TABLE 1 .

Balancing environmental relevance with experimental tractability: examples of microbial features when selecting community members for construction of standardized model ecosystems

Selection criterion and microbial feature
Microorganisms should be relevant to natural ecosystems
Keystone species
Known biotic interactions
Impact on important ecosystem properties
Encompass major phyla and functional groups
Dominance across rhizosphere and soils
Microorganisms should be experimentally tractable
Grow in isolation
Genetically tractable
Existing resources and interest