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Anaerobic clinical microbiology remains a challenge due to specialist culture requirements, coupled with the increase in and spread of antimicrobial resistance. The normal human microbiota is primarily composed of anaerobic bacteria, and is now recognised as a source of life-threatening anaerobic infection. More recent metataxonomic and metagenomic sequencing has extended interest in the potential role of the microbiota in a plethora of other aspects of human health, from obesity to mental health. In addition, the successful use of faecal microbiota transplants for the treatment of clostridial infection raises potential unchartered long-term consequences and possibilities.

In conjunction with Anaerobe 2019 and Anaerobe 2021, this collection will provide scientific insights into the future impact of anaerobic bacteria in human health and disease, addressing the implications of recent microbiota studies as well as the continued threat of emerging and re-emerging anaerobic infection.

This collection is open for submissions – please submit your article here, stating that your manuscript is part of the Anaerobe collection.

Bacteria are found in every environment and live in complex communities, which are characterized by large densities and diverse compositions. In these microbiomes, bacteria constantly compete for resources, such as nutrients, space and oxygen. Bacteria use a vast arsenal to eliminate their competitors, from elaborate contact-dependent nano-harpoons to small diffusible toxic compounds. In addition to producing these, oftentimes, elaborate weapons, bacteria also employ a range of collective behaviors that, in turn, allow them to carefully regulate weapon production, coordinate their attack strategies with their clonemates, and distinguish friends from foe. In essence, these microscopic warriors take advantage of complex regulation and interbacterial interaction mechanisms to balance the costs of weapon production and deployment with the benefits of gaining precious resources. As such, they manage to not only survive in their highly competitive microcosms, but to also build stable communities that are often crucial for the health of their animal, plant and human hosts.

Over the years, Microbiology has published many studies that have expanded our understanding of the competitive mechanisms bacteria use to thrive in their niches, including, but not limited to, the molecular characterization of toxins or secretion systems and the investigation of interbacterial competition at the organismal level. Here, we take the opportunity to celebrate the journal’s transition to fully Open Access with a special collection of articles that highlights some of the most important areas of current research in this vibrant research field. This collection is guest edited by Professor Despoina A.I. Mavridou (The University of Texas at Austin, USA), Professor Tracy Palmer (Newcastle University, UK) and Dr Sabrina L. Slater (The University of Texas at Austin, USA).

Image shows three differentially labelled Escherichia coli colonies, each of which is producing a different colicin toxin. Colicins are part of the bacteriocin toxin family, an ensemble of diffusible proteinaceous toxins that bacteria release, usually by lysis, to kill phylogenetically similar strains and species. Bacterial killing can be seen characteristically as an area of clearance at the edge of two of the three colonies. Courtesy of Despoina A.I. Mavridou (The University of Texas at Austin).

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can infect a range of hosts. They are known to cause diseases including the common cold, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in humans.

In January 2020, China saw an outbreak of a new coronavirus strain now named SARS-CoV-2. Although the animal reservoir for the SARS and MERS viruses are known, this has yet to have been confirmed for SARS-CoV-2. All three strains are transmissible between humans.

To allow the widest possible distribution of relevant research, the Microbiology Society has brought together articles from across our portfolio and made this content freely available.

Image credit: "MERS-CoV" by NIAID is licensed under CC BY 2.0, this image has been modified.

Each year, the Microbiology Society Council offer Honorary Membership to distinguished microbiologists who have made a significant contribution to the science. In 2019, David J. Rowlands (Emeritus Professor of Virology, University of Leeds) was appointed an Honorary Member.

This collection brings together Journal of General Virology articles authored by David Rowlands.  

Over the last two decades, genome sequencing has become an important tool for understanding and tracking the spread of pathogens. Genomic epidemiology is now a preferred method of surveillance and recent years have seen pathogen sequencing at an unprecedented scale, pushing the underlying technologies to the limit. This has brought major innovations and opportunities to public attention, as well as identifying new research areas. However, major challenges remain in public health settings. These include: incorporating new sequencing technologies and data types for real-time surveillance; developing platforms and nomenclatures for genome-based typing and epidemiology; understanding pathogen evolution and the emergence of virulence and antimicrobial resistance; contextualizing knowledge of clinical microbiology with One Health ecological genomics. In this collection, we bring together recent studies that are establishing pathogen genomics as a major part of contemporary disease control efforts.

The skin is our biggest organ and a primary protective barrier from pathogens. The microbiome of this highly varied environment is now being described in unprecedented detail, revealing complex multispecies communities that play important roles in skin health, the development of the immune system and in wound healing. This collection aims to bring together knowledge of what these microbes are, how they colonise this often nutrient poor and challenging niche, and how they work together to suppress the growth of pathogens, while in themselves also being potential accidental pathogens if the skin barrier is broken.