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Area of Science:

  • Microbial Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Mathematical Biology

Background:

  • Microbial communities often exist in size-constrained environments.
  • The impact of these size constraints on microbial competition dynamics is poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how microbial community size affects the outcome of contact-killing competitions between bacterial strains.
  • To determine if finite size effects can alter competitive advantages.

Main Methods:

  • Individual-based models were used to simulate bacterial strain competition with varying killing rates and community sizes.
  • Experiments were conducted using Vibrio cholerae strains confined in transmission electron microscopy grids to validate simulation results.

Main Results:

  • Community size substantially influences competition outcomes; the fittest strain can differ between large and small environments.
  • In small environments, stochastic fluctuations in initial abundance can lead to different outcomes, benefiting the slow-killing strain when rare.
  • Conversely, in small environments, stochasticity can favor the fast-killing strain when the slow-killing strain has a numerical advantage.

Conclusions:

  • Finite size effects significantly modify antagonistic microbial competitions.
  • Colony size can play a role in subverting the microbial arms race by altering competitive dynamics.