{
  "abstract": "Whether strains of the same species sharing the same ecological role are truly interchangeable has not been directly tested experimentally in communities, where higher-order interactions govern outcomes. Using 79 co-occurring Bacillaceae isolates from the Cuatrocienegas Basin, we combined whole-genome analyses with systematic strain substitutions in BARS, a three-species community in which a resistant strain protects a sensitive strain from an antagonist. Trait conservatism strongly predicted pairwise antagonistic outcomes. Yet across 34 assembled triads, 13 showed rescue beyond pairwise expectations and five showed suppression; single-strain substitutions rarely restored protection, although protection was recovered in one fully reconfigured triad. These outcomes could not be inferred from taxonomic relatedness, pangenomic content or pairwise assays; phylogenetic conservatism thus reaches its limit at the transition from pairwise to higher-order interactions. To explain this limit, we propose that strains behave as non-equivalent biological tiles whose interaction edges must align, a dynamic biological tessellation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Unidad Irapuato, Mexico"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "E. Cordero-Martinez"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Navarro-Miranda"
    },
    {
      "name": "O. Ramirez-Sanchez"
    },
    {
      "name": "E. D. Bustos-Diaz"
    },
    {
      "name": "V. M. Higareda-Alvear"
    },
    {
      "name": "G. Moreno-Hagelsieb"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. G. Rocha"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Hernandez-Rosales"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "G. Olmedo-Alvarez"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1pbb45p4rsc1k.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.10.758215",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.10.758215v1.full",
  "id": "1pbb45p4rsc1k",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.10.758215v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "evolutionary biology"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2303|Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222411078",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.10.758215v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-10",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1pbb45p4rsc1k.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:28:14Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.10.758215",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.10.758215v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:evolutionary biology",
      "subfield": "evolutionary-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Strain-specific higher-order interactions break phylogenetic conservatism in microbial communities",
  "title_text": "Strain-specific higher-order interactions break phylogenetic conservatism in microbial communities",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:28:14Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1pbb45p4rsc1k",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}