Abstract:
Functional traits are measurable characteristics that affect an organism\'s fitness under certain environmental conditions. The use of functional traits in microbial ecology holds great promise for improving our ability to develop biogeochemical models and predict ecosystem responses to global changes. Notably, functional traits could be decoupled from taxonomic relatedness, owing to horizontal gene transfer among microorganisms and adaptive evolution. In recent years, our knowledge about microbial functional traits has been substantially enhanced, thereby revealing the multitude of ecological processes in driving community assembly and dynamics. Here, I summarize the emerging patterns of how microbial functional traits respond to changing environments, which considerably differ from better-studied microbial taxonomy. I use niche and neutral theories to explain microbial functional traits. Finally, I highlight future challenges to analyze, elucidate, and utilize functional traits in microbial ecology.
摘要:
功能性状是在某些环境条件下影响生物体适应性的可测量特征。在微生物生态学中使用功能性状对于提高我们开发生物地球化学模型和预测生态系统对全球变化的反应的能力具有很大的希望。值得注意的是,功能性状可以与分类学相关性解耦,由于微生物之间的水平基因转移和适应性进化。近年来,我们对微生物功能特征的认识得到了实质性的提高,从而揭示了推动社区聚集和动态的众多生态过程。这里,我总结了微生物功能特征如何应对不断变化的环境的新兴模式,这与更好研究的微生物分类学有很大不同。我用生态位和中性理论来解释微生物的功能特征。最后,我强调未来需要分析的挑战,阐明,并利用微生物生态学中的功能性状。