Soil, the living terrestrial skin of the Earth, plays a central role in supporting life and is home
to an unimaginable diversity of microorganisms. This review explores key drivers for …

The discovery of new antibiotics is mandatory with regard to the increasing number of
resistant pathogens. One approach is the search for new antibiotic producers in nature …

Microorganisms do not work alone but instead function as collaborative microsocieties. The
spatial distribution of different bacterial strains (micro-biogeography) in a shared volumetric …

Intrinsic rates of genetic mutation have diverged greatly across taxa and exhibit statistical
associations with several other parameters and features. These include effective population …

Bacteria perform cooperative behaviors that are exploitable by noncooperative cheats, and
cheats frequently arise and coexist with cooperators in laboratory microcosms. However …

The composition of cooperative systems, including animal societies, organismal bodies, and
microbial groups, reflects their past and shapes their future evolution. However, genomic …

Many species form distinct social groups that provide fitness advantages to individuals.
However, the evolutionary processes that generate new social groups are not well …

Many microbes produce stress-resistant spores to survive unfavorable conditions [1–4] and
enhance dispersal [1, 5]. Cooperative behavior is integral to the process of spore formation …

Many cooperative species form internally diverse social groups in which individual fitness
depends significantly on group-level productivity from cooperation [1–4]. For such species …

In heterogenous, spatially structured habitats, individuals within populations can become
adapted to the prevailing conditions in their local environment. Such local adaptation has …