Ecological communities are structured by a range of processes that operate over a range of spatial scales. While our understanding of such biodiversity patterns in macro-communities is well studied, our understanding at the microbial level is still lacking. Bacteria can be free living or associated with host eukaryotes, forming part of a wider "microbiome," which is fundamental for host performance and health. For habitat forming foundation-species, host-bacteria relationships likely play disproportionate roles in mediating processes for the wider ecosystem. Here, we describe host-bacteria communities across multiple spatial scales (i.e., from 10s of m to 100s of km) in the understudied kelp, Eisenia cokeri, in Peru. We found that E. cokeri supports a distinct bacterial community compared to the surrounding seawater, but the structure of these communities varied markedly at the regional (~480 km), site (1-10 km), and individual (10s of m) scale. The marked regional-scale differences we observed may be driven by a range of processes, including temperature, upwelling intensity, or regional connectivity patterns. However, despite this variability, we observed consistency in the form of a persistent core community at the genus level. Here, the genera Arenicella, Blastopirellula, Granulosicoccus, and Litorimonas were found in >80% of samples and comprised ~53% of total sample abundance. These genera have been documented within bacterial communities associated with kelps and other seaweed species from around the world and may be important for host function and wider ecosystem health in general.

The Lianjiang coast in the East China Sea is a typical subtropical marine ecosystem, and shellfish cultivation occupies almost all of the available tidal flats. Many studies have investigated the effects of shellfish cultivation on benthic organisms and sediments, while the impact of shellfish cultivation on plankton ecosystems is still poorly understood. This study investigated the biogeographical patterns of microeukaryotic communities from Lianjiang coastal waters in four seasons using 18S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequencing. Microeukaryotes were mainly comprised of Dinoflagellata, Diatomea, Arthropoda, Ciliophora, Chlorophyta, Protalveolata, Cryptophyceae, and Ochrophyta, and presented significant differences in three habitats (the aquaculture area, confluent area, and offshore area) and four seasons. Similarity percentage analysis revealed that Paracalanus parvus, Heterocapsa rotundata, Bestiolina similis, and five additional key taxa contributed to spatio-temporal differences. Seasonal environmental and spatial factors explained 27.47% of microeukaryotic community variation on average, with 11.11% of the variation shared. Environmental variables, particularly depth, pH, and nitrite concentration, were strongly associated with the microeukaryotic community compositions. The neutral community model further demonstrated that stochastic processes were sufficient in shaping substantial variation in microeukaryotic communities across four seasons, which may reveal the remaining unexplained microeukaryotic community variation. We further divided four seasons into the aquaculture stages and non-aquaculture stages, and speculated that aquaculture activities may increase the dispersal limitation of microeukaryotes in coastal waters, especially for the big bodied-microbes like Arthropoda. The results provide a better understanding of the biogeographical patterns, processes, and mechanisms of microeukaryotic communities near shellfish cultivation.

In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of soil type and field management on bacterial communities in paddy soils, taking into account the differences in soil physicochemical properties. We collected soil samples from 51 paddy fields in six prefectures in Japan. The paddy fields were managed under organic regimes (26 fields), natural-farming regimes (12 fields), or conventional regimes (13 fields). The paddy fields were classified into four soil types: andosol, gray lowland soil, gley soil, and gray upland soil. Soil DNA was extracted from the soil samples collected 2 to 10 weeks after the flooding, and the 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing analysis was performed. The bacterial community compositions were dominated by the phylum Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Firmicutes in all fields. The difference in soil type had significant effects on α-diversities of the bacterial communities, although the field management had no effect. The soil bacterial communities in the gley soils and gray upland soils individually formed different groups from those in the other soils, while the andosol and gray lowland soils tended to form relatively similar bacterial communities. On the other hand, the effects of the field management were estimated to be smaller than those of soil type. The β-diversity of the bacterial community compositions were significantly correlated with soil pH, total nitrogen content, total carbon content, and divalent iron content. Our results suggest that the soil microbial community in paddy fields may be strongly influenced by soil physiochemical properties derived from differences in soil type.

