Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Microenvironments01:22

Microenvironments

1
Microorganisms inhabit highly localized spaces known as microenvironments, which are defined by distinct physical and chemical characteristics. These include oxygen concentration, pH, temperature, light availability, and nutrient levels. The conditions within a microenvironment can differ markedly from those in the surrounding area and significantly influence microbial growth, metabolism, and community structure.Microenvironments often display sharp physicochemical gradients over small spatial...
1
Introduction to Microbial Ecology01:28

Introduction to Microbial Ecology

5
Microbial ecology examines the complex web of interactions and diversity among microorganisms within various ecosystems. This field seeks to understand how microbial populations adapt to and influence their environments and how these interactions shape broader ecological processes. Microbes are integral to ecosystem function, participating in nutrient cycling, energy flow, and the maintenance of environmental homeostasis.An ecosystem represents a dynamic interaction between living organisms...
5
Methods to Assess Microbial Communities01:19

Methods to Assess Microbial Communities

2
Microbial communities, comprising bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotic microorganisms, inhabit diverse ecosystems and play crucial roles in environmental and biological processes. Their diversity is defined by three main parameters: species richness (the number of distinct species), species abundance (the relative quantity of each species), and species evenness (how uniformly individual species are distributed in various locations). These factors together shape the structure and ecological balance...
2
Marine Microbial Ecology01:30

Marine Microbial Ecology

1
Marine microbial ecosystems are shaped by distinct physicochemical limits, including high salinity, low nutrient availability, and fluctuating oxygen levels. These conditions favor smaller microbial cell sizes, which maximize their surface-to-volume ratio for efficient nutrient uptake.Microbial activity and community composition are closely linked to biogeochemical cycles, particularly in dynamic environments like estuaries, where halotolerant microbes thrive in response to variable salinity...
1
Microbial Interactions: Competition01:26

Microbial Interactions: Competition

6
Microbial competition is an ecological interaction in which microorganisms vie for limited resources within shared environments. These resources may include nutrients, space, or light, depending on the system. The intensity and outcome of competition are influenced by the environmental context, such as nutrient availability, spatial constraints, and the diversity of microbial species present. These competitive interactions significantly influence the structure, function, and resilience of...
6
Microbial Mats01:25

Microbial Mats

6
Microbial communities forming biofilms and mats represent complex, spatially structured ecosystems where metabolic processes are stratified according to light, oxygen, and nutrient gradients. Biofilms are initial colonization stages, only a few millimeters thick, while mature microbial mats can reach centimeter-scale thickness and display intricate vertical organization. Their structural and functional heterogeneity allows microorganisms to occupy distinct ecological niches within a few...
6

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Deep-sea anaerobic microbial communities couple degradation of insoluble chitin to extracellular electron transfer.

The ISME journal·2026
Same author

Endemic within endemics: the microbiota of the Galapagos marine iguanas.

ISME communications·2026
Same author

A universal surface functionalization technique to chemically enhance live microbial cells.

Molecular systems biology·2026
Same author

Complementary Bacterial Functions Enhance Mineralization of Aromatic Aliphatic Copolyesters within a Marine Microbial Consortium.

Environmental science & technology·2026
Same author

Niche partitioning by resource size in the gut microbiome.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

Vitamin auxotrophies shape microbial community assembly on model marine particles.

The ISME journal·2025
Same journal

S-layers as natural building blocks for nanobiotechnology and synthetic biology.

Current opinion in microbiology·2026
Same journal

The role of the antimicrobial peptide nisin as a clean label food preservative.

Current opinion in microbiology·2026
Same journal

From coarse-grained metabolic rules to fine-grained control of microbial communities.

Current opinion in microbiology·2026
Same journal

Progress in engineered bacterial cancer therapies.

Current opinion in microbiology·2026
Same journal

Constraints on adaptive loss-of-function mutations during microbial metabolic interactions.

Current opinion in microbiology·2026
Same journal

Discovery of novel antimicrobials within microbiomes.

Current opinion in microbiology·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Assembly and Tracking of Microbial Community Development within a Microwell Array Platform
09:24

Assembly and Tracking of Microbial Community Development within a Microwell Array Platform

Published on: June 6, 2017

9.7K

Microbial interactions and community assembly at microscales.

Otto X Cordero1, Manoshi S Datta2

  • 1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Computational and Systems Biology Graduate Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

Current Opinion in Microbiology
|May 28, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Microbial communities form aggregates where interactions drive population structure. Studying microscale spatial organization is key to understanding microbial community function and ecological performance.

More Related Videos

Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy
07:00

Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy

Published on: October 4, 2024

1.3K
Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations
07:40

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Published on: October 29, 2016

11.7K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Assembly and Tracking of Microbial Community Development within a Microwell Array Platform
09:24

Assembly and Tracking of Microbial Community Development within a Microwell Array Platform

Published on: June 6, 2017

9.7K
Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy
07:00

Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy

Published on: October 4, 2024

1.3K
Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations
07:40

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Published on: October 29, 2016

11.7K

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Ecology
  • Systems Biology

Background:

  • Microbial interactions predominantly occur within microscale cell aggregates (∼100μm).
  • These microscale interactions significantly influence population structure and dynamics.
  • Interspecific interactions, both cooperative and antagonistic, shape microbial community organization.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To emphasize the necessity of studying microscale spatial organization in microbial communities.
  • To highlight the role of interspecific interactions in driving community structure and function.
  • To propose strategies for high-throughput measurement of microbial spatial associations.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of microbial interactions within microscale cell aggregates.
  • Investigating spatial segregation and co-aggregation patterns of microbial taxa.
  • Developing high-throughput methods to measure statistical associations between taxa.

Main Results:

  • Co-aggregation of organisms exploiting interspecific interactions for ecological benefits.
  • Spatial segregation of antagonistic organisms, leading to distinct micro-communities.
  • Increased microbial diversity at larger scales due to microscale structuring.

Conclusions:

  • Microscale spatial organization is a critical determinant of microbial community function.
  • Understanding these spatial dynamics requires high-throughput measurement of taxon associations.
  • Future strategies should focus on capturing the complexity of microscale microbial interactions.