Fatty acid research pervades numerous processes in the industrial world. It has relevance to biofuels, surfactants, soaps, paints, plastics, cosmetics, insecticides and disinfectants and it is hard to escape the hoopla associated with polyunsaturatesand the many foods and dietary supplements containing omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The focus of this latest SBB Citation Classic article is more prosaic and receives somewhat less media attention - even though interrogating the soil microbial community is of great and increasing significance to our understanding and stewardship of the environment. This is because the composition and activities of the soil microbial world govern elemental cycles and the development and retention of soil fertility –processes that are under the onslaught of climate change and may not prove as robust and resilient as once believed.
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