Long-term fertilization affects soil organic C accumulation. A growing body of research has revealed critical roles of bacteria in soil organic C accumulation, particularly through mineral-associated organic C (MAOC) formation. Protists are essential components of soil microbiome, but the relationships between MAOC formation and protists under long-term fertilization remain unclear. Here, we used cropland soil from a long-term fertilization field trial and conducted two microcosm experiments with 13C-glucose addition to investigate the effects of N and P fertilizations on MAOC formation and the relationships with protists. The results showed that long-term fertilization (especially P fertilization) significantly (P < 0.05) increased 13C-MAOC content. Compared with P-deficient treatment, P replenishment enriched the number of protists (mainly Amoebozoa and Cercozoa) and bacteria (mainly Acidobacteriota, Bacteroidota, and Gammaproteobacteria), and significantly (P < 0.001) promoted the abundances of bacterial functional genes controlling C, N, P, and S metabolisms. The community composition of phagotrophic protists prominently (P < 0.001) correlated with the bacterial community composition, bacterial functional gene abundance, and 13C-MAOC content. Co-occurrence networks of phagotrophic protists and bacteria were more connected in soil with the N inoculum added than in soil with the NP inoculum added. P replenishment strengthened bacterial 13C assimilation (i.e., 13C-phospholipid fatty acid content), which negatively (P < 0.05) correlated with the number and relative abundance of phagotrophic Cercozoa. Together, these results suggested that P fertilization boosts MAOC formation associated with phagotrophic protists. Our study paves the way for future research to harness the potential of protists to promote belowground C accrual in agroecosystems.

One gram of soil holds ten billion bacteria of thousands of different species, but most remain unknown, and one of the serious issues is intrinsic to slow-growing bacteria. In this study, we aimed to isolate and characterize slow-growing bacteria from Brazilian Cerrado soil. Over a period of 4 weeks, we conducted an incubation process and selected a total of 92 isolates. These isolates, consisting mostly of slow-growing bacteria, have the ability to thrive in low-water conditions and possess features that promote plant growth. To identify the isolated bacteria, we performed 16S rRNA sequencing analysis and found that the slow-growing strains were genetically similar to known bacterial species but also belonged to a novel group of species. The new strains identified were Caballeronia sp., Neobacillus sp., Bradyrhizobium sp., and high GC Gram-positive species. Furthermore, we conducted growth experiments using various culture media and temperature conditions. These experiments revealed an extended lag phase for five strains, indicating their slow growth characteristics. Genomic analysis of these five slow-growing bacteria showed their potential to participate in biogeochemical cycles, metabolize various carbohydrates, encode proteins with a role in promoting plant growth and have biosynthetic potential for secondary metabolites. Taken together, our findings reveal the untapped potential of slow-growing bacteria in tropical savanna soils.

Heterotrophic microbial decomposers colonize submerged leaf litter in close spatial proximity to periphytic algae that exude labile organic carbon during photosynthesis. These exudates are conjectured to affect microbial decomposers' abundance, resulting in a stimulated (positive priming) or reduced (negative priming) leaf litter decomposition. Yet, the occurrence, direction, and intensity of priming associated with leaf material of differing recalcitrance remains poorly tested. To assess priming, we submerged leaf litter of differing recalcitrance (Alnus glutinosa [alder; less recalcitrant] and Fagus sylvatica [beech; more recalcitrant]) in microcosms and quantified bacterial, fungal, and diatom abundance as well as leaf litter decomposition over 30 days in absence and presence of light. Diatoms did not affect beech decomposition but reduced alder decomposition by 20% and alder-associated fungal abundance by 40% in the treatments including all microbial groups and light, thus showing negative priming. These results suggest that alder-associated heterotrophs acquired energy from diatom exudates rather than from leaf litter. Moreover, it is suggested that these heterotrophs have channeled energy to alternative (reproductive) pathways that may modify energy and nutrient availability for the remaining food web and result in carbon pools protected from decomposition in light-exposed stream sections.

