About this Research Topic

Background

The lifestyles of ocean microbes are constrained by their individual metabolisms. Metabolic requirements that have to be fulfilled to ensure survival but cannot be satisfied by the abiotic environment create the ecological niche for symbiosis. Symbiotic interactions range from transient, facultative nutrient exchanges to obligate associations that can be traced through a shared evolutionary history. In the latter case, this becomes the study of `holobionts' (the grouping together of microbes and their macro-organism hosts) as functional ecological units. Developments in high-resolution chemical analyses and new paradigms for microbial ecology are shedding light on the connections that bring microbes into association.

While the cataloging of the diversity of microbes in coastal and open-ocean communities was revolutionized by the development of affordable `omics platforms, progress in gaining a mechanistic understanding of microbial interactions has been gradual. The goal of this Research Topic is to emphasize interdisciplinary efforts in the field that bridge functional research on tractable model systems with global approaches to understanding microbial and/or holobiont interactions. The focus is on the role of micronutrients as connectors in the species networks. Here recent advances have shed light on the functional role of inorganic minerals such as iron, as well as organic molecules, e.g. vitamins and a suite of natural products. In many instances, the advances are enabled by improvements in single-cell imaging techniques, metabolomic analyses and biochemical methods.

The focus of this Research Topic is on micronutrients as mediators of microbial interactions, which is system agnostic. It, therefore, opens up the scope of studies that will be considered, to include research on coral and sponge communities in the coastal ocean, investigations focused on open-ocean microbes, as well as laboratory model species. Studies that demonstrate directly the compounds that are exchanged, and investigate the molecular machinery involved in the associations will be prioritized for publication. The themes that contributors are invited to address include:

· the metabolic and molecular basis for exchanges between interacting microbes
· the eco-evolutionary significance of nutrient-mediated interactions
· the impact of microbial nutrient exchanges on biogeological cycles

Keywords: Symbiosis, micronutrients, holobionts, microbial community, metabolic exchange

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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