Microbial interactions from a molecular and evolutionary perspective
SFB Mini Symposium
- Date: Apr 11, 2016
- Time: 02:15 PM (Local Time Germany)
- Speaker: Dr. Olaya Rendueles-Garcia
- Microbial Evolutionary Genomics, Institut Pasteur, Paris
- Location: MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology
- Room: Lecture hall
- Host: SFB 987
- Contact: Nelli.Melcher@sfb987.de
Antagonistic bacterial interactions are common in biofilms where bacteria compete for limited space and nutrients. These interactions are conditioned by a number of factors related to the biofilm lifestyle like group effects, high intrinsic genetic – and phenotypic – diversity, strong kin competition and cooperation.
Whereas research on competitive interactions mostly focused in the characterization of antibiotic-like compounds, more recently a myriad of non-biocidal antagonistic molecules have been identified and the underlying molecular mechanisms have been characterized. Yet how microorganisms adapt and outcompete their conspecific neighbors in multispecies and high cell-density environments remains poorly studied.
After providing a brief overview of the diverse competition mechanisms within biofilms, I will focus on antibiofilm polysaccharides and their role in population dynamics. Finally, I will discuss adaptation mechanisms, including de novo emergence of interference competition, during long-term experimental evolution using soil-dwelling Myxococcus xanthus as a model organism.