Seeing the Invisible: Opportunities and Challenges in Studying Microbial Life in Hotspots

Microbial life in soils is highly heterogeneous in space and time, as the intensity of microbial activities and processes depends strongly on the availability of nutrients and water, as well as a wide range of environmental factors. Identifying these hotspots requires high-resolution approaches, which can be achieved using advanced soil imaging techniques. In parallel, molecular methods provide powerful tools to characterize the microbial community structure and functional potential within these regions.In this talk, I will present the opportunities and challenges associated with soil zymography for detecting microbial hotspots by mapping the activity of enzymes directly in soil over time and space. Additionally, I will demonstrate how molecular techniques, such as DNA sequencing, can be employed to identify the dominant microbial species inhabiting particular hotspots and determine which microorganisms are active and what functions they perform. Finally, I will discuss how co-localizing different imaging approaches combined with molecular methods can help to distinguish between microbial strategies for acquiring nutrients, offering new insights into how soil microbes drive key ecosystem processes.