Interspecific Niche Competition Increases Morphological Diversity in Multi-Species Microbial Communities

Frontiers in Microbiology

Meaghan Castledine¹  Angus Buckling¹  Quan-Guo Zhang²  Xiao-Lin Chu² 

[1] College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom;State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology and MOE Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China;

关键词: competition;    niche;    community ecology;    adaptive radiation;    microbial ecology;    evolutionary ecology;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmicb.2021.699190

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Intraspecific competition for limited niches has been recognized as a driving force for adaptive radiation, but results for the role of interspecific competition have been mixed. Here, we report the adaptive diversification of the model bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens in the presence of different numbers and combinations of four competing bacterial species. Increasing the diversity of competitive community increased the morphological diversity of focal species, which is caused by impeding the domination of a single morphotype. Specifically, this pattern was driven by more diverse communities being more likely to contain key species that occupy the same niche as otherwise competitively superior morphotype, and thus preventing competitive exclusion within the focal species. Our results suggest that sympatric adaptive radiation is driven by the presence or absence of niche-specific competitors.

【 授权许可】

Unknown