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Host-microbiome coevolution can promote cooperation in a rock-paper-scissors dynamics
Ohad Lewin-Epstein1, Lilach Hadany1
1Department of Molecular Biology and Ecology of Plants, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel.
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|February 21, 2020
Summary
This study reveals that microbes can drive cooperation in hosts. Host-microbe coevolution promotes cooperative behaviors, offering a novel explanation for cooperation
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Microbiology
- Behavioral Ecology
Background:
- Cooperation is widespread but its evolutionary drivers are debated.
- Existing theories primarily focus on individual or genetic factors.
- Microbes influence host well-being and behavior, yet hosts can resist microbial manipulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and investigate a novel mechanism for the evolution of cooperation.
- To explore the role of host-microbe coevolution in shaping cooperative behaviors.
- To understand how microbial influence on cooperation is maintained against host resistance.
Main Methods:
- Computational modeling was employed to simulate host-microbe interactions.
- The models explored conditions favoring microbe-induced cooperation.
- Analysis focused on the dynamics of cooperation under coevolutionary pressures.
Main Results:
- Microbe-induced cooperation can evolve and persist under various conditions.
- Host resistance to microbial manipulation does not prevent the evolution of cooperation.
- Host-microbe coevolution results in a rock-paper-scissors dynamic, maintaining cooperation in a polymorphic state.
Conclusions:
- Host-microbe coevolution offers a new pathway for the evolution and maintenance of cooperation.
- This mechanism provides insights into cooperative behaviors difficult to explain with current theories.
- Microbes play a significant role in shaping host behavior and social dynamics.
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