Frontiers in Microbiology

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly expanding what can be predicted and produced in biotechnology, transforming the life sciences into a computational, distributed, and increasingly design-oriented enterprise. At the same time, biosecurity frameworks remain largely organized around the control of known agents, materials, and individual technologies, creating a growing mismatch be…

Background Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a ubiquitous organism that adapts well in different environments. It is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that produces a wide range of virulence factors, colonizes lungs to cause pneumonia, causes non-healing wounds especially in burn victims, and is a major culprit in destructive keratitis. It can reach the cornea through reusable, extended-use contact len…

Background Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are major health problem worldwide. Accurate pathogen identification using conventional microbiological tests (CMTs) is challenging. Targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) is a promising diagnostic approach; however, its performance compared with that of CMTs, and its impact on patient outcomes require further investigation. Methods This r…

Bioelectrochemical systems that harvest electricity from wastes, soils, or sediments are designed to operate over long periods of time. However, little is known about the long-term adaptation of electroactive microbes to such non-natural environments. Geobacter sulfurreducens strain KN400 produces the highest current densities and columbic efficiencies of described pure culture electroactive micr…

Heavy metal contamination of soil and water is an escalating global environmental issue driven by industrialization and poor waste management. This problem is no longer confined to urban areas, as even small towns are grappling with severe heavy metal contamination, posing substantial threats to human health and aquatic ecosystems. To address these issues, fungal fuel cells have become one of the…

Background The increasing prevalence of metabolism-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is associated with environmental pollutants and dietary factors, yet the synergistic effect and underlying mechanism of silica nanoparticles (SiNP) and a high-fat diet (HFD) remain unclear. Methods This study aimed to investigate the role of the gut–liver axis in MAFLD pathogenesis induced by co-exposure to …

Bacteria display an incredible genetic plasticity, which enables them to adapt to various environmental stressors, such as antibiotic compounds that may imperil their existence. Bacterial resistance mechanisms include degradative enzymes, inactivation of antibiotics, antibacterial target site mutation, change in target, altered cell wall permeability to antibiotics, bypass of metabolic pathways, …

Listeria monocytogenes poses a significant threat in food service environments due to its environmental robustness and pathogenicity. In this study, L. monocytogenes contamination across 24 catering facilities in Chengdu highlighted potential public health concerns, with a 6.43% (40/622) prevalence rate and meat processing areas as primary hotspots (13.48%, 19/141; cleaned meat: 25.0%, 6/24; clea…

Zinc ion (Zn 2+ ) is essential bioactive constituent in food and plays a multifaceted role in modulating antiviral activities against various viruses including retroviruses, picornaviruses, herpesviruses, coronaviruses, and hepatitis viruses. This review synthesizes existing literature highlighting the diverse antiviral properties of Zn 2+ and its viable application as an adjunct rather than mono…

Background Fertilization strategies in agricultural ecosystems significantly influence soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics, and integrated chemical and organic fertilization may enhance short-term SOC accumulation. However, the mechanisms, particularly the contribution of microbial residues to SOC dynamics during the crop growth period, remain unclear. Methods In this study, we evaluated four fert…

Introduction The aquatic environment is an ideal ecosystem for the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as it can be impacted by many sources of antibiotic residues. Methods To better understand the mechanism for AMR associated with exposure to subtherapeutic concentrations of antibiotics, we monitored the genetic and transcriptional changes in Aeromonas hydrophila exposed to incremental…

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising agents against multidrug-resistant bacteria. The bovine cathelicidin BMAP-28 is a cationic α-helical AMP with broad-spectrum activity, but its effects on enterococci and determinants of susceptibility remain unclear. Here, we compared the activity of BMAP-28 and four analogs against Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium . E. fecium ATCC49533 an…

Introduction This study investigates how different oenological practices, including spontaneous and inoculated alcoholic fermentation (AF), variations in malolactic fermentation (MLF) and ageing, are associated with changes in microbial diversity and polyphenolic profile of Sauvignon blanc wines. Methods Microbial composition was investigated through high-throughput DNA sequencing, while polyphen…

The global epidemic of metabolic diseases—encompassing obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and cardiovascular disease—represents a defining public health challenge of our era. The traditional model of simple caloric excess vs. expenditure has proven insufficient, giving way to a paradigm that acknowledges complex interactions between genetics, envi…

Aquaculture has expanded rapidly over recent decades, positioning salmon farming as a major contributor to global food security while intensifying concern over antimicrobial use and the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Chile, the world’s second-largest producer of farmed salmon, represents a critical case study because of its historically high dependence on antibiotics, particularly f…

The emergence of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Escherichia coli in livestock is a critical public health concern due to its potential transmission to humans via the food chain. This study investigated the 14-year longitudinal trends (2010–2023) of third-generation cephalosporin resistance, its genetic determinants, and phenotypic characteristics in E. coli isolated from various livesto…

The collapse of kelp forests into urchin barrens is associated with changes in seawater chemistry and macroalgal food availability, but how these environmental changes affect herbivore-associated microbiota remains poorly understood. Here, we analyzed the gut microbiota of abalone ( Haliotis discus hannai ) collected from mild and severe barren regions along the Korean coast during winter and sum…

Candida (Candidozyma) auris has recently been designated a critical priority pathogen by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its Fungal Priority Pathogens List (FPPL). With resistance now widespread against frontline antifungals and limited availability of alternative therapeutics, combination regimens incorporating the nucleoside analog flucytosine (5-fluorocytosine; 5-FC) have gained renewed…

Objective To characterize the whole-genome features and evolutionary variation patterns of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 circulating in Jining City during 2024–2025. Methods Whole-genome sequencing was performed on clinical specimens collected from SARS-CoV-2–infected cases in Jining City during 2024–2025 using next-generation sequencing technology. Phylogenetic and mutation ana…

This study aimed to elucidate the biological mechanisms through which different tillage practices affect wheat yield and nutrient use efficiency under straw return conditions, focusing on rhizosphere microbial communities, metabolite profiles, and their interactions to inform improved agricultural management. The field experiment tested three treatments: no-tillage with all straw mulching (SN), r…