| 1. |
- Aleklett, Kristin, et al.
(författare)
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Build your own soil : exploring microfluidics to create microbial habitat structures
- 2018
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Ingår i: ISME Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1751-7362 .- 1751-7370. ; 12:2, s. 312-319
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Soil is likely the most complex ecosystem on earth. Despite the global importance and extraordinary diversity of soils, they have been notoriously challenging to study. We show how pioneering microfluidic techniques provide new ways of studying soil microbial ecology by allowing simulation and manipulation of chemical conditions and physical structures at the microscale in soil model habitats.The ISME Journal advance online publication, 14 November 2017; doi:10.1038/ismej.2017.184.
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| 2. |
- Cornwallis, Charlie K., et al.
(författare)
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Symbioses shape feeding niches and diversification across insects
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology and Evolution. - 2397-334X. ; 7:7, s. 1022-1044
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For over 300 million years, insects have relied on symbiotic microbes for nutrition and defence. However, it is unclear whether specific ecological conditions have repeatedly favoured the evolution of symbioses, and how this has influenced insect diversification. Here, using data on 1,850 microbe–insect symbioses across 402 insect families, we found that symbionts have allowed insects to specialize on a range of nutrient-imbalanced diets, including phloem, blood and wood. Across diets, the only limiting nutrient consistently associated with the evolution of obligate symbiosis was B vitamins. The shift to new diets, facilitated by symbionts, had mixed consequences for insect diversification. In some cases, such as herbivory, it resulted in spectacular species proliferation. In other niches, such as strict blood feeding, diversification has been severely constrained. Symbioses therefore appear to solve widespread nutrient deficiencies for insects, but the consequences for insect diversification depend on the feeding niche that is invaded.
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| 3. |
- Fisher, Roberta M., et al.
(författare)
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The evolution of host-symbiont dependence
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Organisms across the tree of life form symbiotic partnerships with microbes for metabolism, protection and resources. While some hosts evolve extreme dependence on their symbionts, others maintain facultative associations. Explaining this variation is fundamental to understanding when symbiosis can lead to new higher-level individuals, such as during the evolution of the eukaryotic cell. Here we perform phylogenetic comparative analyses on 106 unique host-bacterial symbioses to test for correlations between symbiont function, transmission mode, genome size and host dependence. We find that both transmission mode and symbiont function are correlated with host dependence, with reductions in host fitness being greatest when nutrient-provisioning, vertically transmitted symbionts are removed. We also find a negative correlation between host dependence and symbiont genome size in vertically, but not horizontally, transmitted symbionts. These results suggest that both function and population structure are important in driving irreversible dependence between hosts and symbionts.
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| 4. |
- Hammer, Edith C., et al.
(författare)
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Hyphal exploration strategies and habitat modification of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus in microengineered soil chips
- 2024
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Ingår i: Fungal Ecology. - 1754-5048. ; 67
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are considered ecosystem engineers, but the interactions of their mycelium with their immediate surroundings are largely unknown. In this study, we used microfluidic chips, simulating artificial soil structures, to study foraging strategies and habitat modification of Rhizophagus irregularis symbiotically associated to carrot roots. AMF hyphae foraged over long distances in nutrient-void spaces, preferred straight over tortuous passages, anastomosed and showed strong inducement of branching when encountering obstacles. We measured bi-directional transport of cellular content inside active hyphae and documented strategic allocation of biomass within the mycelium via cytoplasm retraction from inefficient paths. R. irregularis modified pore-spaces in the chips by clogging pores with irregularly shaped spores. We suggest that studying AMF hyphal behaviour in spatial settings can explain phenomena reported at bulk scale such as AMF modification of water retention in soils. The use of microfluidic soil chips in AMF research opens up novel opportunities to study their ecophysiology and interactions with both biotic and abiotic factors.
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