1. Killer-sensitive coexistence in metapopulations of micro-organisms
- Author
-
Rolf F. Hoekstra and Tamás Czárán
- Subjects
Time Factors ,yeasts ,Metapopulation ,Biology ,Laboratorium voor Erfelijkheidsleer ,Models, Biological ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,diversity ,Stochastic cellular automaton ,promotes biodiversity ,Spatial model ,Yeasts ,Approximation models ,evolution ,Killer yeast ,Ecosystem ,General Environmental Science ,Polymorphism, Genetic ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,Ecology ,paper ,General Medicine ,Mycotoxins ,PE&RC ,Killer Factors, Yeast ,communities ,Phenotype ,Habitat ,escherichia-coli ,scissors ,Laboratory of Genetics ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,competition ,Research Article - Abstract
Many micro-organisms are known to produce efficient toxic substances against conspecifics and closely related species. The widespread coexistence of killer (toxin producer) and sensitive (non-producer) strains is a puzzle calling for a theoretical explanation. Based on stochastic cellular automaton simulations and the corresponding semi-analytical configuration-field approximation models, we suggest that metapopulation dynamics offers a plausible rationale for the maintenance of polymorphism in killer-sensitive systems. A slight trade-off between toxin production and population growth rate is sufficient to maintain the regional coexistence of toxic and sensitive strains, if toxic killing is a local phenomenon restricted to small habitat patches and local populations regularly go extinct and are renewed via recolonizations from neighbouring patches. Pattern formation on the regional scale does not play a decisive part in this mechanism, but the local manner of interactions is essential.
- Published
- 2003