Metastable coexistence of multiple genotypes in a constant environment with a single resource through fixed settings of a multiplication-survival trade-off

Ram Maharjan*, Thomas Ferenci

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The biological complexity of trade-offs has been a major obstacle in understanding bacterial diversity and coexistence. Here we reduce the biological complexity by using isogenic Escherichia coli strains differing only in a multiplication-survival trade-off regulated by RpoS. The contribution of trade-off characteristics to fitness in different environments was determined. We then designed an environment with intermediate-stress levels that elicits an equivalent fitness. We found metastable coexistence of three strains in steady-state chemostats until mutations changed the relative fitness of competing strains. Our results help explain the rich intra- and inter-species diversity of bacteria through alternative settings of relatively few trade-offs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)240-246
Number of pages7
JournalResearch in Microbiology
Volume167
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Trade-offs
  • Stress resistance
  • Resource allocation
  • Reaction norm
  • Escherichia coli
  • RpoS sigma factor

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