Spatial exclusion leads to "tug-of-war" ecological dynamics between competing species within microchannels.

ABSTRACT: Competition is ubiquitous in microbial communities, shaping both their spatial and temporal structure and composition. Classical minimal models of competition, such as the Moran model, have been employed in ecology and evolutionary biology to understand the role of fixation and invasion in the maintenance of population diversity. Informed by recent experimental studies of cellular competition in confined spaces, we extend the Moran model to incorporate mechanical interactions between cells that divide within the limited space of a one-dimensional open microchannel. The model characterizes the skewed collective growth of the cells dividing within the channel, causing cells to be expelled at the channel ends. The results of this spatial exclusion model differ significantly from those of its

SUBMITTER: Rothschild J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10718426 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature