Free-Living, Psychrotrophic Bacteria of the Genus <i>Psychrobacter</i> Are Descendants of Pathobionts
Daphne K. Welter, Albane Ruaud, Zachariah M. Henseler, Hannah N. De Jong, Peter van Coeverden de Groot, Johan Michaux, Linda J. Gormezano, Jillian L. Waters, Nicholas D. Youngblut, Ruth E. Ley
Abstract
Bacteria and archaea predate the evolution of eukaryotic cells; logically, it follows that host-associated microbes have evolved from free-living ones. The evolutionary transition of microbes in the opposite direction, from host associated toward free living, is theoretically possible and has been predicted based on phylogenetic data but has not been studied in depth.
Topics & Concepts
BiologyEcotypeActinobacteriaCladePhylogeneticsZoologyGammaproteobacteriaMicrobiologyEvolutionary biologyBacteriaGenetics16S ribosomal RNAGeneMicrobial Community Ecology and PhysiologyGut microbiota and healthGenomics and Phylogenetic Studies