The well-loved Microbe Art Competition made its come back to celebrate International Microorganism Day 2021. Thank you everyone that participated and congratulations to the winners!

Grand Prize: Best Art Overall: Lieke van Gijtenbeek

Best Agar Art: Stefania Rizzelli

Best Cartoon: John Chilton

Best Illustration or Painting: Tristan Young

Best Photography: Ian Jones

Best Physical Piece: Bacterfield

We are pleased to launch the new Twitter account for microLife (@microLifeJrnl), the journal of the FEMS European Academy of Microbiology (EAM).

microLife is a gold open access journal publishing full-length research articles, short reviews, and commentaries reporting research of the highest standard, novelty, and significance in the field of microbiology and related disciplines.

The new account will bring you all the latest updates from the journal, including all its published papers, Thematic Issues. and news from the Editorial Board. Tweets are by the Editors-in-Chief and the Journal Social Media Editor.

For International Microorganism Day episode hosts Eleni Koursari and Joseph Shuttleworth chat about six interesting microorganisms and microscopic creatures perhaps unknown to you!

From mangetic bacteria, to the worlds biggest fungi and spacefaring water bears...

Looking back at the ICY15 meets ICYGMB30 that took place last month, FEMS Yeast Research awarded three poster prizes (interviews coming soon).

There is an associated Thematic Issue: The Spirit of the Yeast, but also in parallel there was a yeast art competition. We would like to congratulate Rosana Alves (1st prize), Jana Pipiková (2nd prize) and Sophie de Valk (3rd prize)!

International Microorganism Day (IMD), 17 September, was created to highlight the role that an invisible multitude of very diverse living beings play in the life sciences, in everyday life, in a wide range of professional activities and career opportunities.

Microbiology has jumped into the mass media and has been in the spotlight around the world. The public health crisis caused by the new coronavirus has shown the need for governments and society in general to pay microorganisms due attention.

Prof Isabel Sá-Correia, founder of International Microorganism Day, outlines the reasons for creating and celebrating a day for the microorganism is this blog, gaining attention in the Portuguese media, and available as an English translation on the International Microorganism Day website.

FEMS Microbiology Ecology

Your natural research habitat

FEMS Microbiology Letters

Promoting new ideas

FEMS Microbiology Reviews

Outstanding reviews from leading experts

Microbiome response differs among selected lines of Sydney rock oysters to ocean warming and acidification

Oyster microbiomes are integral to healthy function and can be altered by climate change conditions. Genetic variation among oysters is known to influence the response of oysters to climate change and may ameliorate any adverse effects on oyster microbiome; however, this remains unstudied. The authors show that oyster genetic background may influence the Sydney rock oyster haemolymph microbiome under climate change and that future assisted evolution breeding programs to enhance resilience should consider the oyster microbiome0 µatm) for 4 weeks.

Elliot Scanes, Laura M Parker, Justin R Seymour, Nachshon Siboni, William L King, K Mathias Wegner, Michael C Dove, Wayne A O'Connor, Pauline M Ross

Extremophilic taxa predominate in a microbial community of photovoltaic panels in a tropical region

Photovoltaic panels can be colonized by a highly diverse microbial diversity, despite life-threatening conditions. Although they are distributed worldwide, the microorganisms living on their surfaces have never been profiled in tropical regions using 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing and PICRUst metagenome prediction of functional content. In this work, we investigated photovoltaic panels from two cities in southeast Brazil, Sorocaba and Itatiba, using these bioinformatics approach. Results showed that, despite significant differences in microbial diversity (p < 0.001), the taxonomic profile was very similar for both photovoltaic panels, dominated mainly by Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota and lower amounts of Cyanobacteria phyla. 

Juliane B Moura, Tiago P Delforno, Pierre F do Prado, Iolanda C Duarte

Archaeal tyrosine recombinases

The integration of mobile genetic elements into their host chromosome influences the immediate fate of cellular organisms and gradually shapes their evolution. Site-specific recombinases catalyzing this integration have been extensively characterized both in bacteria and eukarya. More recently, a number of reports provided the in-depth characterization of archaeal tyrosine recombinases and highlighted new particular features not observed in the other two domains.

