Competitive strategies differentiate closely related species of marine actinobacteria.

ABSTRACT: Although competition, niche partitioning, and spatial isolation have been used to describe the ecology and evolution of macro-organisms, it is less clear to what extent these principles account for the extraordinary levels of bacterial diversity observed in nature. Ecological interactions among bacteria are particularly challenging to address due to methodological limitations and uncertainties over how to recognize fundamental units of diversity and link them to the functional traits and evolutionary processes that led to their divergence. Here we show that two closely related marine actinomycete species can be differentiated based on competitive strategies. Using a direct challenge assay to investigate inhibitory interactions with members of the bacterial community, we observed a temporal

SUBMITTER: Patin NV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4737938 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature