Theory of cooperation in a micro-organismal snowdrift game

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2011 Aug;84(2 Pt 1):020902. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.84.020902. Epub 2011 Aug 26.

Abstract

We present a mean-field model for the phase diagram of a community of micro-organisms, interacting through their metabolism so that they are, in effect, engaging in a cooperative social game. We show that as a function of the concentration of the nutrients glucose and histidine, the community undergoes a phase transition separating a state in which one strain is dominant to a state which is characterized by coexisting populations. Our results are in good agreement with recent experimental results, correctly reproducing quantitative trends and predicting the phase diagram.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Game Theory*
  • Glucose / metabolism
  • Histidine / metabolism
  • Microbial Interactions*
  • Microbiology*
  • Models, Biological*
  • Nonlinear Dynamics

Substances

  • Histidine
  • Glucose