Trade-offs and coexistence in microbial microcosms

• Published in: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Vol. 81; no. 1-4; pp. 107 - 115
• Main Authors: Bohannan, Brendan J M, Kerr, Ben, Jessup, Christine M, Hughes, Jennifer B, Sandvik, Gunnar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Springer Nature B.V 01.01.2002
• Subjects: Coexistence; Coliphages - genetics; Coliphages - pathogenicity; Coliphages - physiology; E coli; Ecosystem; Environmental changes; Environmental control; Environmental factors; Escherichia coli - genetics; Escherichia coli - virology; Evolution, Molecular; Genetic factors; Microorganisms; Models, Biological; T-Phages - genetics; T-Phages - pathogenicity; T-Phages - physiology
• ISSN: 0003-6072; 1572-9699
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1020585711378

Trade-offs among the abilities of organisms to respond to different environmental factors are often assumed to play a major role in the coexistence of species. There has been extensive theoretical study of the role of such trade-offs in ecological communities but it has proven difficult to study such trade-offs experimentally. Microorganisms are ideal model systems with which to experimentally study the causes and consequences of ecological trade-offs. In model communities of E. coli B and T-type bacteriophage, a trade-off in E. coli between resistance to bacteriophage and competitive ability is often observed. This trade-off can allow the coexistence of different ecological types of E. coli. The magnitude of this trade-off affects, in predictable ways, the structure, dynamics and response to environmental change of these communities. Genetic factors, environmental factors, and gene-by-environment interactions determine the magnitude of this trade-off. Environmental control of the magnitude of trade-offs represents one avenue by which environmental change can alter community properties such as invasability, stability and coexistence.