Nutrient supply controls the linkage between species abundance and ecological interactions in marine bacterial communities

Dai, Tianjiao; Wen, Donghui; Bates, Colin T.; Wu, Linwei; Guo, Xue; Liu, Suo; Su, Yifan; Lei, Jiesi; Zhou, Jizhong; Yang, Yunfeng

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27857-6

Title: Nutrient supply controls the linkage between species abundance and ecological interactions in marine bacterial communities

Journal Article · 09 January 2022 · Nature Communications

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27857-6 · OSTI ID:2470923

Dai, Tianjiao ^[1]; Wen, Donghui ^[2]; Bates, Colin T. ^[3];

^[3];

^[4]; Liu, Suo ^[4]; Su, Yifan ^[4]; Lei, Jiesi ^[4];

^[5];

^[4]

Tsinghua University, Beijing (China); Peking University, Beijing, (China)
Peking University, Beijing, (China)
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States)
Tsinghua University, Beijing (China)
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Nutrient scarcity is pervasive for natural microbial communities, affecting species reproduction and co-existence. However, it remains unclear whether there are general rules of how microbial species abundances are shaped by biotic and abiotic factors. Here we show that the ribosomal RNA gene operon (rrn) copy number, a genomic trait related to bacterial growth rate and nutrient demand, decreases from the abundant to the rare biosphere in the nutrient-rich coastal sediment but exhibits the opposite pattern in the nutrient-scarce pelagic zone of the global ocean. Both patterns are underlain by positive correlations between community-level rrn copy number and nutrients. Furthermore, inter-species co-exclusion inferred by negative network associations is observed more in coastal sediment than in ocean water samples. Nutrient manipulation experiments yield effects of nutrient availability on rrn copy numbers and network associations that are consistent with our field observations. Based on these results, we propose a “hunger games” hypothesis to define microbial species abundance rules using the rrn copy number, ecological interaction, and nutrient availability.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: China National Key R&D Program; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation; Hainan Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Biotechnology Open Fund; National Natural Science Foundation of China; USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 2470923

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 13; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Nutrient supply controls the linkage between species abundance and ecological interactions in marine bacterial communities

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