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Well-temperate phage: optimal bet-hedging against local environmental collapses
1Biological, Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA.
Scientific Reports
|June 3, 2015
Summary
This study optimizes phage strategies using game theory. The best long-term growth occurs when lysogenization frequency matches lytic collapse probability, balancing risks in changing environments.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Theoretical Ecology
Background:
- Temperate phages exhibit two infection strategies: lysogenic (integration) and lytic (replication).
- Environmental fluctuations pose risks to phage populations, influencing survival and reproduction.
- Optimal strategy selection is crucial for phage population dynamics and long-term persistence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To apply game-theoretic bet-hedging to determine the optimal lysogenic fraction for temperate phages.
- To identify conditions favoring temperate, virulent, or dormant strategies based on environmental factors.
- To predict the relationship between environmental downturns and phage population growth.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Kelly's bet-hedging strategy from game theory.
- Modeled phage population dynamics as a function of environmental downturns.
- Analyzed the frequency and intensity of environmental changes impacting the lytic subpopulation.
Main Results:
- The optimal "well-temperate" strategy maximizes long-term phage growth rate.
- This optimal strategy is achieved when lysogenization frequency approximates the probability of lytic population collapse.
- Identified sharp boundaries in environmental, ecological, and biophysical parameters that delineate strategy dominance.
Conclusions:
- Phage strategy (temperate, virulent, or dormant) is contingent on environmental stability and phage characteristics.
- Virulent strategies are favored with diverse hosts and accessible environments.
- Temperate and dormant strategies are advantageous in environments with frequent, severe downturns.
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