An evolutionarily stable strategy to colonize spatially extended habitats

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Microbiology

Background:

• Species colonization ability is vital for fitness.
• Motility and rapid expansion are generally considered advantageous for colonization.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate phenotypic requirements for habitat colonization during bacterial range expansion.
• Determine optimal expansion strategies for chemotaxing bacteria in varying habitat sizes.

Main Methods:

• Applied an evolution protocol to chemotaxing bacteria.
• Analyzed population dynamics during range expansion in different-sized habitats.

Main Results:

• Discovered an optimal expansion speed, contrary to the 'faster is better' expectation.
• Optimal speed is dependent on habitat size.
• Identified interactions among pioneering cells influencing expansion dynamics.

Conclusions:

• An evolutionarily stable strategy for colonization involves an optimal expansion speed.
• This speed is the product of growth rate and habitat size.
• Stability-to-invasion is a key principle governing phenotype selection in ecological processes.