The ISME JournalPub Date : 2025-09-05DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf159
Ramunas Stepanauskas,Julia M Brown,Shayesteh Arasti,Uyen Mai,Gregory Gavelis,Maria Pachiadaki,Oliver Bezuidt,Jacob H Munson-McGee,Tianyi Chang,Steven J Biller,Paul M Berube,Siavash Mirarab
{"title":"Net rate of lateral gene transfer in marine prokaryoplankton.","authors":"Ramunas Stepanauskas,Julia M Brown,Shayesteh Arasti,Uyen Mai,Gregory Gavelis,Maria Pachiadaki,Oliver Bezuidt,Jacob H Munson-McGee,Tianyi Chang,Steven J Biller,Paul M Berube,Siavash Mirarab","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf159","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf159","url":null,"abstract":"Lateral gene transfer is a major evolutionary process in Bacteria and Archaea. Despite its importance, lateral gene transfer quantification in nature using traditional phylogenetic methods has been hampered by the rarity of most genes within the enormous microbial pangenomes. Here, we estimated lateral gene transfer rates within the epipelagic tropical and subtropical ocean using a global, randomized collection of single amplified genomes and a non-phylogenetic computational approach. By comparing the fraction of shared genes between pairs of genomes against a lateral gene transfer-free model, we show that an average cell line laterally acquires and retains ~13% of its genes every 1 million years. This translates to a net lateral gene transfer rate of ~250 genes L-1 seawater day-1 and involves both \"flexible\" and \"core\" genes. Our study indicates that whereas most genes are exchanged among closely related cells, the range of lateral gene transfer exceeds the contemporary definition of bacterial species, thus providing prokaryoplankton with extensive genetic resources for lateral gene transfer-based adaptation to environmental stressors. This offers an important starting point for the quantitative analysis of lateral gene transfer in natural settings and its incorporation into evolutionary and ecosystem studies and modeling.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"24 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144995771","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":"Colonization history of snow algae on Hawai'i Island.","authors":"Takahiro Segawa,Nozomu Takeuchi,Ryo Matsuzaki,Takahiro Yonezawa,Kenji Yoshikawa","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf197","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf197","url":null,"abstract":"Red-pigmented snow algae are cold-adapted (including cryophilic) photosynthetic microbes commonly found in polar and alpine snowpacks worldwide, but their dispersal across isolated cryospheres remains poorly understood. We report the occurrence of snow algae on Maunakea, Hawai'i, the most isolated cryosphere in the world, during an unusually prolonged summer snow retention event in 2023 associated with La Niña conditions. Red-pigmented algal cells were observed in snow samples collected during this event. ITS2 amplicon sequencing identified two major Chlorophyta groups: the cosmopolitan Sanguina group and the endemic Chloromonadinia snow group. The cosmopolitan Sanguina group disperses into Hawai'i from other cryospheres under present climate conditions, whereas the endemic Chloromonadinia assemblage shows multiple arrivals, with the largest Hawaiian clade indicating colonization between approximately 253 and 130 ka, overlapping the Pohakuloa glaciation (MIS 6) when Maunakea's summit was ice-capped. This study shows how specific climate conditions, such as glaciation, provided long-term habitats that enabled the establishment of distinct snow algae lineages, highlighting the timing and processes of their dispersal as shaped by glaciation and climate change.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144995769","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}
The ISME JournalPub Date : 2025-09-04DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf202
Mercedes Nieves-Morión,Rubén Romero-García,Sepehr Bardi,Luis López-Maury,Martin Hagemann,Enrique Flores,Rachel A Foster
{"title":"Retention of a SulP-family bicarbonate transporter in a periplasmic N2-fixing cyanobacterial endosymbiont of an open ocean diatom.","authors":"Mercedes Nieves-Morión,Rubén Romero-García,Sepehr Bardi,Luis López-Maury,Martin Hagemann,Enrique Flores,Rachel A Foster","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf202","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf202","url":null,"abstract":"Symbioses between diatoms and the N2-fixing, heterocyst-forming cyanobacterium Richelia spp. are widespread and contribute to primary production. Unique to these symbioses is a variation in the symbiont location: one lives in the host cytoplasm (endobiont) vs. residing between the host frustule and plasmalemma (periplasmic endobiont). Both partners are photosynthetic, yet how the partners acquire, share, or compete for bicarbonate necessary for their photosynthesis is unknown. The genomes of both endobionts (ReuHH01 and RintRC01, respectively) contain genes encoding SulP-family proteins, which are oxyanion transporters. To study the possible involvement of these transporters in bicarbonate uptake, we used complementation in a Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 mutant that is unable to grow at air levels of CO2 because all five of its inorganic carbon uptake systems have been inactivated. Of the five genes