Tenerife 2021

Postdoc Xiu Jia from China starts in the VEO Group

Discovering eco-evolutionary dynamics in bacteria and phage systems
Tenerife 2021
Image: Xiu Jia
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Published: | By: Sybille Huck

Introduction

Xiu's primary interest lies in studying the dynamics of microbial communities, particularly the ecology and evolution of these complex systems. To gain a better understanding of microbial communities, she uses experimental and theoretical approaches to explore fundamental concepts and mechanisms.

In the VEO Group, her research is focused on investigating the dynamics of microbial communities following community coalescence, specifically bacteria and bacteriophages in aquatic systems.

Career path

Career Path

Graphic: Xiu Jia

Representative research

Together with colleagues, I investigated how different ecological processes affect the existence of rare and common species in soil bacterial communities. We analyzed spatiotemporal data and found that homogeneous selection, imposed by constant variables, played a greater role in structuring the rare biosphere, while variable selection, imposed by fluctuating variables, was more influential in governing the common biosphere. By partitioning the different types of rarity, we found that permanently rare taxa, which are constrained by physiological traits and are predominantly influenced by homogeneous selection, and conditionally rare taxa, which can switch between rarity and commonness in response to environmental changes and are mostly influenced by variable selection. Overall, this study provides insights into the dynamics of microbial rare biospheres and offers a framework to better understand and predict their existence across different ecosystems and scales.

Jia et al. ISME Communication, 2022: doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-022-00177-6External link. 

Conceptual figure displaying the relative influences of distinct ecological processes structuring the common and rare microbial biospheres.

Image: Xiu Jia

Publications

  1. Xiu Jia, Francisco Dini-Andreote, and Joana Falcão Salles (2022): "Unravelling the interplay of ecological processes structuring the bacterial rare biosphere"External link, ISME Communications 2(1):96, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-022-00177-6External link.
  2. Xiu Jia, Francisco Dini-Andreote, and Joana Falcão Salles (2018): "Community Assembly Processes of the Microbial Rare Biosphere"External link. Trends in Microbiology 26(9):738-747, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2018.02.011External link.
  3. Xiu Jia, Francisco Dini-Andreote, and Joana Falcão Salles (2020): “Comparing the Influence of Assembly Processes Governing Bacterial Community Succession Based on DNA and RNA Data”External link, Microorganisms 8(6), doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8060798External link.
  4. Ademir Sergio Ferreira Araujo, Xiu Jia, Ana Roberta Lima Miranda, Arthur Prudêncio de Araujo Pereira, Vania Maria Maciel Melo, Sandra Mara Barbosa Rocha, Romário Martins Costa, Talyta Carine da Silva Saraiva, Lucas William Mendes, and Joana Falcão Salles (2023): "Changes in the Bacterial Rare Biosphere after Permanent Application of Composted Tannery Sludge in a Tropical Soil"External link, Chemosphere 313:137487, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137487External link.
  5. Yi Yu, Marianne van der Zwaag, Jouke Jan Wedman, Hjalmar Permentier, Niels Plomp, Xiu Jia, Bart Kanon, Ellie Eggens-Meijer, Girbe Buist, and Hermie Harmsen (2022): "Coenzyme a Precursors Flow from Mother to Zygote and from Microbiome to Host"External link, Molecular Cell, 82(14):2650-2665. e2612, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2022.05.006External link.
  6. Jirong Cao, Xiu Jia, Shuang Pang, Yecui Hu, Yuncong Li, and Qibing Wang (2020):"Functional Structure, Taxonomic Composition and the Dominant Assembly Processes of Soil Prokaryotic Community Along an Altitudinal Gradient"External link, Applied Soil Ecology 155:103647, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2020.103647External link.