Microbial population biology is the application of the principles of

population biology The term population biology has been used with different meanings. In 1971, Edward O. Wilson ''et al''. used the term in the sense of applying mathematical models to population genetics, community ecology, and population dynamics. Alan Hasting ...

microorganisms A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from antiquity, with an early attestation in ...

Distinguishing from other biological disciplines

Microbial population biology, in practice, is the application of

population ecology Population ecology is a sub-field of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment (biophysical), environment, such as birth rate, birth and death rates, and by immigration an ...

and

population genetics Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and among populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as Adaptation (biology), adaptation, s ...

toward understanding the

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

and

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

archaebacteria Archaea ( ) is a domain of organisms. Traditionally, Archaea only included its prokaryotic members, but this has since been found to be paraphyletic, as eukaryotes are known to have evolved from archaea. Even though the domain Archaea cladis ...

microscopic The microscopic scale () is the scale of objects and events smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye, requiring a lens or microscope to see them clearly. In physics, the microscopic scale is sometimes regarded as the scale betwe ...

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

(such as

yeasts Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitu ...

), additional microscopic

eukaryotes The eukaryotes ( ) constitute the domain of Eukaryota or Eukarya, organisms whose cells have a membrane-bound nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, seaweeds, and many unicellular organisms are eukaryotes. They constitute a major group of ...

(e.g., "

protozoa Protozoa (: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a polyphyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic debris. Historically ...

" and

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

), and

viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are found in almo ...

. Microbial population biology also encompasses the evolution and ecology of community interactions (

community ecology In ecology, a community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological communit ...

) between microorganisms, including microbial

coevolution In biology, coevolution occurs when two or more species reciprocally affect each other's evolution through the process of natural selection. The term sometimes is used for two traits in the same species affecting each other's evolution, as well a ...

and

predator-prey interaction Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not ki ...

s. In addition, microbial population biology considers microbial interactions with more macroscopic

organism An organism is any life, living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have be ...

s (e.g.,

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

interactions), though strictly this should be more from the perspective of the microscopic rather than the macroscopic organism. A good deal of microbial population biology may be described also as microbial

evolutionary ecology Evolutionary ecology lies at the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology. It approaches the study of ecology in a way that explicitly considers the evolutionary histories of species and the interactions between them. Conversely, it can ...

. On the other hand, typically microbial population biologists (unlike microbial ecologists) are less concerned with questions of the role of microorganisms in

ecosystem ecology Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of living ( biotic) and non-living ( abiotic) components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components ...

, which is the study of

nutrient cycling A nutrient cycle (or ecological recycling) is the movement and exchange of inorganic and organic matter back into the production of matter. Energy flow is a unidirectional and noncyclic pathway, whereas the movement of mineral nutrients is cyc ...

and energy movement between biotic as well as abiotic components of ecosystems. Microbial population biology can include aspects of

molecular evolution Molecular evolution describes how Heredity, inherited DNA and/or RNA change over evolutionary time, and the consequences of this for proteins and other components of Cell (biology), cells and organisms. Molecular evolution is the basis of phylogen ...

phylogenetics In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

. Strictly, however, these emphases should be employed toward understanding issues of microbial evolution and ecology rather than as a means of understanding more universal truths applicable to both microscopic and macroscopic organisms. The microorganisms in such endeavors consequently should be recognized as organisms rather than simply as molecular or evolutionary reductionist model systems. Thus, the study of RNA ''

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning ''in glass'', or ''in the glass'') Research, studies are performed with Cell (biology), cells or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in ...

'' evolution is not microbial population biology and nor is the ''

in silico In biology and other experimental sciences, an ''in silico'' experiment is one performed on a computer or via computer simulation software. The phrase is pseudo-Latin for 'in silicon' (correct ), referring to silicon in computer chips. It was c ...

'' generation of phylogenies of otherwise non-microbial sequences, even if aspects of either may in some (especially unintentional) manner be analogous to evolution in actual microbial populations. Microbial population biology can (and often does) involve the testing of more-general ecological and evolutionary hypotheses. Again, it is important to retain some emphasis on the microbe since at some point this "question-driven" microbial population biology becomes instead population biology using microorganisms. Because the point of departure of these potentially disparate emphases can be somewhat arbitrary, there exist vague and not universally accepted delimits around what the discipline of microbial population biology does and does not constitute.

Microbial Population Biology Gordon conference

A Microbial Population Biology Gordon Research Conference is held every odd year, to date in New England (and usually in New Hampshire). The 200
conference web page
introduces the meetings as:

Microbial Population Biology covers a diverse range of cutting edge issues in the microbial sciences and beyond. Firmly founded in evolutionary biology and with a strongly integrative approach, past meetings have covered topics ranging from the dynamics and genetics of adaptation to the evolution of mutation rate, community ecology, evolutionary genomics, altruism, and epidemiology.

This meeting is never dull: some of the most significant and contentious issues in biology have been thrashed out here.

A history of the meeting can be foun
here
The next Microbial Population Biology Gordon conference is scheduled for 2025. Information on past (and future) meetings is summarized as follows: {, border = "1" cellpadding = "4" align = "center" , +Past and Future GRC Microbial Population Biology Meetings !align="left" width="25" , year !align="left" width="130" , chair !align="left" width="130" , vice chair(s) !align="left" , additional information , - !2023 (2021 cancelled) !Vaughn Cooper, Rosie Redfield !Rees Kassen, Christina Burch
GRC page
, - !2019 !Benjamin B Kerr !Vaughn Cooper, Rosie Redfield
GRC page
, - !2017 !Eva Top & Larry Forney !Benjamin B Kerr
GRC page
, - !2015 ! Michael Travisano !Eva Top & Larry Forney
GRC page
, - !2013 ! Paul E. Turner ! Michael Travisano
GRC page
, - !2011 ! James J. Bull , , Paul E. Turner ,
GRC page
, - !2009 ! Anthony M. Dean , , James J. Bull ,
GRC page
, - !2007 ! Paul B. Rainey , , Anthony M. Dean ,

, - !2005 ! Margaret A. Riley , , Paul B. Rainey ,
GRC page
, - !2003 ! Siv G. E. Andersson , , Margaret A. Riley ,
GRC page
, - !2001 ! Lin Chao , , Siv G. E. Andersson ,
GRC page
, - !1999 ! Howard Ochman , , Richard Moxon ,
GRC page
, - !1997 !Julian P. Adams , , Susan M. Rosenberg ,
GRC page
, - !1995 !Daniel E. Dykhuizen , , Richard E. Lenski ,
GRC page
, - !1993 ! John Roth , , Rosie Redfield ,
GRC page
, - !1991 ! Allan M. Campbell , , Daniel E. Dykhuizen ,
GRC page
, - !1989 !Monica Riley , , Conrad A. Istock ,
GRC page
, - !1987 ! Barry G. Hall , , Daniel E. Dykhuizen ,
GRC page
, - !1985 !Bruce R. Levin , , Daniel L. Hartl
Barry G. Hall , , valign="top"
GRC page
, -

External links

Microbial Population Biology
* Phage meetings *

Human microbiome project The Human Microbiome Project (HMP) was a United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) research initiative to improve understanding of the microbiota involved in human health and disease. Launched in 2007, the first phase (HMP1) focused on i ...

Environmental microbiology Population ecology Evolutionary biology

Distinguishing from other biological disciplines

Microbial Population Biology Gordon conference

See also

External links