{"id":23,"date":"2023-10-19T09:08:16","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T09:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/microbial-ecosystems\/home\/"},"modified":"2025-02-11T10:36:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T10:36:23","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/microbial-ecosystems\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Microbes are this planet\u2019s most ancient, abundant, and diverse life forms. They have coevolved with and shaped our planet. This theme will systematically dissect microbial functions, lifestyles, and communities \u2013 especially how microbes interact with and influence their environments across time and space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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With an eye towards microbes that impact humans, the aim of this theme is to generate the foundational knowledge that will enable us to rationally modulate human microbial communities towards desired traits and compositions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microorganisms colonise, proliferate on, and impact every surface and subsurface of the planet. They do this mostly in the form of complex communities. The Microbial Ecosystems Transversal Theem aims to explore microorganisms and their interactions with each other and with their environments. EMBL research has focused largely on human-associated microbiomes (i.e. microbial communities on and within the human body), and has built both computational and experimental capacities to elucidate the complex role that microbes play in human health and disease. The bidirectional interactions of the gut microbiota has been an area of extended research at EMBL. Examples of this include how\u00a0medication impacts\u00a0the gut microbiota composition<\/a>, including both\u00a0antibiotics<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0non-antibiotic drugs<\/a>, and in turn how microbes themselves\u00a0affect drug availability by\u00a0breaking down drugs<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0bioaccumulating them intracellularly<\/a>.\u00a0Interestingly, the response of\u00a0microbes to drugs can be emergent and benefit the entire community<\/a>, the effect of medication on gut microbiome composition\u00a0can be\u00a0passed from fathers to their offspring<\/a>, and the\u00a0effects of microbes to carcinogenic compounds can promote cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n \n Commonly used drugs accumulate in human gut bacteria, which can affect the drugs' effectiveness and change the bacteria's metabolism. \n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n

Credit: Aleksandra Krolik<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/article>\n\n\n\n\n

At EMBL, the study of microbes spans diverse environments through an interdisciplinary approach. Scientists at EMBL have pioneered\u00a0genome-wide genetics<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0proteomics methods\u00a0<\/a>to explore gene functions and\u00a0\u00a0mechanisms of antimicrobial drug action<\/a>. Investigations into bacterial genomes have revealed\u00a0mechanisms of cell death and immunity against viruses<\/a>, paving the way for new strategies to combat bacterial pathogens. Additionally, EMBL research delves into environmental microbes, examining interactions\u00a0between soil microbes and protozoan predators<\/a>, the role of\u00a0marine microbes<\/a>,\u00a0genome packaging in archaea<\/a>, and\u00a0how microbes in extreme environments handle toxic metals<\/a>. Regardless of the specific microbiome, a fundamental goal of this theme is to understand how the composition of a microbiome may be modulated, whether to enhance a particular trait or to return the microbiome to its original state after perturbation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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