Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Tree of Life
*Microbial world (sometimes + fungi) Fungi Animals Plants Universal phylogenetic tree based on SSU rRNA sequences
Pace 1997
HSMe2+
Species Interactions
Competition Mutualism
A B A
+
B
Predation
A B
Competition
What are some challenges to studying microbial competition?
Competition example
Question: Do species coexist if dispersal, movement, and interaction occur over small spatial scales? Hypothesis: Local interaction and dispersal are sufficient to ensure coexistence of species. To test this hypothesis, a non-transitive model community composed of 3 toxin (colicin) producing E. coli strains were used (Kerr et al. 2002). transitive non-transitive a a b b c c
Competition example
3 bacterial types: Colicinogenic bacteria (C) produce colicin (toxin) and producing this toxin is costly Resistant bacteria (R) avoid the competitive cost of carrying col plasmid but suffer because colicin receptor is involved in nutrient metabolism Colicin-sensitive (S) bacteria are killed by colicin
Competition
Strains grown in three environments: (1) flask (well-mixed environment where dispersal and interaction not local) (2) static plate (environment in which dispersal and interaction are primarily local; and (3) mixed plate (intermediate environment). What would you predict the outcome will be?
R = S wins
C = R wins
S = C wins
Competition
Coexistence occurs when local structure is maintained (Fig. 2a) With no spatial structure (in flask or mixed plate), R strain wins (Fig. 2b-2c) Results support hypothesis: local interaction and dispersal in this nonhierarchical competitive interactions promoted species coexistence
Kerr et al. 2002
Perthaler 2005
How does bacterial community composition change in response to predation? Composition changes, not just abundance
In response to phenotypic properties that allow bacteria to defend themselves from predation
Deplete populations within the edible size range Cause a shift in population sizes
Mutualism
Between aphid and bacteria (Buchnera aphidicola) Bacteria synthesizes necessary amino acids for aphid Aphid provides shelter Ex. Obligate mutualism: Phylogeny of Buchnera completely concordant with aphids cannot exist without each other; mutualism began 150 250 MYA Vertical transmission *Remember to past microbial mutualism example: leaf-cutter ants/fungi
vs.
DGGE
PFLA
ARISA
pyrosequencing
100% similarity
85% similarity
50% similarity
*Data are standardized as fraction of species and OTUs to facilitate comparisons across studies.
Species-Area relationship
Remember from lecture 12 (and exam!): At large spatial scales species richness increases with the area sampled as a log-log relationship (power law) Log S = log c + z log A -Where A = Area, c is intercept and z is slope -Values of z are often reported to be around 0.2 - 0.3 (on islands - where species richness data are best described)
Species-Area Relationship
At large spatial scales species richness increases with the area sampled as a log-log relationship (power law)
Latitudinal diversity gradient: species diversity increases from the poles to the tropics.
Geographic patterns in mammalian biodiversity
Give examples of habitats with high and low complexity from a microbial perspective.
Davies T J et al. PNAS 2008;105:11556-11563
Supporting evidence:
Bacterial latitudinal richness gradient in marine bacterioplankton; richness correlated most with temperature and latitude but not productivity (Fuhrman et
al. 2008, PNAS)
Refuting evidence
No discernible latitudinal gradient; instead, bacterial richness patterns best explained by pH gradient (Fierer
and Jackson 2006, PNAS)
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity through space and time Would you expect differences on a micro-scale?
Summary
Microorganisms are globally distributed and are vital to ecosystem function. Species interactions can be evaluated under laboratory conditions. Microbial systems in culture can be easy to experimentally manipulate. Microbial ecology has made incredible advances due to culture-independent molecular analyses but sampling is always in issue. Keeping taxonomic resolution in mind is important for addressing questions from the individual strain to population to community. Ecological patterns and processes studied at the macro-scale have been applied at the micro-scale. Evidence for and against particular patterns exist:
Microorganisms have biogeography or NOT Latitudinal bacterial diversity gradient supported and not