Repeated outbreaks drive the evolution of bacteriophage communication
Recently, a small-molecule communication mechanism was discovered in a range of Bacillus-infecting bacteriophages, which these temperate phages use to inform their lysis-lysogeny decision. We present a mathematical model of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of such viral communication and sho...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2021-01-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/58410 |
| _version_ | 1797997534218551296 |
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| author | Hilje M Doekes Glenn A Mulder Rutger Hermsen |
| author_facet | Hilje M Doekes Glenn A Mulder Rutger Hermsen |
| author_sort | Hilje M Doekes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recently, a small-molecule communication mechanism was discovered in a range of Bacillus-infecting bacteriophages, which these temperate phages use to inform their lysis-lysogeny decision. We present a mathematical model of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of such viral communication and show that a communication strategy in which phages use the lytic cycle early in an outbreak (when susceptible host cells are abundant) but switch to the lysogenic cycle later (when susceptible cells become scarce) is favoured over a bet-hedging strategy in which cells are lysogenised with constant probability. However, such phage communication can evolve only if phage-bacteria populations are regularly perturbed away from their equilibrium state, so that acute outbreaks of phage infections in pools of susceptible cells continue to occur. Our model then predicts the selection of phages that switch infection strategy when half of the available susceptible cells have been infected. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T10:34:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1178ce808cea4b0f83ad8d22787b2543 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T10:34:16Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-1178ce808cea4b0f83ad8d22787b25432022-12-22T04:29:19ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2021-01-011010.7554/eLife.58410Repeated outbreaks drive the evolution of bacteriophage communicationHilje M Doekes0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6360-5176Glenn A Mulder1Rutger Hermsen2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4633-4877Theoretical Biology, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands; Laboratory of Genetics, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, NetherlandsTheoretical Biology, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsTheoretical Biology, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, NetherlandsRecently, a small-molecule communication mechanism was discovered in a range of Bacillus-infecting bacteriophages, which these temperate phages use to inform their lysis-lysogeny decision. We present a mathematical model of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of such viral communication and show that a communication strategy in which phages use the lytic cycle early in an outbreak (when susceptible host cells are abundant) but switch to the lysogenic cycle later (when susceptible cells become scarce) is favoured over a bet-hedging strategy in which cells are lysogenised with constant probability. However, such phage communication can evolve only if phage-bacteria populations are regularly perturbed away from their equilibrium state, so that acute outbreaks of phage infections in pools of susceptible cells continue to occur. Our model then predicts the selection of phages that switch infection strategy when half of the available susceptible cells have been infected.https://elifesciences.org/articles/58410bacteriophagescommunicationarbitriumevolutionmodelling |
| spellingShingle | Hilje M Doekes Glenn A Mulder Rutger Hermsen Repeated outbreaks drive the evolution of bacteriophage communication eLife bacteriophages communication arbitrium evolution modelling |
| title | Repeated outbreaks drive the evolution of bacteriophage communication |
| title_full | Repeated outbreaks drive the evolution of bacteriophage communication |
| title_fullStr | Repeated outbreaks drive the evolution of bacteriophage communication |
| title_full_unstemmed | Repeated outbreaks drive the evolution of bacteriophage communication |
| title_short | Repeated outbreaks drive the evolution of bacteriophage communication |
| title_sort | repeated outbreaks drive the evolution of bacteriophage communication |
| topic | bacteriophages communication arbitrium evolution modelling |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/58410 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hiljemdoekes repeatedoutbreaksdrivetheevolutionofbacteriophagecommunication AT glennamulder repeatedoutbreaksdrivetheevolutionofbacteriophagecommunication AT rutgerhermsen repeatedoutbreaksdrivetheevolutionofbacteriophagecommunication |