What defines the habitat—the ecological niche—of a microorganism? It is a combination of environmental factors such as temperature, moisture, and nutrient content. But the exact contribution of each of these factors is difficult to predict. A German-Dutch research team has redefined microbial niches by determining which microorganisms live together. Led by Prof. Dr. Bas E. Dutilh from the University of Jena and Utrecht University, the researchers present this “social niche breadth” approach in the current issue of the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution and use it to chart the first “Map of the Microverse”.
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Source: Phys.org