Microbial Ecology podcasts

Evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers joins Steven Strogatz to explore how mycorrhizal fungi exchange nutrients with plants and influence soil carbon storage. The conversation examines decentralized resource allocation, partnerships between fungi and roots, and experiments using fluorescent tracers and imaging robots to observe underground networks. Kiers also describes efforts to map fungal biodiversity and protect these ecosystems.

Hosted by Steven Strogatz, Janna Levin

This edition of The Science Show covers extinct big cats and early humans, the material properties behind durable Roman concrete, the history of technological disruption by space weather, and methane-consuming microorganisms living in tree bark.

Hosted by Robyn Williams, Belinda Smith

Science journalists discuss why the food-borne illness cyclosporiasis is difficult to track and a new map of a major highway in the human nervous system. Leslie Chan then explains an ingestible metabolic probe that detects gut-microbiome enzyme activity from volatile signals in the breath.

The hosts discuss nitrogen fixation in a marine alga and the evidence for a nitrogen-fixing organelle. Related topics include plastic pollution, antimicrobial resistance and the rumen microbiome. The episode links microbial evolution and physiology with marine nutrient cycling.

Hosted by Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt

Bonnie Bassler explains how bacteria detect signals from their surroundings and coordinate behaviour through quorum sensing. Chemical communication allows microbes to sense nearby populations and undertake collective activities that individual cells could not accomplish alone. The discussion examines bacterial information processing and the consequences of these coordinated behaviours, including within the human body.

Hosted by Sean Carroll