Fungi help pine trees survive heat stress
Researchers found that pine seedlings in a symbiotic partnership with soil fungi grew 80% larger and survived extreme heat better than those…
Category: How can microbes clean up the environment?
How can microbes, archae, and fungi be used to clean up pollution? How do we treat water and soil using microbiology?
How do bacteria adapt to toxic metal waste?
University of Minnesota scientists identified a specific DNA region in the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis that helps it tolerate heavy…
Using seaweed to harvest valuable metals
Researchers demonstrated that blooms of the free-floating seaweed Sargassum can sustainably extract rare earth elements from water.
When glaciers retreat, microbes take over
Researchers demonstrated that the first microbes to colonize recently deglaciated soil can extract nutrients from air and rock to survive…
Using bacteria to fight fungal brown rot
Scientists compared the effectiveness of traditional chemical fungicides and newer biological fungicides in killing the fungus responsible…
Does the Arctic Ocean regulate or amplify global warming?
Researchers found that interactions between methane gas and seawater affected greenhouse gas emissions from the Arctic Ocean during a past…
Biofertilizers change plants’ natural microbes
Scientists tested how mixtures of plant-growth-promoting bacteria affect the microbial communities of different sunflower varieties for use…
Scientists probe plant-based soil cleanup
Researchers tested plant-based soil remediation methods and found that adding beneficial microbes to copper-contaminated soil improved…
Why do deep-sea microbes have such small appetites?
The deep sea is one of Earth’s largest reservoirs of carbon, yet microbes don’t consume very much of it. Researchers showed that this is…
Gases power diverse microbial life in caves
Researchers found that cave-dwelling microbes use atmospheric trace gases like methane and carbon monoxide as sources of energy and carbon.