Cyanobacteria and alphaproteobacteria may facilitate cooperative interactions in niche communities

dc.contributor.authorVan Goethem, Marc W.
dc.contributor.authorMakhalanyane, Thulani Peter
dc.contributor.authorCowan, Don A.
dc.contributor.authorValverde, Angel
dc.contributor.emailthulani.makhalanyane@up.ac.zaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2017-11-20T05:50:01Z
dc.date.available2017-11-20T05:50:01Z
dc.date.issued2017-10-25
dc.description.abstractHypoliths, microbial assemblages found below translucent rocks, provide important ecosystem services in deserts. While several studies have assessed microbial diversity of hot desert hypoliths and whether these communities are metabolically active, the interactions among taxa remain unclear. Here, we assessed the structure, diversity, and co-occurrence patterns of hypolithic communities from the hyperarid Namib Desert by comparing total (DNA) and potentially active (RNA) communities. The potentially active and total hypolithic communities differed in their composition and diversity, with significantly higher levels of Cyanobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria in potentially active hypoliths. Several phyla known to be abundant in total hypolithic communities were metabolically inactive, indicating that some hypolithic taxa may be dormant or dead. The potentially active hypolith network was highly modular in structure with almost exclusively positive co-occurrences (>95% of the total) between taxa. Members of the Cyanobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria were identified as potential keystone taxa, and exhibited numerous positive co-occurrences with other microbes, suggesting that these groups might have important roles in maintaining network topological structure despite their low abundance.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentGeneticsen_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2017en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipThe National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant no. 97891 to MWVG and TTK13061018773 to AV) and the University of Pretoria (MWVG, AV, TPM, and DAC).en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.frontiersin.org/Microbiologyen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationVan Goethem, M.W., Makhalanyane, T.P., Cowan, D.A. & Valverde, A. (2017) Cyanobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria May Facilitate Cooperative Interactions in Niche Communities. Front. Microbiol. 8:2099. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02099.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn10.3389/fmicb.2017.02099
dc.identifier.issn1664-302X (online)
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/63198
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherFrontiers Research Foundationen_ZA
dc.rights© 2017 Van Goethem, Makhalanyane, Cowan and Valverde. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).en_ZA
dc.subjectCyanobacteriaen_ZA
dc.subjectNamib Deserten_ZA
dc.subjectHypolithen_ZA
dc.subject16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA)en_ZA
dc.subjectNetwork analysisen_ZA
dc.subjectKeystone speciesen_ZA
dc.subjectDormancyen_ZA
dc.subjectBacterialen_ZA
dc.subjectEcologyen_ZA
dc.subjectDiversityen_ZA
dc.subjectNamib Deserten_ZA
dc.subjectRibosomal RNAen_ZA
dc.subjectRare biosphereen_ZA
dc.subjectFunctional capacityen_ZA
dc.subjectAssociation networksen_ZA
dc.subjectSoil microbial communitiesen_ZA
dc.titleCyanobacteria and alphaproteobacteria may facilitate cooperative interactions in niche communitiesen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

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