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Family Dynamics Through Time: Brood Reduction Followed By Parental Compensation With Aggression And Favoritism, Daizaburo Shizuka, Bruce E. Lyon

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Parental food allocation in birds has long been a focal point for life history and parent–offspring conflict theories. In asynchronously hatching species, parents are thought to either adjust brood size through death of marginal offspring (brood reduction), or feed the disadvantaged chicks to reduce the competitive hierarchy (parental compensation). Here, we show that parent American coots (Fulica americana) practice both strategies by switching from brood reduction to compensation across time. Late-hatching chicks suffer higher mortality only for the first few days after hatching. Later, parents begin to exhibit parental aggression towards older chicks and each parent favors a …

Eavesdropping Parasitoids Do Not Cause The Evolution Of Less Conspicuous Signaling Behavior In A Field Cricket, Oliver M. Beckers, William E. Wagner

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Males of many species produce conspicuous mating signals to attract females, but these signals can also attract eavesdropping predators and parasites. Males are thus expected to evolve signaling behaviors that balance the sexual selection benefits and the natural selection costs. In the variable field cricket, Gryllus lineaticeps, males sing to attract females, but these songs also attract the lethal parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea. The flies use male crickets as hosts for their larvae, primarily search for hosts during a 2 h period following sunset and prefer the same song types as female crickets. We tested whether males from high-risk populations …

Insect Herbivory And Propagule Pressure Influence Cirsium Vulgare Invasiveness Across The Landscape, James O. Eckberg, Brigitte Tenhumberg, Svata M. Louda

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

A current challenge in ecology is to better understand the magnitude, variation, and interaction in the factors that limit the invasiveness of exotic species. We conducted a factorial experiment involving herbivore manipulation (insecticide-in-water vs. water-only control) and seven densities of introduced nonnative Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle) seed. The experiment was repeated with two seed cohorts at eight grassland sites uninvaded by C. vulgare in the central Great Plains, USA. Herbivory by native insects significantly reduced thistle seedling density, causing the largest reductions in density at the highest propagule inputs. The magnitude of this herbivore effect varied widely among sites and …

Larval Performance And Kill Rate Of Convergent Ladybird Beetles, Hippodamia Convergens, On Black Bean Aphids, Aphis Fabae, And Pea Aphids, Acyrthosiphon Pisum, Travis M. Hinkelman, Brigitte Tenhumberg

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Generalist predator guilds play a prominent role in structuring insect communities and can contribute to limiting population sizes of insect pest species. A consequence of dietary breadth, particularly in predatory insects, is the inclusion of low-quality, or even toxic, prey items in the predator’s diet. Consumption of low-quality prey items reduces growth, development, and survival of predator larvae, thereby reducing the population sizes of generalist predators. The objective of this paper was to examine the effect of a suspected low-quality aphid species, Aphis fabae (Scopoli) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), on the larval performance of an abundant North American predator, Hippodamia convergens (Guérin-Méneville) …

Evolution Of The Pwwp-Domain Encoding Genes In The Plant And Animal Lineages, Raul Alvarez-Venegas, Zoya Avramova

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: Conserved domains are recognized as the building blocks of eukaryotic proteins. Domains showing a tendency to occur in diverse combinations (‘promiscuous’ domains) are involved in versatile architectures in proteins with different functions. Current models, based on global-level analyses of domain combinations in multiple genomes, have suggested that the propensity of some domains to associate with other domains in high-level architectures increases with organismal complexity. Alternative models using domain-based phylogenetic trees propose that domains have become promiscuous independently in different lineages through convergent evolution and are, thus, random with no functional or structural preferences. Here we test whether complex protein …

Atx1-Generated H3k4me3 Is Required For Efficient Elongation Of Transcription, Not Initiation, At Atx1- Regulated Genes, Yong Ding, Ivan Ndamukong, Zaoshi Xu, Hanna Lapko, Michael E. Fromm, Zoya Avramova

