Changes in the genetic requirements for microbial interactions with increasing community complexity.

ABSTRACT: Microbial community structure and function rely on complex interactions whose underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. To investigate these interactions in a simple microbiome, we introduced E. coli into an experimental community based on a cheese rind and identified the differences in E. coli's genetic requirements for growth in interactive and non-interactive contexts using Random Barcode Transposon Sequencing (RB-TnSeq) and RNASeq. Genetic requirements varied among pairwise growth conditions and between pairwise and community conditions. Our analysis points to mechanisms by which growth conditions change as a result of increasing community complexity and suggests that growth within a community relies on a combination of pairwise and higher-order interactions.

SUBMITTER: Morin M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6175579 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature