MICRB265 Lecture Notes - Microbial Mat, Biogeochemistry, Ecotype

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Microbiology (Biological Sciences)
• Course: MICRB265
• Professor: All

Document Summary

As a result, they can change rapidly to adapt to new environments and occupy nearly any available niche. Determining microbial diversity can be complex, as a good definition of microbial species does not exist. Based on the competitive exclusion principle, each niche should only be able to be occupied by a single microbial species. The niche that a microorganism can fill is determined by negative and positive interactions with a large number of different factors, both biotic and abiotic. The main method currently used to examine relationships between organisms (now both microorganisms and multicellular organisms) is based on the sequence of the ribosomal rna. These sequences led to the discovery of the archaea as a separate domain of life and demonstrate very clearly the diversity within the microorganisms relative to the plants and animals. The interactions between microorganisms can be very complex and can lead to dividing up niches, i. e. resource partitioning.