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Volume 170, Issue 2

Ecological dependencies and the illusion of cooperation in microbial communities Open Access

This article is part of the Bacterial Competitive Mechanisms collection.



Abstract

Ecological dependencies – where organisms rely on other organisms for survival – are a ubiquitous feature of life on earth. Multicellular hosts rely on symbionts to provide essential vitamins and amino acids. Legume plants similarly rely on nitrogen-fixing rhizobia to convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia. In some cases, dependencies can arise via loss-of-function mutations that allow one partner to benefit from the actions of another. It is common in microbiology to label ecological dependencies between species as cooperation – making it necessary to invoke cooperation-specific frameworks to explain the phenomenon. However, in many cases, such traits are not (at least initially) cooperative, because they are not selected for because of the benefits they confer on a partner species. In contrast, dependencies in microbial communities may originate from fitness benefits gained from genomic-streamlining (i.e. Black Queen Dynamics). Here, we outline how the Black Queen Hypothesis predicts the formation of metabolic dependencies via loss-of-function mutations in microbial communities, without needing to invoke any cooperation-specific explanations. Furthermore we outline how the Black Queen Hypothesis can act as a blueprint for true cooperation as well as discuss key outstanding questions in the field. The nature of interactions in microbial communities can predict the ability of natural communities to withstand and recover from disturbances. Hence, it is vital to gain a deeper understanding of the factors driving these dynamic interactions over evolutionary time.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): cross-feeding , interdependencies , microbial communities and Public goods
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • UK Research and Innovation (Award MR/V022482/1)
    • Principle Award Recipient: ElzeHesse
© 2024 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2024-02-22
2024-05-08
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Ecological dependencies and the illusion of cooperation in microbial communities
Microbiology 170, 001442 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001442
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