Diversity and functional landscapes in the microbiota of animals in the wild.

Animals in the wild are able to subsist on pathogen-infected and poisonous food and show immunity to various diseases. These may be due to their microbiota, yet we have a poor understanding of animal microbial diversity and function. We used metagenomics to analyze the gut microbiota of more than 180 species in the wild, covering diverse classes, feeding behaviors, geographies, and traits.

A symbiotic-like biologically-driven regenerating fabric.

Living organisms constantly maintain their structural and biochemical integrity by the critical means of response, healing, and regeneration. Inanimate objects, on the other hand, are axiomatically considered incapable of responding to damage and healing it, leading to the profound negative environmental impact of their continuous manufacturing and trashing. Objects with such biological properties would be a significant step towards sustainable technology.

Resolving biofilm topography by native scanning electron microscopy.

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a powerful tool for structural analysis, but it requires biological samples to undergo lengthy, chemically-complex multi-step preparation procedures, arguably altering some features in the sample. Here we report an ultra-rapid and chemical-free technique for visualizing bacterial biofilms at their native state. Our technique minimizes the time interval from culture to imaging to approximately 20 min, while producing high-resolution images that enable the detection of a variety of topographic features such as bacterial chains, and resolving cells from matrix.