Soil microorganisms play key roles in soil nutrient transformations and have a notable effect on plant growth and health. Different plant genotypes can shape soil microbial patterns via the secretion of root exudates and volatiles, but it is uncertain how a difference in soil microorganisms induced by crop cultivars will respond to short-term seasonal variations. A field experiment was conducted to assess the changes in soil bacterial communities of seven rhizoma peanut (Arachis glabrata Benth, RP) cultivars across two growing seasons, April (Spring season) and October (Fall season). Soils' bacterial communities were targeted using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Bacterial community diversity and taxonomic composition among rhizoma peanut cultivars were significantly affected by seasons, cultivars, and their interactions (p < 0.05). Alpha diversity, as estimated by the OTU richness and Simpson index, was around onefold decrease in October than in April across most of the RP cultivars, while the soils from Arblick and Latitude had around one time higher alpha diversity in both seasons compared with other cultivars. Beta diversity differed significantly in April (R = 0.073, p < 0.01) and October (R = 0.084, p < 0.01) across seven cultivars. Bacterial dominant taxa (at phylum and genus level) were strongly affected by seasons and varied towards more dominant groups that have functional potentials involved in nutrient cycling from April to October. A large shift in water availability induced by season variations in addition to host cultivar's effects can explain the observed patterns in diversity, composition, and co-occurrence of bacterial taxa. Overall, our results demonstrate an overriding effect of short-term seasonal variations on soil bacterial communities associated with different crop cultivars. The findings suggest that season-induced shifts in environmental conditions could exert stronger impacts on soil microorganisms than the finer-scale rhizosphere effect from crop cultivars, and consequently influence largely microbe-mediated soil processes and crop health in agricultural ecosystems.

In North America, lodgepole pine is frequently subjected to attacks by various biotic agents that compromise its ability to defend against subsequent attacks by insect herbivores. We investigated whether infections of lodgepole pine by different pathogenic fungal species have varying effects on its defense chemistry. We selected two common pathogens, Atropellis canker, Atropellis piniphila, and western gall rust, Endocronartium harknessii, affecting mature lodgepole pine trees in western Canada. We also included three ophiostomatoid fungi Grosmannia clavigera, Ophiostoma montium, and Leptographium longiclavatum associated with the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), because they are commonly used to investigate induced defenses of host trees of bark beetles. We collected phloem samples from lodgepole pines infected with the rust or the canker and healthy lodgepole pines in the same stand. We also inoculated mature lodgepole pines with the three fungal symbionts and collected phloem samples 2 weeks later when the defense chemistry was at its highest level. Different fungal species differentially altered the terpene chemistry of lodgepole pine trees. E. harknessii and the fungal symbionts altered the terpene chemistry in a similar pattern while trees responded to the infection by the A. piniphila differently. Our study highlights the importance of considering specific biotic stress agents in tree susceptibility or resistance to the subsequent attacks by insect herbivores, such as mountain pine beetle.

Inflows from unregulated tributaries change the physical, chemical, and biotic conditions in receiving regulated rivers, impacting microbial community structure and metabolic function. Understanding how tributary inflows affect bacterial carbon production (BCP) is integral to understanding energy transfer in riverine ecosystems. To investigate the role of tributary inflows on bacterial community composition and BCP, a ~90th percentile natural flow event was sampled over 5 days along the Lachlan River and its tributaries within the Murray-Darling Basin of eastern Australia. Increased tributary inflows after rainfall corresponded with a significantly different and more diverse bacterial community in the regulated mainstem. The major contributor to this difference was an increase in relative abundance of bacterial groups with a potential metabolic preference for humic substances (Burkholderiaceae Polynucleobacter, Alcaligenaceae GKS98 freshwater group, Saccharimonadia) and a significant decrease in Spirosomaceae Pseudarcicella, known to metabolise algal exudates. Increases in orthophosphate and river discharge explained 31% of community change, suggesting a combination of resource delivery and microbial community coalescence as major drivers. BCP initially decreased significantly with tributary inflows, but the total load of carbon assimilated by bacteria increased by up to 20 times with flow due to increased water volume. The significant drivers of BCP were dissolved organic carbon, water temperature, and conductivity. Notably, BCP was not correlated with bacterial diversity or community composition. Tributary inflows were shown to alter mainstem bacterial community structure and metabolic function to take advantage of fresh terrestrial dissolved organic material, resulting in substantial changes to riverine carbon assimilation over small times scales.

