Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Methods to Assess Microbial Communities01:19

Methods to Assess Microbial Communities

Microbial communities, comprising bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotic microorganisms, inhabit diverse ecosystems and play crucial roles in environmental and biological processes. Their diversity is defined by three main parameters: species richness (the number of distinct species), species abundance (the relative quantity of each species), and species evenness (how uniformly individual species are distributed in various locations). These factors together shape the structure and ecological balance...
Introduction to Microbial Ecology01:28

Introduction to Microbial Ecology

Microbial ecology examines the complex web of interactions and diversity among microorganisms within various ecosystems. This field seeks to understand how microbial populations adapt to and influence their environments and how these interactions shape broader ecological processes. Microbes are integral to ecosystem function, participating in nutrient cycling, energy flow, and the maintenance of environmental homeostasis.An ecosystem represents a dynamic interaction between living organisms...
Methods to Assess Microbial Populations01:30

Methods to Assess Microbial Populations

Assessing microbial populations is crucial for understanding microbial roles in health, ecology, and industry. Various complementary techniques—both culture-based and molecular—enable detailed analysis of microbial abundance, diversity, and function.Viable Plate CountThe viable plate count is a traditional culture-based method used to estimate the number of living microbes in a sample. After serial dilution, the sample is spread onto nutrient agar plates. Each viable cell forms a visible...
Microenvironments01:22

Microenvironments

Microorganisms inhabit highly localized spaces known as microenvironments, which are defined by distinct physical and chemical characteristics. These include oxygen concentration, pH, temperature, light availability, and nutrient levels. The conditions within a microenvironment can differ markedly from those in the surrounding area and significantly influence microbial growth, metabolism, and community structure.Microenvironments often display sharp physicochemical gradients over small spatial...
Microbial Growth Measurement: Direct Methods01:23

Microbial Growth Measurement: Direct Methods

Direct methods for measuring microbial populations in a culture are essential tools in microbiology, providing quantitative data for various applications. Among these, microscopic counts, plate counts, and serial dilution are widely used techniques, each with unique principles and applications.Microscopic CountsMicroscopic counting involves the use of a Petroff-Hausser chamber, a specialized microscope slide with a grid and defined depth. By observing a liquid culture under a microscope,...
Microbial Classification System01:24

Microbial Classification System

Classification is the process of organizing organisms into hierarchically inclusive groups based on their phenotypic similarities or evolutionary relationships. A species comprises one or more strains, and closely related species are grouped into genera. Genera are further classified into families, families into orders, orders into classes, and so forth, up to the domain level, which is the broadest taxonomic rank derived from a combination of phenotypic and genotypic data.The nomenclature of...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Clues to Long COVID Linked to Virulence and Infectivity Found in Shell Proteins.

Advances in respiratory medicine·2026
Same author

Collagen gene expression is linked to aging and lifespan extension in <i>C. elegans</i>.

Matrix biology plus·2026
Same author

The Schools Unified in Neurodiversity Collaborative: Co-designing a program to enhance educator knowledge and efficacy supporting children with neurodevelopmental disabilities.

Autism : the international journal of research and practice·2025
Same author

Addressing the Healthcare Needs of Displaced Populations with Chronic Illness Following a Disaster: Examples from the US Public Health Service Federal Medical Station Experience.

Disaster medicine and public health preparedness·2025
Same author

Enriched knowledge representation in biological fields: a case study of literature-based discovery in Alzheimer's disease.

Journal of biomedical semantics·2025
Same author

Epigenetic biomarker for preeclampsia-associated preterm birth and potential preventative medicine.

Environmental epigenetics·2024
Same journal

Beyond scents: calling on the fragrance industry to champion plant diversity.

Bioscience·2026
Same journal

Bridging genetic knowledge gaps in a biodiversity hotspot through conservation training.

Bioscience·2026
Same journal

Crediting and citing Indigenous Knowledges within research.

Bioscience·2026
Same journal

From Knowledge to Action: Next Steps for the Natural Science Collections Community.

Bioscience·2026
Same journal

Correction to: Leveraging collective impact to characterize and identify solutions to cultural challenges within scientific societies.

Bioscience·2026
Same journal

Denial and Misconceptions about Tropical Deforestation.

Bioscience·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 31, 2026

Assessing the Viability of a Synthetic Bacterial Consortium on the In Vitro Gut Host-microbe Interface
10:24

Assessing the Viability of a Synthetic Bacterial Consortium on the In Vitro Gut Host-microbe Interface

Published on: July 4, 2018

Microbial Communities as Experimental Units.

Mitch D Day1, Daniel Beck, James A Foster

  • 1Mitch D. Day ( mday@uidaho.edu ) is a postdoctoral fellow, Daniel Beck is a doctoral student, and James A. Foster is a professor, all in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Idaho, in Moscow, Idaho. All are affiliated with the Initiative for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies (IBEST), an interdisciplinary center devoted to developing a greater understanding of the patterns and processes of evolution and their relevance to biomedicine. All are also members of the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center, BEACON, for the study of evolution in action.

Bioscience
|July 7, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Artificial ecosystem selection applies selection to microbial communities as whole units, aiding in understanding host health impacts. This method offers a rigorous approach to analyzing complex microbial ecosystems.

More Related Videos

Bioreactor Assembly for Continuous Culture of Complex Fecal Communities
09:37

Bioreactor Assembly for Continuous Culture of Complex Fecal Communities

Published on: April 25, 2025

Assembly and Tracking of Microbial Community Development within a Microwell Array Platform
09:24

Assembly and Tracking of Microbial Community Development within a Microwell Array Platform

Published on: June 6, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 31, 2026

Assessing the Viability of a Synthetic Bacterial Consortium on the In Vitro Gut Host-microbe Interface
10:24

Assessing the Viability of a Synthetic Bacterial Consortium on the In Vitro Gut Host-microbe Interface

Published on: July 4, 2018

Bioreactor Assembly for Continuous Culture of Complex Fecal Communities
09:37

Bioreactor Assembly for Continuous Culture of Complex Fecal Communities

Published on: April 25, 2025

Assembly and Tracking of Microbial Community Development within a Microwell Array Platform
09:24

Assembly and Tracking of Microbial Community Development within a Microwell Array Platform

Published on: June 6, 2017

Area of Science:

  • Microbial Ecology
  • Systems Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Microbial communities significantly impact host health, but correlating composition with disease is challenging due to microbial species concept difficulties.
  • Microbial communities, comprising numerous co-evolved populations, are increasingly viewed as the fundamental unit of analysis.
  • Metagenomic and pangenomic studies support the community-as-a-unit perspective in microbial research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce and advocate for artificial ecosystem selection as a powerful experimental technique.
  • To highlight the utility of treating microbial communities as discrete units for analysis.
  • To bridge the gap between complex microbial community dynamics and rigorous biological model systems.

Main Methods:

  • Applying selection pressures to entire microbial communities based on community-level properties.
  • Utilizing principles from biological model systems in experimental designs.
  • Leveraging insights from metagenomics and pangenomics to inform community-level analysis.

Main Results:

  • Artificial ecosystem selection allows for the study of community-level properties and their impact.
  • This technique provides a logical framework for analyzing complex microbial interactions.
  • Enables the application of rigorous experimental approaches to microbial community ecology.

Conclusions:

  • Artificial ecosystem selection is a valuable method for studying microbial communities as functional units.
  • This approach facilitates a deeper understanding of the relationship between microbial communities and host health.
  • The technique brings the rigor of model systems to the analysis of complex microbial ecosystems, despite potential costs.