Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 15 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41579-026-01278-yIn this Journal Club, Mengcen Wang discusses papers that uncover chemical crosstalk between plants and their microbiota.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 12 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01271-xSwarte, Zhang and colleagues review the microbiome in solid-organ transplantation and allogeneic haematopoietic-stem-cell transplantation recipients, considering the effects of the intestinal environment, interactions between the microbiota and immunosuppressive drugs, and effects of dysbiosis on transplantation outcomes. The potential of microbiome-targeted interventions to improve transplantation outcomes is also discussed.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 05 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01268-6In this Review, Hajjar, Mars and Kashyap discuss the role of the microbiome in cancer development and progression and in treatment response. They also consider the potential of the microbiome as a therapeutic target and as a prognostic and predictive biomarker, and outline major knowledge gaps in the field.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 02 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01266-8In this Perspective, Garza et al. revisit the keystone concept and discuss its relevance for microbial keystone taxa and functions. For this, they explore the different mechanisms behind keystoneness, cover the strengths and weaknesses of current keystone prediction methods, present recent findings on keystone taxa and functions and explore the role of keystones in community control.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 05 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01268-6In this Review, Hajjar, Mars and Kashyap discuss the role of the microbiome in cancer development and progression and in treatment response. They also consider the potential of the microbiome as a therapeutic target and as a prognostic and predictive biomarker, and outline major knowledge gaps in the field.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 02 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01266-8In this Perspective, Garza et al. revisit the keystone concept and discuss its relevance for microbial keystone taxa and functions. For this, they explore the different mechanisms behind keystoneness, cover the strengths and weaknesses of current keystone prediction methods, present recent findings on keystone taxa and functions and explore the role of keystones in community control.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 17 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01273-9A study by Cazares et al. investigated recent plasmid evolution by sequencing plasmids from the Murray Collection (1917–1954) and comparing with modern genome sequences from public archives.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 17 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01276-6A study by Medina Ferrer and Nayak identifies an archaeal transcription factor in methanogenic archaea that functions as a one-component system, with a eukaryotic-like DNA-binding motif.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 16 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01272-wThis study reports the structure, specificity and genotoxic activity of colibactin.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 15 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01275-7A recent study investigated the effect of herpes zoster vaccination at different stages of the dementia disease course.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 15 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01274-8A recent study investigated the effects of chemical pollutants on human gut bacteria in vitro.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 11 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01263-xUnderstanding the emergence, evolution and spread of viral pathogens is central to improving global health. This Focus issue highlights advances in our understanding of evolving viral pathogens and the surveillance and preparedness strategies that are needed to control them.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 17 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01273-9A study by Cazares et al. investigated recent plasmid evolution by sequencing plasmids from the Murray Collection (1917–1954) and comparing with modern genome sequences from public archives.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 17 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01276-6A study by Medina Ferrer and Nayak identifies an archaeal transcription factor in methanogenic archaea that functions as a one-component system, with a eukaryotic-like DNA-binding motif.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 16 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01272-wThis study reports the structure, specificity and genotoxic activity of colibactin.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 09 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01270-yThis Genome Watch discusses the great biosynthetic capacity that has been identified in marine environmental and host-associated microbiomes, along with approaches to facilitate research into these diverse and resource-rich microbial communities.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 09 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01269-5This study reports that the commensal gut bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron establishes distinct subpopulations in response to two secreted, self-targeting effector proteins.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 15 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01274-8A recent study investigated the effects of chemical pollutants on human gut bacteria in vitro.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 15 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01275-7A recent study investigated the effect of herpes zoster vaccination at different stages of the dementia disease course.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 11 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01263-xUnderstanding the emergence, evolution and spread of viral pathogens is central to improving global health. This Focus issue highlights advances in our understanding of evolving viral pathogens and the surveillance and preparedness strategies that are needed to control them.

Viral pathogen evolution and global health

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 09 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01270-yThis Genome Watch discusses the great biosynthetic capacity that has been identified in marine environmental and host-associated microbiomes, along with approaches to facilitate research into these diverse and resource-rich microbial communities.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 09 December 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01269-5This study reports that the commensal gut bacterium Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron establishes distinct subpopulations in response to two secreted, self-targeting effector proteins.

Nature Reviews Microbiology, Published online: 20 November 2025; doi:10.1038/s41579-025-01267-7This paper reports week 96 efficacy and safety findings from a multicentre, open-label phase IIIb trial of intramuscular cabotegravir and rilpivirine in adults living with HIV from Uganda, Kenya and South Africa.