tested, only one (RintRC_3892) from the periplasmic endobiont complemented the mutant to grow with air levels of CO2 or at low bicarbonate concentrations. The complemented strain showed strong sodium-dependent and low-affinity bicarbonate uptake that was consistent with bicarbonate concentrations expected in the diatom periplasm. Additionally, all the amino acids involved in the bicarbonate binding site of BicA from Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 are conserved in RintRC_3892. Finally, the importance of the RintRC_3892 protein was confirmed by the consistent detection of its transcripts in wild Richelia populations from three different oceans. Combined our results showed no evidence for a bicarbonate transporter in the cytoplasmic endobiont, whereas the periplasmic endobiont has retained a SulP-type bicarbonate transporter for its own photosynthesis.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144962774","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}
The ISME JournalPub Date : 2025-09-03DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf201
Tingbei Bo, Xiaoming Xu, He Liu, Liqiu Tang, Haihong Xu, Siqi Zhao, Jinzhen Lv, Dehua Wang
{"title":"Convergent gut microbial functional strategies drive energy metabolism adaptation across Ursidae species and challenge the uniqueness of giant panda","authors":"Tingbei Bo, Xiaoming Xu, He Liu, Liqiu Tang, Haihong Xu, Siqi Zhao, Jinzhen Lv, Dehua Wang","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf201","url":null,"abstract":"The gut microbiota is a key regulator of host energy metabolism, but its role in seasonal adaptation and evolution of bears is still unclear. Although giant pandas are considered an extraordinary member of the Ursidae family due to their specialized herbivory and low metabolic rate, there is still controversy over whether the metabolic regulation mechanism of their gut microbiota is unique. This study analyzed the seasonal dynamics of gut microbiota in giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), Asian black bears (Ursus thibetanus), brown bears (Ursus arctos), and polar bears (Ursus maritimus), and combined with fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) experiments, revealed the following findings. The microbial composition of the four bear species is similar, with both Firmicutes and Proteobacteria dominating. The enrichment of Firmicutes in winter enhances lipid metabolism, and adapts to dietary differences, indicating the existence of convergent microbial functional strategies in the Ursidae family. Our results demonstrate that bear gut microbiota promoted seasonal adaptation. In FMT experiments, bear gut microbiota in winter may had stronger functional capabilities on regulating host energy metabolism in mice, and regulate host appetite to increase energy intake. Finally, despite feeding on bamboo, giant pandas microbiota driven energy metabolism pathways (such as SCFAs) are highly conserved compared to other bears, suggesting a deep commonality in the adaptability of bear microbiota in evolution. Therefore, this study challenges the traditional view of microbial uniqueness of giant pandas, and emphasizes the co-evolutionary mechanism of energy metabolism adaptation in bear animals through microbial plasticity. In the future, it is necessary to integrate wild samples to eliminate the interference of captive diet and further analyze the genetic basis of host gut microbiota interactions.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144930772","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}
The ISME JournalPub Date : 2025-09-02DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf189
Mark McCauley, Federica Montesanto, Samuel A Bedgood, Cody Miner, Keyla Plichon, Virginia M Weis, Sandra Loesgen
{"title":"Manipulation of the Symbiodiniaceae microbiome confers multigenerational impacts on symbioses and reproductive ecology of its Exaiptasia diaphana host","authors":"Mark McCauley, Federica Montesanto, Samuel A Bedgood, Cody Miner, Keyla Plichon, Virginia M Weis, Sandra Loesgen","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf189","url":null,"abstract":"Symbiodiniaceae-associated microbiota strongly affect cnidarian symbioses. We systematically reduced the bacterial and fungal communities associated with Symbiodiniaceae to study effects on the cnidarian holobiont Exaiptasia diaphana (Aiptasia). Clonal anemones were inoculated with xenic Breviolum minutum (SSB01) and microbiome manipulated cultures after antibacterial or antifungal treatment. The asexual reproduction of pedal laceration allowed for three generations of clonal aposymbiotic Aiptasia to be included in this study, from the initial adult generation (G0), to the first (G1) and second (G2) generation. We inoculated small and large G1 Aiptasia with algae and monitored onset of symbiosis, rate of algal proliferation, and holobiont characteristics. Sequencing the 16S and 18S rRNA gene regions identified significant differences in the bacterial and fungal communities of the G0 and G1 generations, alongside differences between the size classes of small and large G1 anemones. The microbiome of larger G1 individuals was distinct to the smaller G1 anemones, suggesting a microbiome maturation process. Control B. minutum cultures exhibited a significantly greater proliferation rate in large G1 anemones when compared to antibacterial or antifungal treated cultures, whereas the opposite trend was documented in the small G1 anemones. Although no differences were observed between algal photochemical parameters, or the growth and behavior of G1 juveniles, we observed a significant influence in the production of G2 clones between treatments. Overall, we provide strong ecological implications of manipulating Symbiodiniaceae microbiome, not for the algae themselves, but for the maturation of the host Aiptasia, as well as for the cnidarian holobiont over multiple generations.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144930808","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}
