Year: 2007
Type: article
Abstract: Explore ecological relevance of variation by performing competitions between fast and slow-growing strains in monoculture and co-culture Explore physiological causes of variability by assaying additional traits, such as growth with hydrogen and sulfate, sulfate reduction rates, lactate metabolism rates Explore historical causes of variability by expanding the study set to include more Desulfovibrio strains Phenotypic variation is a necessary component of evolutionary and ecological processes.The majority of phenotypic variation is quantitative, yet the extent of quantitative variability in most microbial taxa is unknown.Knowledge of quantitative variation can enable predictions of the competitive interactions that may restrict species distributions and evolution.Objective 1: Assess the extent of quantitative variation among Desulfovibrio strains in growth on sulfate and in syntrophic association with Methanococcus maripaludis.Variation in different organismal traits may be statistically correlated either because the traits are functionally interrelated or because they share common genes (pleiotropy), or both.Pleiotropic relationships may result in trade-offs that constrain evolutionary change and cause ecological specialization (-correlation) or increase evolutionary rates (+correlation).Thus, identifying relationships between quantitative characters may provide clues about organismal physiology, ecological dynamics, and evolutionary possibilities.Objective 2: Identify relationships among Desulfovibrio traits
Authors: Kristina L. Hillesland, C. B. Walker, David A. Stahl
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2776422211