Highlights • Microbes form dense aggregates, where interactions may drive community
function. • Biological interactions can lead to spatial segregation or local mixing of taxa. • …

Comparisons of closely related microorganisms have shown that individual genomes can be
highly diverse in terms of gene content. In this Review, we discuss several studies showing …

The importance of microbial communities (MCs) cannot be overstated. MCs underpin the
biogeochemical cycles of the earth’s soil, oceans and the atmosphere, and perform ecosystem …

A common strategy among microbes living in iron-limited environments is the secretion of
siderophores, which can bind poorly soluble iron and make it available to cells via active …

In the ocean, organic particles harbour diverse bacterial communities, which collectively
digest and recycle essential nutrients. Traits like motility and exo-enzyme production allow …

Despite numerous surveys of gene and species content in heterotrophic microbial communities,
such as those found in animal guts, oceans, or soils, it is still unclear whether there are …

The degradation of particulate organic matter in the ocean is a central process in the global
carbon cycle, the mode and tempo of which is determined by the bacterial communities that …

Niche construction through interspecific interactions can condition future community states
on past ones. However, the extent to which such history dependency can steer communities …

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), the acquisition of genetic material from non-parental lineages,
is known to be important in bacterial evolution 1 , 2 . In particular, HGT provides rapid …

Genetic exchange is common among bacteria, but its effect on population diversity during
ecological differentiation remains controversial. A fundamental question is whether …