Trypanosomatids form a group of high prevalence protozoa that parasitise honey bees, with Lotmaria passim as the predominant species worldwide. However, the knowledge about the ecology of trypanosomatids in isolated areas is limited. The Portuguese archipelagos of Madeira and Azores provide an interesting setting to investigate these parasites because of their geographic isolation, and because they harbour honey bee populations devoid of two major enemies: Varroa destructor and Nosema ceranae. Hence, a total of 661 honey bee colonies from Madeira and the Azores were analysed using different molecular techniques, through which we found a high prevalence of trypanosomatids despite the isolation of these islands. L. passim was the predominant species and, in most colonies, was the only one found, even on islands free of V. destructor and/or N. ceranae with severe restrictions on colony movements to prevent the spread of them. However, islands with V. destructor had a significantly higher prevalence of L. passim and, conversely, islands with N. ceranae did not shown any significant correlation with the trypanosomatid. Crithidia bombi was detected in Madeira and on three islands of the Azores, almost always coincident with L. passim. By contrast, Crithidia mellificae was not detected in any sample. A high-throughput sequencing analysis distinguished two main haplotypes of L. passim, which accounted for 98% of the total sequence reads. This work suggests that L. passim and C. bombi are parasites that have been associated with honey bees predating the spread of V. destructor and N. ceranae.

Listeria monocytogenes, the third most deleterious zoonotic pathogen, is a major causative agent of animal and human listeriosis, an infection related to the consumption of contaminated food products. Even though, this pathogen has been responsible for the outbreaks of foodborne infections in the early 1980s, the major outbreaks have been reported during the past two decades. Listeriosis infection in the host is a rare but life-threatening disease with major public health and economic implications. Extensive reports on listeriosis outbreaks are associated with milk and milk products, meat and meat products, and fresh produce. This bacterium can adapt to any environmental and stress conditions, making it a prime causative agent for major foodborne diseases. The pathogen could survive an antibiotic treatment and persist in the host cell, thereby escaping the standard diagnostic practices. The current review strives to provide concise information on the epidemiology, serotypes, and pathogenesis of the L. monocytogenes to decipher the knowledge on the endurance of the pathogen inside the host and food products as a vehicle for Listeria contaminations. In addition, various detection methods for Listeria species from food samples and frontline regimens of L. monocytogenes treatment have also been discussed.

The insect gut is colonized by microbes that confer a myriad of beneficial services to the host, including nutritional support, immune enhancement, and even influence behavior. Insect gut microbes show dynamic changes due to the gut compartments, sex, and seasonal and geographic influences. Crickets are omnivorous hemimetabolous insects that have sex-specific roles, such as males producing chirping sounds for communication and exhibiting fighting behavior. However, limited information is available on their gut bacterial communities, hampering studies on functional compartmentalization of the gut and sex-specific roles of the gut microbiota in omnivorous insects. Here, we report a metagenomic analysis of the gut bacteriome of the field cricket Teleogryllus occipitalis using 16S rRNA V3-V4 amplicon sequencing to identify sex- and compartment-dependent influences on its diversity and function. The structure of the gut microbiota is strongly influenced by their gut compartments rather than sex. The species richness and diversity analyses revealed large difference in the bacterial communities between the gut compartments while minor differences were observed between the sexes. Analysis of relative abundance and predicted functions revealed that nitrogen- and oxygen-dependent metabolism and amino acid turnover were subjected to functional compartmentalization in the gut. Comparisons between the sexes revealed differences in the gut microbiota, reflecting efficiency in energy use, including glycolytic and carbohydrate metabolism, suggesting a possible involvement in egg production in females. This study provides insights into the gut compartment dependent and sex-specific roles of host-gut symbiont interactions in crickets and the industrial production of crickets.

Tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum (Schreb.) Darbysh.) is a cool-season perennial grass widely grown for forage and turf. Tall fescue lives in association with a fungal endophyte that helps the grass overcome abiotic and biotic stressors. The endophyte is asexual and transmits vertically from the tall fescue plant to the next generation through the seed. Producers of endophyte-infected tall fescue must have endophyte infection in at least 70% of their seed. Therefore, endophyte seed transmission is vital in breeding and seed production. Transfer of endophytes from their native host to different backgrounds of elite tall fescue cultivars can lead to a low seed transmission of the endophyte to the seed. This study screened 23 previously uncharacterized endophyte strains for transmissibility when artificially inoculated into continental and Mediterranean-type host tall fescue. We found no correlation between the rate of successful inoculation and the seed transmission rate of the endophyte in the new host. Nor did the seed transmission rate of the endophyte strains in their native host correlate with the seed transmission rate of the endophyte in the new host. Five strains exhibited seed transmission above 70% in both Mediterranean and Continental host backgrounds and will be characterized further for potential use in cultivar development.

