AbstractBee-fungus associations are common, and while most studies of these focus on entomopathogens, emerging evidence suggests that bees associate with a variety of symbiotic fungi that can influence bee behavior and health. Here, we review non-pathogenic fungal taxa associated with different bee species and bee-related habitats. We synthesize results...

AbstractThe salinity and humidity barriers divide biodiversity and strongly influence the distribution of organisms. Crossing them opens the possibility for organisms to colonize new niches and diversify, but requires profound physiological adaptations and is supposed to happen rarely in evolutionary history. We tested the relative importance of each...

AbstractArsenic (As) and antimony (Sb) from mining sites can seep into aquatic ecosystems by acid mine drainage (AMD). Here, the possibility of concomitantly removing As and Sb from acidic waters by precipitation of sulfides induced by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) was investigated in a fixed-bed column bioreactor. The real AMD water used to feed...

AbstractGlaciers in high altitude mountain regions are retreating rapidly due to global warming, exposing deglaciated soils to extreme environmental conditions and microbial colonization. However, knowledge about chemolithoautotrophic microbes, which play important roles in the development of oligotrophic deglaciated soils prior to plant colonization,...

AbstractLake Pastos Grandes in Bolivia is mainly composed of salt flats, which are sporadically and only partially submerged during the wet season. In the present study, the chemical composition of water samples of the lake and some influent rivers was determined. We found that it is likely that the lake was influenced by the dilution of metals from...

AbstractThe European spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus, is a serious pest of spruce forests in Europe, and its invasion and development inside spruce tissues are facilitated by microorganisms. We investigated the core gut bacterial and fungal microbiomes of I. typographus throughout its life cycle in spring and summer generations. We used cultivation...