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Tri-methylated H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3) is associated with transcriptionally active genes, but its function in the transcription process is still unclear. Point mutations in the catalytic domain of ATX1 (ARABIDOPSIS TRITHORAX1), a H3K4 methyltransferase, and RNAi knockdowns of subunits of the AtCOMPASS–like (Arabidopsis Complex Proteins Associated with Set) were used to address this question. We demonstrate that both ATX1 and AtCOMPASS–like are required for high level accumulation of TBP (TATA-binding protein) and Pol II at promoters and that this requirement is independent of the catalytic histone modifying activity. However, the catalytic function is critically required for transcription as H3K4me3 levels …

Sex Allocation In California Oaks: Trade-Offs Or Resource Tracking?, Johannes Knops, Walter D. Koenig

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Trade-offs in sex resource allocation are commonly inferred from a negative correlation between male and female reproduction. We found that for three California oak species, aboveground annual net productivity (ANP) differences among individuals were primarily correlated with water availability and soil fertility. Reproductive biomass increased with ANP, but the relative allocation to reproduction was constant, indicating that reproduction tracked productivity, which in turn tracked site quality. Although there was a negative correlation between male and female reproduction, this was not the result of a resource investment trade-off, but rather a byproduct of the positive correlation between female reproductive biomass and …

Urea Amidolyase (Dur1,2) Contributes To Virulence And Kidney Pathogenesis Of Candida Albicans, Dhammika H. M. L. P Navarathna, Michail S. Lionakis, Martin J. Lizak, Jeeva Munasinghe, Kenneth W. Nickerson, David D. Roberts

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The intracellular enzyme urea amidolyase (Dur1,2p) enables C. albicans to utilize urea as a sole nitrogen source. Because deletion of the DUR1,2 gene reduces survival of C. albicans co-cultured with a murine macrophage cell line, we investigated the role of Dur1,2p in pathogenesis using a mouse model of disseminated candidiasis. A dur1,2Δ/dur1,2Δ strain was significantly less virulent than the wild-type strain, showing significantly higher survival rate, better renal function, and decreased and less sustained fungal colonization in kidney and brain. Complementation of the mutant restored virulence. DUR1,2 deletion resulted in a milder host inflammatory reaction. Immunohistochemistry, flow …

Template-Based Structure Prediction And Classification Of Transcription Factors In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Tao Lu, Yuedong Yang, Bo Yao, Song Liu, Yaoqi Zhou, Chi Zhang

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Transcription factors (TFs) play important roles in plants. However, there is no systematic study of their structures and functions of most TFs in plants. Here, we performed template-based structure prediction for all TFs in Arabidopsis thaliana, with their full-length sequences as well as C-terminal and N-terminal regions. A total of 2,918 model structures were obtained with a high confidence score. We find that TF families employ only a smaller number of templates for DNA-binding domains (DBD) but a diverse number of templates for transcription regulatory domains (TRD). Although TF families are classified according to DBD, their sizes have a significant …

Divergent Functions Of The Myotubularin (Mtm) Homologs Atmtm1 And Atmtm2 In Arabidopsis Thaliana: Evolution Of The Plant Mtm Family, Yong Ding, Ivan Ndamukong, Yang Zhao, Yuannan Xia, Jean-Jack Riethoven, David R. Jones, Nullin Divecha, Zoya Avramova

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Myotubularin and myotubularin-related proteins are evolutionarily conserved in eukaryotes. Defects in their function result in muscular dystrophy, neuronal diseases, and leukemia in humans. In contrast to the animal lineage, where genes encoding both active and inactive myotubularins (phosphoinositide 3-phosphatases) have appeared and proliferated in the basal metazoan group, myotubularin genes are not found in the unicellular relatives of green plants. However, they are present in land plants encoding proteins highly similar to the active metazoan enzymes. Despite their remarkable structural conservation, plant and animal myotubularins have significantly diverged in their functions. While loss of myotubularin function causes severe disease phenotypes …

Evolution Of Starvation Resistance In Drosophila Melanogaster: Measurement Of Direct And Correlated Responses To Artificial Selection, Tiffany E. Schwasinger-Schmidt, Stephen D. Kachman, Lawrence G. Harshman

