Initial evenness determines diversity and cell density dynamics in synthetic microbial ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: The effect of initial evenness on the temporal trajectory of synthetic communities in comprehensive, low-volume microcosm studies remains unknown. We used flow cytometric fingerprinting and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to assess the impact of time on community structure in one hundred synthetic ecosystems of fixed richness but varying initial evenness. Both methodologies uncovered a similar reduction in diversity within synthetic communities of medium and high initial evenness classes. However, the results of amplicon sequencing showed that there were no significant differences between and within the communities in all evenness groups at the end of the experiment. Nevertheless, initial evenness significantly impacted the cell density of the community after five medium transfers. Highl

SUBMITTER: Ehsani E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5762898 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature