Environmental microbiology – the next 20 years: bioconnectivity and meta'omics 2.0

Timmis, Kenneth N.

doi:10.1111/1462-2920.14236

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In fact, connectivity at all scales is a characteristic of biological systems (e.g. see Timmis, 2018). Connectivity is a crucial feature of healthy soils because it allows communication over distance in mostly patchy, discontinuous habitats, and facilitates maintenance of diversity and adaptation and optimization of community life to the terroir.…”

Section: Soil Is the Most Important Microbiome Reservoirmentioning

confidence: 99%

The soil crisis: the need to treat as a global health problem and the pivotal role of microbes in prophylaxis and therapy

Timmis

Ramos

2021

Microbial Biotechnology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SummarySoil provides a multitude of services that are essential to a healthily functioning biosphere and continuity of the human race, such as feeding the growing human population and the sequestration of carbon needed to counteract global warming. Healthy soil availability is the limiting parameter in the provision of a number of these services. As a result of anthropogenic abuses, and natural and global warming‐promoted extreme weather events, Planet Earth is currently experiencing an unprecedented crisis of soil deterioration, desertification and erosive loss that increasingly prejudices the services it provides. Such services are pivotal to the Sustainability Development Goals formulated by the United Nations. Immediate and coordinated action on a global scale is urgently required to slow and ultimately reverse the loss of healthy soils.Despite the ‘dirt‐dust’, non‐vital appearance of soil, it is a highly dynamic living entity, whose life is overwhelmingly microbial. The soil microbiota, which constitutes the greatest reservoir and donor of microbial diversity on Earth, acts as a vast bioreactor, mediating a myriad of chemical reactions that turn the biogeochemical cycles, recycle wastes, purify water, and underpin the multitude of other services soil provides. Fuelling the belowground microbial bioreactor is the aboveground plant and photosynthetic surface microbial life which captures solar energy, fixes inorganic CO2 to organic carbon, and channels fixed carbon and energy into soil.In order to muster an effective response to the crisis, to avoid further deterioration, and to restore unhealthy soils, we need a new and coherent approach, namely to deal with soils worldwide as patients in need of health care and create (i) a public health system for development of effective policies for land use, conservation, restoration, recommendations of prophylactic measures, monitoring and identification of problems (epidemiology), organizing crisis responses, etc., and (ii) a healthcare system charged with soil care: the promotion of good practices, implementation of prophylaxis measures, and institution of therapies for treatment of unhealthy soils and restoration of drylands. These systems need to be national but there is also a desperate need for international coordination. To enable development of effective, evidence‐based strategies that will underpin the efforts of soil healthcare systems, a substantial investment in wide‐ranging interdisciplinary research on soil health and disease is mandatory. This must lead to a level of understanding of the soil:biota functionalities underlying key ecosystem services that enables formulation of effective diagnosis‐prophylaxis‐therapy pathways for sustainable use, protection and restoration of different types of soil resources in different climatic zones. These conservation‐regenerative‐restorative measures need to be complemented by an educative‐political‐economic‐legislative framework that provides incentives encouraging soil care: knowledge, policy, economic and others, and laws which promote international adherence to the principles of restorative soil management. And: we must all be engaged in improving soil health; everyone has a duty of care (https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/why‐soil‐is‐one‐of‐the‐most‐amazing‐things‐on‐eart/p090cf64). Creative application of microbes, microbiomes and microbial biotechnology will be central to the successful operation of the healthcare systems.

show abstract

Section: Soil Is the Most Important Microbiome Reservoirmentioning

confidence: 99%

The soil crisis: the need to treat as a global health problem and the pivotal role of microbes in prophylaxis and therapy

Timmis

Ramos

2021

Microbial Biotechnology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Protein interaction and protein modification reveal the fermentation mechanism in depth. Proteins are modified during TFFB fermentation in different environments (Gagnaire, Jardin, Jan, & Lortal, 2009), and the interactions between proteins can maintain or affect the fermentation process (Timmis, 2018). Through the descriptive and comparative analysis of metaproteomes in TFFB, further analysis of the regulatory relationship between protein posttranslational modifications and metabolites, and of the interactions between proteins, can extensively explain the regulatory mechanisms of proteins in the TFFB fermentation process as well as product quality.…”

Section: Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metaproteomics insights into traditional fermented foods and beverages

Yang

Fan

2020

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Traditional fermented foods and beverages (TFFB) are important dietary components. Multi‐omics techniques have been applied to all aspects of TFFB research to clarify the composition and nutritional value of TFFB, and to reveal the microbial community, microbial interactions, fermentative kinetics, and metabolic profiles during the fermentation process of TFFB. Because of the advantages of metaproteomics in providing functional information, this technology has increasingly been used in research to assess the functional diversity of microbial communities. Metaproteomics is gradually gaining attention in the field of TFFB research because it can reveal the nature of microorganism function at the protein level. This paper reviews the common methods of metaproteomics applied in TFFB research; systematically summarizes the results of metaproteomics research on TFFB, such as sauces, wines, fermented tea, cheese, and fermented fish; and compares the differences in conclusions reached through metaproteomics versus other omics methods. Metaproteomics has great advantages in revealing the microbial functions in TFFB and the interaction between the materials and microbial community. In the future, metaproteomics should be further applied to the study of functional protein markers and protein interaction in TFFB; multi‐omics technology requires further integration to reveal the molecular nature of TFFB fermentation.

show abstract

“…But this evening, since we have already written about the Journals (Timmis & Timmis, 2017, 2018a, 2018b) and my vision of the future of environmental microbiology and microbial biotechnology research (Timmis, 2018; Timmis et al, 2022), rather than discuss the journals, I should like to say a few words about ‘Microbiology education and human stewardship of Planet Earth’.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I particularly wish to thank Juan Luis for his outstanding and crucial contributions to the success of the journals, and for accepting to take over the task of EiC: he will take the journals to new heights not yet seen! But this evening, since we have already written about the Journals , 2018a, 2018b and my vision of the future of environmental microbiology and microbial biotechnology research (Timmis, 2018;, rather than discuss the journals, I should like to say a few words about 'Microbiology education and human stewardship of Planet Earth'.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental microbiology – the next 20 years: bioconnectivity and meta'omics 2.0

Cited by 3 publications

References 33 publications

The soil crisis: the need to treat as a global health problem and the pivotal role of microbes in prophylaxis and therapy

The soil crisis: the need to treat as a global health problem and the pivotal role of microbes in prophylaxis and therapy

Metaproteomics insights into traditional fermented foods and beverages

Microbiology education and human stewardship of Planet Earth: The generational contract

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About