Ecological selection of siderophore-producing microbial taxa in response to heavy metal contamination
Citation:
Hesse, E., O'Brien, S., Tromas, N., Bayer, F., Luj?n, A.M., van Veen, E.M., Hodgson, D.J., Buckling, A., Ecological selection of siderophore-producing microbial taxa in response to heavy metal contamination, Ecology Letters, 21, 1, 2018, 117-127Download Item:
Abstract:
Some microbial public goods can provide both individual and community-wide benefits, and are
open to exploitation by non-producing species. One such example is the production of metaldetoxifying siderophores. Here, we investigate whether conflicting selection pressures on siderophore production by heavy metals – a detoxifying effect of siderophores, and exploitation of this
detoxifying effect – result in a net increase or decrease. We show that the proportion of siderophore-producing taxa increases along a natural heavy metal gradient. A causal link between metal
contamination and siderophore production was subsequently demonstrated in a microcosm experiment in compost, in which we observed changes in community composition towards taxa that
produce relatively more siderophores following copper contamination. We confirmed the selective
benefit of siderophores by showing that taxa producing large amounts of siderophore suffered less
growth inhibition in toxic copper. Our results suggest that ecological selection will favour
siderophore-mediated decontamination, with important consequences for potential remediation
strategies.
Sponsor
Grant Number
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
NE/P001130
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
BB/K003240
European Research Council (ERC)
656647
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/obries79Description:
PUBLISHED
Author: O'Brien, Siobhan
Type of material:
Journal ArticleCollections
Series/Report no:
Ecology Letters;21;
1;
Availability:
Full text availableKeywords:
Adaptation, detoxification, ecological species sorting, evolution, metal tolerance, public good dynamics, remediation, selectionSubject (TCD):
Smart & Sustainable Planet , Evolutionary Biology , MICROBIOLOGY , Microbial ecologyDOI:
10.1111/ele.12878Metadata
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