Last Minute Lecture

Microbial Ecosystems: Soil, Water, and Extreme Environments | Chapter 20 Summary from Brock Biology of Microorganisms Microbes are the engines of Earth's ecosystems, thriving in environments as diverse as sunlit soils and boiling hydrothermal vents. Chapter 20 of Brock Biology of Microorganisms explores how microbes assemble into communities, adapt to steep environmental gradients, and participate in essential nutrient cycles. This chapter highlights the ecological principles, community structures, and investigative techniques that reveal the unseen microbial dynamics in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Watch the full podcast summary below and subscribe to Last Minute Lecture for detailed, high-yield chapter reviews. Microbial Communities and Niches Microorganisms do not live in isolation; they form complex systems: Populations of similar microbes occupy specific niches . Communities include multiple populations interacting in space and time. Guilds ar...

Measuring Microbial Systems — FISH, SIP, Metagenomics & Multi-Omics Explained | Chapter 19 from Brock Biology of Microorganisms Microbial communities are foundational to Earth's ecosystems, yet much of their activity remains invisible without the right tools. Chapter 19 of Brock Biology of Microorganisms explores the diverse methodologies used to study microbes in their natural environments—linking microbial identity to function at both community and single-cell levels. The chapter integrates traditional culturing with state-of-the-art approaches like stable isotope probing (SIP), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), single-cell genomics, and multi-omics to provide a comprehensive view of microbial ecology. Watch our in-depth video summary below and subscribe to Last Minute Lecture for clear, concise, and complete breakdowns of Brock Biology chapters. Culture-Dependent Methods Enrichment Cultures Selective media can be used to grow microbes with specific...

Genomics, Synthetic Biology, and Evolution | Chapter 10 of Brock Biology of Microorganisms Welcome to Last Minute Lecture . This post summarizes Chapter 10 of Brock Biology of Microorganisms , which focuses on how genomics and other omics technologies revolutionize our understanding of microbes. Learn how DNA sequencing, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and systems biology give us a complete view of microbial life — from single-cell analysis to environmental communities. 🎥 Watch the full podcast summary here: This chapter is critical for students interested in modern microbiology, bioinformatics, and synthetic biology applications in research and health. Genomics and Genome Annotation Sequencing technologies: Sanger, Illumina, Nanopore Genome assembly builds contigs and scaffolds from reads Annotation predicts gene functions using tools like BLAST Genome size in prokaryotes ≈ gene count (~1000 ORFs/Mbp) Public repositories: GenBank, GOLD Functio...