Evolution of Nutrient Colimitation in Microbial Communities

Date

Feb 20 2023
Expired!

Time

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Location

Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Room 010
679 Hoes Lane West. Piscataway, NJ 08854

Seminar Format: Hybrid (Zoom Access)

Speaker: Michael Manhart, Rutgers University

origins and evolution of life.
enigma.rutgers.edu
Spring 2023 Enigma Seminar Series
Michael Manhart
Assistant Professor, Center for
Advanced Biotechnology & Medicine
Rutgers University
Monday, February 20th, 1:00-2:00pm EST
Hybrid: Hosted on Zoom and at Rutgers Center for Advanced Biotechnology and
Medicine (CABM), Rm 010, 679 Hoes Lane West, Busch Campus
Evolution of Nutrient Colimitation in
Microbial Communities
Microbial growth relies on the presence of several nutrients, including elemental nutrients
such as carbon and nitrogen, as well as complex nutrients like vitamins and amino acids.
Evidence from biogeochemistry, especially in aquatic environments, suggests that multiple
nutrients may be simultaneously rare in nature and therefore limit growth. However, we
poorly understand how this colimitation affects microbial growth, physiology, and
evolution. This is especially important in the context of multi-species communities, where
pervasive cross-feeding of many nutrients leads to the coevolution of nutrient limitation
between species. We introduce a theoretical framework for understanding and quantifying
nutrient limitation, which we apply to an evolutionary model to show how limitation for
multiple nutrients evolves. We find that evolution can spontaneously drive nutrient uptake
to match environmental availability, leading to colimitation of multiple nutrients. We show
how this result depends on the interaction between nutrients and supply of adaptive
mutations. In particular, we demonstrate how nutrient limitation coevolves across species
in cross-feeding communities. This prediction is consistent with observed
correspondences between the elemental composition of microbes and their
environments. It suggests that colimitation may be a generic property of microbial
communities due to evolutionary forces

Date

Feb 20 2023
Expired!

Time

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Organizer

Rutgers E·Nig·Ma
Website
https://enigma.rutgers.edu/

Location

Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Room 010
679 Hoes Lane West. Piscataway, NJ 08854
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