Lawrence G. Harshman Publications

Laboratory selection for resistance to starvation has been conducted under relatively controlled conditions to investigate direct and correlated responses to artificial selection. With regard to starvation resistance, there are three physiological routes by which the trait can evolve: resource accumulation, energy conservation and starvation tolerance. A majority of energetic compounds and macromolecules including triglycerides, trehalose and other sugars, and soluble protein increased in abundance as a result of selection. Movement was additionally investigated with selected males moving less than control males and selected females exhibiting a similar response to selection. Results obtained from this study supported two of the possible …

Ramphotyphlops Braminus (Brahminy Blindsnake): Predation, Louis A. Somma

Papers in Herpetology

Ramphotyphlops braminus currently has the most widespread, near worldwide, nonindigenous distribution of any snake. In Florida, USA, R. braminus is rapidly expanding its distribution.

The stomach contents of a necropsied Dasypus novemcinctus (nine-banded armadillo) found on the premises of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in Gaisesville in March 2011 included an intact adult R. braminus. Dasypus novemcinctus is nonindigenous in Florida. It has a primarily insectivorous diet but occasionally preys upon small vertebrates, including reptiles. This is the first record of R. braminus in the diet of D. novemcinctus.

Regulatory Changes Contribute To The Adaptive Enhancement Of Thermogenic Capacity In High-Altitude Deer Mice, Zachary A. Cheviron, Gwendolyn C. Bachman, Alex D. Connaty, Jay F. Storz

Jay F. Storz Publications

In response to hypoxic stress, many animals compensate for a reduced cellular O₂ supply by suppressing total metabolism, thereby reducing O₂ demand. For small endotherms that are native to high-altitude environments, this is not always a viable strategy, as the capacity for sustained aerobic thermogenesis is critical for survival during periods of prolonged cold stress. For example, survivorship studies of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) have demonstrated that thermogenic capacity is under strong directional selection at high altitude. Here, we integrate measures of whole-organism thermogenic performance with measures of metabolic enzyme activities and genomic transcriptional profiles to …

Evolution Of The Globin Gene Family In Deuterostomes: Lineage-Specific Patterns Of Diversification And Attrition, Federico G. Hoffmann, Juan C. Opazo, David Hoogewijs, Thomas Hankeln, Bettina Ebner, Serge N. Vinogradov, Xavier Bailly, Jay F. Storz

Jay F. Storz Publications

In the Metazoa, globin proteins display an underlying unity in tertiary structure that belies an extraordinary diversity in primary structures, biochemical properties, and physiological functions. Phylogenetic reconstructions can reveal which of these functions represent novel, lineage-specific innovations, and which represent ancestral functions that are shared with homologous globin proteins in other eukaryotes and even prokaryotes. To date, our understanding of globin diversity in deuterostomes has been hindered by a dearth of genomic sequence data from the Ambulacraria (echinoderms + hemichordates), the sister group of chordates, and the phylum Xenacoelomorpha, which includes xenoturbellids, acoelomorphs, and nemertodermatids. Here, we report the results …

Combined Effects Of Plant Competition And Insect Herbivory Hinder Invasiveness Of An Introduced Thistle, Tomomi Suwa, Svata M. Louda

Svata M. Louda Publications

The biotic resistance hypothesis is a dominant paradigm for why some introduced species fail to become invasive in novel environments. However, predictions of this hypothesis require further empirical field tests. Here, we focus on evaluating two biotic factors known to severely limit plants, interspecific com­petition and insect herbivory, as mechanisms of biotic resis­tance. We experimentally evaluated the independent and com­bined effects of three levels of competition by tallgrass prairie vegetation and two levels of herbivory by native insects on seedling regeneration, size, and subsequent flowering of the Eurasian Cirsium vulgare, a known invasive species elsewhere, and compared its responses …

A Late Miocene Accipitrid (Aves: Accipitriformes) From Nebraska And Its Implications For The Divergence Of Old World Vultures, Zihui Zhang, Alan Feduccia, Helen F. James

Papers in Ornithology

Background: Old World vultures are likely polyphyletic, representing two subfamilies, the Aegypiinae and Gypaetinae, and some genera of the latter may be of independent origin. Evidence concerning the origin, as well as the timing of the divergence of each subfamily and even genera of the Gypaetinae has been elusive.

