Journal
ECOLOGY LETTERS
Volume 13, Issue 9, Pages 1073-1084Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01507.x
Keywords
Ecological genomics; experimental evolution; mathematical models; micro-organisms; metabolism; parasitism; trade-offs; viruses
Categories
Funding
- NERC
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency [HR0011-05-1-0057]
- James S. McDonnell Foundation
- Australian Research Council
- National Science Foundation [IOB-0612591]
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/F037856/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- Natural Environment Research Council [NE/E013007/2, NE/E013007/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- EPSRC [EP/F037856/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- NERC [NE/E013007/1, NE/E013007/2] Funding Source: UKRI
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Trade-offs have been put forward as essential to the generation and maintenance of diversity. However, variation in trade-offs is often determined at the molecular level, outside the scope of conventional ecological inquiry. In this study, we propose that understanding the intracellular basis for trade-offs in microbial systems can aid in predicting and interpreting patterns of diversity. First, we show how laboratory experiments and mathematical models have unveiled the hidden intracellular mechanisms underlying trade-offs key to microbial diversity: (i) metabolic and regulatory trade-offs in bacteria and yeast; (ii) life-history trade-offs in bacterial viruses. Next, we examine recent studies of marine microbes that have taken steps toward reconciling the molecular and the ecological views of trade-offs, despite the challenges in doing so in natural settings. Finally, we suggest avenues for research where mathematical modelling, experiments and studies of natural microbial communities provide a unique opportunity to integrate studies of diversity across multiple scales.
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