Microbiology Today: Soil

07 May 2015

The United Nations General Assembly has designated 2015 International Year of Soils to raise awareness of the importance of soil to human existence and to widen the understanding and function of soil and soil ‘health’. To tie in with this initiative the May issue of Microbiology Today, the Society’s quarterly magazine, focuses on soil.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s words “we know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot” echo through the magazine because there is so much still to learn about soil and the microbes within it. Soil is a source of life-saving therapeutics, from microbes such as Streptomyces spp but is also the home of hazardous microbes such as Clostridium tetani that can cause tetanus in humans, and many other as yet unknown organisms that could help or hinder humanity. 

This issue contains a range of articles highlighting: the magnitude of study involved in uncovering the array of microbial life in the soil; how soil functions as the foundation of many ecosystems; the terminology and techniques helping pinpoint microbial targets for analysis; the careful balance between protecting soil life and human life; and one of the key molecules responsible for giving soil its evocative smell.

In addition to the themed articles, there is a Comment piece on how microbes are helping forensic scientists determine time of death post-mortem, information about the new Society journal, Microbial Genomics, and an in-depth Schoolzone and Outreach special on the Small World Initiative, a global project to discover new antibiotics from soil bacteria – find out how you can get involved.

Visit the Current issue page in the Microbiology Today section to access the latest issue.