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Applying landscape genetics to the microbial world

Dudaniec, Rachael LU and Tesson, Sylvie LU (2016) In Molecular Ecology 25(14). p.3266-3275
Abstract
Landscape genetics, which explicitly quantifies landscape effects on gene flow and adaptation, has largely focused on macroorganisms, with little attention given to microor- ganisms. This is despite overwhelming evidence that microorganisms exhibit spatial genetic structuring in rela- tion to environmental variables. The increasing accessi- bility of genomic data has opened up the opportunity for landscape genetics to embrace the world of microorgan- isms, which may be thought of as ‘the invisible regula- tors’ of the macroecological world. Recent developments in bioinformatics and increased data accessibility have accelerated our ability to identify microbial taxa and characterize their genetic diversity. However, the influ- ence of the... (More)
Landscape genetics, which explicitly quantifies landscape effects on gene flow and adaptation, has largely focused on macroorganisms, with little attention given to microor- ganisms. This is despite overwhelming evidence that microorganisms exhibit spatial genetic structuring in rela- tion to environmental variables. The increasing accessi- bility of genomic data has opened up the opportunity for landscape genetics to embrace the world of microorgan- isms, which may be thought of as ‘the invisible regula- tors’ of the macroecological world. Recent developments in bioinformatics and increased data accessibility have accelerated our ability to identify microbial taxa and characterize their genetic diversity. However, the influ- ence of the landscape matrix and dynamic environmental factors on microorganism genetic dispersal and adapta- tion has been little explored. Also, because many microorganisms coinhabit or codisperse with macroorgan- isms, landscape genomic approaches may improve insights into how micro- and macroorganisms recipro- cally interact to create spatial genetic structure. Conduct- ing landscape genetic analyses on microorganisms requires that we accommodate shifts in spatial and tem- poral scales, presenting new conceptual and methodologi- cal challenges not yet explored in ‘macro’-landscape genetics. We argue that there is much value to be gained for microbial ecologists from embracing landscape genetic approaches. We provide a case for integrating landscape genetic methods into microecological studies and discuss specific considerations associated with the novel challenges this brings. We anticipate that microor- ganism landscape genetic studies will provide new insights into both micro- and macroecological processes and expand our knowledge of species’ distributions, adaptive mechanisms and species’ interactions in chang- ing environments. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
dispersal ecology, ecological genomics, landscape genetics, macroorganisms, microorganisms, species interactions
in
Molecular Ecology
volume
25
issue
14
pages
3266 - 3275
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:27146426
  • wos:000379614400003
  • scopus:85010935987
ISSN
0962-1083
DOI
10.1111/mec.13691
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1bd4c7f5-aad7-4b5f-91f6-ff72194ec38e
date added to LUP
2016-07-25 15:16:10
date last changed
2022-01-30 05:20:08
@article{1bd4c7f5-aad7-4b5f-91f6-ff72194ec38e,
  abstract     = {{Landscape genetics, which explicitly quantifies landscape effects on gene flow and adaptation, has largely focused on macroorganisms, with little attention given to microor- ganisms. This is despite overwhelming evidence that microorganisms exhibit spatial genetic structuring in rela- tion to environmental variables. The increasing accessi- bility of genomic data has opened up the opportunity for landscape genetics to embrace the world of microorgan- isms, which may be thought of as ‘the invisible regula- tors’ of the macroecological world. Recent developments in bioinformatics and increased data accessibility have accelerated our ability to identify microbial taxa and characterize their genetic diversity. However, the influ- ence of the landscape matrix and dynamic environmental factors on microorganism genetic dispersal and adapta- tion has been little explored. Also, because many microorganisms coinhabit or codisperse with macroorgan- isms, landscape genomic approaches may improve insights into how micro- and macroorganisms recipro- cally interact to create spatial genetic structure. Conduct- ing landscape genetic analyses on microorganisms requires that we accommodate shifts in spatial and tem- poral scales, presenting new conceptual and methodologi- cal challenges not yet explored in ‘macro’-landscape genetics. We argue that there is much value to be gained for microbial ecologists from embracing landscape genetic approaches. We provide a case for integrating landscape genetic methods into microecological studies and discuss specific considerations associated with the novel challenges this brings. We anticipate that microor- ganism landscape genetic studies will provide new insights into both micro- and macroecological processes and expand our knowledge of species’ distributions, adaptive mechanisms and species’ interactions in chang- ing environments.}},
  author       = {{Dudaniec, Rachael and Tesson, Sylvie}},
  issn         = {{0962-1083}},
  keywords     = {{dispersal ecology; ecological genomics; landscape genetics; macroorganisms; microorganisms; species interactions}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{14}},
  pages        = {{3266--3275}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Molecular Ecology}},
  title        = {{Applying landscape genetics to the microbial world}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mec.13691}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/mec.13691}},
  volume       = {{25}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}