The interplay between microevolution and community structure in microbial populations

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Highlights► The action of industrial processes depends on microbial community structure. ► Microbes evolve very rapidly. ► Microbial evolution is affected by community structure. ► Community structure is affected by microbial evolution. ► This feedback may be crucial when considering microbial communities in industry.     

Microbe–microbe interactions in mixed culture food fermentations

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Highlights► Microbial interactions in food fermentations are crucial for product functionality. ► Complex microbial consortia tolerate more variation in the environment. ► Knowledge of communities of fermenting microbes drives diversification of starter cultures. ► Use of complex starter cultures requires new propagation methodologies. ► Immobilised cell technology is a high potential solution for propagating complex cultures.     

Pangenomics – an avenue to improved industrial starter cultures and probiotics

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Highlights► Genome sequencing is an efficient, cost-effective way of characterizing microbes. ► Pangenome analysis gives new insight into texture formation in yoghurt. ► Pangenome analysis of probiotic strains has identified new effect or molecules. ► Pangenome analysis gives insight into probiotic–host specificity. ► Future perspectives include improved strains for food fermentations and probiotics.     

Progress in understanding and engineering primary plant metabolism

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Highlights► Crop yield depends on efficiency of conversion of light energy into biomass. ► Models have estimated energy conversion efficiency in photosynthesis and metabolism. ► Research is exploring strategies to modify or suppress photorespiration. ► Energy loss during conversion of photosynthate to biomass is also large ► Research is addressing uncertainties over where these losses occur.     

Metabolomics platforms for genome wide association studies—linking the genome to the metabolome

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Highlights► Genome-wide association studies with metabolomics constitute mGWAS. ► mGWAS provide insights into genetic and environmental impact on metabolic processes. ► We review essential strategies for mGWAS. ► Examples of mGWAS in large cohort studies are discussed.     

Engineering nanoscale protein compartments for synthetic organelles

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Highlights► Enzymes can be directed into compartments to create nanobioreactors in bacteria. ► Crystal structures of shell proteins suggest that pores enable selective diffusion. ► Specific peptide sequences target heterologous proteins for encapsulation.     

Photocrosslinking approaches to interactome mapping

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Highlights► Photocrosslinking provides insight into context-dependent interactions. ► Interactome dynamics can be determined by photocrosslinking. ► Use of photocrosslinkers defines specific interaction interfaces within large complexes. ► Crosslinking captures transient interaction complexes containing IDPs and glycoproteins.     

Human milk and related oligosaccharides as prebiotics

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Highlights► The intestinal microbiome is recognized as an important determinant of health. ► Galacto-oligosaccharides are non-digestible carbohydrates. ► Galacto-oligosaccharides stimulate growth and activity of gut bacteria. ► Subtle differences in structure can result in significant differences in activity. ► Less abundant oligosaccharides from bovine milk are similar to those from human milk.     

Engineering the antioxidative properties of lactic acid bacteria for improving its robustness

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Highlights► Thiol compounds (glutathione) protect LAB from multiple environmental stresses. ► Engineering antioxidative properties of LAB can improve the overall robustness. ► Genomics approaches helped to reveal the molecular mechanism of stress response.     

Metagenomics of microbial life in extreme temperature environments

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Highlights► Metagenomic microbial community characterization. ► Extreme environment microbiology. ► High and low temperature adaptation.     

Network,nodes and nexus: systems approach to multitarget therapeutics

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Highlights► Complex diseases are an outcome of multiple triggers that precipitate into similar phenotypes. ► Systems level understanding can reveal dynamic aspects of disease progression profile. ► Correlation of metabolic remodeling to phenotypic alteration can delineate critical nodes of interventions. ► Multitargeting of key nodes of metabolic networks can be an effective therapeutic strategy. ► Robust and high-throughput data integration in conjunction with simulation would make the drug discovery process more efficient.     

Pathway and protein engineering approaches to produce novel and commodity small molecules

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Highlights► Production of novel pharmaceutical and commodity chemicals. ► Protein and pathway engineering pave the way for product diversifications. ► ‘Omics’ data have helped assembly of pathways from different species. ► Recombination of enzymatic domains and site-directed mutagenesis. ► Tunable control of pathways for better production.     

Subcommunity FTIR-spectroscopy to determine physiological cell states

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Highlights► FTIR spectroscopy for the analysis of the biochemical composition of phytoplankton. ► Cell separation by sorting for subsequent FTIR analysis. ► Measurement from subcommunities of natural phytoplankton samples. ► Physiological traits investigated by interpretation of FTIR spectra. ► Under the phytoplankton cell response to abiotic and biotic conditions.     

Clawing back: broadening the notion of metal chelators in medicine

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Highlights► Not all chelators are the same: more than metal sequestration and elimination. ► Metal chelates can redistribute metals across biological membranes. ► Metal-chelating fragments provide leads for metalloenzyme inhibition. ► Metal chelation can enhance metal reactivity and thus cytotoxicity. ► Prochelators provide site-activated metal chelation and passivation.     

The emerging field of transport engineering of plant specialized metabolites

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Highlights► Transport engineering has the potential to increase nutritional value of crops. ► Transport engineering can increase yield of synthetic biology approaches. ► Neo-functionalization of primary metabolite transporters to specialized metabolism. ► Elimination of glucosinolate seed accumulation is achieved via transport engineering. ► Glucosinolates in Arabidopsis: a model for transport of specialized metabolites.     

Progress toward single cell metabolomics

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Highlights► Single cell metabolomics provides information on the heterogeneity of populations of cells. ► Current technologies allow hundreds of metabolites to be measured from a single cell. ► Quantitative metabolome information at the single cell level aids systems biology modeling. ► Sample preparation remains a significant challenge in single cell metabolomics.     

Nanotechnology meets electrophysiology

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Highlights► We focus on the latest developments in nanotechnology-based electrophysiology. ► Methods for extracellular recording via nanoFET-based devices are described. ► Metal nanoelectrodes for the recording of electrogenic cells are reviewed. ► The latest developments of intracellular FET-based probes are shortly covered. ► Pioneering electrical scaffold devices for the interfacing with tissues are described.     

Advances in monitoring environmental microbes

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Highlights► Environmental DNA and RNA provide unique insights into microbial communities. ► The techniques and methods may bias conclusions, since the biases are multiplicative. ► Multiple lines of ecogenomic evidence are thus needed for all study conclusions.