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Microbial Communities in Nature and Laboratory - Interview

Microbial Communities in Nature and Laboratory - Interview

Published on: May 28, 2007

Diversity-Function Relationships in Natural, Applied, and Engineered Microbial Ecosystems.

Andrew Free¹, Michael A McDonald¹, Eulyn Pagaling²

¹School of Biological Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Advances in Applied Microbiology

|October 22, 2018

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Microbial ecology now links taxonomic diversity and ecosystem function using molecular tools. Understanding these connections helps manipulate microbial communities for environmental benefit and ecosystem services.

Keywords:

Anaerobic digestion Bioaugmentation Diversity-function relationships Ecological theory Gut dysbiosis Metagenomics Microbial ecology Microcosms Synthetic ecology

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Area of Science:

Microbial Ecology
Ecosystem Science
Molecular Ecology

Background:

The relationship between taxonomic diversity and ecosystem function is a long-standing question in macroecology.
Microbial ecology faces challenges in linking microbial diversity (taxonomy) with community function due to microscopic cell identification difficulties.
Advances in molecular tools now enable large-scale data generation on microbial diversity and function.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the current understanding of links between taxonomic alpha- and beta-diversity and ecosystem function in microbial communities.
To compare microbial ecology's progress in this area with macroecology's traditional techniques.
To explore methodologies for studying these links and their success in connecting function to diversity.

Main Methods:

Review of existing literature on microbial diversity and ecosystem function.
Comparison of molecular techniques in microbial ecology with traditional methods in macroecology.
Case studies from model microbial ecosystems, anaerobic digesters, and host-associated microbiota.

Main Results:

Molecular tools have revolutionized the scale at which microbial diversity and function can be studied.
Challenges remain in formulating and testing hypotheses that link microbial diversity to ecosystem function.
Methodologies vary in their success at establishing clear links between diversity and function.

Conclusions:

Knowledge of microbial diversity-ecosystem function links is rapidly advancing.
Understanding these relationships can inform strategies for manipulating microbial communities to improve ecosystem services.
Future research should focus on robust hypothesis testing and application of findings for environmental benefit.