When new carbon enters soil, especially carbon that is easily assimilated and decomposed by soil microorganisms, a chain reaction occurs leading to the breakdown of older soil carbon, carbon that would otherwise have remained stable. Current theory does not explain...
The Microbial Ecology of Human Health and Medicine The human microbiome – all the microorganisms on and in our bodies – can stave off or facilitate disease: in the nasal cavity for chronic infection by Staphylococcus aureus, in the gut microbiome influencing multiple...
Antibiotics: the Challenge of the Cure The discovery of antimicrobial drugs – antibiotics – ranks among the most important developments in human health. These drugs target bacterial cells without directly harming the human host. They have saved countless lives since...
Effects of sudden warming on microbial metabolism Soil is the largest carbon (C) pool in the terrestrial biosphere and any change in its size may influence the atmospheric CO2 concentration and feed back to ongoing climate change. Most soil microorganisms utilize...
We study soil microbial communities in Antarctica, microbes in hot spring ecosystems in Tengchong, China, methane production at Axel Heiberg Island near Greenland as an analog for life on other planets, and the distribution of soil microbial communities across the...
