Revealing the metabolic activity of microbial communities: New method for tracing carbon flux

Microbial communities are performing important functions all around us -- from the earth in our flowerpots to the human gut. Now researchers have developed a method for studying the metabolic functions of microbial communities in detail. It is now possible for the first time, thanks to a new algorithm, to use the incorporation of stable carbon isotopes into proteins to investigate natural remineralization processes in much greater detail, to identify relevant key species and to study the way they interact in complex decomposition processes.

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