- News & Views
- Published:
Biological wastewater treatment
Subjects
Microbial consortia underpin biological wastewater treatment, but controlling cooperative metabolism remains challenging. Mesoscale confinement modulates porin transport and metabolite enrichment, boosting pollutant removal and resource recovery.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References
-
El-Chichakli, B., von Braun, J., Lang, C., Barben, D. & Philp, J. Nature 535, 221–223 (2016).
-
Liu, T. et al. Nat. Water 2, 936–952 (2024).
-
Herold, M. et al. Nat. Commun. 11, 5281 (2020).
-
Su, C. et al. Nature 642, 1024–1033 (2025).
-
Giangeri, G. et al. Environ. Sci. Technol. 57, 16399–16413 (2023).
-
Yang, X. et al. Microbiome 13, 178 (2025).
-
D’Souza, G. et al. Nat. Prod. Rep. 35, 455–488 (2018).
-
Fritts, R. K., McCully, A. L. & McKinlay, J. B. Microbiol. Mol. Bio. Rev. 85, e00135–20 (2021).
-
Nikaido, H. & Saier, M. H. Jr Science 258, 936–942 (1992).
-
Liu, C. et al. Nat. Water https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-025-00579-5 (2026).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52400107).
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yin, Q., He, K. & Liu, B. Programming microbial neighbourhoods. Nat Water (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-026-00594-0
-
Published:
-
Version of record:
-
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-026-00594-0
