The ISME Journal最新文献

{"title":"Genome diversification of symbiotic fungi in beetle-fungus mutualistic symbioses","authors":"Yin-Tse Huang, Khaled Abdrabo El-Sayid Abdrabo, Guan Jie Phang, Yu-Hsuan Fan, Yu-Ting Wu, Jie-Hao Ou, Jiri Hulcr","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf039","url":null,"abstract":"Ambrosia beetles and their fungal symbionts represent a widespread and diverse insect-fungus mutualism. This study investigates the genomic adaptations associated with the evolution of the ambrosia lifestyle across multiple fungal lineages. We performed comparative genomic analyses on 70 fungal genomes from four families (Irpicaceae, Ceratocystidaceae, Nectriaceae, and Ophiostomataceae), including 24 ambrosia and 34 non-ambrosia lineages. Our phylogenomic analyses reveal multiple independent colonization of insect vectors by the fungi, spanning from the mid-Cretaceous (114.6 Ma) to the early Quaternary (1.9 Ma). Contrary to expectations for obligate symbionts, ambrosia fungi showed no significant genome-wide modification in size, gene count, or secreted protein repertoire compared to their non-symbiotic relatives. Instead, we observed conservation of most assessed genomic features; where genome traits differ between free-living relatives and ambrosia fungi, the changes are lineage-specific, not convergent. Key findings include lineage-specific expansions in carbohydrate-active enzyme families (AA4 in Nectriaceae, CE4 in Ophiostomataceae, and GH3 in Ophiostomataceae and Ceratocystidaceae), suggesting potential enhancement or loss of lignin modification, hemicellulose deacetylation, and cellulose degradation in different ambrosia lineages. Repeat-Induced Point mutation analysis revealed family-specific patterns rather than lifestyle-associated differences. These results highlight the diverse genomic strategies employed by ambrosia fungi, demonstrating that symbiont evolution can proceed through refined, lineage-specific changes rather than genome-wide, or convergent alterations. Our genomic analyses do not reveal patterns typically associated with domestication in these ambrosia fungi, suggesting they may represent free-living fungi that co-opted wood boring beetles as vectors through subtle, lineage-specific adaptations.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"67 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143546383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Atmospheric methane consumption in arid ecosystems acts as a reverse chimney and is accelerated by plant-methanotroph biomes","authors":"Nathalie A Delherbe, Oscar Gomez, Alvaro M Plominsky, Aaron Oliver, Maximino Manzanera, Marina G Kalyuzhnaya","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf026","url":null,"abstract":"Drylands cover one-third of the Earth’s surface and are one of the largest terrestrial sinks for methane. Understanding the structure–function interplay between members of arid biomes can provide critical insights into mechanisms of resilience toward anthropogenic and climate-change-driven environmental stressors—water scarcity, heatwaves, and increased atmospheric greenhouse gases. This study integrates in situ measurements with culture-independent and enrichment-based investigations of methane-consuming microbiomes inhabiting soil in the Anza-Borrego Desert, a model arid ecosystem in Southern California, United States. The atmospheric methane consumption ranged between 2.26 to 12.73 μmol m2 h−1, peaking during the daytime at vegetated sites. Metagenomic studies revealed similar soil-microbiome compositions at vegetated and unvegetated sites, with Methylocaldum being the major methanotrophic clade. Eighty-four metagenome-assembled genomes were recovered, six represented by methanotrophic bacteria (three Methylocaldum, two Methylobacter, and uncultivated Methylococcaceae). The prevalence of copper-containing methane monooxygenases in metagenomic datasets suggests a diverse potential for methane oxidation in canonical methanotrophs and uncultivated Gammaproteobacteria. Five pure cultures of methanotrophic bacteria were obtained, including four Methylocaldum. Genomic analysis of Methylocaldum isolates and metagenome-assembled genomes revealed the presence of multiple stand-alone methane monooxygenase subunit C paralogs, which may have functions beyond methane oxidation. Furthermore, these methanotrophs have genetic signatures typically linked to symbiotic interactions with plants, including tryptophan synthesis and indole-3-acetic acid production. Based on in situ fluxes and soil microbiome compositions, we propose the existence of arid-soil reverse chimneys, an empowered methane sink represented by yet-to-be-defined cooperation between desert vegetation and methane-consuming microbiomes.