Microbial Ecology and Genomics

A microbial mystery in the Namib desert

Posted on May 31, 2016

Scientists from the Centre of Microbial Ecology and Genomics have shed more light on the enigmatic fairy circles of the Namib Desert. In 2014, Jean-Baptiste and collegues from CMEG revealed, for the first time, the involvement of microbial communities in the Namib Desert fairy circles.

In this new study, Andries Van der Walt and collegues suggest that microorganisms are responsible for the death of plants, a process termed phytopathogenisis and are thus important for the formation and maintenance of fairy circles in the region.

For more information, please click the link:

http://mbioblog.asm.org/mbiosphere/2016/05/a-microbial-mystery-in-the-namib-desert.html

- Author Alacia Armstrong

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