The paper, published in Environmental Microbiology (IF = 5.5), for the first time explores the ecological context for evolution of quorum sensing (QS) diversity, where social communication is limited to members of the same quorum-sensing type (pherotype). At the soil micro geographical scale three ecotypes were identified within Bacillus subtilis taxon. Each pherotype was strongly associated with a different ecotype, suggesting that it is usually not adaptive for one ecotype to “listen” to the signalling of another. Each ecotype, however, contained one or more minority pherotypes, which is consistent with a model of frequency-dependent selection within ecotypes. In this model a low-frequency pherotype increases through cheating the social interaction, yielding a cycling of pherotypes within each ecotype. Finally, sharing of pherotypes extended beyond B. subtilis to more distantly related species taxa. This was most likely due to a limited number of existing pherotypes that can transfer to a new ecotype to start a new round of pherotype cycling. This is the first analysis of pherotype diversity among closely related ecotypes.
COBISS.SI-ID: 4044408
The chapter in the book entitled “Endospore: forming soil bacteria” that was published by Springer in 2011, covers diversity of aerobic spore-forming bacteria in soil. An emphasis is given to methodologies that are used for physiological characterisation of laboratory isolates and especially to cultivation-independent molecular techniques that have now transformed studies of soil bacterial diversity. The article describes novel insights that molecular approaches are providing on biogeography of soil bacilli and indicates that studies are rare and more are needed. In addition, the chapter covers studies on evolution of ecotypes in bacilli and evolutionary forces that shape them. An important role is given also to evolution and ecology of quorum sensing signalling, to the importance of small spatial scales to study ecology of bacteria in soil and to horizontal gene transfer that may shape the evolution of these endospore forming bacteria.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3897720