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Eco-evolutionary Dynamics Set the Tempo and Trajectory of Metabolic Evolution in Multispecies Communities https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31359-2#.X3803S2_7Dk.twitter

With">https://www.cell.com/current-b... @RachaelEvans2 @rctwright @beckerhopper @Prof_NeilBruce & Simon McQueen-Mason

Using a neat experimental system developed by @RachaelEvans2 from scratch during her PhD we experimentally evolved bacterial communities containing 6 species on wheat straw as sole C source either allowing or preventing eco-evolutionary community dynamics

By tracking metabolic evolution (as a multivariate phenotype) in a focal species we discovered that living in a community accelerated metabolic evolution compared to living in monoculture

In communities without eco-evo dynamics the focal species evolved to exploit the metabolic activity of neighbouring species, but in communities with eco-evo dynamics the focal species adapted to use hard-to-digest components of lignocellulose (like cellulose)

Increased use of hard-to-digest substrates was driven by reinvasion of communities by a species specialised on easy-to-digest components of lignocellulose, suggesting species sorting sets the trajectory of evolution in dynamic communities

Evolving to use hard-to-digest substrates was associated with loss of function mutations in tctE a regulator of carbon metabolism