2023/12/18 by Gurdip Uppal, Uppal, Gurdip, Dervis Can Vural +1
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Complex Systems and Time Series Analysis #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #FOS: Biological sciences #FOS: Physical sciences #Populations and Evolution (q-bio.PE) #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2312.11743
openalex publication_date 2023/12/18 · openalex created_date 2023/12/22 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Many species of microbes cooperate by producing public goods from which they collectively benefit. However, these populations are under the risk of being taken over by cheating mutants that do not contribute to the pool of public goods. Here we present theoretical findings that address how the social evolution of microbes can be manipulated by external perturbations, to inhibit or promote the fixation of cheaters. To control social evolution, we determine the effects of fluid-dynamical properties such as flow rate or boundary geometry. We also study the social evolutionary consequences of introducing beneficial or harmful chemicals at steady state and in a time dependent fashion. We show that by modulating the flow rate and by applying pulsed chemical signals, we can modulate the spatial structure and dynamics of the population, in a way that can select for more or less cooperative microbial populations.