Fragmented micro-growth habitats present opportunities for alternative competitive outcomes.

Autor: Batsch M; Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland., Guex I; Department of Mathematics, University of Fribourg, CH-1700, Fribourg, Switzerland., Todorov H; Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland., Heiman CM; Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland., Vacheron J; Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland., Vorholt JA; Institute for Microbiology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich), CH-8049, Zürich, Switzerland., Keel C; Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland., van der Meer JR; Department of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland. Janroelof.vandermeer@unil.ch.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2024 Aug 31; Vol. 15 (1), pp. 7591. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Aug 31.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51944-z
Abstrakt: Bacteria in nature often thrive in fragmented environments, like soil pores, plant roots or plant leaves, leading to smaller isolated habitats, shared with fewer species. This spatial fragmentation can significantly influence bacterial interactions, affecting overall community diversity. To investigate this, we contrast paired bacterial growth in tiny picoliter droplets (1-3 cells per 35 pL up to 3-8 cells per species in 268 pL) with larger, uniform liquid cultures (about 2 million cells per 140 µl). We test four interaction scenarios using different bacterial strains: substrate competition, substrate independence, growth inhibition, and cell killing. In fragmented environments, interaction outcomes are more variable and sometimes even reverse compared to larger uniform cultures. Both experiments and simulations show that these differences stem mostly from variation in initial cell population growth phenotypes and their sizes. These effects are most significant with the smallest starting cell populations and lessen as population size increases. Simulations suggest that slower-growing species might survive competition by increasing growth variability. Our findings reveal how microhabitat fragmentation promotes diverse bacterial interaction outcomes, contributing to greater species diversity under competitive conditions.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: