@article{morlon_biogeography_2015,
Author = {Morlon, Hélène and O'Connor, Timothy K. and Bryant,
Jessica A. and Charkoudian, Louise K. and Docherty,
Kathryn M. and Jones, Evan and Kembel, Steven W. and
Green, Jessica L. and Bohannan, Brendan J. M.},
Title = {The {Biogeography} of {Putative} {Microbial}
{Antibiotic} {Production}},
Journal = {PloS One},
Volume = {10},
Number = {6},
Pages = {e0130659},
abstract = {Understanding patterns in the distribution and
abundance of functional traits across a landscape is of
fundamental importance to ecology. Mapping these
distributions is particularly challenging for
species-rich groups with sparse trait measurement
coverage, such as flowering plants, insects, and
microorganisms. Here, we use likelihood-based character
reconstruction to infer and analyze the spatial
distribution of unmeasured traits. We apply this
framework to a microbial dataset comprised of 11,732
ketosynthase alpha gene sequences extracted from 144
soil samples from three continents to document the
spatial distribution of putative microbial polyketide
antibiotic production. Antibiotic production is a key
competitive strategy for soil microbial survival and
performance. Additionally, novel antibiotic discovery
is highly relevant to human health, making natural
antibiotic production by soil microorganisms a major
target for bioprospecting. Our comparison of
trait-based biogeographical patterns to patterns based
on taxonomy and phylogeny is relevant to our basic
understanding of microbial biogeography as well as the
pressing need for new antibiotics.},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0130659},
issn = {1932-6203},
language = {eng},
pmcid = {PMC4478008},
pmid = {26102275},
year = 2015
}