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Community state shifts driven by total carbon availability over resource complexity in a synthetic microbial community

Bischofberger, Anna M ; Cairns, Johannes LU orcid ; Aapalampi, Inga-Katariina ; Pausio, Sanna ; Lindqvist, Meri ; Mustonen, Ville and Hiltunen, Teppo (2026) In ISME Communications 6(1).
Abstract

Even though complex microbial communities are ubiquitous and provide essential services for natural and human-associated ecosystems, our knowledge about their assembly and dynamics is incomplete. There is an ongoing debate about whether the behavior of complex communities can be predicted from the outcome of pairwise competition of species, and whether communities reach alternative stable states depending on the level and complexity of resources provided for growth. To estimate the effect of two resource gradients, total carbon availability and resource complexity, on the compositional dynamics of a microbial community, we conducted a 16-day serial passage experiment, transferring a 16-species synthetic community in 96 different... (More)

Even though complex microbial communities are ubiquitous and provide essential services for natural and human-associated ecosystems, our knowledge about their assembly and dynamics is incomplete. There is an ongoing debate about whether the behavior of complex communities can be predicted from the outcome of pairwise competition of species, and whether communities reach alternative stable states depending on the level and complexity of resources provided for growth. To estimate the effect of two resource gradients, total carbon availability and resource complexity, on the compositional dynamics of a microbial community, we conducted a 16-day serial passage experiment, transferring a 16-species synthetic community in 96 different resource environments. We observed that although both resource dimensions influenced community composition, total carbon exerted a considerably larger effect. Additionally, we saw strong, discrete community state shifts along the total carbon gradient, a feature not observed for the resource complexity gradient. Using monoculture assays, we identified lag phase duration as the dominant predictor of competitive success at carbon extremes, with maximum growth rate increasing in importance as lag times converged. Total carbon availability thus structured community state transitions and regulated which growth trait governed competitive sorting. These results suggest the importance of total carbon level over resource complexity and identifying dominant species for the quest to successfully manage, maintain, and manipulate complex microbial communities.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
ISME Communications
volume
6
issue
1
article number
ycag149
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:42367191
  • scopus:105042725402
ISSN
2730-6151
DOI
10.1093/ismeco/ycag149
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
© The Author(s) 2026. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Microbial Ecology.
id
77426dcb-029d-4503-8302-4aa5c9a96c05
date added to LUP
2026-09-18 14:04:50
date last changed
2026-10-03 18:27:36
@article{77426dcb-029d-4503-8302-4aa5c9a96c05,
  abstract     = {{<p>Even though complex microbial communities are ubiquitous and provide essential services for natural and human-associated ecosystems, our knowledge about their assembly and dynamics is incomplete. There is an ongoing debate about whether the behavior of complex communities can be predicted from the outcome of pairwise competition of species, and whether communities reach alternative stable states depending on the level and complexity of resources provided for growth. To estimate the effect of two resource gradients, total carbon availability and resource complexity, on the compositional dynamics of a microbial community, we conducted a 16-day serial passage experiment, transferring a 16-species synthetic community in 96 different resource environments. We observed that although both resource dimensions influenced community composition, total carbon exerted a considerably larger effect. Additionally, we saw strong, discrete community state shifts along the total carbon gradient, a feature not observed for the resource complexity gradient. Using monoculture assays, we identified lag phase duration as the dominant predictor of competitive success at carbon extremes, with maximum growth rate increasing in importance as lag times converged. Total carbon availability thus structured community state transitions and regulated which growth trait governed competitive sorting. These results suggest the importance of total carbon level over resource complexity and identifying dominant species for the quest to successfully manage, maintain, and manipulate complex microbial communities.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bischofberger, Anna M and Cairns, Johannes and Aapalampi, Inga-Katariina and Pausio, Sanna and Lindqvist, Meri and Mustonen, Ville and Hiltunen, Teppo}},
  issn         = {{2730-6151}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{ISME Communications}},
  title        = {{Community state shifts driven by total carbon availability over resource complexity in a synthetic microbial community}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ismeco/ycag149}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/ismeco/ycag149}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}