Rare taxa modulate the emergence of dominants in microbial communities.

ABSTRACT: Microbial communities typically comprise a few dominant taxa alongside numerous rare members. While dominant formation is generally attributed to species-level traits that confer adaptation to specific environments, it remains unclear how the rare biosphere influences which taxa ultimately become dominant. We constructed thousands of sub-communities from a soil microbiome using appropriate dilution to preserve the dominants but allow stochastic variation in rare assemblages. Following cultivation under an identical growth condition, dominant taxa varied substantially across replicates, which were determined to be driven primarily by species generalist competitive capacities rather than their initial relative abundances. Notably, the identity of the most abundant taxon in each sub-community

SUBMITTER: Wang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12802277 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature