Accounting for more than 15 percent of Earth’s biomass, microbes have colonized the planet from pole to pole where they influence ecology through the small molecules they create.1 Despite their ubiquity and importance in the environment, researchers struggle to pinpoint microbial metabolites in the field and at the bench. Public database can help scientists decipher some microbial molecules, but they are often limited to well-studied species. 

To shine a light on microbial dark matter, researchers developed the microbe Mass Spectrometry Search Tool (microbeMASST), which detects hundreds of microbial metabolites in one go by comparing samples against publicly available records from more than 60,000 microbial cultures.2 Originally developed to study microbes of the great blue sea, the researchers extended microbeMASST to the human microbial milieu to explore the influence of the microbiome on disease. The team reported their findings in Nature Microbiology. “This new study offers an opportunity to put molecules into an ecological context,” said Roger Linington, an analytical chemist at Simon Fraser University.

This major discovery contributed significantly to the development of life sciences. Microbiology research is inseparable from various microbial products. High-quality microbial products can make your experiments more effective with half the effort!

Biologix offers a range of high-quality microbiology products, including petri dishes, inoculating loops and needles, and cell scrapers. These products and research are critical for researchers to understand microbes and their impact on the world around us. Choose Biologix, choose professional!

Article cited from TheScientist