Decoupling genome size and growth potential reveals a multidimensional strategy framework in soil bacteria

Abstract

Microbial life-history strategies are fundamental to predicting community assembly and ecosystem function, yet they are often distilled to a single axis—the copiotroph-oligotroph continuum—that couples fast growth with large genomes and slow growth with small genomes. Whether this one-dimensional view captures the full diversity of bacterial strategies in soil remains untested at population level. Here, we couple genome-resolved metagenomics with trait-based inference to examine how genome size and maximum growth rate—two core life-history traits—co-vary across 321 bacterial populations from 67 soils spanning gradients in pH and organic carbon. We find that genome size and growth rate are only weakly correlated, allowing the identification of four contrasting life-history strategy groups defined by extreme combinations of genome size and growth potential: Small-Fast, Small-Slow, Large-Fast, and Large-Slow. Genome size is strongly phylogenetically conserved and defines the breadth of functional potential, whereas growth rate is more evolutionarily labile and differentiates strategies through targeted investments in biosynthetic pathways (e.g., amino acid metabolism). Environmental filtering shapes specific strategy combinations rather than single traits: compact genomes with high growth potential (Small-Fast) are selected in alkaline, low-carbon soils, while the Large-Slow strategy characterized by expanded genomes with slow growth shows elevated relative abundance in acidic, carbon-rich soils relative to alkaline, low-carbon conditions. Our findings challenge the prevailing copiotroph-oligotroph continuum by demonstrating that bacterial life-history strategies are inherently multidimensional. By decoupling genome size from growth potential, this framework provides a more predictive basis for understanding how environmental filtering shapes microbial life-history strategies and functional potential across soil ecosystems.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

genome size / maximum growth rate / life-history strategies / multidimensional framework / soil bacteria

Highlight

	● Genome size and maximum growth rate are only weakly coupled in soil bacteria.
	● Genome size is evolutionarily conserved and defines functional breadth.
	● Environmental filtering acts on specific combinations of genome size and growth potential rather than on growth potential alone.
	● A multidimensional framework challenges the copiotroph-oligotroph continuum.

References

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