In a frame of the competition among young Russian scientists-microbiologists for the best paper published in 2021, a special prize (200 Euro) was awarded by the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) for the best research article in the field of microbial ecology.

The Competition Committee has decided to award this prize to Alexander Merkel (Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) for the article: Merkel A. Y., et al. Diversity and metabolic potential of the terrestrial mud volcano microbial community with a high abundance of archaea mediating the anaerobic oxidation of methane. Life. 2021 Sep 11;11(9):953.

Merkel2021_graphic_abstract