13 Result(s)
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Christian Kost
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Metabolic exchanges are ubiquitous in natural microbial communities
Microbial communities drive global biogeochemical cycles and shape the health of plants and animals—including humans. Their structure and function are determined by ecological and environmental interactions th...
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Open AccessObligate mutualistic cooperation limits evolvability
Cooperative mutualisms are widespread and play fundamental roles in many ecosystems. Given that these interactions are often obligate, the Darwinian fitness of the participating individuals is not only determi...
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Obligate cross-feeding expands the metabolic niche of bacteria
Bacteria frequently engage in obligate metabolic mutualisms with other microorganisms. However, it remains generally unclear how the resulting metabolic dependencies affect the ecological niche space accessibl...
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Journal Club
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Gemeinsam stärker: metabolische Arbeitsteilung bei Bakterien
Microorganisms frequently engage in reciprocal cross-feeding interactions, in which two or more bacterial strains exchange essential metabolites. Benefits stemming from losing the biosynthetic capabilities to ...
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Einblicke in das Sozialleben von Mikroben
The evolution of cooperation is an intriguing puzzle in evolutionary biology. Several examples have been described where individual microbial cells cooperate by secreting products that are beneficial for the w...
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Metabolic cross-feeding via intercellular nanotubes among bacteria
Bacteria frequently exchange metabolites by diffusion through the extracellular environment, yet it remains generally unclear whether bacteria can also use cell–cell connections to directly exchange nutrients....
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Foraging Leaf-Cutting Ants Learn to Reject Vitis vinifera ssp. vinifera Plants that Emit Herbivore-Induced Volatiles
Leaf-cutting ants (LCAs) are dominant herbivores of the Neotropics, as well as economically important pests. Their foraging ecology and patterns/mechanisms of food selection have received considerable attentio...
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Open AccessThe evolutionary emergence of stochastic phenotype switching in bacteria
Stochastic phenotype switching – or bet hedging – is a pervasive feature of living systems and common in bacteria that experience fluctuating (unpredictable) environmental conditions. Under such conditions, th...
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Experimental evolution of bet hedging
If living organisms are to survive, they must cope with ever-changing environments. One solution is the evolution of sensing mechanisms allowing modulation of the phenotype in response to specific cues. A simp...
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Open AccessTesting the optimal defence hypothesis for two indirect defences: extrafloral nectar and volatile organic compounds
Many plants respond to herbivory with an increased production of extrafloral nectar (EFN) and/or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to attract predatory arthropods as an indirect defensive strategy. In this stu...
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Open AccessThe Defensive Role of Volatile Emission and Extrafloral Nectar Secretion for Lima Bean in Nature
Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) features two indirect anti-herbivore defenses—emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and secretion of extrafloral nectar (EFN)—which are both inducible upon herbivore damage. ...
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Non-specific association between filamentous bacteria and fungus-growing ants
Fungus-growing ants and their fungal cultivar form a highly evolved mutualism that is negatively affected by the specialized parasitic fungus Escovopsis. Filamentous Pseudonocardia bacteria occurring on the cutic...
