TY - JOUR
T1 - Limitation by a shared mutualist promotes coexistence of multiple competing partners
AU - Hammarlund, Sarah P.
AU - Gedeon, Tomáš
AU - Carlson, Ross P.
AU - Harcombe, William R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Although mutualisms are often studied as simple pairwise interactions, they typically involve complex networks of interacting species. How multiple mutualistic partners that provide the same service and compete for resources are maintained in mutualistic networks is an open question. We use a model bacterial community in which multiple ‘partner strains’ of Escherichia coli compete for a carbon source and exchange resources with a ‘shared mutualist’ strain of Salmonella enterica. In laboratory experiments, competing E. coli strains readily coexist in the presence of S. enterica, despite differences in their competitive abilities. We use ecological modeling to demonstrate that a shared mutualist can create temporary resource niche partitioning by limiting growth rates, even if yield is set by a resource external to a mutualism. This mechanism can extend to maintain multiple competing partner species. Our results improve our understanding of complex mutualistic communities and aid efforts to design stable microbial communities.
AB - Although mutualisms are often studied as simple pairwise interactions, they typically involve complex networks of interacting species. How multiple mutualistic partners that provide the same service and compete for resources are maintained in mutualistic networks is an open question. We use a model bacterial community in which multiple ‘partner strains’ of Escherichia coli compete for a carbon source and exchange resources with a ‘shared mutualist’ strain of Salmonella enterica. In laboratory experiments, competing E. coli strains readily coexist in the presence of S. enterica, despite differences in their competitive abilities. We use ecological modeling to demonstrate that a shared mutualist can create temporary resource niche partitioning by limiting growth rates, even if yield is set by a resource external to a mutualism. This mechanism can extend to maintain multiple competing partner species. Our results improve our understanding of complex mutualistic communities and aid efforts to design stable microbial communities.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41467-021-20922-0
DO - 10.1038/s41467-021-20922-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 33504808
AN - SCOPUS:85099885821
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 12
JO - Nature communications
JF - Nature communications
IS - 1
M1 - 619
ER -