This month (October 2008) Nature Reviews Microbiology publishes a Focus on Symbiosis . Microbial symbioses include beneficial, harmful and neutral relationships and are important in animal and plant health, immunity and disease, as well as in ecology and the environment. The special Focus issue of Nature Reviews Microbiology highlights exciting advances in understanding of partnerships between organisms and their environments.

Topics covered include manipulation of insects by endosymbiotic bacteria, marine chemosynthetic symbioses, the ancient arbuscular mycorrhiza, model symbiosis systems, the highly distinctive features of gut microbiotas and how they have evolved, and a glimpse of how experimental approaches will shape the future of this fascinating field. These Reviews and Perspectives highlight this emerging and important field. The accompanying library collates the most recent relevant original Research articles, News & Views and Reviews from across Nature Publishing Group.