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Phase separation and coexistence in spatial coordination games between microbes.

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  • 1Georgia Institute of Technology, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences and School of Physics, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA.

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Summary
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Local microbial interactions, from antagonism to cooperation, drive coexistence by creating distinct spatial domains. This study reveals how game theory explains microbial community structure and diversity maintenance.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbial Ecology
  • Theoretical Ecology
  • Mathematical Biology

Background:

  • Microbial communities exhibit complex population dynamics driven by cell-to-cell interactions.
  • Understanding how local interactions influence microbial diversity and spatial structure remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how diverse microbial interactions, ranging from antagonism to cooperation, facilitate coexistence in spatially explicit environments.
  • To establish a theoretical framework linking local interaction rules to emergent population structures.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of a family of stochastic coordination games using game theory.
  • Mathematical modeling to derive population dynamics and interaction potentials.
  • Investigation of spatial dynamics and phase separation phenomena.

Main Results:

  • Coordination games exhibit a double-well shaped interaction potential governing population dynamics.
  • This potential induces phase separation in spatial settings, promoting microbial coexistence.
  • Symmetric coordination games show universal scaling in phase separation, aligning with experimental data.

Conclusions:

  • Local microbial interactions, particularly coordination games, provide a generic mechanism for phase separation and coexistence.
  • The study links microscopic interaction rules to macroscopic population structures in microbial communities.
  • Findings offer insights into the maintenance of microbial diversity through spatially mediated dynamics.