Methodology/Principal Findings: Compared with the Old World, the New World has an unexpectedly diverse and rich fossil component of Old World vultures. Here we describe a new accipitriform bird, Anchigyps voorhiesi gen. et sp. nov., from the Ash Hollow Formation (Upper Clarendonian, Late Miocene) of Nebraska. It represents a …

The Chloroplast Triggers Developmental Reprogramming When Muts Homolog1 Is Suppressed In Plants, Ying-Zhi Xu, Roberto De La Rosa Santamaria, Kamaldeep S. Virdi, Maria P. Arrieta-Montiel, Fareha Razvi, Shaoqing Li, Guodong Ren, Bin Yu, Danny Alexander, Lining Guo, Xuehui Feng, Ismail M. Dweikat, Tom E. Clemente, Sally Ann Mackenzie

Bin Yu Publications

Multicellular eukaryotes demonstrate nongenetic, heritable phenotypic versatility in their adaptation to environmental changes. This inclusive inheritance is composed of interacting epigenetic, maternal, and environmental factors. Yet-unidentified maternal effects can have a pronounced influence on plant phenotypic adaptation to changing environmental conditions. To explore the control of phenotypy in higher plants, we examined the effect of a single plant nuclear gene on the expression and transmission of phenotypic variability in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). MutS HOMOLOG1 (MSH1) is a plant-specific nuclear gene product that functions in both mitochondria and plastids to maintain genome stability. RNA interference suppression of the gene …

Collecting And Preserving Parasites During Reptile Biodiversity Surveys, Scott Lyell Gardner, Robert N. Fisher, Sean J. Barry

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Obtaining parasites from reptiles that are collected during biological diversity surveys or inventories is time consuming, and in the past such collections were rarely made (Gardner 1996). However, parasites and other symbionts are integral parts of the ecological characteristics of organisms and provide important information on biodiversity from the population level to the species level. For example, recent biogeographic analyses of the skinks, geckos, and anoles of some Oceanic Pacific Islands (Bertrand and Ineich 1986, 1987, 1989; Goldberg and Bursey 1991, 2000, 2002; Hanley et. al 1995; Goldberg et al. 2005) could not have been accomplished without parallel studies of …

A New Species Of Molinema (Nematoda: Onchocercidae) In Bolivian Rodents And Emended Description Of Litomosoides Esslingeri Bain, Petit, And Diagne, 1989, Juliana Notarnicola, F. Agustin Jimenez Ruiz, Scott Lyell Gardner

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

We report the distribution of 2 species of filarioid nematodes occurring in different hosts in the central region of South America. Molinema boliviensis n. sp. was recorded as a parasite of sigmodontine and echymyid rodents in Bolivia, and Litomosoides esslingeri was recorded in sigmodontine and ctenomyid rodents from Bolivia and Argentina. Molinema boliviensis n. sp. shares several similarities with other species reported in spiny rats; however, it can be easily differentiated by the presence of a flat anterior end, gradually tapering lappets and a tubercle present in posterior end, a short, uniform buccal capsule, an oval-shaped vagina vera, and a …

Four Events Of Host Switching In Aspidoderidae (Nematoda) Involve Convergent Lineages Of Mammals, F. Agustin Jimenez Ruiz, Scott Lyell Gardner, Graciela Teresa Navone

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The Great American Interchange resulted in the mixing of faunistic groups with different origins and evolutionary trajectories that underwent rapid diversification in North and South America. As a result, groups of animals of recent arrival converged into similar habits and formed ecological guilds with some of the endemics. We present a reconstruction of the evolutionary events in Aspidoderidae, a family of nematodes that infect mammals that are part of this interchange, i.e., dasypodids, opossums, and sigmodontine, geomyid, and hystricognath rodents. By treating hosts as discrete states of character and using parsimony and Bayesian inferences to optimize these traits into the …

