Editorial: Insights in extreme microbiology: 2021

Abstract

This Research Topic has turned into an experiment. Without prescribing a specific research area, and in doing so, giving carte blanche to the associate and review editors of the Extreme Microbiology section, we wondered who would respond, and what kinds of papers would be submitted? Now it is time to wrap up the experiment and to take stock. Research teams from eight countries (USA, Japan, China, India, South Korea, Germany, France, Argentina) published fifteen articles, eight of these by female first authors and/or senior authors. Three author teams have taken the opportunity to write synthesis papers and to formulate current and future perspectives on hydrothermal vent and subsurface microbiology. While the contributions to this special topic reflect the wide-ranging endeavors and the extensive scientific expertise of our associate and review editors, some shared themes are emerging. Hydrothermal vent microbiology emerges as one of the best-represented fields and accounts for seven articles; recognizably related themes are taken up by a review on the deep terrestrial subsurface. Five physiological studies explore individual protein function or complex gene expression responses in obligate or facultative extremophiles, and two studies explore spatially or temporally changing marine microbial assemblages. Without further ado, here is the harvest of the year 2021.