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Updated: Jun 27, 2025

Workflow Based on the Combination of Isotopic Tracer Experiments to Investigate Microbial Metabolism of Multiple Nutrient Sources
Published on: January 22, 2018
Genomic factors shape carbon and nitrogen metabolic niche breadth across Saccharomycotina yeasts
Dana A Opulente1,2,3, Abigail Leavitt LaBella4,5,6, Marie-Claire Harrison4,5
1Laboratory of Genetics, Wisconsin Energy Institute, Center for Genomic Science Innovation, J. F. Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53726, USA.
Abstract:
Organisms exhibit extensive variation in ecological niche breadth, from very narrow (specialists) to very broad (generalists). Two general paradigms have been proposed to explain this variation: (i) trade-offs between performance efficiency and breadth and (ii) the joint influence of extrinsic (environmental) and intrinsic (genomic) factors. We assembled genomic, metabolic, and ecological data from nearly all known species of the ancient fungal subphylum Saccharomycotina (1154 yeast strains from 1051 species), grown in 24 different environmental conditions, to examine niche breadth evolution. We found that large differences in the breadth of carbon utilization traits between yeasts stem from intrinsic differences in genes encoding specific metabolic pathways, but we found limited evidence for trade-offs. These comprehensive data argue that intrinsic factors shape niche breadth variation in microbes.
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