Teppo Hiltunen (@teppo-h)

Ecological tristability driven by total carbon availability over resource complexity in a synthetic microbial community Even though complex microbial communities are ubiquitous and provide essential services for natural and human-associated ecosystems, our knowledge about their assembly and dynamics is incomplete. There is an ongoing debate whether the behavior of complex communities can be predicted from the outcome of pairwise competition of species, and whether communities reach alternative stable states depending on the level and complexity of resource provided for growth. To estimate the effect of two resource gradients, total carbon availability and resource complexity, on the compositional dynamics of a complex microbial community, we conducted a 16-day serial passage experiment, transferring a 16-species synthetic community in 96 different resource environments. We observed that although both resource dimensions influenced community composition, total carbon exerted a considerably larger effect. Additionally, we saw the emergence of a tristable pattern along the total carbon gradient, a feature not observed for the resource complexity gradient. Using monoculture assays, we identified lag phase duration as the dominant predictor of competitive success at carbon extremes, with maximum growth rate increasing in importance as lag times converged. Total carbon availability thus structured community state transitions and regulated which growth trait governed competitive sorting. These results suggest the importance of total carbon level over resource complexity and identifying dominant species for the quest to successfully manage, maintain and manipulate complex microbial communities. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Swiss National Science Foundation, https://ror.org/00yjd3n13, P500PB_214345 Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, KAW 2024.0159 Jenny ja Antti Wihurin Rahasto, 00250005 Finnish Cultural Foundation, 85241664 Research Council of Finland, 346126, 364232

We serially transferred a 16-species synthetic community for 16 days across total carbon and resource complexity gradients.

Result? Three reproducible compositional states along the carbon axis. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @teppo-h.bsky.social

28.02.2026 20:32 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Environmental heterogeneity determines evolutionary pathways to species coexistence A cornerstone of biology is that species interactions drive evolution of niche divergence, thereby maintaining biodiversity. Yet controlled experiments consistently find evolution of competitive-abili...

Cool preprint from Lutz Becks lab www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-8...

03.12.2025 16:49 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

We are organising an AMR meeting next spring in Helsinki. Meeting includes evolution of AMR and environmental AMR sessions. Please submit your abstract now! Deadline Dec 1st.

25.11.2025 12:48 👍 13 🔁 12 💬 0 📌 0

Normative assembly rule reveals fairness in microbial communities Understanding and predicting how communities assemble is a paramount challenge in ecology. Here we address these questions normatively by comparing the ecological distribution of growth surplus to a g...

Normative assembly rule reveals fairness in microbial communities

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

12.11.2025 07:59 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

On week until application deadline!

23.10.2025 10:58 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Massive undertaking with @teppo-h.bsky.social and others out. We studied 4 years (!!!) of synthetic 23 microbial species community evolution with/without antibiotic. Resistance mutations occurring over years led to stepwise restructuring and ultimately recovery of undisturbed community composition.

11.10.2025 05:00 👍 17 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 0

Evolution induced state shifts in a long-term microbial community experiment Biological communities are complex, dynamic systems that underpin ecosystem functionality, yet their long-term dynamics and predictability remain poorly understood. Understanding how Darwinian evoluti...

Evolution induced state shifts in a long-term microbial community experiment www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

11.10.2025 04:48 👍 27 🔁 13 💬 0 📌 1

AMR meeting in Helsinki. March 4th-6th 2026 Please join us!

09.10.2025 11:30 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Professor or Assistant / Associate (tenure track) Professor in Plant Ecology The Faculty of Science is looking for a full professor or assistant/associate professor (tenure track) in Plant Ecology. The aim of the professorship is to strengthen scientific research and education...

Open position: Professor or Assistant / Associate (tenure track) Professor in Plant Ecology (U. Turku Finland) Please share

ats.talentadore.com/apply/kasvie...

04.10.2025 05:39 👍 3 🔁 12 💬 0 📌 0

Professor or Associate professor (Tenure Track/Full) in Microbial Genetics of Health - Turun yliopisto - Työpaikat - Duunitori Avoin työpaikka: Professor or Associate professor (Tenure Track/Full) in Microbial Genetics of Health - Turun yliopisto, Turku. Duunitorilla lisäksi yli 30 000 muuta avointa työpaikkaa. Lue lisää nyt!

Professor (full) or Associate Professor (tenure track) in Microbial Genetics of Health (U. Turku Finland). Competitive starting package included! Please share.

duunitori.fi/tyopaikat/ty...