Microbial mats are complex ecological assemblages that have been present in the rock record since the Precambrian and can still be found in extant marginalized environments. These structures are considered highly stable ecosystems. In this study, we evaluate the ecological stability of dome-forming microbial mats in a modern, water-level fluctuating, hypersaline pond located in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin, Mexico. We conducted metagenomic sampling of the site from 2016 to 2019 and detected 2250 genera of Bacteria and Archaea, with only <20 belonging to the abundant taxa (>1%). The microbial community was dominated by Proteobacteria, Euryarchaeota, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Cyanobacteria, and was compositionally sensitive to disturbances, leading to high taxonomic replacement even at the phylum level, with a significant increase in Archaea from [Formula: see text]1-4% to [Formula: see text]33% throughout the 2016-2019 study period. Although a core community represented most of the microbial community (>75%), relative abundances shifted significantly between samples, as demonstrated by changes in the abundance of Coleofasciculus from 10.2% in 2017 to 0.05% in 2019. Although functional differences between seasons were subtle, co-occurrence networks suggest differential ecological interactions between the seasons, with the addition of a new module during the rainy season and the potential shift in hub taxa. Functional composition was slightly more similar between samples, but basic processes such as carbohydrate, amino acid, and nucleic acid metabolisms were widely distributed among samples. Major carbon fixation processes included sulfur oxidation, nitrogen fixation, and photosynthesis (both oxygenic and anoxygenic), as well as the Wood-Ljundgahl and Calvin cycles.

The development of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) of environmental DNA (eDNA) has stimulated the study of soil microbial diversity patterns and drivers at all scales. However, given the heterogeneity of soils, a challenge is to define effective and efficient sampling protocols that allow sound comparison with other records, especially vegetation. In studies of elevational diversity pattern, a trade-off is choosing between replication within elevation bands vs. sampling more elevation bands. We addressed this question for soil protists along an elevation gradient on Mt. Asahi, Hokkaido, Japan. We compared two sampling approaches: (1) the replicate strategy (five replicates at six elevational bands, total = 30) and (2) the transect strategy (one sample in each of 16 different elevational bands). Despite a nearly twofold lower sampling effort, the transect strategy yielded congruent results compared to the replicate strategy for the estimation of elevational alpha diversity pattern: the regression coefficients between diversity indices and elevation did not differ between the two options. Furthermore, for a given total number of samples, gamma diversity estimated across the entire transect was higher when sampling more elevational bands as compared to replication from fewer elevational bands. Beta diversity (community composition turnover) was lower within a given elevational band than between adjacent bands and increased with elevation distance. In redundancy analyses, soil organic matter-related variable (the first principal component of soil organic matter, water content, total organic carbon, and nitrogen by whom were highly correlated) and elevation best explained elevational beta diversity pattern for both sampling approaches. Taken together, our results suggest that sampling a single plot per elevation band will be sufficient to obtain a good estimate of soil micro-eukaryotic diversity patterns along elevation gradients. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of the transect strategy in estimating diversity patterns along elevation gradients which is instructive for future environmental or even experimental studies. While not advocating for completely replacing replication-based sampling practices, it is important to note that both replicate and transect strategies have their merits and can be employed based on specific research goals and resource limitations.

Parafrancisella adeliensis, a Francisella-like endosymbiont, was found to reside in the cytoplasm of an Antarctic strain of the bipolar ciliate species, Euplotes petzi. To inquire whether Euplotes cells collected from distant Arctic and peri-Antarctic sites host Parafrancisella bacteria, wild-type strains of the congeneric bipolar species, E. nobilii, were screened for Parafrancisella by in situ hybridization and 16S gene amplification and sequencing. Results indicate that all Euplotes strains analyzed contained endosymbiotic bacteria with 16S nucleotide sequences closely similar to the P. adeliensis 16S gene sequence. This finding suggests that Parafrancisella/Euplotes associations are not endemic to Antarctica, but are common in both the Antarctic and Arctic regions.

