Trends in MicrobiologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2025-12-18DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2025.11.014
Thibault Bourdin, Laura Camila Carrera Páez, Mathilde Massard, Didier Hocquet
{"title":"Studying low-dose antibiotic effects on the gut microbiome.","authors":"Thibault Bourdin, Laura Camila Carrera Páez, Mathilde Massard, Didier Hocquet","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2025.11.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tim.2025.11.014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Antibiotics at sub-minimal inhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs), which are commonly present in food and the environment, can reach the human gut microbiome and silently disrupt the balance of microbes, contributing to the emergence and persistence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The gastrointestinal (GI) tract presents spatially heterogeneous antibiotic exposures, making it challenging to assess their full impact with conventional experimental approaches. Although in vitro and in vivo models provide some insight, they often lack physiological relevance or scalability. This highlights the need to reconsider the criteria used to determine 'safe' upper concentration limits in food, as current standards may underestimate the risks of sub-MIC exposures. Therefore, better integrative modeling approaches are essential to uncover hidden drivers of resistance and guide effective interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"534-548"},"PeriodicalIF":14.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145795002","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}
Trends in MicrobiologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-03-14DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2025.12.016
Markus Schwalbe, Thomas C G Bosch, Sahar El Aidy
{"title":"Gut motility as a driver of microbial community architecture and host-microbe evolution.","authors":"Markus Schwalbe, Thomas C G Bosch, Sahar El Aidy","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2025.12.016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tim.2025.12.016","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Digestive systems are dynamic, contractile ecosystems that continually shape the physical and chemical niches inhabited by gut microbes. Patterns of mixing and propulsion generate flow, shear, and nutrient gradients that select for microbial traits such as adhesion, biofilm formation, and metabolic timing. Microbial metabolites, in turn, influence smooth muscle excitability and enteric neural circuits, creating bidirectional feedback that structures microbial communities and affects host physiology. We argue that gastrointestinal motility, an ancient and nearly universal feature of metazoan digestive systems, functions as an evolutionary scaffold, linking microbial spatial organization with host neuromuscular diversification. Comparative evidence from cnidarians to mammals highlights how these interactions have shaped both microbial ecology and host adaptation, with relevance for understanding modern dysmotility-microbiome disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"485-496"},"PeriodicalIF":14.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147460331","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}
Trends in MicrobiologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-04-03DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.008
Vladimir Lazarevic, Etienne Ruppé, Jacques Schrenzel
{"title":"10th International Conference on Clinical Metagenomics (ICCMg10): meeting report.","authors":"Vladimir Lazarevic, Etienne Ruppé, Jacques Schrenzel","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.008","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The 10th International Conference on Clinical Metagenomics (ICCMg10) brought together clinicians, microbiologists, bioinformaticians, and industry partners to review progress and challenges in translating metagenomics into routine clinical practice. Discussions focused on advances in sequencing technologies, automation, clinically oriented workflows, and computational and reporting strategies. Clinical sessions addressed diagnostic implementation across infectious syndromes, including respiratory, prosthetic joint, bloodstream, and deep-seated infections, with attention to cell-free DNA assays, long-read sequencing, and antimicrobial resistance detection. Broader applications of metagenomics, spanning microbiota research and environmental systems, reflected the expanding scope of the field. Overall, ICCMg10 underscored the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration, harmonized practices, and clinically meaningful interpretation to support the broader implementation of clinical metagenomics.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"449-453"},"PeriodicalIF":14.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147618783","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}
Trends in MicrobiologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-04-03DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2026.02.010
Evan P Brenner, Charmie K Vang, Abhirupa Ghosh, Janani Ravi
{"title":"Map is not territory: building useful antimicrobial resistance models.","authors":"Evan P Brenner, Charmie K Vang, Abhirupa Ghosh, Janani Ravi","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.02.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.02.010","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"456-457"},"PeriodicalIF":14.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147618817","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}
Trends in MicrobiologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-04-06DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.012
Nerea Abrego
{"title":"Experiments uncover forest management effects on deadwood fungi.","authors":"Nerea Abrego","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The relationships between forest structure, biodiversity, and ecosystem processes are complex, making causal effects difficult to disentangle. Lira Dyson et al. address this by experimentally manipulating forest stands with differing structural attributes to assess impacts on wood-inhabiting fungal diversity and wood decay rates.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"458-460"},"PeriodicalIF":14.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147628677","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}
Trends in MicrobiologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-04-10DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.009
Fernando Baquero, Ana Elena Pérez-Cobas, Val F Lanza
{"title":"Ecogenomic kinetics: wandering bacterial populations stumbling upon niches.","authors":"Fernando Baquero, Ana Elena Pérez-Cobas, Val F Lanza","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We present an alternative or complementary hypothesis to the step-by-step bacterial adaptation to specific niches. Bacterial cells spread into different environments and, by chance, encounter a suitable niche that permits reproduction. Then, they can improve their adaptation and transmit to neighboring related niches, resulting in ecogenomic variation.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"468-471"},"PeriodicalIF":14.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147677057","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}
Trends in MicrobiologyPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-03-31DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.006
Ademir S F Araujo, Arthur P A Pereira, Erika V de Medeiros, Lucas W Mendes
{"title":"The rhizosphere microbiome as a decentralized immune system.","authors":"Ademir S F Araujo, Arthur P A Pereira, Erika V de Medeiros, Lucas W Mendes","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.03.006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Plant immunity should be reconsidered beyond the boundaries of the plant genome. We propose that the rhizosphere microbiome may function analogously to a decentralized immune system, contributing adaptive defenselike properties and memory effects. In this forum article, we discuss how this perspective reframes immunity as an emergent property of plant-microbiome interactions, shifting the focus from a solitary host toward an integrated holobiont.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":"465-467"},"PeriodicalIF":14.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147594943","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":"Managing microbial interactions in environmental biotechnology: can we scale interaction principles?","authors":"Wenyu Gu, Xiang-Yi Li Richter, David R Johnson","doi":"10.1016/j.tim.2026.04.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2026.04.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Microbial interactions hold vast potential for improving sustainability, including waste upcycling, greenhouse gas mitigation, contaminant bioremediation, and host performance. However, attempts to manage interactions in complex, open microbial communities often fall short of expectations, in part because interactions are highly context-dependent, with net effects arising from multiple component interactions, higher-order interactions, and rapid evolution-features largely revealed from studies with simplified communities. Here, we propose how these insights can be translated to complex communities by prioritizing the scales and disturbances that matter, leveraging the ecological context that constrains interactions, targeting function-critical behaviors and traits, and accounting for eco-evolutionary feedbacks. We further propose coupling top-down, trait-based, and coarse-grained approaches with bottom-up synthetic ecology approaches to diagnose failures and design robust microbial processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":23275,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Microbiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":14.9,"publicationDate":"2026-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147782104","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}