Historic Danish research sheds unique light on the microbial world

By Simon Danneskiold-Samsøe, AAU Communication and Public Affairs
Photo: Aalborg University

Microflora Danica is the world's first national atlas of the microorganisms of the environment and maps more than 140,000 bacterial species, the majority of which are new to science. This will have a large impact on how we understand the natural systems in Denmark. 

Microorganisms are nature's hidden engine and control carbon and nitrogen cycles, affect greenhouse gas emissions and are essential for soil fertility and water quality. The new research can thus be an enormous help to nature restoration projects across the country.

"We now know the composition of microorganisms in both natural systems and areas impacted by humans, and we can see, for example, that the diversity of microorganisms is significantly lower in agricultural areas, cities and parks than in natural systems. We have also gained completely new insight into the bacteria involved in the metabolism of nitrogen and the formation of greenhouse gases. This can have a major impact on land conversion, nature restoration projects and the way we use land," says Per Halkjær Nielsen, Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience at Aalborg University.

Explorers in the world of microbes

Microflora Danica and the mapping of Denmark's microbiome is by far the world's largest study of its kind. A total of 10,683 samples were collected from all over the country – from fields and forests to lakes, coastal areas and urban environments. This was done with the help of a large team from Aalborg University and a large number of partners all over Denmark.

The samples were analyzed with DNA sequencing to identify the microorganisms and coupled with detailed descriptions of the sampling areas. The combination provides a clear picture of how microorganisms are distributed in Denmark as well as groundbreaking insight into how our landscape works.

"Initially, it’s simply a matter of figuring out what the microscopic landscape and life look like. This was an enormous task and absolutely fantastic to help fill in the blanks on the map. I consider us explorers in the world of microbes, and now the first part of the journey is over. The next step will be to look at what we should do differently in light of the new knowledge, and it depends to a large extent on the characteristics of the individual species. There is a lot of exciting work ahead of us yet," says Mads Albertsen, Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience at Aalborg University.

Microflora Danica was published in the internationally renowned scientific journal Nature and you can read the full article here.