In natural habitats, nutrient availability limits bacterial growth. We discovered that bacteria can overcome this limitation by acquiring nutrients by lysing neighboring cells through contact-dependent antagonism. Using single-cell live imaging and isotopi ...
Copiotrophic marine bacteria contribute to the control of carbon storage in the ocean by remineralizing organic matter. Motility presents copiotrophs with a risk-reward trade-off: it is highly beneficial in seeking out sparse nutrient hotspots, but energet ...
Microbiome metabolism underlies numerous vital ecosystem functions. Individual microbiome members often perform partial catabolism of substrates or do not express all of the metabolic functions required for growth. Microbiome members can complement each ot ...
Most of Earth's biomass is composed of polysaccharides. During biomass decomposition, polysaccharides are degraded by heterotrophic bacteria as a nutrient and energy source and are thereby partly remineralized into CO2. As polysaccharides are heterogeneous ...
Microbial life is at the heart of many diverse environments and regulates most natural processes, from the functioning of animal organs to the cycling of global carbon. Yet, the study of microbial ecology is often limited by challenges in visualizing micro ...
Microbial communities perform essential ecosystem functions such as the remineralization of organic carbon that exists as biopolymers. The first step in mineralization is performed by biopolymer degraders, which harbor enzymes that can break down polymers ...
Polysaccharide breakdown by bacteria requires the activity of enzymes that degrade polymers either intra- or extra-cellularly. The latter mechanism generates a localized pool of breakdown products that are accessible to the enzyme producers themselves as w ...
Most microorganisms live in environments where nutrients are limited and fluctuate over time. Cells respond to nutrient fluctuations by sensing and adapting their physiological state. Recent studies suggest phenotypic heterogeneity(1) in isogenic populatio ...
Populations of genetically identical microorganisms residing in the same environment can display marked variability in their phenotypic traits; this phenomenon is termed phenotypic heterogeneity. The relevance of such heterogeneity in natural habitats is u ...
Measuring the efficiency of virus disinfection with quantitative PCR (qPCR) has been criticized as inadequate due to the production of false-positive signals. Such a claim, however, presupposes an understanding of the theoretical qPCR response. Many studie ...