30.09.2025 08:37 👍 34 🔁 50 💬 1 📌 0

Doctoral Researcher / Project researcher in Experimental Evolution of Host–Microbiota Interactions The Faculty of Science at the University of Turku invites applications for a doctoral researcher / project researcher position at the Department of Biology. The position is fully funded 4-years. Emplo...

Dr. Anni Hämäläinen from @tcsmtutu.bsky.social is looking for a PhD researcher to @utu.fi co-supervised by me and @teppo-h.bsky.social on experimental evolution of host-microbiota interactions (Drosphila). Please spread the message. ats.talentadore.com/apply/vaitos...

08.08.2025 08:31 👍 5 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0

Doctoral Researcher / Project researcher in Experimental Evolution of Host–Microbiota Interactions The Faculty of Science at the University of Turku invites applications for a doctoral researcher / project researcher position at the Department of Biology. The position is fully funded 4-years. Emplo...

Fully funded PhD position at the university of Turku. ats.talentadore.com/apply/vaitos...

08.08.2025 06:32 👍 3 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0

My first GRC, but hopefully not the last one. One of the best meetings that I have ever attented

08.07.2025 23:44 👍 15 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0

Universal bacterial clade dynamics dominate under predation despite altered phenotypes and mutation targets Recent studies have revealed bacterial genome-wide evolution to be complex and dynamic even in a constant environment. The evolution is characterized by the emergence of new clades competing or tempor...

Universal bacterial clade dynamics dominate under predation despite altered phenotypes and mutation targets

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

07.02.2025 19:03 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Pre-exposure to disturbance enhances species resilience and protects from change - Nature Ecology & Evolution In a serial passage experiment with a 23-species model microbial community, we found that higher dispersal led to stronger spread of the effects of antibiotic disturbance across a metacommunity. This ...

Check out our new article in @natureecoevo.bsky.social Research Briefing: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Article: www.nature.com/articles/s41... We showed that antibiotic pre-exposure of abundant species protected entire communities and metacommunities from change during antibiotic exposure

18.01.2025 03:30 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Pre-exposure of abundant species to disturbance improves resilience in microbial metacommunities Nature Ecology & Evolution - Community resilience to stress is affected by factors such as pre-exposure to the same stress and intercommunity dispersal. The authors show that pre-exposing the...

Pre-exposure of abundant species to disturbance improves resilience in microbial metacommunities

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

17.01.2025 12:02 👍 30 🔁 11 💬 1 📌 0

Temporal Changes in the Role of Species Sorting and Evolution Determine Community Dynamics Evolutionary change within community members and shifts in species composition contribute to community and trait dynamics. To integrate when and how both processes structure communities, we estimated...

Temporal Changes in the Role of Species Sorting and Evolution Determine Community Dynamics

Ecology Letters by Julius Hoffmann, @slhogle.bsky.social, @teppo-h.bsky.social, and Lutz Becks

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

01.01.2025 14:08 👍 10 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0

Great to see that this place is picking up among the scientists! Really looking forward that this could be the new happy (online) place for scientists. This has been missing for a while.

21.11.2024 12:40 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Venue of the Nordic AMR centers meeting in Tromsø. 😀

13.03.2024 09:41 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Application deadline has been extended until Feb 5th!

17.01.2024 12:20 👍 5 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0

Our lab coffee mugs have arrived!

15.01.2024 15:13 👍 10 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

#MEEhubs2024 Finland watch party starting

09.01.2024 11:11 👍 8 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Environmental ecology / conservation biology Professor position at U. Turku: ats.talentadore.com/apply/ympari...

05.01.2024 08:52 👍 3 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0

PhD project with me and @frimanscience.bsky.social (MSCA Horizon 2022 UTU-GreDiT). Project #11: “Understanding ecology and evolution of antimicrobial resistance in microbiomes”. Please share with potential candidates. How to apply: sites.utu.fi/utugredit/

27.11.2023 07:56 👍 9 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 2

Jos akatemiaprof. rahoitukseen on tarve tehdä muutos, niin miksi kytkeä se huippuyksiköihin? Huippareiden pakottominen siihen että ne muodostuvat akatemiaprofessorin tasoisen henkilön ympärille ei lisää niiden tieteen uudistavaa vaikutusta. Tasavahvat PI:t ja hyvä kombinaatio on vahvuus.

19.11.2023 15:52 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Teppo Hiltunen

Latest posts by Teppo Hiltunen @teppo-h