None declared.Conflicts of interestEcological theory predicts that organismal distribution and abundance depend on the ability to adapt to environmental change. It also predicts that eukaryotic specialists and generalists will dominate in extreme environments or following environmental change, respectively. This theory has attracted little attention in prokaryotes, especially in archaea, which drive major global biogeochemical cycles. We tested this concept in Thaumarchaeota using pH niche breadth as a specialisation factor. Responses of archaeal growth and activity to pH disturbance were determined empirically in manipulated, long-term, pH-maintained soil plots. The distribution of specialists and generalists was uneven over the pH range, with specialists being more limited to the extreme range. Nonetheless, adaptation of generalists to environmental change was greater than that of specialists, except for environmental changes leading to more extreme conditions. The balance of generalism and specialism over longer timescales was further investigated across evolutionary history. Specialists and generalists diversified at similar rates, reflecting balanced benefits of each strategy, but a higher transition rate from generalists to specialists than the reverse was demonstrated, suggesting that metabolic specialism is more easily gained than metabolic versatility. This study provides evidence for a crucial ecological concept in prokaryotes, significantly extending our understanding of archaeal adaptation to environmental change.

中文翻译：

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生态位宽度专业化影响环境变化后的生态和进化适应


没有声明。利益冲突生态理论预测生物体的分布和丰度取决于适应环境变化的能力。它还预测真核专家和通才将分别在极端环境或环境变化后占据主导地位。这一理论在原核生物中几乎没有引起人们的关注，尤其是在驱动全球主要生物地球化学循环的古细菌中。我们使用 pH 生态位宽度作为专业化因素在奇古菌中测试了这个概念。古菌生长和活性对 pH 值扰动的响应是在经过操纵的、长期 pH 值维持的土壤中凭经验确定的。专家和通才在 pH 范围内的分布不均匀，专家更多地局限于极端范围。尽管如此，除了环境变化导致更极端的条件外，通才对环境变化的适应能力比专家更强。在更长的时间尺度上，通才和专业的平衡在整个进化史上得到了进一步的研究。专家和通才以相似的比率进行多元化，反映了每种策略的均衡收益，但从通才到专家的转变率高于相反，这表明代谢专业性比代谢多功能性更容易获得。这项研究为原核生物的一个重要生态概念提供了证据，显着扩展了我们对古菌适应环境变化的理解。