4.6 Article

RRNA operon copy number reflects ecological strategies of bacteria

Journal

APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 66, Issue 4, Pages 1328-1333

Publisher

AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
DOI: 10.1128/AEM.66.4.1328-1333.2000

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Although natural selection appears to favor the elimination of gene redundancy in prokaryotes, multiple copies of each rRNA-encoding gene are common on bacterial chromosomes. Despite this conspicuous deviation from single-copy genes, no phenotype has been consistently associated with rRNA gene copy number. We found that the number of rRNA genes correlates with the rate at which phylogenetically diverse bacteria respond to resource availability, Soil bacteria that formed colonies rapidly upon exposure to a nutritionally complex medium contained an average of 5.5 copies of the small subunit rRNA gene, whereas bacteria that responded slowly contained an average of 1.4 copies. In soil microcosms pulsed with the herbicide 2, 4-dichlorophenoxy-acetic acid (2,4-D), indigenous populations of 2,4-D-degrading bacteria with multiple rRNA genes ((x) over bar = 5.4) became dominant, whereas populations with fewer rRNA genes ((x) over bar = 2.7) were favored in unamended controls. These findings demonstrate phenotypic effects associated with rRNA gene copy number that are indicative of ecological strategies influencing the structure of natural microbial communities.

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