Biogeography: An Emerging Cornerstone for Understanding Prokaryotic Diversity,Ecology, and Evolution |
| |
Authors: | Alban Ramette James M Tiedje |
| |
Institution: | (1) Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, 540 Plant and Soil Sciences Building, East Lansing, MI 48824-1325, USA;(2) Present address: Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany |
| |
Abstract: | New questions about microbial ecology and diversity combined with significant improvement in the resolving power of molecular
tools have helped the reemergence of the field of prokaryotic biogeography. Here, we show that biogeography may constitute
a cornerstone approach to study diversity patterns at different taxonomic levels in the prokaryotic world. Fundamental processes
leading to the formation of biogeographic patterns are examined in an evolutionary and ecological context. Based on different
evolutionary scenarios, biogeographic patterns are thus posited to consist of dramatic range expansion or regression events
that would be the results of evolutionary and ecological forces at play at the genotype level. The deterministic or random
nature of those underlying processes is, however, questioned in light of recent surveys. Such scenarios led us to predict
the existence of particular genes whose presence or polymorphism would be associated with cosmopolitan taxa. Furthermore,
several conceptual and methodological pitfalls that could hamper future developments of the field are identified, and future
approaches and new lines of investigation are suggested. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|