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Microbe Profiles

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Microbe Profiles
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Microbiology is now publishing ‘Microbe Profiles’ – concise, review-type articles that provide overviews of the classification, structure and properties of microbes, written by leading microbiologists. These profiles will provide insights into key microbes within the field. 

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    • Microbe Profile: : natural products and the evolution of a unique marine bacterium

      was originally cultured from tropical marine sediments and described as the first obligate marine actinomycete genus. Soon after its discovery, it yielded the potent proteasome inhibitor salinosporamide A, a structurally novel natural product that is currently in phase III clinical trials for the treatment of cancer. If approved, it will be the first natural product derived from a cultured marine microbe to achieve clinical relevance. produces many other biologically active natural products, including some linked to chemical defence, thus providing ecological context for their production. However, genomic analyses reveal that most natural product biosynthetic gene clusters remain orphan, suggesting that more compounds await discovery. The abundance of biosynthetic gene clusters in supports the concept that the small molecules they encode serve important ecological functions, while their evolutionary histories suggest a potential role in promoting diversification. Better insights into the ecological functions of microbial natural products will help inform future discovery efforts.

    • Microbe Profile: a burlesque of pigments and phenotypes

      The streptomycetes are soil-dwelling bacteria that are found in soil everywhere on Earth: the molecule geosmin, which they produce as part of their life cycle, is what gives soil its familiar ‘earthy’ smell. The species is best known for the production of biologically active small molecules called ‘natural products’. These molecules are the source of most of our antibiotics and anti-fungals, as well as many other drugs. The streptomycetes have a filamentous form rather than the more familiar rod-shaped spirochete and coccoid forms. They exhibit a complex life cycle and sporulation mechanism involving several differentiated cell types, each having specific roles in the colony life history. is an important model system for this genus – research on this bacterium has provided foundational information for all of these fascinating processes.

    • Microbe Profile: Saccharomyces eubayanus, the missing link to lager beer yeasts

      Saccharomyces eubayanus was described less than 10 years ago and its discovery settled the long-lasting debate on the origins of the cold-tolerant yeast responsible for lager beer fermentation. The largest share of the genetic diversity of S. eubayanus is located in South America, and strains of this species have not yet been found in Europe. One or more hybridization events between S. eubayanus and S. cerevisiae ale beer strains gave rise to S. pastorianus, the allopolyploid yeasts responsible for lager beer production worldwide. The identification of the missing progenitor of lager yeast opened new avenues for brewing yeast research. It allowed not only the selective breeding of new lager strains, but revealed also a wild yeast with interesting brewing abilities so that a beer solely fermented by S. eubayanus is currently on the market.

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