In this review, the authors assess the diversity of the archaeal tyrosine recombinases using a phylogenomic analysis based on an exhaustive similarity network. We outline the biochemical, ecological and evolutionary properties of these enzymes in the context of the families we identified and emphasize similarities and differences between archaeal recombinases and their bacterial and eukaryal counterparts.

Catherine Badel, Violette Da Cunha, Jacques Oberto

Pathogens and Disease

Next generation host pathogen research

FEMS Yeast Research

The yeast community journal 

Out Now: Thematic Issue from FEMS Yeast Research

Invasion of the choroid plexus epithelium by Neisseria meningitidis is differently mediated by Arp2/3 signaling and possibly by dynamin dependent on the presence of the capsule

Neisseria meningitis (Nm) is a human-specific bacterial pathogen that can cause sepsis and meningitis. To cause meningitis Nm must enter the central nervous system (CNS) across one of the barriers between the blood and the brain. We have previously shown that a capsule-depleted Serogroup B strain of Nm displays enhanced invasion into human choroid plexus (CP) epithelial papilloma (HIBCPP) cells, which represent an in vitro model of the blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB). Still, the processes involved during CNS invasion by Nm, especially the role of host cell actin cytoskeleton remodeling, are not investigated in detail. Here, we demonstrate that invasion into CP epithelial cells by encapsulated and capsule-depleted Nm is mediated by distinct host cell pathways. 

Rosanna Herold, Gina Sünwoldt, Carolin Stump-Guthier, Christel Weiss, Hiroshi Ishikawa, Horst Schroten, Rüdiger Adam, Christian Schwerk

Engineering of molybdenum-cofactor-dependent nitrate assimilation in Yarrowia lipolytica

Engineering a new metabolic function in a microbial host can be limited by the availability of the relevant cofactor. For instance, in Yarrowia lipolytica, the expression of a functional nitrate reductase is precluded by the absence of molybdenum cofactor (Moco) biosynthesis. In this study, we demonstrated that the Ogataea parapolymorpha Moco biosynthesis pathway combined with the expression of a high affinity molybdate transporter could lead to the synthesis of Moco in Y. lipolytica. The functionality of Moco was demonstrated by expression of an active Moco-dependent nitrate assimilation pathway from the same yeast donor, O. parapolymorpha.

Thomas Perli, Irina Borodina, Jean-Marc Daran

The Spirit of Yeast

The International Congress on Yeasts (ICY) and the International Conference on Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology (ICYGMB) represent two long-standing yeast conference series that came together in 2021 to organise this joint conference. As the yeast community journal, it is appropriate that FEMS Yeast Research is publishing this special Thematic Issue to mark the first joint congress between these two large (and overlapping) yeast communities.

The call for papers has been extended to 30th September for submission of original research papers by an attendee at the conference (presenting or corresponding author).

Bringing together industry, research and policy. The quickening pace of scientific and technological discovery is re-shaping policies, markets and economies around the world.

Arm yourself with a
regular new Science|Business briefing.

Research and Training Grants are meant to assist early career scientists in pursuing research and training at a European host institution in another country than their own country of residence.

Deadline for application: 1 July for projects that will start within a year from the following 1 September

The 2nd International Conference on Microbial Food and Feed Ingredients (MIFFI) will take place in-person from 16-18 November 2021 in Copenhagen.

With the health of the global community as a main priority and the planning of participants, speakers, sponsors, and collaborators in mind, we find that it is best to make this decision now rather than later. Furthermore, we hope that by postponing the conference we will ensure that as many as possible will be able to attend the conference.

We hope for your understanding and look forward to welcoming all participants to Copenhage.

On behalf of the Local Organising Committee

Egon Bech Hansen, DTU Food

Sometimes wounds do not heal properly and turn into “chronic” wounds.

These have become growing problems worldwide as they leave patients with extensive pain and open to serious infections that may even require hospitalization. Common underlying causes for chronic wounds include diabetes, vascular diseases, limited mobility and bacterial infections. 

David Becker explains for the #FEMSmicroBlog how Staphylococcus aureus biofilms inhibit the wound healing process. #FascinatingMicrobes

All microbiologists are invited to endorse the  Consensus Statement published in Nature Reviews Microbiology entitled “Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: microorganisms and climate change”

Microbiologists’ Warning aims to raise awareness of the microbial world and make a call to action for microbiologists to become increasingly engaged in, and microbial research to become increasingly infused into, the frameworks for addressing climate change.

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