Desiccation tolerance of prokaryotes.

Potts, Malcolm

doi:10.1128/mmbr.58.4.755-805.1994

Cited by 841 publications

(630 citation statements)

References 218 publications

(341 reference statements)

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“…Moisture controls the distribution, abundance, and activity of nearly all life forms, including microorganisms (Potts 1994). Despite this, very few studies have compared the moisture niche for different groups of microorganisms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are many microbial traits that are hypothesized to be involved in adaptation to soil moisture (e.g., Potts 1994). One trait that was strongly correlated with the niche parameters of our soil microbial isolates was biofilm production.…”

Section: Functional Traits Associated With the Microbial Moisture Nichementioning

confidence: 97%

“…For example, in saturated soils, the metabolism of microorganisms can become limited by the rates of oxygen diffusion into pore water (Pett-Ridge and Firestone 2005). In contrast, microorganisms experience desiccation stress in unsaturated soils, which reduces population growth rates and can ultimately lead to cell death (Potts 1994). It is commonly assumed that microbial taxa vary in their response to moisture availability (Paul and Clark 1996), yet surprisingly few studies have characterized the moisture niche for a diverse collection of soil microorganisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mapping the niche space of soil microorganisms using taxonomy and traits

Lennon

Aanderud

Lehmkuhl

et al. 2012

Ecology

396

364

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The biodiversity of microbial communities has important implications for the stability and functioning of ecosystem processes. Yet, very little is known about the environmental factors that define the microbial niche and how this influences the composition and activity of microbial communities. In this study, we derived niche parameters from physiological response curves that quantified microbial respiration for a diverse collection of soil bacteria and fungi along a soil moisture gradient. On average, soil microorganisms had relatively dry optima (0.3 MPa) and were capable of respiring under low water potentials (−2.0 MPa). Within their limits of activity, microorganisms exhibited a wide range of responses, suggesting that some taxa may be able to coexist by partitioning the moisture niche axis. For example, we identified dry‐adapted generalists that tolerated a broad range of water potentials, along with wet‐adapted specialists with metabolism restricted to less‐negative water potentials. These contrasting ecological strategies had a phylogenetic signal at a coarse taxonomic level (phylum), suggesting that the moisture niche of soil microorganisms is highly conserved. In addition, variation in microbial responses along the moisture gradient was linked to the distribution of several functional traits. In particular, strains that were capable of producing biofilms had drier moisture optima and wider niche breadths. However, biofilm production appeared to come at a cost that was reflected in a prolonged lag time prior to exponential growth, suggesting that there is a trade‐off associated with traits that allow microorganisms to contend with moisture stress. Together, we have identified functional groups of microorganisms that will help predict the structure and functioning of microbial communities under contrasting soil moisture regimes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Functional Traits Associated With the Microbial Moisture Nichementioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mapping the niche space of soil microorganisms using taxonomy and traits

Lennon

Aanderud

Lehmkuhl

et al. 2012

Ecology

396

364

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“…Thermal buffering provided by conspecifics is a widespread facilitative mechanism in rocky intertidal communities (Stachowicz 2001). Biofilms should benefit from living at high density due to higher EPS production, which in turn enhances survival and boosts growth (Potts 1994, Steele et al 2014. Our experimental results showed how extreme temperatures may push biofilm biomass toward a threshold level, below which growth rates can no longer compensate for increased mortality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Temporal clustering of extreme climate events drives a regime shift in rocky intertidal biofilms

Bello

Rindi

Benedetti‐Cecchi

2019

Ecology

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Research on regime shifts has focused primarily on how changes in the intensity and duration of press disturbances precipitate natural systems into undesirable, alternative states. By contrast, the role of recurrent pulse perturbations, such as extreme climatic events, has been largely neglected, hindering our understanding of how historical processes regulate the onset of a regime shift. We performed field manipulations to evaluate whether combinations of extreme events of temperature and sediment deposition that differed in their degree of temporal clustering generated alternative states in rocky intertidal epilithic microphytobenthos (biofilms) on rocky shores. The likelihood of biofilms to shift from a vegetated to a bare state depended on the degree of temporal clustering of events, with biofilm biomass showing both states under a regime of non‐clustered (60 d apart) perturbations while collapsing in the clustered (15 d apart) scenario. Our results indicate that time since the last perturbation can be an important predictor of collapse in systems exhibiting alternative states and that consideration of historical effects in studies of regime shifts may largely improve our understanding of ecosystem dynamics under climate change.

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“…Production of an extracellular matrix in the form of various types of mucilaginous envelopes, capsules, or sheaths represents one of the most successful strategies for stress avoidance and/or stress tolerance in cyanobacteria [1]. Extracellular Abbreviations: ANOVA, analysis of variance; DW, dry weight; EPS, extracellular polysaccharides; GAM, generalized additive models polysaccharides (EPS) play a crucial role in desiccation tolerance as these molecules bind water [2,3]. Colonies of Nostoc sp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of growth and exopolysaccharide production by two soil cyanobacteria, Scytonema tolypothrichoides and Tolypothrix bouteillei as determined by cultivation in irradiance and temperature crossed gradients

Kvíderová

Kumar

Lukavský

et al. 2018

Engineering in Life Sciences

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Two filamentous cyanobacteria of the genera Scytonema and Tolypothrix were reported to be effective for stabilizing soil in arid areas due to the production of significant amounts of extracellular polysaccharides (EPS). These EPS may also have applications in the biotechnology industry. Therefore, two cyanobacterial species, Scytonema tolypothrichoides and Tolypothrix bouteillei were examined using crossed gradients of temperature (8–40°C) and irradiance (3–21 W m−2) to identify their temperature and irradiance optima for maximum biomass and EPS production. According to their reported temperature requirements, both strains were considered mesophilic. The optimum growth range of temperature in S. tolypothrichoides (27 to 34°C) was higher than T. bouteillei (22–32°C). The optimum irradiance range for growth of S. tolypothrichoides (9–13 W m−2) was slightly lower than T. bouteillei (7–18 W m−2). Maximum EPS production by S. tolypothrichoides occurred at similar temperatures (28–34°C) as T. bouteillei (27–34°C), both slightly higher than for maximum growth. The optimum irradiance range for EPS production was comparable to that for growth in S. tolypotrichoides (8–13 W m−2), and slightly lower in T. bouteillei (7–17 W m−2). The Redundancy Analysis confirmed that temperature was the most important controlling factor and protocols for field applications or for mass cultivation can now be developed.

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Desiccation tolerance of prokaryotes.

Cited by 841 publications

References 218 publications

Mapping the niche space of soil microorganisms using taxonomy and traits

Mapping the niche space of soil microorganisms using taxonomy and traits

Temporal clustering of extreme climate events drives a regime shift in rocky intertidal biofilms

Estimation of growth and exopolysaccharide production by two soil cyanobacteria, Scytonema tolypothrichoides and Tolypothrix bouteillei as determined by cultivation in irradiance and temperature crossed gradients

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