Stability of multispecies bacterial communities: signaling networks may stabilize microbiomes

Multispecies bacterial communities can be remarkably stable and resilient even though they consist of cells and species that compete for environmental resources. In silico models suggest that common signals released into the environment may help selected bacterial species cluster at common locations...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2013-03, Vol.8 (3), p.e57947-e57947
Main Authors: Kerényi, Ádám, Bihary, Dóra, Venturi, Vittorio, Pongor, Sándor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteria
Bacteria - metabolism
Bacteriology
Biology
Cellular signal transduction
Coexistence
Complementarity
Computer Simulation
Cooperation
Eavesdropping
Evolution
Gene expression
Genetic engineering
Genomics
Humans
Information technology
Metabolism
Metabolites
Metagenome
Microbial colonies
Microbiological research
Microbiota
Observations
Pantoea
Pantoea agglomerans
Phenotype
Plant diseases
Plant Diseases - microbiology
Proteins
Pseudomonas
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Quorum Sensing
Signal Transduction
Signaling
Species
Species Specificity
Testing
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Summary:Multispecies bacterial communities can be remarkably stable and resilient even though they consist of cells and species that compete for environmental resources. In silico models suggest that common signals released into the environment may help selected bacterial species cluster at common locations and that sharing of public goods (i.e. molecules produced and released for mutual benefit) can stabilize this coexistence. In contrast, unilateral eavesdropping on signals produced by a potentially invading species may protect a community by keeping invaders away from limited resources. Shared bacterial signals, such as those found in quorum sensing systems, may thus play a key role in fine tuning competition and cooperation within multi-bacterial communities. We suggest that in addition to metabolic complementarity, signaling dynamics may be important in further understanding complex bacterial communities such as the human, animal as well as plant microbiomes.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0057947