Microbes are frequently thought of as the lowest of the low, sitting at the bottom of the food chain, decomposing other organisms scraps, but a new study suggests that microbes act as top-level competitors. Georgia Tech biologists found that microbes make rotting food stink so they can compete with bigger predators that would otherwise scavenge the food source.

Microbes don’t simply sit passively around, waiting for upper levels of the food chain to deliver them the leftovers. Instead, they meddle directly with the top of the food chain, making certain foods off-limits to upper-level consumers.

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