Our understanding of the social lives of microbes has been revolutionized over the past 20
years. It used to be assumed that bacteria and other microorganisms lived relatively …

Winogradsky discovered in 1890 that nitrification is carried out in two consecutive steps by
two distinct groups of bacteria: ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. An …

Acute infections caused by pathogenic bacteria have been studied extensively for well over
100 years. These infections killed millions of people in previous centuries, but they have …

Biofilms, in which cells attach to surfaces and secrete slime (polymeric substances), are
central to microbial life. Biofilms are often thought to require high levels of cooperation …

Growth rate and efficiency are fundamental traits of microbes that significantly influence how
communities and ecosystems function. However the microbiological literature shows an …

On its own, a single cell cannot exert more than a microscopic influence on its immediate
surroundings. However, via strength in numbers and the expression of cooperative …

The human gut harbours a large and genetically diverse population of symbiotic microbes
that both feed and protect the host. Evolutionary theory, however, predicts that such genetic …

The idea from human societies that self-interest can lead to a breakdown of cooperation at
the group level is sometimes termed the public goods dilemma. We tested this idea in the …

Trait-based approaches provide a mechanistic framework to understand and predict the
structure and functioning of microbial communities. Resource utilization traits and trade-offs …

Management of airway infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a serious clinical
challenge, but little is known about the microbial ecology of airway infections in intubated …