Interaction Networks Are Driven by Community-Responsive Phenotypes in a Chitin-Degrading Consortium of Soil Microbes
Ryan McClure, Yuliya Farris, Robert Danczak, William Nelson, Hyun‐Seob Song, Aimee K. Kessell, Joon‐Yong Lee, Sneha Couvillion, Christopher S. Henry, Janet Jansson, Kirsten Hofmockel
Abstract
The soil microbiome performs many functions that are key to ecology, agriculture, and nutrient cycling. However, because of the complexity of this ecosystem we do not know the molecular details of the interactions between microbial species that lead to these important functions. Here, we use a representative but simplified model community of bacteria to understand the details of these interactions. We show that certain species act as primary degraders of carbon sources and that the most successful species are likely those that can take the most advantage of breakdown products, not necessarily the primary degraders. We also show that a species phenotype, including whether it is a primary degrader or not, is driven in large part by the membership of the community it resides in. These conclusions are critical to a better understanding of the soil microbial interaction network and how these interactions drive central soil microbiome functions.