ArticlePLoS computational biology2018
An enormous potential for niche construction through bacterial cross-feeding in a homogeneous environment.
Article in PLoS computational biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers.
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed.
- Diverse Microbial Communities Assemble on Both Recalcitrant and Labile Carbon Sources.Environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Cooperative traits maintain bacterial niche breadth.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Succession and proliferation of opportunistic pathogens on leafy greens at retail markets.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Integrating the Microbiome Into Infection Ecology and Evolution in Wild Animals.Molecular ecology · 2026Review
- Unique ecology of co-occurring functionally and phylogenetically undescribed species in the infant oral microbiome.PLoS computational biology · 2026Article
- Microbial biotechnology meets ecological theory: a unified framework to design industrial microbial consortia.International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology · 2026Review
- Artificial intelligence in functional food innovation: Bioactive enhancement and formulation optimization: A quasi-systematic review.Food chemistry: X · 2026Review
- Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2026Review
- Bacterial Communities in Aphid Honeydew Provide Species-Specific Functional Chemical Cues in Aphid-Predator Interactions.Journal of chemical ecology · 2025Article
- COmmunity and Single Microbe Optimisation System (COSMOS).NPJ systems biology and applications · 2025Article
- The Role of Phenotypic Plasticity and Within-Environment Trait Variability in the Assembly of the Nectar Microbiome and Plant-Microbe-Animal Interactions.Ecology and evolution · 2025Review
- Lysis of Escherichia coli by colicin Ib contributes to bacterial cross-feeding by releasing active β-galactosidase.The ISME journal · 2025Article
- Microbial diversification is maintained in an experimentally evolved synthetic community.mSystems · 2024Article
- Article
- Plant diversity drives positive microbial associations in the rhizosphere enhancing carbon use efficiency in agricultural soils.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Formation of a constructed microbial community in a nutrient-rich environment indicates bacterial interspecific competition.mSystems · 2024Article
- Article
- The microbiota: a key regulator of health, productivity, and reproductive success in mammals.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Review
- Intrahost evolution of the gut microbiota.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2023Review
- Evolution of a cross-feeding interaction following a key innovation in a long-term evolution experiment withMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Microorganisms modify their environment by excreting by-products of metabolism, which can create new ecological niches that can help microbial populations diversify. A striking example comes from experimental evolution of genetically identical Escherichia coli populations that are grown in a homogeneous environment with the single carbon source glucose. In such experiments, stable communities of genetically diverse cross-feeding E. coli cells readily emerge. Some cells that consume the primary carbon source glucose excrete a secondary carbon source, such as acetate, that sustains other community members. Few such cross-feeding polymorphisms are known experimentally, because they are difficult to screen for. We studied the potential of bacterial metabolism to create new ecological niches based on cross-feeding. To do so, we used genome scale models of the metabolism of E. coli and metabolisms of similar complexity, to identify unique pairs of primary and secondary carbon sources in these metabolisms. We then combined dynamic flux balance analysis with analytical calculations to identify which pair of carbon sources can sustain a polymorphic cross-feeding community. We identified almost 10,000 such pairs of carbon sources, each of them corresponding to a unique ecological niche. Bacterial metabolism shows an immense potential for the construction of new ecological niches through cross feeding.
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