Programmed Allee effect in bacteria causes a tradeoff between population spread and survival
Dispersal is necessary for spread into new habitats, but it has also been shown to inhibit spread. Theoretical studies have suggested that the presence of a strong Allee effect may account for these counterintuitive observations. Experimental demonstration of this notion is lacking due to the diffic...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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2014
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/102428 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/19129 |
| _version_ | 1824456304885760000 |
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| author | Smith, Robert Tan, Cheemeng Srimani, Jaydeep K. Pai, Anand Riccione, Katherine A. Song, Hao You, Lingchong |
| author2 | School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering |
| author_facet | School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Smith, Robert Tan, Cheemeng Srimani, Jaydeep K. Pai, Anand Riccione, Katherine A. Song, Hao You, Lingchong |
| author_sort | Smith, Robert |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Dispersal is necessary for spread into new habitats, but it has also been shown to inhibit spread. Theoretical studies have suggested that the presence of a strong Allee effect may account for these counterintuitive observations. Experimental demonstration of this notion is lacking due to the difficulty in quantitative analysis of such phenomena in a natural setting. We engineered Escherichia coli to exhibit a strong Allee effect and examined how the Allee effect would affect the spread of the engineered bacteria. We showed that the Allee effect led to a biphasic dependence of bacterial spread on the dispersal rate: spread is promoted for intermediate dispersal rates but inhibited at low or high dispersal rates. The shape of this dependence is contingent upon the initial density of the source population. Moreover, the Allee effect led to a tradeoff between effectiveness of population spread and survival: increasing the number of target patches during dispersal allows more effective spread, but it simultaneously increases the risk of failing to invade or of going extinct. We also observed that total population growth is transiently maximized at an intermediate number of target patches. Finally, we demonstrate that fluctuations in cell growth may contribute to the paradoxical relationship between dispersal and spread. Our results provide direct experimental evidence that the Allee effect can explain the apparently paradoxical effects of dispersal on spread and have implications for guiding the spread of cooperative organisms. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T03:51:59Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/102428 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T03:51:59Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1024282023-12-29T06:54:29Z Programmed Allee effect in bacteria causes a tradeoff between population spread and survival Smith, Robert Tan, Cheemeng Srimani, Jaydeep K. Pai, Anand Riccione, Katherine A. Song, Hao You, Lingchong School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Microbiology Dispersal is necessary for spread into new habitats, but it has also been shown to inhibit spread. Theoretical studies have suggested that the presence of a strong Allee effect may account for these counterintuitive observations. Experimental demonstration of this notion is lacking due to the difficulty in quantitative analysis of such phenomena in a natural setting. We engineered Escherichia coli to exhibit a strong Allee effect and examined how the Allee effect would affect the spread of the engineered bacteria. We showed that the Allee effect led to a biphasic dependence of bacterial spread on the dispersal rate: spread is promoted for intermediate dispersal rates but inhibited at low or high dispersal rates. The shape of this dependence is contingent upon the initial density of the source population. Moreover, the Allee effect led to a tradeoff between effectiveness of population spread and survival: increasing the number of target patches during dispersal allows more effective spread, but it simultaneously increases the risk of failing to invade or of going extinct. We also observed that total population growth is transiently maximized at an intermediate number of target patches. Finally, we demonstrate that fluctuations in cell growth may contribute to the paradoxical relationship between dispersal and spread. Our results provide direct experimental evidence that the Allee effect can explain the apparently paradoxical effects of dispersal on spread and have implications for guiding the spread of cooperative organisms. Published version 2014-04-04T08:01:12Z 2019-12-06T20:54:49Z 2014-04-04T08:01:12Z 2019-12-06T20:54:49Z 2014 2014 Journal Article Smith, R., Tan, C., Srimani, J. K., Pai, A., Riccione, K. A., Song, H., et al. (2014). Programmed Allee effect in bacteria causes a tradeoff between population spread and survival. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(5), 1969-1974. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/102428 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/19129 10.1073/pnas.1315954111 24449896 en Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences © 2014 The Authors. This paper was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is made available as an electronic reprint (preprint) with permission of the authors. The paper can be found at the following official DOI: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1315954111]. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic or multiple reproduction, distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Microbiology Smith, Robert Tan, Cheemeng Srimani, Jaydeep K. Pai, Anand Riccione, Katherine A. Song, Hao You, Lingchong Programmed Allee effect in bacteria causes a tradeoff between population spread and survival |
| title | Programmed Allee effect in bacteria causes a tradeoff between population spread and survival |
| title_full | Programmed Allee effect in bacteria causes a tradeoff between population spread and survival |
| title_fullStr | Programmed Allee effect in bacteria causes a tradeoff between population spread and survival |
| title_full_unstemmed | Programmed Allee effect in bacteria causes a tradeoff between population spread and survival |
| title_short | Programmed Allee effect in bacteria causes a tradeoff between population spread and survival |
| title_sort | programmed allee effect in bacteria causes a tradeoff between population spread and survival |
| topic | DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Microbiology |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/102428 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/19129 |
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