Dataset Information

Probabilistic adaptation in changing microbial environments.

ABSTRACT: Microbes growing in animal host environments face fluctuations that have elements of both randomness and predictability. In the mammalian gut, fluctuations in nutrient levels and other physiological parameters are structured by the host's behavior, diet, health and microbiota composition. Microbial cells that can anticipate environmental fluctuations by exploiting this structure would likely gain a fitness advantage (by adapting their internal state in advance). We propose that the problem of adaptive growth in structured changing environments, such as the gut, can be viewed as probabilistic inference. We analyze environments that are "meta-changing": where there are changes in the way the environment fluctuates, governed by a mechanism unobservable to cells. We develop a dynamic Bayesian model of these environments and show that a real-time inference algorithm (particle filtering) for this model can be used as a microbial growth strategy implementable in molecular circuits. The growth strategy suggested by our model outperforms heuristic strategies, and points to a class of algorithms that could support real-time probabilistic inference in natural or synthetic cellular circuits.

SUBMITTER: Katz Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5160922 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Probabilistic adaptation in changing microbial environments.

Katz Yarden Y Springer Michael M

PeerJ 20161214

Microbes growing in animal host environments face fluctuations that have elements of both randomness and predictability. In the mammalian gut, fluctuations in nutrient levels and other physiological parameters are structured by the host's behavior, diet, health and microbiota composition. Microbial cells that can anticipate environmental fluctuations by exploiting this structure would likely gain a fitness advantage (by adapting their internal state in advance). We propose that the problem of ad ...[more]

PMID: 27994963

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Project description:Microbes form mats with architectures that promote efficient metabolism within a particular physicochemical environment, thus studying mat structure helps us understand ecophysiology. Despite much research on chemolithotrophic Fe-oxidizing bacteria, Fe mat architecture has not been visualized because these delicate structures are easily disrupted. There are striking similarities between the biominerals that comprise freshwater and marine Fe mats, made by Beta- and Zetaproteobacteria, respectively. If these biominerals are assembled into mat structures with similar functional morphology, this would suggest that mat architecture is adapted to serve roles specific to Fe oxidation. To evaluate this, we combined light, confocal, and scanning electron microscopy of intact Fe microbial mats with experiments on sheath formation in culture, in order to understand mat developmental history and subsequently evaluate the connection between Fe oxidation and mat morphology. We sampled a freshwater sheath mat from Maine and marine stalk and sheath mats from Loihi Seamount hydrothermal vents, Hawaii. Mat morphology correlated to niche: stalks formed in steeper O2 gradients while sheaths were associated with low to undetectable O2 gradients. Fe-biomineralized filaments, twisted stalks or hollow sheaths, formed the highly porous framework of each mat. The mat-formers are keystone species, with nascent marine stalk-rich mats comprised of novel and uncommon Zetaproteobacteria. For all mats, filaments were locally highly parallel with similar morphologies, indicating that cells were synchronously tracking a chemical or physical cue. In the freshwater mat, cells inhabited sheath ends at the growing edge of the mat. Correspondingly, time lapse culture imaging showed that sheaths are made like stalks, with cells rapidly leaving behind an Fe oxide filament. The distinctive architecture common to all observed Fe mats appears to serve specific functions related to chemolithotrophic Fe oxidation, including (1) removing Fe oxyhydroxide waste without entombing cells or clogging flow paths through the mat and (2) colonizing niches where Fe(II) and O2 overlap. This work improves our understanding of Fe mat developmental history and how mat morphology links to metabolism. We can use these results to interpret biogenicity, metabolism, and paleoenvironmental conditions of Fe microfossil mats, which would give us insight into Earth's Fe and O2 history.

Dataset Information

Probabilistic adaptation in changing microbial environments.

Publications

Probabilistic adaptation in changing microbial environments.

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