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Related Concept Videos

Ecological Niches02:02

Ecological Niches

All organisms have a position within an ecosystem. The complete set of living and nonliving factors—including food resources, climate, and terrain—that define the position of a given organism are collectively referred to as the organism’s ecological niche.Multiple species cannot occupy the exact same niche within their habitat. If the niches of two or more species overlap to a large extent, the competitive exclusion principle dictates that one species will outcompete the other, forcing it to...
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Microorganisms evolve rapidly due to their large population sizes and short generation times, often exhibiting measurable changes within days under laboratory conditions. Natural selection acts on standing genetic variation, enabling the retention and amplification of beneficial traits that confer fitness advantages in changing environments.Adaptive Pigment Regulation in RhodobacterIn Rhodobacter, a genus of purple non-sulfur bacteria, light-harvesting pigments such as bacteriochlorophyll and...
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Microorganisms occupy diverse habitats and perform essential ecological functions that are defined by their ecological niches. A microbial niche encompasses the organism’s mode of survival, including resource acquisition, reproduction, and interactions with other species in its environment. This concept is vital for understanding microbial community dynamics, biogeography, and ecosystem functionality.The fundamental niche of a microorganism includes the full spectrum of environmental...
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Speciation can proceed at markedly different rates, and evolutionary biologists commonly describe these differences through the models of gradualism and punctuated equilibrium. Both patterns explain how new species arise, but they differ in the tempo and continuity of evolutionary change. In both cases, evolutionary change arises from heritable variation within populations, with natural selection often shaping traits that improve survival and reproduction under specific environmental conditions.
What is Natural Selection?01:32

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Related Experiment Video

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Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
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Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Published on: February 3, 2023

Evolution of a single niche specialist in variable environments.

Jean-Nicolas Jasmin1, Rees Kassen

  • 1Department of Biology and Center for Advanced Research in Environmental Genomics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5. jnjasmin@gmail.com

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|August 30, 2007
PubMed
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Environmental variation patterns and scales influence niche evolution. Contrary to expectations, Pseudomonas fluorescens evolved niche specialists in variable settings, suggesting mutation supply constraints impact evolution.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Ecology
  • Microbial evolution

Background:

  • Environmental variation is crucial for niche evolution and genetic diversity.
  • The pattern (space vs. time) and scale of variation are key factors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how environmental variation patterns and scales affect niche evolution.
  • To determine if variable environments maintain higher genetic variance in fitness.

Main Methods:

  • Serial propagation of Pseudomonas fluorescens for hundreds of generations.
  • Exposure to environments with differing patterns and scales of two carbon substrates.

Main Results:

  • Populations often evolved into specialists on less-productive substrates in variable environments.
  • Variable environments did not consistently show higher genetic variance in fitness compared to constant ones.
  • Evidence suggests mutation supply constraints limit niche evolution in variable environments.

Conclusions:

  • Niche evolution in response to environmental variation may be constrained by available beneficial mutations.
  • The evolution of niche specialists can occur even in variable environments.
  • Genetic variance in fitness is not always higher in variable environments.