Central taxa are keystone microbes during early succession

Project folder for publication "Central taxa are keystone microbes during early succession" containing: 1) scripts and raw data for data processing, 2) intermediate and final files output by scripts, and 3) RMarkdown files used to perform statistical analyses and generate figures. Descriptions of files, scripts, and folders in README files. Manuscript Abstract: Microorganisms underpin numerous ecosystem processes and support biodiversity globally, yet we understand surprisingly little about what structures environmental microbiomes themselves. Combining culturing, sequencing, and microbial networks, we identified 'central' (highly-connected, hub taxa), 'intermediate' (moderately-connected), and 'peripheral' (weakly/un-connected) microbes and experimentally evaluated their effects on soil microbiome assembly during early succession. Our results demonstrate central early colonizers significantly (1) enhanced biodiversity, (2) increased recruitment of additional influential, hub taxa, and (3) shaped microbiome assembly trajectories. This work elucidates fundamental principles of network theory in microbial ecology and demonstrates for the first time in nature that central, hub microbes are keystones. This research was funded by: National Science Foundation (US) (DEB-1922521, DEB-2030060), Lisa D. Anness Fellowship (US), Maytag Fellowship University of Miami (US), Department of Biology University of Miami (US).