Ecological and Evolutionary Science
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceThe Origin, Succession, and Predicted Metabolism of Bacterial Communities Associated with Leaf DecompositionCommunity ecologists have traditionally treated individuals within a species as uniform, with individual-level biodiversity rarely considered as a regulator of community and ecosystem function. In our study system, we have documented clear evidence of within-species variation causing local ecosystem adaptation to fluxes across ecosystem boundaries. In this striking pattern of a “home-field advantage,” leaves from individual trees tend...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceSystems Biology and Pangenome of Salmonella O-AntigensLipopolysaccharides are a major component of the outer membrane in Gram-negative bacteria. They are composed of a conserved lipid structure that is embedded in the outer leaflet of the outer membrane and a polysaccharide known as the O-antigen. O-antigens are highly variable in structure across strains of a species and are crucial to a bacterium’s interactions with its environment. They constitute the first line of defense against both...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceA Membrane-Bound Cytochrome Enables Methanosarcina acetivorans To Conserve Energy from Extracellular Electron TransferThe discovery of a methanogen that can conserve energy to support growth solely from the oxidation of organic carbon coupled to the reduction of an extracellular electron acceptor expands the possible environments in which methanogens might thrive. The potential importance of c-type cytochromes for extracellular electron transfer to syntrophic bacterial partners and/or Fe(III) minerals in some Archaea was previously...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary SciencePseudomonas aeruginosa Interstrain Dynamics and Selection of Hyperbiofilm Mutants during a Chronic InfectionBacteria adapt to infections by evolving variants that are more fit and persistent. These recalcitrant variants are typically observed in chronic infections. However, it is unclear when and why these variants evolve. To address these questions, we used a porcine chronic wound model to study the evolutionary dynamics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a mixed-strain...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceMicrobial Similarity between Students in a Common Dormitory Environment Reveals the Forensic Potential of Individual Microbial SignaturesHumans leave behind a microbial trail, regardless of intention. This may allow for the identification of individuals based on the “microbial signatures” they shed in built environments. In a shared living environment, these trails intersect, and through interaction with common surfaces may become homogenized, potentially confounding our ability to link individuals to their associated microbiota. We sought to understand the factors that...
Letter to the Editor | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceNew Phylogenetic Grouping of Positive-Sense RNA Viruses Is Concordant with Replication Complex Morphology
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceLinking Microbial Community Structure to Trait Distributions and Functions Using Salinity as an Environmental FilterUnderstanding the role of ecological communities in maintaining multiple ecosystem processes is a central challenge in ecology. Soil microbial communities perform vital ecosystem functions, such as the decomposition of organic matter to provide plant nutrition. However, despite the functional importance of soil microorganisms, attribution of ecosystem function to particular constituents of the microbial community has been impeded by a...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceA Robust Phylogenomic Time Tree for Biotechnologically and Medically Important Fungi in the Genera Aspergillus and PenicilliumUnderstanding the evolution of traits across technologically and medically significant fungi requires a robust phylogeny. Even though species in the Aspergillus and Penicillium genera (family Aspergillaceae, class Eurotiomycetes) are some of the most significant technologically and medically relevant fungi, we still lack a genome-scale phylogeny of...
Commentary | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceEarly Cyanobacteria and the Innovation of Microbial SunscreensMetabolism drives life; thus, understanding how and when various branches of metabolism evolved provides a critical piece to understanding how life has integrated itself into the geochemical cycles of our planet over billions of years.
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceTransient Replication in Specialized Cells Favors Transfer of an Integrative and Conjugative ElementBacterial evolution is driven to a large extent by horizontal gene transfer (HGT)—the processes that distribute genetic material between species rather than by vertical descent. The different elements and processes mediating HGT have been characterized in great molecular detail. In contrast, very little is known on adaptive features selecting HGT evolvability and fitness optimization. By studying the molecular behavior of an integrated...