The experimental evolution of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Candida albicans in co-culture.

In microbial communities species can come into contact with each other and cooperate or compete. Understanding these interaction is important as microbial communities influence the environment and human health. This thesis explores the mechanisms of emergent coexistence between two species that do not naturally coexist, Pseudomonas fluorescens and E. coli. I then experimentally evolved two naturally coexisting pathogenic species, E. coli, and the fungi Candida albicans and identify a gene that may mediate the interaction between these species.