Survivability of Microbes in Natural Environments and Their Ecological Impacts

Microbiology often focuses on the growth properties or physiological capabilities of microbes. However, most microbes in the natural environment are not actively growing. As has been proposed for plants, microbial life strategies should consider stress tolerance as well as competitive relationships and physiological and biological disturbance (19). Reports studying microbial communities in oligotrophic or nutrient-limited environments have increased recently, e.g. (10), (21), and (41). How do microbes live? Do they mostly simply do nothing? Recent reports on microbial survivability, introduced in this Research Highlight, are providing informative answers for these questions, and discovering new aspects of microbial ecosystems.