Competitive and Coevolutionary Dynamics of Antibiotic Interactions Within Streptomyces Communities in Soil

抗生素产生菌在土壤中普遍存在，但抗生素相互作用对微生物群落生态和进化的重要性还没有得到很好的理解。 特别是，有很少的信息在土壤中的微生物之间的不同类型的相互作用（抑制，抗生素诱导，互利，或剥削）的频率，或具有不同的抑制表型的土壤微生物的健身。 本研究将开发分子工具和定量模型，用于探索抗生素抑制相互作用对土壤微生物群落动态的意义。 土壤微生物仍然是医学上重要的抗生素的重要来源，据信包含了世界上大多数未开发的生物多样性。 该项目的研究将提供关键的工具和信息，以提高我们对土壤微生物的多样性和动态的理解。 此外，该项目将支持本科生和研究生以及博士后科学家的教育，并将支持与多个小型学院的女性合作者继续保持合作关系。

Antibiotic-producing bacteria are ubiquitous in soils, but the significance of antibiotic interactions to microbial community ecology and evolution is not well understood. In particular, there is little information on the frequency of different types of interactions (inhibitory, antibiotic induction, mutualistic, or exploitative) among microbes in soil, or on the fitness of soil microbes possessing distinct inhibitory phenotypes. This research will develop molecular tools and quantitative models for use in exploring the significance of antibiotic inhibitory interactions to microbial community dynamics in soil. Soil microbes remain a significant source of medically important antibiotics, and are believed to contain the majority of the worlds unexplored biotic diversity. Research on this project will provide tools and information critical to enhancing our understanding of the diversity and dynamics of soil microbes. In addition, this project will support the education of undergraduate and graduate students as well as a post-doctoral scientist, and will support continued collaborative relationships with female collaborators at multiple small colleges.