Symbiosis is so much part of life on Earth that it has shaped the evolution and structure of cells. It’s happening almost everywhere we look, including inside our gut.
Despite its 500-million-year history, the plant-fungi alliance holds mysteries that, once unravelled, could revolutionise agriculture and ecosystem management.
Coral reefs are hotspots of productivity in otherwise nutrient-poor parts of our oceans.
Joerg Wiedenmann & Cecilia D'Angelo/University of Southampton
Over hundreds of million years of evolution, ants have come up with some pretty smart solutions to problems of agriculture, navigation and architecture. People could learn a thing or two.
The gut microbiome may also play a role in personalized medicine.
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Taichi A. Suzuki, Max Planck Institute for Biology and Ruth Ley, Max Planck Institute for Biology
As early modern humans spread across the globe, their gut microbes genetically changed with them. Understanding the origins of gut microbes could improve understanding of their role in human health.
The new State of the Environment report shows Australia’s soil and the life it holds is in poor condition. We need to protect our underground biodiversity.
Decomposers at work: Shelf fungi feeding on a rotting log.
Craig Joiner/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Fungi underpin life on Earth, but are far less well catalogued and understood than animals and plants. Three scientists call for including fungi in conservation strategies and environmental laws.
Goby fish and coral rely on each other to survive. But new research found gobies are declining under climate change, dealing a double blow to Australia’s reefs.
Coral reefs contain an intricate web of predators and prey.
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Researchers have just discovered a new species of bacteria that cranks out a deadly toxin. In a common arrangement in the marine environment, a slug and alga both use this toxin for their own defense.
Newly discovered billion-year-old fossilised fungi are more than twice as old as previous finds, and suggest that fungi may have been preparing Earth’s lands for plant life for millions of years.
An Impossible Burger sidewalk sign in San Francisco.
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Star Wars: The Last Jedi leaves many questions about the saga in a galaxy far, far away unanswered. Fortunately, biology may offer a insights on the Force, midi-chlorians, clones, and Rey’s lineage.
Tiny animals along for the ride, called epibionts, could be used as living data-loggers. Researchers can glean info from them that could help inform turtle-friendly fisheries management decisions.
Many corals can’t make it through the bleaching events caused by warming ocean waters. But some can – and scientists are trying to learn more about the sources of their resilience.