J. T. Lennon

Bacterium secretes chemical inhibitor that sensitizes competitor to bacteriophage infection

The paper identifies a bacterial secondary metabolite that sensitizes competitors to phage infection, providing a fitness advantage to the producer.

Coevolution with a seed bank

This study shows that dormancy creates a seed bank that reduces coevolutionary dynamics between hosts and parasites by preserving genetic diversity and buffering population dynamics against phage infection.

Human-gut phages harbor sporulation genes

The paper identifies sporulation genes in human gut phages that may influence bacterial spore formation and host microbiome health.

Optimal dormancy strategies in fluctuating environments given delays in phenotypic switching

This study develops a dynamic model to analyze optimal dormancy strategies in fluctuating environments, considering time delays in phenotypic switching and environmental correlations.

Diversity and composition of methanotroph communities in caves

The paper surveys cave soils to study methanotroph communities, finding a core community, dispersal ability, and correlation with CH4 concentrations.

Macroevolutionary constraints on global microbial diversity

The paper estimates global microbial diversity by modeling macroevolutionary processes and mass extinctions, finding that 10^6-10^7 taxa is most probable but values up to 10^12 are feasible.

Traits of soil bacteria predict plant responses to soil moisture

The paper shows that microbial traits influencing drought or well-watered environments predict plant responses to soil moisture.

Phage-encoded sigma factors alter bacterial dormancy

This study identifies phage-encoded sigma factors that manipulate bacterial dormancy in Bacillus subtilis, reducing spore yield without affecting lytic infection.

Seed banks alter the molecular evolutionary dynamics of Bacillus subtilis

This study shows that seed banks in Bacillus subtilis increase genetic diversity and alter mutation trajectories over 700 days, while not changing negative selection but affecting the direction of molecular evolution.

Quantifying microbial associations of dissolved organic matter under global change

The paper develops a framework to quantify DOM-microbe associations under global change, finding that molecular traits and nutrient enrichment influence these interactions differently in subarctic and subtropical climates.

Evolution of a minimal cell

This study compares the evolutionary adaptation of a minimal synthetic cell to its non-minimized counterpart, finding equivalent adaptation rates despite fitness loss from genome streamlining.

Molecular evolutionary dynamics of energy limited microorganisms

This study examines how energy limitation affects molecular evolutionary dynamics across diverse microorganisms over 1,000 days, finding it influences mutation spectra and evolutionary direction but not consistently across phylogenetic groups.

Microbial population dynamics and evolutionary outcomes under extreme energy-limitation

This study examines microbial survival and evolution under extreme energy limitation, finding that bacteria can persist for decades and adapt through mutation and scavenging.

Stabilizing role of seed banks and the maintenance of bacterial diversity

The paper shows that seed banks and niche differences help maintain bacterial diversity in a temperate lake over time.

Resuscitation of the microbial seed bank alters plant-soil interactions

The paper applies a microbial resuscitation factor to soil and finds reduced plant biomass, altered microbial abundance, and shifts in community composition, suggesting impacts on plant-soil feedbacks.

Predicting Parallelism and Quantifying Divergence in Experimental Evolution

The paper develops a statistical framework to identify genes involved in divergent evolution by modeling mutation counts as a Skellam distribution.

Trait-based approach to bacterial growth efficiency

The paper uses a trait-based approach to analyze bacterial growth efficiency (BGE) across 20 Proteobacteria isolates, finding that species identity and resource type significantly influence BGE.

Microbial community composition is affected by press, but not pulse, seawater intrusion

This study shows that continuous seawater intrusion reduces microbial diversity in tidal freshwater marshes, while episodic intrusion has less impact.

Microbial community assembly in a multi-layer dendritic metacommunity

This study examines how vertical habitat structure influences community assembly processes in a dendritic stream metacommunity, finding habitat-specific patterns of sorting and stochasticity across spatial scales.

Low costs of adaptation to dietary restriction

This study shows that adaptation to dietary restriction in yeast does not reduce lifespan benefits over generations, suggesting low costs and alternative evolutionary reasons for the response.

Metabolic insight into bacterial community assembly across ecosystem boundaries

The paper examines bacterial community assembly across terrestrial-aquatic boundaries by analyzing metabolic heterogeneity and its impact on niche selection versus dispersal.

Dormancy dampens the microbial distance-decay relationship

The paper investigates how microbial dormancy affects biodiversity patterns by analyzing distance-decay relationships in forested ponds using 16S rRNA sequencing.

Nutrient stoichiometry shapes microbial coevolution

This study shows that nutrient stoichiometry affects microbial coevolution by altering host-parasite interaction stability and coevolutionary dynamics.

Microbial dormancy improves predictability of soil respiration at the seasonal time scale

The paper shows microbial dormancy improves predictability of soil respiration by linking seasonal patterns to microbial activity rather than biomass or taxonomic shifts.

Resource diversity structures aquatic bacterial communities

The paper investigates how resource concentration and heterogeneity influence bacterial community diversity and composition in lakes.

How, when, and where relic DNA biases estimates of microbial diversity

The paper models how relic DNA affects microbial diversity estimates and finds it does not bias diversity metrics despite its abundance in some environments.

Evolution with a seed bank: the population genetic consequences of microbial dormancy

This paper examines how microbial dormancy, through seed banks, influences population genetic processes and macroevolutionary dynamics by reviewing theory, simulations, and analysis of speciation and extinction rates.

Crop diversity increases disease suppressive capacity of soil microbiomes

This study shows that higher crop diversity increases soil microbial disease suppressive capacity, even when bacterial diversity is slightly lower.