Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33958697›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2021

Survival of the first rather than the fittest in a Shewanella electrode biofilm.

Eric D Kees, Caleb E Levar, Stephen P Miller, Daniel R Bond, Jeffrey A Gralnick, Antony M Dean

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Development of a stable biochar-bacteria hybrid system with a non-NBioprocess and biosystems engineering · 2026
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  4. Enhanced detoxification of CrNanoscale advances · 2023
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Eric D KeesBioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8258-9933
Caleb E LevarBioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USA.
Stephen P MillerBioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USA.
Daniel R BondBioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USA.
Jeffrey A GralnickBioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USA. gralnick@umn.edu.ORCID 0000-0001-9250-7770
Antony M DeanBioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USA. deanx024@umn.edu.
University of Minnesota · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

For natural selection to operate there must exist heritable variation among individuals that affects their survival and reproduction. Among free-living microbes, where differences in growth rates largely define selection intensities, competitive exclusion is common. However, among surface attached communities, these dynamics become less predictable. If extreme circumstances were to dictate that a surface population is immortal and all offspring must emigrate, the offspring would be unable to contribute to the composition of the population. Meanwhile, the immortals, regardless of reproductive capacity, would remain unchanged in relative abundance. The normal cycle of birth, death, and competitive exclusion would be broken. We tested whether conditions required to set up this idealized scenario can be approximated in a microbial biofilm. Using two differentially-reproducing strains of Shewanella oneidensis grown on an anode as the sole terminal electron acceptor - a system in which metabolism is obligately tied to surface attachment - we found that selection against a slow-growing competitor is drastically reduced. This work furthers understanding of natural selection dynamics in sessile microbial communities, and provides a framework for designing stable microbial communities for industrial and experimental applications.

Indexed as

Bioelectric Energy SourcesBiofilmsElectrodesElectron TransportShewanellaSurface Properties

Identifiers

PMID33958697
PMCPMC8102560
OpenAlexW3159897536

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.