Johannes Cairns jcairns - Bluesky Statics

Ecological tristability driven by total carbon availability over resource complexity in a synthetic microbial community Even though complex microbial communities are ubiquitous and provide essential services for natural and human-associated ecosystems, our knowledge about their assembly and dynamics is incomplete. There is an ongoing debate whether the behavior of complex communities can be predicted from the outcome of pairwise competition of species, and whether communities reach alternative stable states depending on the level and complexity of resource provided for growth. To estimate the effect of two resource gradients, total carbon availability and resource complexity, on the compositional dynamics of a complex microbial community, we conducted a 16-day serial passage experiment, transferring a 16-species synthetic community in 96 different resource environments. We observed that although both resource dimensions influenced community composition, total carbon exerted a considerably larger effect. Additionally, we saw the emergence of a tristable pattern along the total carbon gradient, a feature not observed for the resource complexity gradient. Using monoculture assays, we identified lag phase duration as the dominant predictor of competitive success at carbon extremes, with maximum growth rate increasing in importance as lag times converged. Total carbon availability thus structured community state transitions and regulated which growth trait governed competitive sorting. These results suggest the importance of total carbon level over resource complexity and identifying dominant species for the quest to successfully manage, maintain and manipulate complex microbial communities. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Swiss National Science Foundation, https://ror.org/00yjd3n13, P500PB_214345 Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, KAW 2024.0159 Jenny ja Antti Wihurin Rahasto, 00250005 Finnish Cultural Foundation, 85241664 Research Council of Finland, 346126, 364232

We serially transferred a 16-species synthetic community for 16 days across total carbon and resource complexity gradients.

Result? Three reproducible compositional states along the carbon axis. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @teppo-h.bsky.social

28.02.2026 20:32 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Postdoctoral Researcher in discovering the benefits of plant growth-promoting bacteriophages Postdoctoral Researcher in discovering the benefits of plant growth-promoting bacteriophages

A four-year postdoc focusing on "plant growth-promoting bacteriophages" available in my group. Skills in metaviromics and metagenomics essential. Application deadline: 2.2.2026. For more info, see the link.

29.12.2025 06:28 — 👍 30 🔁 35 💬 1 📌 0

Florian Borse defends his PhD thesis on Modelling Microbial Population Growth Across Spatial, Strain and Environmental Diversity | Faculty of Science | University of Helsinki On Friday the 24th of October 2025, M.Sc. Florian Borse his PhD thesis on Modelling Microbial Population Growth Across Spatial, Strain and Environmental Diversity. The thesis is related to research do...

Proud to announce upcoming PhD defense (Friday 24th October) of my first PhD researcher Florian Borse co-supervised with Prof. Ville Mustonen at @helsinki.fi with @antagomir.bsky.social as opponent. www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-s...

16.10.2025 08:23 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Massive undertaking with @teppo-h.bsky.social and others out. We studied 4 years (!!!) of synthetic 23 microbial species community evolution with/without antibiotic. Resistance mutations occurring over years led to stepwise restructuring and ultimately recovery of undisturbed community composition.

11.10.2025 05:00 — 👍 17 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 0

Tool-Using and Aimed Throwing in a Community of Free-Living Chimpanzees - Nature Nature - Tool-Using and Aimed Throwing in a Community of Free-Living Chimpanzees

Seminal Nature paper: www.nature.com/articles/201...

05.10.2025 15:30 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Jane Goodall’s legacy: three ways she changed science The primatologist challenged what it meant to be a scientist.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

05.10.2025 15:25 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Doctoral Researcher / Project researcher in Experimental Evolution of Host–Microbiota Interactions The Faculty of Science at the University of Turku invites applications for a doctoral researcher / project researcher position at the Department of Biology. The position is fully funded 4-years. Emplo...

Fully funded PhD position at the university of Turku. ats.talentadore.com/apply/vaitos...

08.08.2025 06:32 — 👍 3 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0

*Drosophila

08.08.2025 08:32 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Doctoral Researcher / Project researcher in Experimental Evolution of Host–Microbiota Interactions The Faculty of Science at the University of Turku invites applications for a doctoral researcher / project researcher position at the Department of Biology. The position is fully funded 4-years. Emplo...

Dr. Anni Hämäläinen from @tcsmtutu.bsky.social is looking for a PhD researcher to @utu.fi co-supervised by me and @teppo-h.bsky.social on experimental evolution of host-microbiota interactions (Drosphila). Please spread the message. ats.talentadore.com/apply/vaitos...

08.08.2025 08:31 — 👍 5 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0

Hello :)

31.03.2025 02:24 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Check out our new study on bacterial clade dynamics under ciliate predation

07.02.2025 08:40 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Pre-exposure to disturbance enhances species resilience and protects from change - Nature Ecology & Evolution In a serial passage experiment with a 23-species model microbial community, we found that higher dispersal led to stronger spread of the effects of antibiotic disturbance across a metacommunity. This ...

Check out our new article in @natureecoevo.bsky.social Research Briefing: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41... We showed that antibiotic pre-exposure of abundant species protected entire communities and metacommunities from change during antibiotic exposure

18.01.2025 03:30 — 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Kiitos @atso.bsky.social palautteesta. Olen aikamoinen someluddiitti, joten näin tämän vasta nyt. Reaalipolitiikka, rationaalinen yhteiskuntasuunnittelu ja tekninen osaaminen pitää kytkeä syvään keskusteluun hyvästä elämästä.

13.12.2024 13:45 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Posts by Johannes Cairns (@jcairns.bsky.social)