Professor Mnica Medina started out as the only marine biologist in a National Science Foundation workshop last year, but she ended up with a group of new partners and an opinion piece in the prestigious journal Science.

Through discussions with colleagues from many other disciplines, including behavioral biologists and ecologists, she and others realized they had found something new together.

"We had fun, and we realized there's an almost unexplored niche in science research -- the connection between microbes and behaviors," Medina said.

Along with the article's four other authors, she analyzed how much -- or little -- research has been done on the connection between the way animals behave and how the microbes that inhabit them affect such behaviors.

They were glad to find out that Science magazine was interested in the topic and agreed to publish it as a "Perspectives" piece.

"There are too few studies in this area," said Medina, who's with the School of Natural Sciences. "Microbiology and animal behavior research are two disciplines that have evolved separately. However, host-microbe interactions provide a new unexplored angle to look for ways to explain those behaviors."

"Given that microorganisms represent one of the most prevalent forms of life on this planet, this creative kind of thinking can dramatically change our understanding of the biological world," said UC Merced Vice Chancellor for Research Sam Traina.

Until fairly recently, people thought of microbes associated with animals almost exclusively as harmful and pathogenic to their hosts.

But all animals house microbes that are beneficial, such as the ones that live in intestines and help digest food. Some even seek them out, as humans do when we add supplements such as probiotics to our diets.

UC Merced's Vital and Alice Pellissier Distinguished Speaker Series presents Colgate University Professor Anthony F. Aveni on "The End of Time: The Maya Mystery of 2012."

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UC Merced Connect: Work links microbes to behavior