Enterococcus species have been described as core members of the microbial community of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and have been previously reported as insecticide degrading agents. This study aimed to investigate the molecular composition of these microbial symbionts of S. frugiperda to better understand their association with the host and their potential for insecticide metabolization. Through phenotypic assays and comparative genomic analyses of several pesticide-degrading Enterococcus isolated from the gut of S. frugiperda larvae, we identified two new species: Enterococcus entomosocium n. sp. and Enterococcus spodopteracolus n. sp. Their identities as new species were confirmed by whole genome alignment, utilizing cut-offs of 95-96% for the average nucleotide identity (ANI) and 70% for the digital DNA: DNA hybridization (dDDH) values. The systematic positioning of these new species within the genus Enterococcus was resolved using genome-based analysis, revealing Enterococcus casseliflavus as a sister group of E. entomosocium n. sp., and Enterococcus mundtii as a sister group of E. spodopteracolus n. sp. Comparative genomic analyses of several isolates of E. entomosocium n. sp. and E. spodopteracolus n. sp. provided a better assessment of the interactions established in the symbiotic association with S. frugiperda and led to the discovery of misidentified new species of Enterococcus associated with insects. Our analyses indicated that the potential of E. entomosocium n. sp. and E. spodopteracolus n. sp. to metabolize different pesticides arises from molecular mechanisms that result in rapid evolution of new phenotypes in response to environmental stressors, in this case, the pesticides their host insect is exposed to.

Agricultural crops are exposed to various abiotic and biotic stresses that can constrain crop productivity. Focusing on a limited subset of key groups of organisms has the potential to facilitate the monitoring of the functions of human-managed ecosystems. Endophytic bacteria can enhance plant stress resistance and can help plants to cope with the negative impacts of stress factors through the induction of different mechanisms, influencing plant biochemistry and physiology. In this study, we characterise endophytic bacteria isolated from different plants based on their metabolic activity and ability to synthesise 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid deaminase (ACCD), the activity of hydrolytic exoenzymes, the total phenolic compounds (TPC) and iron-complexing compounds (ICC). Test GEN III MicroPlate indicated that the evaluated endophytes are highly metabolically active, and the best used substrates were amino acids, which may be important in selecting potential carrier components for bacteria in biopreparations. The ACCD activity of strain ES2 (Stenotrophomonas maltophilia) was the highest, whereas that of strain ZR5 (Delftia acidovorans) was the lowest. Overall, the obtained results indicated that ∼91.3% of the isolates were capable of producing at least one of the four hydrolytic enzymes. In addition, most of the tested strains produced ICC and TPC, which play a significant role in reducing stress in plants. The results of this study suggest that the tested endophytic bacterial strains can potentially be used to mitigate climate change-associated stresses in plants and to inhibit plant pathogens.

Bacillus thuringiensis is a Gram-positive aerobic bacterium and the most used biopesticide worldwide. Given the importance of B. thuringiensis strain characterization for the development of new bioinsecticides or transgenic events and the identification and classification of new B. thuringiensis genes and strains to understand its distribution and diversity, this work is aimed at creating a gene identification system based on qPCR reactions utilizing core B. thuringiensis genes cry1, cry2, cry3, cry4, cry5, app6, cry7, cry8, cry9, cry10, cry11, vpb1, vpa2, vip3, cyt1, and cyt2 for the characterization of 257 strains of B. thuringiensis. This system was based on the Invertebrate Bacteria Collection from Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology and analyzed (a) the degree of correlation between the distribution of these strains and the origin of the substrate from which the strain was isolated and (b) between its distribution and geoclimatic conditions. This study made it possible to observe that the cry1, cry2, and vip3A/B genes occur homogeneously in the Brazilian territory, and some genes are found in specific regions. The biggest reservoir of variability is within B. thuringiensis strains in each region, and it is suggested that both geoclimatic conditions and regional crops interfere with the genetic diversity of the B. thuringiensis strains present in the region, and B. thuringiensis strains can constantly exchange genetic information.