Microbial mutualism at a distance: The role of geometry in diffusive exchanges
Authors
Peaudecerf, FJ
Bunbury, F
Bhardwaj, V
Bees, Martin A
Smith, Alison G
Goldstein, Raymond E
Croze, Ottavio A
Publication Date
2018-02Journal Title
Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
ISSN
1539-3755
Publisher
American Physical Society
Volume
97
Issue
2
Number
022411
Language
eng
Type
Article
This Version
NA
Previous Version(s)
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Peaudecerf, F., Bunbury, F., Bhardwaj, V., Bees, M. A., Smith, A. G., Goldstein, R. E., & Croze, O. A. (2018). Microbial mutualism at a distance: The role of geometry in diffusive exchanges. Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 97 (2. 022411) https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.97.022411
Abstract
The exchange of diffusive metabolites is known to control the spatial patterns formed by microbial populations, as revealed by recent studies in the laboratory. However, the matrices used, such as agarose pads, lack the structured geometry of many natural microbial habitats, including in the soil or on the surfaces of plants or animals. Here we address the important question of how such geometry may control diffusive exchanges and microbial interaction. We model mathematically mutualistic interactions within a minimal unit of structure: two growing reservoirs linked by a diffusive channel through which metabolites are exchanged. The model is applied to study a synthetic mutualism, experimentally parametrized on a model algal-bacterial co-culture. Analytical and numerical solutions of the model predict conditions for the successful establishment of remote mutualisms, and how this depends, often counterintuitively, on diffusion geometry. We connect our findings to understanding complex behavior in synthetic and naturally occurring microbial communities.
Keywords
Diffusion, Environment, Microbial Interactions, Models, Biological, Symbiosis
Sponsorship
Gates Cambridge Trust
The Winton Foundation for the Physics of Sustainability
The Royal Society
The Schlumberger Chair Fund
Funder references
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/I013164/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/J004847/1)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/M011194/1)
EPSRC (1196197)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/M017982/1)
Embargo Lift Date
2100-01-01
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.97.022411
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/276568
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