Microbiomes Let Giant Shipworms, Desert Woodrats Conduct Exotic Life Styles

Kuphus polythalamia, a giant among the bivalve shipworms, or Teredinidae, departs from other family members in terms of how it relies on its microbiome to survive in a challenging environment, according to Daniel Distel of Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. Exotic in other ways, woodrats living in Southwestern U.S. deserts rely on their microbiomes to thrive on plants that harbor otherwise harmful toxins, according to Denise Dearing of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. They and other scientists presented their recent findings at a symposium, “Expanding Host Capabilities through the Microbiome,” during the 2016 ASM Microbe Meeting, held last June in Boston.