A New Genus And Species Of Lungworm (Nemata: Metastrongyloidea) From Akodon Mollis Thomas, 1894 (Rodentia: Cricetidae) In Peru, Maria Elizabeth Morales, Scott Lyell Gardner, John E. Ubelaker

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Akodonema luzsarmientae n.g., n.sp. (Nemata: Metastrongyloidea) is described from the pulmonary arteries and heart from several individuals of "soft grass mouse," Akodon mollis (Rodentia: Cricetidae), collected in the region of Ancash, Peru. The new genus and species is distinguished by a reduction of the dorsal ray to two small widely separated papillae.

New Species Of Arostrilepis (Eucestoda: Hymenolepididae) In Members Of Cricetidae And Geomyidae (Rodentia) From The Western Nearctic, Arseny A. Makarikov, Scott Lyell Gardner, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Specimens originally identified as Arostrilepis horrida from the Nearctic are revised, contributing to the recognition of a complex of cryptic species distributed across the Holarctic region. Previously unrecognized species are described based on specimens in cricetid (Neotominae) and geomyid rodents. Arostrilepis mariettavogeae n. sp. in Peromyscus californicus from Monterey County, California, and Arostrilepis schilleri n. sp. in Thomomys bulbivorus from Corvallis, Oregon, are characterized. Consistent with recent studies defining diversity in the genus, form, size, and spination (pattern, shape, and size) of the cirrus are diagnostic; species are further distinguished by the relative position and length of the cirrus sac …

Zoonotic And Human Parasites Of Inhabitants Of Cueva De Los Muertos Chiquitos, Rio Zape Valley, Durango, Mexico, F. Agustín Jiménez-Ruiz, Scott Lyell Gardner, Adauto Araújo, Martín Horacio Fugassa, Richard H. Brooks, Elizabeth Racz, Karl J. Reinhard

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

We present the first reconstruction of the parasitoses among the people of the Loma San Gabriel culture, as represented by 36 coprolites excavated from the Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos in Durango, Mexico. The coprolites date to approximately 1,400-yr ago. Species identified based on eggs recovered include the trematode Echinostoma sp., the tapeworms Hymenolepis sp. and Dipylidium caninum, and the nematodes Ancylostoma duodenale, Enterobius vermicularis, and Trichuris trichiura. After rehydration and screening, 2 methods were used to recover eggs from these samples including spontaneous sedimentation and flotation. Samples were analyzed by 3 different laboratories for independent …

A New Genus And A New Species Of Cladorchiidae (Digenea: Dadayiinae) From Podocnemis Expansa (Chelonia) Of The Neotropical Region, State Of Pará, Brazil, Marcelo Knoff, Daniel Rusk Brooks, Maria Cristina Mullins, Delir Corrêa Gomes

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

A new species of amphistome digenean from the stomach and intestine of Podocnemis expansa (Pelomedusidae), of the tropical rain forest, from the State of Pará, Brazil, is described and allocated to a new genus (Oriximinatrema noronhae). The new species is characterized by the presence of an esophageal bulb, an esophageal extension uncovered by an extension of the pharyngeal sacs, a well-developed cirrus sac, post-bifurcal genital sucker, a ventro-terminal acetabulum with an anterior lip, and medium-sized eggs. This is the first report of a Dadayiinae trematode infecting a reptilian host.

Return To Beringia: Parasites Reveal Cryptic Biogeographic History Of North American Pikas, Kurt E. Galbreath, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Traditional concepts of the Bering Land Bridge as a zone of predominantly eastward expansion from Eurasia and a staging area for subsequent colonization of lower latitudes in North America led to early inferences regarding biogeographic histories of North American faunas, many of which remain untested. Here we apply a host–parasite comparative phylogeographical (HPCP) approach to evaluate one such history, by testing competing biogeographic hypotheses for five lineages of host-specific parasites shared by the collared pika (Ochotona collaris) and American pika (Ochotona princeps) of North America. We determine whether the southern host species (O. princeps) …

