Impact of Temporal pH Fluctuations on the Coexistence of Nasal Bacteria in an in silico Community
To manipulate nasal microbiota for respiratory health, we need to better understand how this microbial community is assembled and maintained. Previous work has demonstrated that the pH in the nasal passage experiences temporal fluctuations. Yet, the impact of such pH fluctuations on nasal microbiota...
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doaj-423e8feaed75451db5e493d2b23f04612021-02-10T06:45:17ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2021-02-011210.3389/fmicb.2021.613109613109Impact of Temporal pH Fluctuations on the Coexistence of Nasal Bacteria in an in silico CommunitySandra Dedrick0M. Javad Akbari1Samantha K. Dyckman2Nannan Zhao3Yang-Yu Liu4Babak Momeni5Department of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, United StatesDepartment of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, United StatesDepartment of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, United StatesChanning Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United StatesChanning Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United StatesDepartment of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, United StatesTo manipulate nasal microbiota for respiratory health, we need to better understand how this microbial community is assembled and maintained. Previous work has demonstrated that the pH in the nasal passage experiences temporal fluctuations. Yet, the impact of such pH fluctuations on nasal microbiota is not fully understood. Here, we examine how temporal fluctuations in pH might affect the coexistence of nasal bacteria in in silico communities. We take advantage of the cultivability of nasal bacteria to experimentally assess their responses to pH and the presence of other species. Based on experimentally observed responses, we formulate a mathematical model to numerically investigate the impact of temporal pH fluctuations on species coexistence. We assemble in silico nasal communities using up to 20 strains that resemble the isolates that we have experimentally characterized. We then subject these in silico communities to pH fluctuations and assess how the community composition and coexistence is impacted. Using this model, we then simulate pH fluctuations—varying in amplitude or frequency—to identify conditions that best support species coexistence. We find that the composition of nasal communities is generally robust against pH fluctuations within the expected range of amplitudes and frequencies. Our results also show that cooperative communities and communities with lower niche overlap have significantly lower composition deviations when exposed to temporal pH fluctuations. Overall, our data suggest that nasal microbiota could be robust against environmental fluctuations.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.613109/fullmicrobial communitiesvariable environmentnasal microbiotamathematical modelspecies interaction networkcommunity ecology |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Sandra Dedrick M. Javad Akbari Samantha K. Dyckman Nannan Zhao Yang-Yu Liu Babak Momeni |
spellingShingle |
Sandra Dedrick M. Javad Akbari Samantha K. Dyckman Nannan Zhao Yang-Yu Liu Babak Momeni Impact of Temporal pH Fluctuations on the Coexistence of Nasal Bacteria in an in silico Community Frontiers in Microbiology microbial communities variable environment nasal microbiota mathematical model species interaction network community ecology |
author_facet |
Sandra Dedrick M. Javad Akbari Samantha K. Dyckman Nannan Zhao Yang-Yu Liu Babak Momeni |
author_sort |
Sandra Dedrick |
title |
Impact of Temporal pH Fluctuations on the Coexistence of Nasal Bacteria in an in silico Community |
title_short |
Impact of Temporal pH Fluctuations on the Coexistence of Nasal Bacteria in an in silico Community |
title_full |
Impact of Temporal pH Fluctuations on the Coexistence of Nasal Bacteria in an in silico Community |
title_fullStr |
Impact of Temporal pH Fluctuations on the Coexistence of Nasal Bacteria in an in silico Community |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact of Temporal pH Fluctuations on the Coexistence of Nasal Bacteria in an in silico Community |
title_sort |
impact of temporal ph fluctuations on the coexistence of nasal bacteria in an in silico community |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
issn |
1664-302X |
publishDate |
2021-02-01 |
description |
To manipulate nasal microbiota for respiratory health, we need to better understand how this microbial community is assembled and maintained. Previous work has demonstrated that the pH in the nasal passage experiences temporal fluctuations. Yet, the impact of such pH fluctuations on nasal microbiota is not fully understood. Here, we examine how temporal fluctuations in pH might affect the coexistence of nasal bacteria in in silico communities. We take advantage of the cultivability of nasal bacteria to experimentally assess their responses to pH and the presence of other species. Based on experimentally observed responses, we formulate a mathematical model to numerically investigate the impact of temporal pH fluctuations on species coexistence. We assemble in silico nasal communities using up to 20 strains that resemble the isolates that we have experimentally characterized. We then subject these in silico communities to pH fluctuations and assess how the community composition and coexistence is impacted. Using this model, we then simulate pH fluctuations—varying in amplitude or frequency—to identify conditions that best support species coexistence. We find that the composition of nasal communities is generally robust against pH fluctuations within the expected range of amplitudes and frequencies. Our results also show that cooperative communities and communities with lower niche overlap have significantly lower composition deviations when exposed to temporal pH fluctuations. Overall, our data suggest that nasal microbiota could be robust against environmental fluctuations. |
topic |
microbial communities variable environment nasal microbiota mathematical model species interaction network community ecology |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.613109/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
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