nutrient utilization by the host. Overall, these findings provide a comprehensive view of how hypoxic stress reshapes the gut microbiota of rats, offering new insights into microbial dynamics under environmental stress.</p>","PeriodicalId":12312,"journal":{"name":"FEMS microbiology ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13131234/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147698030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Laura J Müller, Aurélien Saghaï, Christopher M Jones, Sara Hallin
{"title":"Legacy effects of herbicides on soil nitrifying guilds exposed to drought.","authors":"Laura J Müller, Aurélien Saghaï, Christopher M Jones, Sara Hallin","doi":"10.1093/femsec/fiag038","DOIUrl":"10.1093/femsec/fiag038","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Micro-organisms are essential for the functioning of agricultural soils but face increasing stress due to pollution and climate change. However, direct and legacy effects of agrochemicals on non-target micro-organisms are poorly considered in environmental risk assessment. Here, we set up a two-phase microcosm experiment to assess the effect of the herbicides clopyralid, metribuzin, and tembotrione (phase 1) on the abundance and activity of ammonia and nitrite oxidizing micro-organisms involved in nitrification, a key step in soil N cycling, and how it influences their response to subsequent drying and rewetting stress (phase 2). Pesticide exposure in phase 1 did not affect the nitrifying guilds and nitrification activity. By contrast, drying-rewetting affected the abundance of the different guilds, with ammonia-oxidizing archaea and Nitrospira-type nitrite oxidizers showing low resistance to rewetting, but with minor differences between herbicide-treated and no-herbicide treated soils. Legacy effects of herbicide exposure were instead captured by the soil nitrate pools, where differences between droughted and control soils appeared larger in the no-herbicide than in the herbicide-treated soils, potentially indicating differences in drought-coping strategies depending on prior stress exposure. Our results highlight that multiple stressor scenarios can reveal effects not captured by end-point measurements in risk assessment procedures.</p>","PeriodicalId":12312,"journal":{"name":"FEMS microbiology ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13131219/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147698060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dries Boers, Olivier Chapleur, Anders F Andersson, Anna Schnürer
{"title":"Comparing the performance of functional versus taxonomic metagenomics for detecting ammonia disturbances in the biogas system.","authors":"Dries Boers, Olivier Chapleur, Anders F Andersson, Anna Schnürer","doi":"10.1093/femsec/fiag029","DOIUrl":"10.1093/femsec/fiag029","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biogas is a renewable energy source with great potential, but its production is frequently hindered by process disturbances, of which a high ammonia concentration is one common cause. It is desirable that such disturbances are found as early as possible; metagenomics data has the potential to improve this detection. This study compares functional and taxonomic aspects of metagenomics data, hypothesizing that functional data will perform better for detecting ammonia disturbances. The hypothesis was tested by metagenomic sequencing of samples from three independent studies, which followed lab-scale reactors during ammonia disturbances. The resulting sequences were used to predict genes, which were functionally and taxonomically annotated. The read counts of these features were fitted to disturbance states and ammonia concentrations of reactor samples using regularized regression, which allowed filtering out irrelevant features even with limited sample sizes. Within studies, taxonomic data had similar or better performance in detecting ammonia disturbances and in fitting ammonia concentrations. When applying trained models to other studies however, while performance was generally poor, functional models more often performed better compared to taxonomic models than the other way around. All in all, our hypothesis that functional metagenomics would outperform taxonomic metagenomics only found limited support.</p>","PeriodicalId":12312,"journal":{"name":"FEMS microbiology ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13098368/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147485266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vito Latorre, Xabier Vázquez-Campos, Belinda Ferrari, Marcela Hernández
{"title":"Carbon monoxide dehydrogenase-encoding microorganisms in volcanic astrobiological analogues: an enzyme system to investigate the evolution of life.","authors":"Vito Latorre, Xabier Vázquez-Campos, Belinda Ferrari, Marcela Hernández","doi":"10.1093/femsec/fiag022","DOIUrl":"10.1093/femsec/fiag022","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Volcanic environments provide analogues for studying the origin of life and its persistence under extreme conditions on early Earth and other planetary bodies. Pioneering microbes that oxidise inorganic gases, such as carbon monoxide (CO), provide energy for survival and initiate primary succession. Similar geological and atmospheric conditions shaped by volcanism, meteoritic impacts, and tidal heating have existed, or still exist, on Mars, Venus, and icy moons, where CO may serve as a metabolic substrate. This review explores the evolutionary significance of CO dehydrogenase (CODH), an enzyme responsible for the oxidation of CO to carbon dioxide, thereby linking geochemical energy fluxes to the emergence of biological carbon. Genomic evidence from eight globally distributed volcanic sites confirms the presence of genes encoding CODH. Genes encoding aerobic CO oxidation (coxL) were consistently abundant and conserved, whereas genes encoding anaerobic oxidation (cdh- and coo-related genes) showed site-specific dominance and variability, reflecting differences in microbial community composition and environmental conditions. At Poás Volcano, several taxa, particularly members of Desulfobacterota, exhibited genetic versatility across nine gene clusters, highlighting their adaptive capacity. These findings demonstrate how trace gas metabolism can support microbial survival in volcanic soils, providing insight into potential habitability on other planetary bodies.</p>","PeriodicalId":12312,"journal":{"name":"FEMS microbiology ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12996764/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147282826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Elena K Perry, Aqib Hasnain, Benjamin J Cole, Hans K Carlson, Adam M Deutschbauer, Dawn Chiniquy
{"title":"Methane-fed microbial communities enriched from field-grown rice support diverse heterotrophic bacteria.","authors":"Elena K Perry, Aqib Hasnain, Benjamin J Cole, Hans K Carlson, Adam M Deutschbauer, Dawn Chiniquy","doi":"10.1093/femsec/fiag023","DOIUrl":"10.1093/femsec/fiag023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Rice paddies naturally host methane-oxidizing bacteria known as methanotrophs, due to the production of methane in flooded soils. Enhancing the activity of native methanotrophs could improve the sustainability of rice cultivation, but knowledge of how this could impact other members of the rice microbiome remains incomplete. To gain insight into which members of the rice microbiome might benefit from increased methanotrophic activity, we passaged 51 aerobic microbial enrichment cultures from rice rhizosphere and tissue samples in a chemically defined medium with methane as the primary carbon source and electron donor. We profiled the cultures over time by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and sequenced the genomes of 44 isolates to gain functional insights. Taxa whose relative abundance increased during community growth on methane represented more than a dozen families, many of which are not known to utilize one-carbon substrates. Several of the enriched genera have not previously been linked to methane cycling in rice fields, and genomic analysis of the sequenced isolates revealed considerable variation in predicted carbon source utilization and nitrogen cycling capabilities. Together, these findings broaden the understanding of how aerobic methanotrophs may impact microbiome assembly and nutrient cycling in rice paddies.</p>","PeriodicalId":12312,"journal":{"name":"FEMS microbiology ecology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13007884/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147485200","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}