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"131 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143546384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microbiota contribute to regulation of the gut-testis axis in seasonal spermatogenesis","authors":"Zifang Wu, Long Li, Shaoxian Chen, Ye Gong, Yuyan Liu, Tianqi Jin, Yang Wang, Jie Tang, Qian Dong, Bangzhu Yang, Fangxia Yang, Wuzi Dong","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf036","url":null,"abstract":"Seasonal breeding is an important adaptive strategy for animals. Recent studies have highlighted the potential role of the gut microbiota in reproductive health. However, the relationship between the gut microbiota and reproduction in seasonal breeders remains unclear. In this study, we selected a unique single food source animal, the flying squirrel (Trogopterus xanthipes), as a model organism for studying seasonal breeding. By integrating transcriptomic, metabolomic, and microbiome data, we comprehensively investigated the regulation of the gut-metabolism-testis axis in seasonal breeding. Here, we demonstrated a significant spermatogenic phenotype and highly active spermatogenic transcriptional characteristics in the testes of flying squirrels during the breeding season, which were associated with increased polyamine metabolism, primarily involving spermine and γ-amino butyric acid. Moreover, an enrichment of Ruminococcus was observed in the large intestine during the BS and may contribute to enhanced methionine biosynthesis in the gut. Similar changes in Ruminococcus abundance were also observed in several other seasonal breeders. These findings innovatively revealed that reshaping the gut microbiota regulates spermatogenesis in seasonal breeders through polyamine metabolism, highlighting the great potential of the gut-testis axis in livestock animal breeding and human health management.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"82 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143495166","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Viroid-like “obelisk” agents are widespread in the ocean and exceed the abundance of RNA viruses in the prokaryotic fraction","authors":"Javier López-Simón, Marcos de la Peña, Manuel Martínez-García","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf033","url":null,"abstract":"“Obelisks” are recently discovered RNA viroid-like elements present in diverse environments with no phylogenetic similarity to any known biological agent. Obelisks were first identified in the human gut and in a commensal bacterium acting as a replicative host. They have a circular ∼1 kb RNA genome, rod-like secondary structures, and the encoding of a protein superfamily called “Oblins”. We performed a large-scale search of Obelisks in the ocean using the Pebblescout program and the transcriptomic Sequence Archive Read databases, revealing the biogeography and abundance of these viroid-like RNA elements. We detected 45 Obelisk genomes resulting in 35 marine clusters at the species level. These Obelisks were detected in the prokaryotic fraction and to a lesser extent in the eukaryotic fraction, and distributed across all the oceans from surface to mesopelagic including the Arctic, and even in the coldest seawater of Earth beneath the Antarctic Ross Ice Shelf. The Obelisk hallmark protein Oblin-1 confirmed by 3D models was found in various marine samples. Some of the detected marine Obelisks harbour hammerhead self-cleaving ribozymes in both polarities. In the prokaryotic, but not the eukaryotic, fraction of the Tara Ocean dataset, relative abundance of Obelisks calculated by transcriptomic fragment recruitment indicated that they are abundant in marine samples, reaching or even exceeding the relative abundance of the previously discovered uncultured RNA viruses. In conclusion, Obelisks are abundant and widespread viroid-like elements that should be included in ocean biogeochemical models.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"129 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143495167","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Halophilic archaea produce wax esters and use an alternative fatty acyl-CoA reductase for precursor synthesis","authors":"Vincent Grossi, Philippe Cuny, Cécile Militon, Jerzy Witwinowski, Balkis Eddhif, Léa Sylvi, Mireille Nowakowski, Artemis Kosta, Ingrid Antheaume, Johan Cornil, Sarah Dubrac, Julia Kende, Simonetta Gribaldo, Guillaume Borrel","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf035","url":null,"abstract":"Wax esters are fatty acid-based neutral lipids thought to be restricted to bacteria and eukaryotes that play a key role in the functioning and maintenance of cells, especially under adverse conditions. Here we show that several halophilic archaea (Halobacteriales) carry a homologue of the bacterial wax synthase gene. Wax ester synthesis and accumulation is demonstrated in one of these (poly)extremophilic archaea, Natronomonas pharaonis, during growth on long-chain fatty acids. Our bioinformatic analysis also shows that the synthesis of fatty alcohols required for wax ester synthesis could be performed by an enzyme evolutionarily related to class I 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR, classically involved in isoprenoid biosynthesis). Using heterologous expression and enzymatic assays, we show that this HMGR homolog, which we named FcrA (for fatty acyl-CoA reductase), reduces fatty acyl-CoA to fatty alcohol, but cannot reduce 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA to mevalonate. The conservation of HMGR catalytic residues in FcrA suggests that the two enzymes have a similar catalytic mechanism, whereas an elongated substrate-binding pocket and distinct residues may explain FcrA’s selectivity for long chain fatty acyl-CoA. In addition to archaea, FcrA is present in a wide range of bacteria, including ~25% of those predicted to produce wax esters, and accounts for a large proportion of the fatty acyl-CoA reductases found in various environments. Challenging the long-held paradigm that archaea cannot biosynthesize fatty acid-based neutral lipids de novo, this study lays the foundations for further physiological, ecological, and biotechnological investigation of neutral lipid production by systems markedly different from those of eukaryotes and bacteria.