title: Laboratory-dependent bacterial ecology: a cautionary tale.
abstract: Although laboratory dependence is an acknowledged problem in microbiology, it is seldom intensively studied or discussed. We demonstrate that laboratory dependence is real and quantifiable even in the popular model Escherichia coli. Here laboratory effects alter the equilibrium composition of a simple community composed of two strains of E. coli. Our data rule out changes in the bacterial strains, chemical batches, and human handling but implicate differences in growth medium, especially the water component.
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. kara.okeefe@yale.edu
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: O'Keefe
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ernstberger
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benoit
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Turner
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development*; D007753:Laboratories; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D014867:Water