Recombination as an enforcement mechanism of prosocial behavior in cooperating bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Prosocial behavior is ubiquitous in nature despite the relative fitness costs carried by cooperative individuals. However, the stability of cooperation in populations is fragile and often maintained through enforcement. We propose that homologous recombination provides such a mechanism in bacteria. Using an agent-based model of recombination in bacteria playing a public goods game, we demonstrate how changes in recombination rates affect the proportion of cooperating cells. In our model, recombination converts cells to a different strategy, either freeloading (cheaters) or cooperation, based on the strategies of neighboring cells and recombination rate. Increasing the recombination rate expands the parameter space in which cooperators outcompete freeloaders. However, increasing the recombi

SUBMITTER: Lee IPA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10405257 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature