E. Libby

Competition and cooperation: The plasticity of bacteria interactions across environments

The paper assesses microbial interactions across environments using genome-scale metabolic networks, finding that most bacterial pairs can both compete and cooperate depending on resource availability.

Adaptive evolutionary trajectories in complexity: repeated transitions between unicellularity and differentiated multicellularity

This study uses mathematical models to show that repeated exposure to abiotic stress can lead to adaptive transitions between unicellularity and differentiated multicellularity, with complexity increasing or decreasing depending on mutation order and fitness effects.

Division of labor promotes the entrenchment of multicellularity

This study shows that division of labor in digital multicells stabilizes multicellularity by increasing fitness compared to unicellular revertants.

Emergence and maintenance of stable coexistence during a long-term multicellular evolution experiment

This study shows how multicellularity evolves through niche partitioning and adaptive divergence in snowflake yeast, leading to stable coexistence via a trade-off between size and competitiveness for oxygen.

Minor variations in multicellular life cycles have major effects on adaptation

The paper shows that small differences in multicellular life cycles significantly affect adaptation through distinct mutation dynamics.

Overexpression of the plastidal pseudo-protease AtFtsHi3 confers drought tolerance without penalizing growth

This study shows overexpression of AtFtsHi3 in Arabidopsis improves drought tolerance without affecting growth by altering stomatal density and enhancing water use efficiency.

Evolutionary consequences of nascent multicellular life cycles

This study evolves yeast populations to test if clonal development facilitates multicellular adaptation, finding that clonal yeast shifted fitness to group-level benefits while floc yeast retained cell-level selection.

Metabolic compatibility and the rarity of prokaryote endosymbioses

The paper assesses the metabolic viability of prokaryotic endosymbioses using genome-scale models and finds that while many pairings are viable, they have reduced growth rates and are unlikely to adapt.

Out of the blue: the independent activity of sulfur-oxidizers and diatoms mediate the sudden color shift of a tropical river

The paper investigates the microbial and chemical processes in Rio Celeste, revealing that sulfur-oxidizers and diatoms drive the formation of light-scattering particles responsible for the river's sky-blue color.

Rapid shift in microbial community structure in a neutral hydrothermal hot spring from Costa Rica

The paper characterizes the microbial community and geochemistry of a neutral hot spring, showing a rapid shift from sulfur-related chemoautotrophs to chemoheterotrophs downstream.

Temperature and elemental sulfur shape microbial communities in two extremely acidic aquatic volcanic environments

The paper analyzes microbial communities in two acidic volcanic environments, finding that temperature and elemental sulfur drive differences in community composition between them.

Untapped microbial composition along a horizontal oxygen gradient in a Costa Rican volcanic influenced acid rock drainage system

The paper analyzes microbial community shifts along an oxygen gradient in a volcanic acid rock drainage system using 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding.

Ecological advantages and evolutionary limitations of aggregative multicellular development

This study compares clonal and aggregative multicellular development in yeast, finding aggregation provides ecological advantages but is exploited by clonal cells in competition.

Predicting mutational routes to new adaptive phenotypes

The paper predicts mutational routes to adaptive phenotypes in Pseudomonas fluorescens using mathematical models and experimental validation, finding discrepancies between predictions and observations due to undetected mutations.

Multisite phosphorylation regulates phenotypic variability in antibiotic tolerance

This study shows that multisite phosphorylation regulates phenotypic variability in antibiotic tolerance by controlling the distribution of sasA expression in bacterial populations.

Paradoxes in Leaky Microbial Trade

The paper models microbial metabolic trade and identifies three paradoxical outcomes where individual-level optimization harms population growth or frequency.