Transposable temperate phages randomly insert into bacterial genomes, providing increased supply and altered spectra of mutations available to selection, thus opening alternative evolutionary trajectories. Transposable ...

Ecological dependencies - where organisms rely on other organisms for survival - are a ubiquitous feature of life on earth. Multicellular hosts rely on symbionts to provide essential vitamins and amino acids. Legume plants ...

Many organisms—notably microbes—are embedded within complex communities where cooperative behaviors in the form of excreted public goods can benefit other species. Under such circumstances, intraspecific interactions are ...

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 ...

The respiratory tract is a compartmentalised and heterogenous environment. The nasopharynx and sinuses of the upper airways have distinct properties from the lungs and these differences may shape bacterial adaptation ...