The ISME JournalPub Date : 2025-09-02DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf168
Nancy Obeng, Johannes Zimmermann, Anna Czerwinski, Janina Fuß, Hinrich Schulenburg
{"title":"Role of microbial life history strategy in shaping the characteristics and evolution of host-microbiota interactions","authors":"Nancy Obeng, Johannes Zimmermann, Anna Czerwinski, Janina Fuß, Hinrich Schulenburg","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf168","url":null,"abstract":"Many host-associated microbes are transmitted between individual hosts via the environment and, therefore, need to succeed both within a host and a connected environmental habitat. These microbes might invest differentially into the two habitats, potentially leading to fitness trade-offs and distinct life history strategies that ultimately shape the host-associated microbial communities. In this study, we investigated how the presence of distinct bacterial life history strategies affects microbiota characteristics along a host-associated life cycle, using the nematode host Caenorhabditis elegans and two naturally associated bacteria, Pseudomonas lurida and Ochrobactrum vermis, as an experimentally tractable model. Based on genomic life history prediction and experimental fitness characterizations, we identified distinct ecological strategies for the bacteria: whereas P. lurida dominated the free-living environment, O. vermis was more abundant in the host. Using mathematical modelling, experimental evolution, and whole genome sequencing, we next assessed whether the two distinct ecological strategies influence further adaptation to the host-associated life cycle. We found that (i) the host-specialist O. vermis did not further adapt to the two habitats, whereas (ii) the initially better environmental competitor P. lurida adapted to the life cycle, leading to its increased abundance in both environment and host. Evolutionary adaptation of P. lurida caused a shift in microbiota composition in the host, which in turn, resulted in a significant increase in host fitness. Overall, our results highlight the role of microbial life history strategies in shaping the characteristics and evolution of host–microbe interactions and suggest a potential selective advantage of better environmental competitors.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144930773","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}
The ISME JournalPub Date : 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf183
Qiushuang Li, Rong Wang, Xiang Zhou, Shuya Li, Shizhe Zhang, Xiumin Zhang, Wenxing Wang, Jinzhen Jiao, Peter H Janssen, Emilio M Ungerfeld, Volker Müller, Ralf Conrad, Chris Greening, Zhiliang Tan, Bo Fu, Min Wang
{"title":"Metabolic versatility enables acetogens to colonize ruminants with diet-driven niche partitioning","authors":"Qiushuang Li, Rong Wang, Xiang Zhou, Shuya Li, Shizhe Zhang, Xiumin Zhang, Wenxing Wang, Jinzhen Jiao, Peter H Janssen, Emilio M Ungerfeld, Volker Müller, Ralf Conrad, Chris Greening, Zhiliang Tan, Bo Fu, Min Wang","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf183","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf183","url":null,"abstract":"Enteric methane emissions are energy losses from farmed ruminants and contribute to global warming. Diverting electrons and H2 flow toward beneficial fermentation products would mitigate ruminal methane emissions while improving feed efficiency. Acetogens can direct H2 and electrons to acetate production via the Wood–Ljungdahl pathway, but methanogens have more competitive H2 affinities. Thus, it is unclear how acetogenesis subsists in the rumen. An analysis of 2102 globally derived rumen metagenomes from multiple ruminant species revealed that putative acetogens were phylogenetically diverse and capable of using carbohydrates or H2 as electron donors. The metabolic versatility of these acetogens may enable them to outcompete methanogens with lower versatility. Through animal trials, in vitro experiments, and DNA stable isotope probing, we verified the presence of diverse acetogens in beef cattle rumens and revealed that their niche partitioning is driven by contrasting fiber-rich and starch-rich diets. A fiber-rich diet enriched heterotrophic acetogens, which increased acetate formation while decreasing methane production. Overall, this study highlights the overlooked heterotrophy of acetogens in the rumen and their potential for mitigating enteric methane emissions.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144924121","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}
The ISME JournalPub Date : 2025-08-29DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf198
Georges Kanaan, Jody W Deming
