Journal article
Trade-offs, spatial heterogeneity, and the maintenance of microbial diversity
Evolution, Vol.67(2), pp.599-608
02/2013
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/107751
PMID: 23356631
Abstract
Specialization and concomitant trade-offs are assumed to underlie the non-neutral coexistence of lineages. Trade-offs across heterogeneous environments can promote diversity by preventing competitive exclusion. However, the importance of trade-offs in maintaining diversity in natural microbial assemblages is unclear, as trade-offs are frequently not detected in artificial evolution experiments. Stressful conditions associated with patches of heavy-metal enriched serpentine soils provide excellent opportunities for examining how heterogeneity may foster genetic diversity. Using a spatially replicated design, we demonstrate that rhizobium bacteria symbiotic with legumes inhabiting contrasting serpentine and nonserpentine soils exhibit a trade-off between a genotype's nickel tolerance and its ability to replicate rapidly. Furthermore, we detected adaptive divergence in rhizobial assemblages across soil type heterogeneity at multiple sites, suggesting that this trade-off may promote the coexistence of phenotypically distinct bacterial lineages. Trade-offs and adaptive divergence may be important factors maintaining the tremendous diversity within natural assemblages of bacteria.
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Details
- Title
- Trade-offs, spatial heterogeneity, and the maintenance of microbial diversity
- Creators
- Stephanie S Porter - The Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. ssporter@berkeley.eduKevin J Rice
- Publication Details
- Evolution, Vol.67(2), pp.599-608
- Academic Unit
- Biological Sciences, School of
- Publisher
- United States
- Identifiers
- 99900547211501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article