Algae drive convergent bacterial community assembly at low dilution frequency

Area of Science:

• Microbial Ecology
• Ecosystem Dynamics
• Community Assembly

Background:

• Microbial community structure and function are shaped by complex interactions and nutrient availability.
• Understanding how external nutrient supply influences these interactions is crucial for predicting community assembly.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how external nutrient supply rates modulate inter-species interactions and affect microbial community assembly.
• To differentiate the impacts of biotic (algae) and abiotic (dilution frequency) factors on bacterial community assembly.

Main Methods:

• Statistical decomposition of bacterial community taxonomic structures.
• Assembly experiments conducted with and without algae under varying dilution frequencies.
• Analysis of high-throughput sequencing data.

Main Results:

• Algae presence strongly influenced community assembly, particularly at infrequent dilution rates.
• Bacterial communities converged to a common structure in the presence of algae and infrequent dilutions.
• Convergence was primarily driven by a decrease in the relative abundance of specific bacterial taxa.

Conclusions:

• External nutrient supply, modulated by biotic interactions like the presence of algae, significantly impacts microbial community assembly.
• Complex phototroph-heterotroph communities serve as valuable models for studying ecosystem-level assembly processes.