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"110 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143486071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Carbon dioxide enhances Akkermansia muciniphila fitness and anti-obesity efficacy in high-fat diet mice","authors":"Xiangfeng Wang, Qianqian Yang, Changping Shi, Yuyang Wang, Dingming Guo, Xuchun Wan, Pengyuan Dong, Qianyao Zhang, Yueyan Hu, Ruilin Zhang, Hongju Yang, Weihua Chen, Zhi Liu","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf034","url":null,"abstract":"Numerous studies and clinical applications have underscored the therapeutic potential of the indigenous gut bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila in various diseases. However, our understanding of how A. muciniphila senses and responds to host gastrointestinal signals remains limited. Here, we demonstrate that A. muciniphila exhibits rapid growth, facilitated by its self-produced carbon dioxide, with key enzymes such as glutamate decarboxylase, carbonic anhydrase, and pyruvate ferredoxin oxidoreductase playing pivotal roles. Additionally, we design a novel delivery system, comprising calcium carbonate, inulin, A. muciniphila, and sodium alginate, which enhances A. muciniphila growth and facilitates the expression of part probiotic genes in mice intestinal milieu. Notably, the administration of this delivery system induces weight loss in mice fed high-fat diets. Furthermore, we elucidate the significant impact of carbon dioxide on the composition and functional genes of the human gut microbiota, with genes encoding carbonic anhydrase and amino acid metabolism enzymes exhibiting heightened responsiveness. These findings reveal a novel mechanism by which gut commensal bacteria sense and respond to gaseous molecules, thereby promoting growth. Moreover, they suggest the potential for designing rational therapeutic strategies utilizing live bacterial delivery systems to enhance probiotic growth and ameliorate gut microbiota-related diseases.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"61 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143477757","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Wide-ranging organic nitrogen diets of freshwater Picocyanobacteria","authors":"Elliot Druce, Stephen C Maberly, Patricia Sánchez-Baracaldo","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wrae236","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wrae236","url":null,"abstract":"Freshwater picocyanobacteria (Syn/Pro clade) contribute substantially to the primary production of inland waters, especially when nitrogen is limiting or co-limiting. Nevertheless, they remain poorly understood ecologically and genomically, with research on their nitrogen acquisition mainly focused on inorganic sources. However, dissolved organic nitrogen is often a major component of the freshwater nitrogen pool and it is increasingly evident that many forms are bioavailable. Comparative genomic analyses, axenic growth assays, and proteomic analyses were used here to investigate organic nitrogen acquisition mechanisms in the Syn/Pro clade. Comparative analysis of the genomes of 295 freshwater and marine strains of picocyanobacteria identified a large diversity of amino acid transporters, the absence of degradation pathways for five amino acids (asparagine, phenylalanine, serine, tryptophan, and tyrosine), and alternative mechanisms for chitin assimilation (direct chitin catabolise vs initial acetylation to chitosan and subsequent degradation). Growth assays demonstrated the widespread bioavailability of amino acids, including basic amino acids though the known basic amino acid transporter is not encoded. This suggests further genetic components are involved, either through extracellular catabolism or the presence of novel transporters. Proteomic analysis demonstrates the dual utilisation of nitrogen and carbon from the amino acid substrate and provides evidence for a mild stress response through the up-regulation of lysine biosynthesis and FtsH1, potentially caused by accumulation of secondary metabolites. Our results are relevant to understanding how picocyanobacteria have come to thrive in dissolved organic nitrogen-rich oligotrophic environments and explores how their different molecular capabilities may influence communities between habitats.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143477758","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Murine gut microbial interactions exert anti-hyperglycemic effects","authors":"Liying Guo, Libing Xu, Yanhong Nie, Lu Liu, Zongping Liu, Yunpeng Yang","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf028","url":null,"abstract":"The correlations between gut microbiota and host metabolism had been studied extensively, whereas little relevant work had been done to investigate the impact of gut microbial interactions on host metabolism. Assisted with bacteriocin-targeting strategy, we aimed to identify the glucose and lipid metabolism-associated gut microbes by adjusting the gut microbial composition of high-fat diet-fed mice. To fulfill this goal, the Listeria monocytogenes-derived bacteriocin Lmo2776 secretion module was constructed and integrated into the genome of Escherichia coli Nissle 1917, yielding the Lmo2776-secreting strain EcN-2776. EcN-2776 administration decreased the blood glucose and increased the serum triglyceride of high-fat diet-fed mice. