🦠 Category

microbiology

560 papers

Microbiology explores the invisible world of tiny life forms that shape our health, environment, and even the air we breathe. From bacteria and viruses to fungi and parasites, this field investigates how these microscopic organisms interact with us and each other, driving everything from disease outbreaks to beneficial fermentation processes. Understanding them is crucial for developing new medicines, improving food safety, and combating global health challenges.

At Gist.Science, we make the latest discoveries in this dynamic field accessible to everyone. We process every new preprint uploaded to bioRxiv in this category, transforming dense academic findings into both clear, plain-language explanations and detailed technical summaries. This ensures that whether you are a student, a researcher, or simply curious, you can grasp the significance of cutting-edge science without getting lost in jargon.

Below are the most recent papers in microbiology, curated and summarized directly from the bioRxiv server to keep you at the forefront of discovery.

🦠 microbiology

Taxonomy-agnostic hyperspectral-morphological phenotyping of fungal pathogen chemical-stress responses using machine learning

This study demonstrates that a taxonomy-agnostic workflow integrating hyperspectral imaging, quantitative morphology, and machine learning can accurately predict the crop-of-isolation (coffee vs. cacao) of *Colletotrichum* fungal isolates based on their standardized chemical-stress response fingerprints, offering a rapid, DNA-free method for high-throughput antifungal screening.

Baek, I., Lim, S., Lovelace, A., Oh, S., Kazem-Rostami, M., Ngo, H., Kim, M., Meinhardt, L., Kandpal, L., Cha, M., Hwang (…)2026-02-17
🦠 microbiology

Diversity and stability of the gut microbiome of naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), the longest-lived rodent

This study reveals that the gut microbiome of the exceptionally long-lived naked mole-rat is taxonomically stable across its lifespan and functionally distinct, featuring unique archaeal methanogens and plant-cell-wall-degrading enzymes that resemble those of ruminants and may contribute to its low metabolic rate and longevity.

Rakhimov, A., Yasuda-Yoshihara, N., Arita, M., Okumura, K., Kawamura, Y., Oka, K., Mori, H., Wakabayashi, Y., Baba, Y. (…)2026-02-17
🦠 microbiology

Characterisation of naturally occurring MERS-CoV Spike mutations and their impact on entry and neutralisation.

This study characterizes naturally occurring MERS-CoV Spike mutations using a lentiviral pseudotyping system, revealing that specific single nucleotide polymorphisms enhance viral entry and increase resistance to neutralization by patient sera, thereby highlighting the need for continued surveillance to assess evolving public health risks.

Dempsey, R., Goldswain, H., Newman, J., Thakur, N., MacGill, T., Myers, T., Orr, R., Bailey, D., Stuart, J. P., Aljabr (…)2026-02-17
🦠 microbiology

Aurora vent field is a hotspot for microbial hydrogen oxidation in the Arctic Ocean

This study utilizes metagenomics to reveal that the hydrogen-rich Aurora Vent Field in the Arctic Ocean supports a diverse and metabolically flexible microbial community, including novel Zetaproteobacteria and Aquificota, where widespread hydrogen oxidation potential extends beyond obligate chemolithotrophs to include heterotrophs, thereby enhancing carbon transfer efficiency in deep-sea food webs.

Olesin Denny, E., Hribovsek, P., Pereira, S. I., Argentino, C., Panieri, G., Mall, A., Vulcano, F., Stokke, R., Reeves (…)2026-02-17
🦠 microbiology

In vitro exposure to non-antipseudomonal antibiotics (NAPA) induces Pseudomonas aeruginosa resistance to antipseudomonal antibiotics (APA)

This study demonstrates that subinhibitory exposure to antibiotics lacking intrinsic antipseudomonal activity (NAPA) reproducibly selects for heritable, multidrug-resistant phenotypes in *Pseudomonas aeruginosa* through convergent mutations in regulatory genes controlling efflux and beta-lactamase expression, thereby challenging the clinical assumption that such drugs are safe choices when *P. aeruginosa* is not the primary target.

Lasry, D., Harrison, L. B., Bamba, R., Corsini, R., Yansouni, C. P., Cheng, M., Lee, T. C., Lawandi, A. L.2026-02-16
🦠 microbiology

Phenotypic diversity of yeasts curated in the 5th edition of The Yeasts: A data-driven visualization approach

This study synthesizes and visualizes phenotypic data for approximately 1,300 yeast species from the 5th edition of *The Yeasts* to reveal that yeasts exhibit far greater metabolic and ecological diversity than model organisms suggest, with distinct phylogenetic patterns in carbon utilization and growth traits that underscore their broad potential beyond laboratory settings.

Seike, T., Ide, M., Yamamoto, M., Yurimoto, H., Shiraishi, K.2026-02-16
🦠 microbiology

Environmental filtering drives cryptic diversity and shifting interaction networks across lake, ephemeral pond, and desiccated microbial mat communities in the Untersee Oasis, East Antarctica

This study reveals that environmental filtering and dispersal limitation drive divergent assembly strategies and shifting interaction networks between bacterial and eukaryotic communities across Lake Untersee's habitats, where bacteria exhibit high cross-habitat dispersal with strain-level specialization while eukaryotes show strong dispersal limitation and a transition from facilitative to competitive interactions under desiccation stress.

Vimercati, L., Chakrabarti, I., Lindley, A., Greco, C., Andersen, D. T., Jungblut, A. D.2026-02-16
🦠 microbiology

Paired in situ and molecular analyses identify mechanisms of pathogen persistence within environmental communities

This study combines in situ omics with isolate-level functional genomics to reveal that opportunistic pathogens like *E. coli* persist in freshwater ecosystems by actively expressing genes for amino acid metabolism and curli-mediated biofilm formation, which enhance their competitiveness against native microbiota.

Nunez, C., Watts, T. D., Nguyen, T. K. N., Solari, J., Jirapanjawat, T., Nguyen, T. N. T., Howells, G., Valentin-Alvarad (…)2026-02-14