Contingent evolution of alternative metabolic network topologies determines whether cross-feeding evolves.

ABSTRACT: Metabolic exchange is widespread in natural microbial communities and an important driver of ecosystem structure and diversity, yet it remains unclear what determines whether microbes evolve division of labor or maintain metabolic autonomy. Here we use a mechanistic model to study how metabolic strategies evolve in a constant, one resource environment, when metabolic networks are allowed to freely evolve. We find that initially identical ancestral communities of digital organisms follow different evolutionary trajectories, as some communities become dominated by a single, autonomous lineage, while others are formed by stably coexisting lineages that cross-feed on essential building blocks. Our results show how without presupposed cellular trade-offs or external drivers such as temporal nic

SUBMITTER: Meijer J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7391776 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature