L. Ona

Obligate mutualistic cooperation limits evolvability

This study shows that obligate mutualistic cooperation in E. coli reduces evolvability, as interdependent strains are less able to adapt to environmental stress and often regain metabolic autonomy.

Obligate cross-feeding expands the metabolic niche of bacteria

This study shows that obligate cross-feeding between bacterial species expands their collective metabolic niche space more than it contracts it, especially between distantly related specialists.

Metabolic dissimilarity determines the establishment of cross-feeding interactions in bacteria

The study shows that metabolic dissimilarity between bacterial strains promotes cross-feeding interactions, as demonstrated through cocultivation experiments and in-silico analysis of gut microbiota.

Cooperation increases robustness to ecological disturbance in microbial cross-feeding networks

The paper uses a population dynamics model to show that ecological disturbance favors cooperative cross-feeding in microbial networks, increasing their robustness.