Phenotypic Heterogeneity and the Evolution of Bacterial Life Cycles
Fig 5
Colony expansion and filament formation.
Competition between a filament-forming genotype (i.e. colonizing genotype) and a genotype that produces isolated sticky cells (i.e. climax genotype). (Left) Average frequency ± SD (n = 10) of genotypes (blue = colonizing genotype, green = climax genotype) during competition for 4.000 time steps. The average population size (black line) is shown with respect to the total carrying capacity (including surface and liquid). At onset of competition, the population in the liquid is saturated (5.000 cells) and on the surface 100 cells of each genotype are randomly placed. Population growth is characterized by two phases: (A) population growth before the inflection point (i.e. colonization stage) and (B) population growth after the inflection point (i.e. climax stage). (Right) Surfaces (A) and (B) show colony during colony expansion and at carrying capacity (for time sequence see S4 Fig). Colours correspond to the different genotypes (blue = colonizing genotype, green = climax genotype). The cells with grey and black outline are non-sticky and sticky cells, respectively. Simulations were performed under low migration rate from liquid to the surface (Pm = 0.01).