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Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Microbial Communities in Nature and Laboratory - Interview
Published on: May 28, 2007
Microdiversity ensures the maintenance of functional microbial communities under changing environmental conditions
Natalia García-García1, Javier Tamames1, Alexandra M Linz2
1Microbiome Analysis Laboratory, Systems Biology Department, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSIC, C/Darwin no. 3, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
Microdiversity can lead to different ecotypes within the same species. These are assumed to provide stability in time and space to those species. However, the role of microdiversity in the stability of whole microbial communities remains underexplored. Understanding the drivers of microbial community stability is necessary to predict community response to future disturbances. Here, we analyzed 16S rRNA gene amplicons from eight different temperate bog lakes at the 97% OTU and amplicon sequence variant (ASV) levels and found ecotypes within the same OTU with different distribution patterns in space and time. We observed that these ecotypes are adapted to different values of environmental factors such as water temperature and oxygen concentration. Our results showed that the existence of several ASVs within a OTU favored its persistence across changing environmental conditions. We propose that microdiversity aids the stability of microbial communities in the face of fluctuations in environmental factors.
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