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MICROBIAL ECOLOGY

Solving the structure–function puzzle

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Rare species tend to degrade complex substrates while common species contribute most to biomass and respiration, moving us towards a solution for structure–function mapping in microbial communities.

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Fig. 1: Rare and common species are partitioned across trophic chains.

Image courtesy of T. Bell, Imperial College London

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Lei Ma & Otto X. Cordero

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  1. Lei Ma
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  2. Otto X. Cordero
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Correspondence to Lei Ma.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Ma, L., Cordero, O.X. Solving the structure–function puzzle. Nat Microbiol 3, 750–751 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-018-0186-7

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