Molecules are more than markers: new directions in molecular microbial ecology

Macromolecules such as DNA, RNA, and proteins are widely used to quantify diversity in natural communities, to monitor the dispersal of organisms and their genes, and to trace phylogenetic relationships among organisms. With such widespread use of molecules as markers, it is easy to forget that they perform functions that are integral to the survival of organisms. The structural and functional properties of macromolecules have been intensively studied in genetics, biochemistry, and physiology. These fields, however, have not generally focused on the ecological significance of molecular variation, but instead have used defective variants as tools for identifying structure and function. Understanding the significance of molecular variation for organismal success or failure is a central problem in ecology, one whose solution will require the integration of diverse approaches and perspectives from ecology, molecular biology, genetics, physiology, and evolutionary biology. I review several studies of bacterial populations evolving in simple environments that have begun to integrate these approaches and perspectives in order to examine the consequences of molecular variation for ecological performance.