https://doi.org/10.25678/0006Z1

Data for: Rare and localized events stabilize microbial community composition and patterns of spatial self-organization in a fluctuating environment

Spatial self-organization is a hallmark of surface-associated microbial communities that is governed by local environmental conditions and further modified by interspecific interactions. Here, we hypothesize that spatial patterns of microbial cell-types can stabilize the composition of cross-feeding microbial communities under fluctuating environmental conditions. We tested this hypothesis by studying the growth and spatial self-organization of microbial co-cultures consisting of two metabolically interacting strains of the bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri. We inoculated the co-cultures onto agar surfaces and allowed them to expand (i.e. range expansion) while fluctuating environmental conditions that alter the dependency between the two strains. We alternated between anoxic conditions that induce a mutualistic interaction and oxic conditions that induce a competitive interaction. We observed co-occurrence of both strains in rare and highly localized clusters (referred to as “spatial jackpot events”) that persist during environmental fluctuations. To resolve the underlying mechanisms for the emergence of spatial jackpot events, we used a mechanistic agent-based mathematical model that resolves growth and dispersal at the scale relevant to individual cells. While co-culture composition varied with the strength of the mutualistic interaction and across environmental fluctuations, the model provides insights into the formation of spatially resolved substrate landscapes with localized niches that support the co-occurrence of the two strains and secure co-culture function. This study highlights that in addition to spatial patterns that emerge in response to environmental fluctuations, localized spatial jackpot events ensure persistence of strains across dynamic conditions.

Data and Resources

Citation

This Data Package

Ciccarese, D., Micali, G., Borer, B., Ruan, C., Or, D., & Johnson, D. R. (2022). Data for: Rare and localized events stabilize microbial community composition and patterns of spatial self-organization in a fluctuating environment (Version 1.0) [Data set]. Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. https://doi.org/10.25678/0006Z1

The associated article

Ciccarese, D., Micali, G., Borer, B., Ruan, C., Or, D., & Johnson, D. R. (2022). Rare and localized events stabilize microbial community composition and patterns of spatial self-organization in a fluctuating environment. The ISME Journal, 16(5), 1453–1463. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-022-01189-9

Metadata

Open Data Open Data
Long-term data Long-term data
Author(s)
  • Ciccarese, Davide
  • Micali, Gabriele
  • Borer, Benedict
  • Ruan, Chujin
  • Or, Dani
  • Johnson, David R.
Keywords microbial ecology,range expansion,synthetic ecology,denitrification,environmental change
Variables
  • bacteria_abundance
  • count
  • fluorescence
Substances (scientific names)
  • None
Substances (generic terms)
  • None
Taxa (scientific names)
  • Pseudomonas stutzeri
Organisms (generic terms)
  • bacteria
Systems
  • lab
Timerange
  • 2016 TO 2020
Review Level general
Curator Johnson, David
Contact Johnson, David <David.Johnson@eawag.ch>
DOI 10.25678/0006Z1