In this study, we used insect exclusion netting to investigate the role of pollinators in the assembly of the microbiota on apple stigma and the transmission of the fire blight pathogen Erwinia amylovora. We found that excluding pollinators had a minor impact on community diversity but altered bacterial dispersal and the relative abundance of different species, including E. amylovora.

The Pool-seq analysis of two Umbilicaria species collected from five mountain gradients revealed sharp frequency transitions in alleles driven to fixation. Most transitions coincide with the switch between climate zones, where one zone experiences freezing and the other does not. Further analyses identified multiple genomic regions under strong selection related to temperature adaptation.

This study addresses the diversity and community composition of simple prokaryotic communities growing as microbial biostalactites or streamers at iron seepages in abandoned mines. We analysed 85 communities within a pH range of 2.4–6.6 and found that a pH of 3.2 is a critical point where community composition and diversity change discretely.

Metagenomics reveal potential geosmin and MIB producers in five bacterial phyla (Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, Bacteroidota, Chloroflexota, and Myxococcota) in recirculating aquaculture system microbiomes, which expands the phylogenetic diversity of potential off-flavour producers. In addition, one archaeon with the full MEP pathway for terpenoid precursors production was identified.

Microbial assemblages naturally living on the skin may help amphibian hosts combat the pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). In mountain populations of the Pyrenees and Taiwan, we found that the presence of Bd significantly influenced the skin microbiome, leading to an increased relative abundance of putative anti-Bd bacterial genera.