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Linear waste management systems are unsustainable and contribute to environmental degradation, economic inequity, and health disparities. Among the array of environmental challenges stemming from anthropogenic impacts, the management of…
Natural decomposition of organic matter is essential in food systems, and compost is used worldwide as an organic fermented fertilizer. However, as a feature of the ecosystem, its effects on the animals are poorly understood. Here we show…
The human gut microbiome is a complex ecosystem, in which hundreds of microbial species and metabolites coexist, in part due to an extensive network of cross-feeding interactions. However, both the large-scale trophic organization of this…
Bacteria populate the colon where they replicate and migrate in response to nutrient availability. Here I model the colon bacterial population as a sandpile model, the colon-pile. Sand addition mimics bacterial replication and grains…
Soil is a complex, dynamic material, with physical properties that depend on its biological content. We propose a cellular automaton model for self-organizing soil structure, where soil aggregates and serves as food for microbial species.…
Surveys of microbial biodiversity such as the Earth Microbiome Project (EMP) and the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) have revealed robust ecological patterns across different environments. A major goal in ecology is to leverage these…
The human gastrointestinal tract is an environment that hosts an ecosystem of microorganisms essential to human health. Vital biological processes emerge from fundamental inter- and intra-species molecular interactions that influence the…
This review focuses on microbiomes associated with residues within the context of other microbial habitats in cereal-producing agroecosystems such as phyllosphere or rhizosphere. We connect residue microbiome with the survival of…
In Nature Microbiology, Palleja and colleagues studied the changes in gut microbiome composition in twelve healthy men over a period of six months following an antibiotic intervention. The authors argued that the 'gut microbiota of the…
Recent studies show that the microbial communities inhabiting the human intestine can have profound impact on our well-being and health. However, we have limited understanding of the mechanisms that control this complex ecosystem. Based on…
Photochemical hazes are expected to form and significantly contribute to the chemical and radiative balance of exoplanets with relatively moderate temperatures, possibly in the habitable zone of their host star. In the presence of humidity,…
The built environment provides an excellent setting for interdisciplinary research on the dynamics of microbial communities. The system is simplified compared to many natural settings, and to some extent the entire environment can be…
The experiment of exo-ecosystem and the exploration of extraterrestrial habitability aims to explore the adaptation of terrestrial life in space conditions for the manned space program and the future interstellar migration, which shows…
From soil to the gut, communities composed of thousands of microbes perform functions such as carbon sequestration and immune system regulation. Here, we introduce a data-driven approach that explains how community function can be traced to…
The colonic mucus layer is a dynamic and complex structure formed by secreted and transmembrane mucins, which are high-molecular-weight and heavily glycosylated proteins. Colonic mucus consists of a loose outer layer and a dense…
Composting is defined as the biological decomposition and stabilization of organic substrates under aerobic conditions to allow the development of thermophilic temperatures. This thermophilic temperature is a result of biologically produced…
The human niche represents the intersection of biological, ecological, cultural, and technological processes that have co-evolved to shape human adaptation and societal complexity. This paper explores the human niche through the lens of…
Two species with similar resource requirements respond in a characteristic way to variations in their habitat -- their abundances rise and fall in concert. We use this idea to learn how bacterial populations in the microbiota respond to…
Reducing antibiotic usage in livestock animals has become an urgent issue worldwide to prevent antimicrobial resistance. Here, abuse of chlortetracycline (CTC), a versatile antibacterial agent, on the performance, blood components, fecal…
Native horse mucus is characterized with micro- and macrorheology and compared to hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) gel as a model. Both systems show comparable viscoelastic properties on the microscale and for the HEC the macrorheology is in…