ArticleThe ISME journal2011
Ecological succession in long-term experimentally evolved biofilms produces synergistic communities.
Article in The ISME journal, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 106 papers.
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Who cites it
106 citing papers in PubMed, 208 citations in OpenAlex.
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- The power of ten: report from the 10th American Society for Microbiology Conference on Biofilms.Journal of bacteriology · 2026Article
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- Genetic diversification ofApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Rapid evolution of Klebsiella pneumoniae biofilms in vitro delineates adaptive changes selected during infection.Nature communications · 2026Article
- A Pilot Study on the Evaluation of Hetafu Mouthwash in Oral Biofilm of Orthodontic Patients: A Clinical Trial.Cureus · 2026Article
- Evolved populations ofMicrobial genomics · 2026Article
- Mixed-species interactions constrain diversification and shape biofilm evolution.ISME communications · 2026Article
- Competition between Pseudomonas species constrains ecological diversification in polymicrobial biofilms.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Article
- Colistin resistance dynamics inAntimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2025Article
- Parallel within-host evolution alters virulence factors in an opportunistic Klebsiella pneumoniae during a hospital outbreak.Nature communications · 2025Article
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- Cyclic-di-GMP signalling mutants drive ecological succession and self-generated diversity in experimentally evolved biofilms ofMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2025Article
- Student-led experimental evolution reveals novel biofilm regulators of adaptation to multiple niches.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Evolution of genotypic and phenotypic diversity in multispecies biofilms.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Article
- Harnessing hypoxia: bacterial adaptation and chronic infection in cystic fibrosis.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Presence of a biofilm beneficiary alters the evolutionary trajectory of a biofilm former.The ISME journal · 2025Article
- Synergistic biodegradation of polyethylene by experimentally evolved bacterial biofilms.The ISME journal · 2025Article
- Rhizosphere domestication enhances root colonization and plant growth promotion performance ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
46 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Many biofilm populations are known for their exceptional biodiversity, but the relative contributions of the forces that could produce this diversity are poorly understood. This uncertainty grows in the old, well-established communities found on many natural surfaces and in long-term, chronic infections. If the prevailing interactions among species within biofilms are positive, productivity should increase with diversity, but if they tend towards competition or antagonism, productivity should decrease. Here, we describe the parallel evolution of synergistic communities derived from a clone of Burkholderia cenocepacia during ~1500 generations of biofilm selection. This long-term evolution was enabled by a new experimental method that selects for daily cycles of colonization, biofilm assembly and dispersal. Each of the six replicate biofilm populations underwent a common pattern of adaptive morphological diversification, in which three ecologically distinct morphotypes arose in the same order of succession and persisted. In two focal populations, mixed communities were more productive than any monoculture and each variant benefited from the mixture. These gains in output resulted from asymmetrical cross-feeding between ecotypes and the expansion and partitioning of biofilm space that constructed new niches. Therefore, even in the absence of starting genetic variation, prolonged selection for surface colonization generates a dynamic of ecological succession that enhances productivity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.