研究人员表示，了解维持微生物生物多样性的机制是生态学的一个重要目标。过去有关微生物共存的研究主要集中在物种对上，但目前还不清楚多物种群落中的共存是否需要孤立的成对共存。
为了解决这个问题，研究人员在体外对12个不同富集群落中稳定共存的成员进行了数百次配对竞争实验。为了确定这些实验的结果，研究人员开发了一个自动图像分析方案来量化物种丰度。研究人员发现，竞争排斥是最常见的结果，而且具有很强的层次性和传递性。由于许多在稳定的多物种群落中共存的物种无法在相同条件下进行成对共培养，因此研究人员认为，多物种共存是一种新出现的现象。
这项研究强调了群落背景对于理解复杂生态系统中共存起源的重要性。
附：英文原文
Title: Emergent coexistence in multispecies microbial communities
Author: Chang-Yu Chang, Djordje Baji, Jean C. C. Vila, Sylvie Estrela, Alvaro Sanchez
Issue&Volume: 2023-07-21
Abstract: Understanding the mechanisms that maintain microbial biodiversity is a critical aspiration in ecology. Past work on microbial coexistence has largely focused on species pairs, but it is unclear whether pairwise coexistence in isolation is required for coexistence in a multispecies community. To address this question, we conducted hundreds of pairwise competition experiments among the stably coexisting members of 12 different enrichment communities in vitro. To determine the outcomes of these experiments, we developed an automated image analysis pipeline to quantify species abundances. We found that competitive exclusion was the most common outcome, and it was strongly hierarchical and transitive. Because many species that coexist within a stable multispecies community fail to coexist in pairwise co-culture under identical conditions, we concluded that multispecies coexistence is an emergent phenomenon. This work highlights the importance of community context for understanding the origins of coexistence in complex ecosystems.
DOI: adg0727
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg0727