Osnabrück University researchers study auxotrophic soil bacteria nutrient exchange in Jena, Thuringia; Half of soil bacteria auxotrophic for amino acids
Neighborly Help: Soil Bacteria Provide Nutrients to One Another: Uni Osnabrück
Neighborly Help: Soil Bacteria Provide Nutrients to One Another
A new study by Osnabrück University, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, shows that soil bacteria live in beneficial communities and frequently exchange nutrients with one another. The study, led by Prof. Dr. Christian Kost, has now been published in “Nature Microbiology”.
The study examined the prevalence of bacteria that, in the course of their evolution, have lost the ability to produce certain substances necessary for their growth on their own. To survive, these so-called “auxotrophic” bacteria rely on a supply of nutrients from other bacteria that release these nutrients into their environment. Among experts, this hypothesis is known as the “Black Queen hypothesis.” Whether and how frequently such auxotrophic bacteria occur in natural bacterial communities—and to what extent they can survive through the exchange of substances with other bacteria—had previously been insufficiently investigated.
A new study by the research team led by Prof. Dr. Christian Kost, professor for ecology at Osnabrück University, now provides new evidence for this. “We collected soil samples in Jena, Thuringia, and isolated nearly 7,000 bacterial strains from 27 bacterial communities,” explains Prof. Kost. “In the lab, we then investigated which bacteria were capable of producing certain nutrients on their own and which relied on nutrient uptake from the environment.”
The result: About half of all bacteria in a bacterial community were unable to produce any amino acids on their own, or could produce only certain ones. Amino acids are essential for protein synthesis and are therefore a vital nutrient. In further experiments, the research team was able to show that isolated auxotrophic bacteria in mixed cultures with other bacterial strains were supplied with these nutrients and that their growth depended on such a supply.
A subsequent genetic analysis suggested that an accumulation of mobile DNA segments might explain the origin of the observed auxotrophies. These mobile elements are known to switch off genes and could thus disrupt the independent production of amino acids in bacteria.
“Overall, our investigations support the Black Queen hypothesis and show that soil bacteria do not merely compete for nutrients. They rather coexist in a kind of network in which they supply each other with nutrients, thereby enabling their survival in the first place,” said Prof. Kost. Furthermore, the results provided an additional explanation for why isolated bacterial strains are often difficult to culture under laboratory conditions. “This study offers new insights into how bacteria coexist with one another in their natural environment. The findings can also help us better understand bacterial communities that play an important role in biomedicine or agriculture.”
The original publication in “Nature Microbiology” is available on the journals website .
Further information for the media: Prof. Dr. Christian Kost, Osnabrück University, Faculty 5 Biology
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