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Updated: Mar 5, 2026
15:00
Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli
Published on: August 18, 2023
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Metabolic evolution and the self-organization of ecosystems
Rogier Braakman1,2, Michael J Follows2, Sallie W Chisholm1,3
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139; rogierbraakman@gmail.com chisholm@mit.edu.
Summary
Metabolic evolution in Prochlorococcus increased its metabolic rate and carbon excretion, lowering nutrient needs and boosting ecosystem biomass. This study proposes a theory for biosphere self-organization and evolution.
Area of Science:
- Microbial Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Biogeochemistry
Background:
- Metabolism is fundamental to biosphere energy and matter flow.
- Understanding metabolic evolution's ecosystem impact is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- Reconstruct metabolic evolution in Prochlorococcus.
- Investigate Prochlorococcus's population dynamics, growth, light adaptation, and cellular composition.
- Develop a framework for metabolic evolution's ecosystem-wide effects.
Main Methods:
- Metabolic reconstruction of Prochlorococcus.
- Analysis of population dynamics, growth rates, and light adaptation.
- Mathematical modeling of nutrient drawdown and ecosystem biomass.
Main Results:
- Prochlorococcus showed increased metabolic rate and organic carbon excretion over evolutionary time.
- These adaptations lower minimal nutrient requirements, leading to nutrient drawdown and increased ecosystem biomass.
- A mutualism between Prochlorococcus and SAR11 bacteria was identified, maximizing collective metabolic rates via carbon recycling.
Conclusions:
- Metabolic evolution drives ecosystem self-organization and self-amplification.
- Prochlorococcus-SAR11 metabolic codependencies mirror organelle relationships in plant cells.
- The framework has implications for biogeochemical cycles and atmospheric oxygen evolution.
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