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing indicated that intestinal secretion of Lmo2776 adjusted the gut microbial composition of high-fat diet-fed mice. Specifically, Lmo2776 restricted the growth of Ligilactobacillus murinus, thus alleviating its inhibitory impact towards Faecalibaculum rodentium. Further analyses indicated that Faecalibaculum rodentium administration decreased the fasting blood glucose of high-fat diet-fed mice, which might be achieved by the intestinal consumption of glucose by Faecalibaculum rodentium. Our study identified the glucose metabolism-associated gut microbes, uncovered their interactions, deciphered the impact of gut microbial interaction on host glucose metabolism, and paved the way for treating hyperglycemia from the perspective of gut microbial interactions.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143435496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correlating phylogenetic and functional diversity of the nod-free but nodulating Bradyrhizobium phylogroup","authors":"Lu Ling, Alicia Camuel, Sishuo Wang, Xiaojun Wang, Tianhua Liao, Jinjin Tao, Xingqin Lin, Nico Nouwen, Eric Giraud, Haiwei Luo","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf030","url":null,"abstract":"Bradyrhizobium is a main rhizobial lineage of which most members nodulate legume plants using Nod factors synthetized by the nod genes. However, members of the Photosynthetic supergroup (phylogroup) within Bradyrhizobium are nod-free, but still capable of establishing nitrogen-fixing nodules with some tropical legumes of the Aeschynomene genus. These unusual findings are based on the genomic sequences of only 13 Photosynthetic Bradyrhizobium strains, and almost all were isolated from Aeschynomene nodules. Here, we report that Photosynthetic Bradyrhizobium supergroup members are more abundantly associated with rice root (endosphere and rhizosphere) compared to grassland, forest, and maize samples based on rpoB amplicon sequence analyses. We sequenced 263 new isolates of this supergroup mostly from two main subspecies of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L. spp. indica and japonica). The extended supergroup comprises three major clades with their diversity broadly covering the natural community of this supergroup: a basal clade with significant expansion of its diversity, a clade composed by two phylogenetically diverse strains including one newly isolated, and a new clade exclusively represented by our new strains. Although this supergroup members universally lack the canonical nod genes, all 28 assayed strains covering the broad diversity induced nodules on Aeschynomene indica. The three clades displayed important differences in the efficiency of symbiosis, aligning well with their phylogenetic divergence. With this expanded ecological, phylogenetic, and functional diversity, we conclude that the nod factor-independent nodulation of Aeschynomene is a common trait of this supergroup, in contrast to the photosynthetic trait originally thought of as its unifying feature.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143435214","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microbial ecology of Serpentinite-hosted ecosystems","authors":"Daniel R Colman, Alexis S Templeton, John R Spear, Eric S Boyd","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf029","url":null,"abstract":"Serpentinization, the collective set of geochemical reactions initiated by the hydration of ultramafic rock, has occurred throughout Earth history and is inferred to occur on several planets and moons in our solar system. These reactions generate highly reducing conditions that can drive organic synthesis reactions potentially conducive to the emergence of life, while concomitantly generating fluids that challenge life owing to hyperalkalinity and limited inorganic carbon (and oxidant) availability. Consequently, the serpentinite-hosted biosphere offers insights into the earliest life, the habitable limits for life, and the potential for life on other planets. However, the support of abundant microbial communities by serpentinites was only recognized ~20 years ago with the discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents emanating serpentinized fluids. Here, we review the microbial ecology of both marine and continental serpentinization-influenced ecosystems in conjunction with a comparison of publicly available metagenomic sequence data from these communities to provide a global perspective of serpentinite microbial ecology. Synthesis of observations across global systems reveal consistent themes in the diversity, ecology, and functioning of communities. Nevertheless, individual systems exhibit nuances due to local geology, hydrology, and input of oxidized, near-surface/seawater fluids. Further, several new (and old) questions remain including the provenance of carbon to support biomass synthesis, the physical and chemical limits of life in serpentinites, the mode and tempo of in situ evolution, and the extent that modern serpentinites serve as analogs for those on early Earth. These topics are explored from a microbial perspective to outline key knowledge-gaps for future research.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143435212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}