Ecological and Evolutionary Science
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceBacterial Community Composition and Dynamics Spanning Five Years in Freshwater Bog LakesLakes are excellent systems for investigating bacterial community dynamics because they have clear boundaries and strong environmental gradients. The results of our research demonstrate that bacterial community composition varies by year, a finding which likely applies to other ecosystems and has implications for study design and interpretation. Understanding the drivers and controls of bacterial communities on long time scales would...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceFine-Scale Structure Analysis Shows Epidemic Patterns of Clonal Complex 95, a Cosmopolitan Escherichia coli Lineage Responsible for Extraintestinal InfectionEscherichia coli clonal complex 95 represents a cosmopolitan, genetically diverse lineage, and the extensive substructure observed in this lineage is epidemiologically and clinically relevant. The frequency with which CC95 strains are responsible for extraintestinal infection appears to have been stable over the past 15 years. However, the different subgroups...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceLake Bacterial Assemblage Composition Is Sensitive to Biological Disturbance Caused by an Invasive Filter FeederFreshwater bacteria play fundamental roles in global elemental cycling and are an intrinsic part of local food webs. Human activities are altering freshwater environments, and much has been learned regarding the sensitivity of bacterial assemblages to a variety of these disturbances. Yet, relatively few studies have focused on how species invasion, which is one of the most important aspects of anthropogenic global change, affects...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceGenomewide Mutational Diversity in Escherichia coli Population Evolving in Prolonged Stationary PhaseProlonged stationary phase in bacteria, contrary to its name, is highly dynamic, with extreme nutrient limitation as a predominant stress. Stationary-phase cultures adapt by rapidly selecting a mutation(s) that confers a growth advantage in stationary phase (GASP). The phenotypic diversity of starving E. coli populations has been studied in detail; however, only a few...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary SciencepH-Mediated Microbial and Metabolic Interactions in Fecal Enrichment CulturesThe human gut is a dynamic environment in which microorganisms consistently interact with the host via their metabolic products. Some of the most important microbial metabolic products are fermentation products such as short-chain fatty acids. Production of these fermentation products and the prevalence of fermenting microbiota depend on pH, alkalinity, and available dietary sugars, but details about their metabolic interactions are...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary SciencePhylogenomic Reconstruction of the Oomycete Phylogeny Derived from 37 GenomesThe oomycetes are a class of eukaryotes and include ecologically significant animal and plant pathogens. Single-gene and multigene phylogenetic studies of individual oomycete genera and of members of the larger classes have resulted in conflicting conclusions concerning interspecies relationships among these species, particularly for the Phytophthora genus. The onset of next-generation sequencing techniques now means that a...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceEvidence of Intercontinental Spread and Uncommon Variants of Low-Pathogenicity Avian Influenza Viruses in Ducks Overwintering in GuatemalaRecent outbreaks of highly pathogenic H7N3, H5Nx, and H7N8 avian influenza viruses in North America were introduced by migratory birds, underscoring the importance of understanding how wild birds contribute to the dissemination and evolution of IAVs in nature. At least four of the main IAV duck host species in North America migrate through or overwinter within a narrow strip of Central America, providing opportunities for diverse IAV...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceOptiClust, an Improved Method for Assigning Amplicon-Based Sequence Data to Operational Taxonomic UnitsThe analysis of microbial communities from diverse environments using 16S rRNA gene sequencing has expanded our knowledge of the biogeography of microorganisms. An important step in this analysis is the assignment of sequences into taxonomic groups based on their similarity to sequences in a database or based on their similarity to each other, irrespective of a database. In this study, we present a new algorithm for the latter approach...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceEnvironmental Viral Genomes Shed New Light on Virus-Host Interactions in the OceanViruses are diverse and play significant ecological roles in marine ecosystems. However, our knowledge of genome-level diversity in viruses is biased toward those isolated from few culturable hosts. Here, we determined 1,352 nonredundant complete viral genomes from marine environments. Lifting the uncertainty that clouds short incomplete sequences, whole-genome-wide analysis suggests that these environmental genomes represent hundreds...
Research Article | Ecological and Evolutionary ScienceUnexplored Archaeal Diversity in the Great Ape Gut MicrobiomeOur findings show that Archaea are a habitual and vital component of human and great ape gut microbiomes but are largely ignored on account of the failure of previous studies to realize their full diversity. Here we report unprecedented levels of archaeal diversity in great ape gut microbiomes, exceeding that detected by conventional 16S rRNA gene surveys. Paralleling what has been reported for bacteria, there is a vast...