{"title":"Multiple roles of DNA methylation in sea-ice bacterial communities and associated viruses","authors":"Georges Kanaan, Jody W Deming","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf198","url":null,"abstract":"Despite growing evidence for the role of DNA methylation in bacterial acclimation to environmental stress, this epigenetic mechanism remains unexplored in sea-ice microbial communities known to tolerate multiple stressors. This study presents a first analysis of DNA methylation patterns in bacterial communities and associated viruses across the vertical thickness of sea ice. Using a novel stepped-sackhole method, we collected sea-ice brines from distinct horizons of an Arctic ice floe, capturing microbial communities that had been exposed to different environmental conditions. Through Oxford Nanopore sequencing, we characterized methylation patterns in bacterial and associated viral DNA, analysing for methylation motifs and differences between ice horizons. We identified 22 unique bacterial methylation motifs and 27 viral motifs across three nucleotide methylation types (5mC, 6mA, and 4mC), with evidence of differential methylation between upper and lower ice. Analysis of metagenome-assembled genomes revealed the regulatory potential of methylation in both ice-adapted (Psychromonas and Polaribacter) and non-adapted bacteria (Pelagibacter); e.g., in Pelagibacter, differential methylation of the GANTC motif between upper and lower ice affected genes involved in core cellular processes. Viral methylation patterns showed evidence of recent infection. We also identified orphan methyltransferases in sea-ice phages, suggesting a mechanism for bypassing host restriction-modification systems and regulating host genes. Our findings reveal that DNA methylation serves functions in sea ice beyond traditional restriction-modification systems that protect against foreign DNA, opening new avenues for research on the role of epigenetic mechanisms not only in acclimation to the cryosphere but also more generally in microbial ecology and evolution.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144918992","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}
The ISME JournalPub Date : 2025-08-29DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf194
Rong Tang, Xiaoxue Zhang, Linyan Huang, Guoping Ren, Yin Ye, Yong Yuan, Shungui Zhou
{"title":"End-to-end contact enables long-distance electron transport between filaments in cable bacteria","authors":"Rong Tang, Xiaoxue Zhang, Linyan Huang, Guoping Ren, Yin Ye, Yong Yuan, Shungui Zhou","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf194","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf194","url":null,"abstract":"Filamentous cable bacteria are capable of centimeter-scale long-distance electron transport and play crucial roles in the biogeochemistry of aquatic sediments. However, the mechanisms underlying long-distance electron transport remain incompletely understood. This study reports dynamic contacts between separate filaments of cable bacteria, enabling them to relay electrons between sulfidic and oxic zones. Video microscopy of motile filaments in a microchamber slide setup revealed that some filaments did not fully bridge the gap between the sulfidic and oxic zone, but made transient contact with each other. Contacts were always end-to-end and often occurred repeatedly, in which filaments always followed the same trajectory back and forth. The contact frequency gradually increased over the first 20 days, and then declined afterwards. About 5.5% of cable bacterium filaments were observed to engage in contact events during a 2-hour observation window on day 20. Confocal microscopy confirmed the presence of extracellular polymer substance trails between filaments, which appear to guide consecutive end-to-end contacts. In situ Raman spectroscopy showed that connections enabled redox continuity between reduced and oxidized filaments, thus suggesting inter-filament electron transfer during physical contact. This inter-filament electron transport represents a novel type of microbial cooperation, and appears to be a strategy for establishing optimal connections between spatially separated electron donors and acceptors in a dynamic sedimentary environment.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144918993","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}
The ISME JournalPub Date : 2025-08-28DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wraf169
Kendra E Walters, Kristin M Barbour, John M Powers, Jennifer B H Martiny
{"title":"Microbial dispersal into surface soil is limited on a meter scale","authors":"Kendra E Walters, Kristin M Barbour, John M Powers, Jennifer B H Martiny","doi":"10.1093/ismejo/wraf169","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf169","url":null,"abstract":"Dispersal shapes microbial communities, yet it is largely unknown how fast or how far free-living microorganisms move in the environment. Here, we deployed microbial traps along transects spanning a grassland and neighboring shrubland to quantify the rate and distance at which microorganisms disperse into the soil surface. We found that bacteria disperse at a similar rate across the two ecosystems, and both bacteria and fungi exhibit a signature of dispersal limitation at a meter scale, indicating highly heterogeneous dispersal of microorganisms into soil.","PeriodicalId":516554,"journal":{"name":"The ISME Journal","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144916112","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}