{"title":"Streptomyces deploys an ancient toxin to feast on insects","authors":"Andrea Du Toit","doi":"10.1038/s41579-026-01320-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41579-026-01320-z","url":null,"abstract":"This study identified an exotoxin that is produced by Streptomyces that specifically kills insects.","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"24 7","pages":"443-443"},"PeriodicalIF":104.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147931337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Next-generation probiotics: an outlook into current applications and future developments","authors":"Lara Kern, Adin Tofield, John Frame, Eran Elinav","doi":"10.1038/s41579-026-01311-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41579-026-01311-0","url":null,"abstract":"The probiotics field, a historically popular yet scientifically debated discipline, is moving beyond a decades-long promotion of ‘first-generation’ food-derived strains towards the development of ‘next-generation probiotics’ (NGP) or ‘precision probiotics’, natural and engineered strains featuring improved human colonization, clinical efficacy and safety profiles. In this Review, we outline the evolution of NGP and means by which their development is designed to tackle challenges of live bacterial therapy related to colonization resistance, in-host evolution, long-term safety and insufficient understanding of therapeutic and off-target mechanisms of activity. We showcase how a variety of emerging strategies enable the identification of NGP strains and define consortia featuring therapeutic potentials in metabolic, immune and oncological diseases. Finally, we discuss how computational and artificial intelligence (AI) advances can reshape NGP development, including AI-based discovery of strains and bioactive compounds; computational-driven design of engineered microorganisms and multi-kingdom consortia; and AI-assisted structural and metabolic network-based modelling predicting personalized NGP function, interactions and therapeutic impacts. In this Review, Kern, Tofield, Frame and Elinav discuss recent advances in the design of next-generation probiotics, from identification of candidates to therapeutic applications across diverse disease contexts, and highlight major challenges and the potential of artificial intelligence to develop effective, personalized probiotics with therapeutic functions.","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"24 8","pages":"539-558"},"PeriodicalIF":104.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147856636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Predation in microbial communities: gradients of nutritive killing","authors":"Marie Vasse, Gregory J. Velicer","doi":"10.1038/s41579-026-01299-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41579-026-01299-7","url":null,"abstract":"Long before nature was ‘red in tooth and claw’, it was sundered by nano-spears and seeping poisons. Microorganisms were the first predators, and predation has since deeply shaped all major branches of life — from individual traits to collective systems, community dynamics and major evolutionary transitions. Yet, we have only begun to understand how microbial predation influences the genetics, morphology, behaviour, ecology and evolution of microorganisms in natural communities and, in turn, the macroscopic biosphere. With the field advancing rapidly on diverse fronts, integrative conceptual frameworks, questions and research approaches are needed to promote synthetic development of the field. In this Review, we explore the remarkably diverse forms of microbial predation that have evolved so far, considering organismal traits and their molecular foundations alongside the evolutionary ecology of predator–prey interactions in community contexts. Building on a process-based definition, forms of microbial predation are conceptualized along gradients, including gradients of evolutionary adaptedness for predation and of privatization of prey-derived nutrients. Important future research themes include predation origins and early stages of predatory adaptation, effects of diverse forms of predation on community diversity and stability, predator–prey co-evolution in complex communities, and multi-approach development of unicellular predators as biocontrol agents. In this Review, Vasse and Velicer explore the phylogenetic and functional diversity of predators of microorganisms, conceptualizing the forms of microbial predation along gradients, including gradients of evolutionary adaptedness for predation and privatization of prey-derived nutrients.","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"24 8","pages":"559-578"},"PeriodicalIF":104.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147856616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Vibrio cholerae defends its way to success","authors":"Nisha Singh, Onalenna Neo, Adrian Cazares","doi":"10.1038/s41579-026-01317-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41579-026-01317-8","url":null,"abstract":"This Genome Watch discusses the discovery of defence systems in pandemic Vibrio cholerae and their contribution to its ecological and evolutionary success.","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"24 8","pages":"517-517"},"PeriodicalIF":104.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147840539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Microorganisms lock up carbon in soil","authors":"Ashish A. Malik","doi":"10.1038/s41579-026-01314-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41579-026-01314-x","url":null,"abstract":"In this Journal Club, Ashish Malik discusses a paper showing that soil microorganisms build stable soil organic matter.","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"24 7","pages":"444-444"},"PeriodicalIF":104.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147817681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"In search of phage tail-like particles: nature’s versatile nanomachines","authors":"Heejung Cho, Thai Q. Dao","doi":"10.1038/s41579-026-01309-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41579-026-01309-8","url":null,"abstract":"This Genome Watch article highlights the importance of predictive models for identifying and characterizing the roles of phage tail-like particles as a tool for bioengineering and biocontrol.","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"24 7","pages":"445-445"},"PeriodicalIF":104.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147754553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Shared signals shape phages’ lifestyles","authors":"Agustina Taglialegna","doi":"10.1038/s41579-026-01310-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41579-026-01310-1","url":null,"abstract":"Two back-to-back studies by Gallego-del-Sol et al. and Manley et al. demonstrate that arbitrium systems present in bacteriophages engage in cross-communication and modulate lysis–lysogeny decisions, with ecological implications.","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"24 6","pages":"374-374"},"PeriodicalIF":103.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147776789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Georgina V Wood,Craig Liddicoat,Jake M Robinson,Martin F Breed
{"title":"Restoring soil and sediment microbiomes in the Anthropocene.","authors":"Georgina V Wood,Craig Liddicoat,Jake M Robinson,Martin F Breed","doi":"10.1038/s41579-026-01307-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-026-01307-w","url":null,"abstract":"Soil and sediment microbiomes have a central role in biogeochemical cycling, climate regulation and ecosystem resilience. However, they are increasingly degraded by land use change, pollution and climate change. Despite their foundational roles in ecosystems, these microbiomes remain under-represented in ecosystem restoration science, practice and policy. Improving the integration of microbiomes across the restoration science-practice-policy nexus is essential for achieving more effective and resilient restoration outcomes. Without this, global restoration risks neglecting the microbial foundations of functional ecosystems and long-term resilience. In this Review, we synthesize the current state of knowledge of soil and sediment microbiome restoration. We describe the major anthropogenic stressors that are degrading these microbiomes, highlighting the linked and context-dependent nature of these impacts, and evaluate existing strategies to restore them. To improve restoration effectiveness, we propose a research workflow that encompasses baseline establishment, degradation diagnostics, designing and testing interventions, research methodology selection and best practice principles. We also outline key theoretical frameworks and propose future research priorities to help soil and sediment microbiome restoration to move towards a predictive, theory-led discipline.","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":88.1,"publicationDate":"2026-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147753066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Present and future distribution of human pathogens in global soils","authors":"Diana S. M. Ottoz","doi":"10.1038/s41579-026-01312-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41579-026-01312-z","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"24 6","pages":"375-375"},"PeriodicalIF":103.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147753067","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Disentangling metabolic interactions within bacterial communities","authors":"Diana S. M. Ottoz","doi":"10.1038/s41579-026-01313-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41579-026-01313-y","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":18838,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Microbiology","volume":"24 6","pages":"375-375"},"PeriodicalIF":103.3,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147738948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}