Ecological distribution and population physiology defined by proteomics in a natural microbial community

Molecular Systems Biology
By: , and 

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Abstract

An important challenge in microbial ecology is developing methods that simultaneously examine the physiology of organisms at the molecular level and their ecosystem level interactions in complex natural systems. We integrated extensive proteomic, geochemical, and biological information from 28 microbial communities collected from an acid mine drainage environment and representing a range of biofilm development stages and geochemical conditions to evaluate how the physiologies of the dominant and less abundant organisms change along environmental gradients. The initial colonist dominates across all environments, but its proteome changes between two stable states as communities diversify, implying that interspecies interactions affect this organism's metabolism. Its overall physiology is robust to abiotic environmental factors, but strong correlations exist between these factors and certain subsets of proteins, possibly accounting for its wide environmental distribution. Lower abundance populations are patchier in their distribution, and proteomic data indicate that their environmental niches may be constrained by specific sets of abiotic environmental factors. This research establishes an effective strategy to investigate ecological relationships between microbial physiology and the environment for whole communities in situ.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Ecological distribution and population physiology defined by proteomics in a natural microbial community
Series title Molecular Systems Biology
DOI 10.1038/msb.2010.30
Volume 6
Issue 1
Year Published 2010
Language English
Publisher EMBOpress
Contributing office(s) Toxic Substances Hydrology Program, National Research Program - Central Branch, NGTOC Denver
Description 374; 12 p.
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