Discovery And Description Of The "Davtiani" Morphotype For Teladorsagia Boreoarcticus (Trichostrongyloidea: Ostertagiinae) Abomasal Parasites In Muskoxen, Ovibos Moschatus, And Caribou, Rangifer Tarandus, From The North American Arctic: Implications For Parasite Faunal Diversity, Eric P. Hoberg, Arthur Abrams, Patricia A. Pilitt, Susan J. Kutz

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Collections to explore helminth diversity among free-ranging ungulates in the North American Arctic revealed the occurrence of a third male, or "davtiani," morphotype for Teladorsagia boreoarcticus. Designated as T. boreoarcticus forma (f.) minor B, the males occurred with T. boreoarcticus f. major and T. borearcticus f. minor A in endemic populations of muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus wardi) and barrenground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) on Victoria Island, Nunavut, Canada, and in muskoxen and Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) on Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. These specimens differ from conspecific morphotypes in the structure …

Discovery And Description Of A New Trichostrongyloid Species (Nematoda: Ostertagiinaw), Abomasal Parasites In Mountain Goat, Oreamnos Americanus, From The Western Cordillera Of North America [With Erratum], Eric P. Hoberg, Arthur Abrams, Patricia A. Pilitt, Emily J. Jenkins

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Marshallagia lichtenfelsi sp. n. is a dimorphic ostertagiine nematode occurring in the abomasum of mountain goats, Oreamnos americanus, from the Western Cordillera of North America. Major and minor morphotype males and females are characterized and distinguished relative to the morphologically similar Marshallagia marshalli/Marshallagia occidentalis from North America and Marshallagia dentispicularis, along with other congeners, from the Palearctic region. The configuration of the convoluted and irregular synlophe in the cervical region of males and females of M. lichtenfelsi is apparently unique, contrasting with a continuous and parallel system of ridges among those species of Marshallagia, including …

Removing 17Β-Estradiol From Drinking Water In A Biologically Active Carbon (Bac) Reactor Modified From A Granular Activated Carbon (Gac) Reactor, Zhongtian Li, Bruce I. Dvorak, Xu Li

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Estrogenic compounds in drinking water sources pose potential threats to human health. Treatment technologies are needed to effectively remove these compounds for the production of safe drinking water. In this study, GAC adsorption was first tested for its ability to remove a model estrogenic compound, 17β-estradiol (E2). Although GAC showed a relatively high adsorption capacity for E2 in isotherm experiments, it appeared to have a long mass transfer zone in a GAC column reactor, causing an early leakage of E2 in the effluent. With an influent E2 concentration of 20 μg/L, the GAC reactor was able to bring down effluent …

Occurrence, Transmission, And Zoonotic Potential Of Chronic Wasting Disease, Samuel E. Saunders, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Jason C. Bartz

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, transmissible prion disease that affects captive and free-ranging deer, elk, and moose. Although the zoonotic potential of CWD is considered low, identification of multiple CWD strains and the potential for agent evolution upon serial passage hinders a defi nitive conclusion. Surveillance for CWD in free-ranging populations has documented a continual geographic spread of the disease throughout North America. CWD prions are shed from clinically and preclinically affected hosts, and CWD transmission is mediated at least in part by the environment, perhaps by soil. Much remains unknown, including the sites and mechanisms of prion …

Analysis Of Bacterial Biofilms Using Nmr-Based Metabolomics, Bo Zhang, Robert Powers

Robert Powers Publications

Infectious diseases can be difficult to cure, especially if the pathogen forms a biofilm. After decades of extensive research into the morphology, physiology and genomics of biofilm formation, attention has recently been directed toward the analysis of the cellular metabolome in order to understand the transformation of a planktonic cell to a biofilm. Metabolomics can play an invaluable role in enhancing our understanding of the underlying biological processes related to the structure, formation and antibiotic resistance of biofilms. A systematic view of metabolic pathways or processes responsible for regulating this ‘social structure’ of microorganisms may provide critical insights into biofilm-related …