The Significance of Microbial Symbionts in Ecosystem Processes

ABSTRACT It is increasingly accepted that the microbial symbionts of eukaryotes can have profound effects on host ecology and evolution. However, the relative contribution that they make directly to ecosystem processes, like energy and nutrient flows, is less explicitly acknowledged and, in many cas...

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Autor principal:	Roxanne A. Beinart
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2019
Materias:	ecosystem processes microbial ecology microbial physiology symbiosis Microbiology QR1-502
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/de6a9cd530d94d6d83eb0394def92af9
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:de6a9cd530d94d6d83eb0394def92af92021-12-02T19:46:18ZThe Significance of Microbial Symbionts in Ecosystem Processes10.1128/mSystems.00127-192379-5077https://doaj.org/article/de6a9cd530d94d6d83eb0394def92af92019-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mSystems.00127-19https://doaj.org/toc/2379-5077ABSTRACT It is increasingly accepted that the microbial symbionts of eukaryotes can have profound effects on host ecology and evolution. However, the relative contribution that they make directly to ecosystem processes, like energy and nutrient flows, is less explicitly acknowledged and, in many cases, only poorly constrained. Here, I explore the idea that, in some habitats, host-associated microbes may have an outsized role in ecosystem processes relative to functionally equivalent free-living microbes due to key aspects of the physiology, ecology, and evolution of symbiotic interactions. My research quantifying symbiont metabolism has shown that microbial symbionts have the potential to make a substantial impact on carbon and sulfur cycling. It is my perspective that direct measurement of symbiont activity and comparison to free-living counterparts will expand our understanding of the significance of microbial symbioses and, more broadly, the role of microbial processes in ecosystems.Roxanne A. BeinartAmerican Society for Microbiologyarticleecosystem processesmicrobial ecologymicrobial physiologysymbiosisMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmSystems, Vol 4, Iss 3 (2019)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	ecosystem processes microbial ecology microbial physiology symbiosis Microbiology QR1-502
spellingShingle	ecosystem processes microbial ecology microbial physiology symbiosis Microbiology QR1-502 Roxanne A. Beinart The Significance of Microbial Symbionts in Ecosystem Processes
description	ABSTRACT It is increasingly accepted that the microbial symbionts of eukaryotes can have profound effects on host ecology and evolution. However, the relative contribution that they make directly to ecosystem processes, like energy and nutrient flows, is less explicitly acknowledged and, in many cases, only poorly constrained. Here, I explore the idea that, in some habitats, host-associated microbes may have an outsized role in ecosystem processes relative to functionally equivalent free-living microbes due to key aspects of the physiology, ecology, and evolution of symbiotic interactions. My research quantifying symbiont metabolism has shown that microbial symbionts have the potential to make a substantial impact on carbon and sulfur cycling. It is my perspective that direct measurement of symbiont activity and comparison to free-living counterparts will expand our understanding of the significance of microbial symbioses and, more broadly, the role of microbial processes in ecosystems.
format	article
author	Roxanne A. Beinart
author_facet	Roxanne A. Beinart
author_sort	Roxanne A. Beinart
title	The Significance of Microbial Symbionts in Ecosystem Processes
title_short	The Significance of Microbial Symbionts in Ecosystem Processes
title_full	The Significance of Microbial Symbionts in Ecosystem Processes
title_fullStr	The Significance of Microbial Symbionts in Ecosystem Processes
title_full_unstemmed	The Significance of Microbial Symbionts in Ecosystem Processes
title_sort	significance of microbial symbionts in ecosystem processes
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2019
url	https://doaj.org/article/de6a9cd530d94d6d83eb0394def92af9
work_keys_str_mv	AT roxanneabeinart thesignificanceofmicrobialsymbiontsinecosystemprocesses AT roxanneabeinart significanceofmicrobialsymbiontsinecosystemprocesses
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The Significance of Microbial Symbionts in Ecosystem Processes

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