Inter-bacterial mutualism promoted by public goods in a system characterized by deterministic temperature variation

Abstract

Mutualism is commonly observed in nature but not often reported for bacterial communities. Although abiotic stress is thought to promote microbial mutualism, there is a paucity of research in this area. Here, we monitor microbial communities in a quasi-natural composting system, where temperature variation (20 °C–70 °C) is the main abiotic stress. Genomic analyses and culturing experiments provide evidence that temperature selects for slow-growing and stress-tolerant strains (i.e., Thermobifida fusca and Saccharomonospora viridis), and mutualistic interactions emerge between them and the remaining strains through the sharing of cobalamin. Comparison of 3000 bacterial pairings reveals that mutualism is common (~39.1%) and competition is rare (~13.9%) in pairs involving T. fusca and S. viridis. Overall, our work provides insights into how high temperature can favour mutualism and reduce competition at both the community and species levels.

Abiotic stress is thought to promote microbial mutualism, although there is a paucity of research in this area. Here, Zhao et al. study microbial communities in a quasi-natural composting system, where temperature variation (20°C−70°C) is the main abiotic stress, showing how high temperature favours mutualism and reduces competition at both the community and species levels.