Cellulose Biodegradation Models; An Example of Cooperative Interactions in Structured Populations

TL;DR

This paper develops models for cellulose biodegradation by micro-organisms, revealing that population growth can be limited by mechanisms resembling cooperation, even without actual cooperative interactions.

Contribution

It introduces complex chemical and phenotypical trait-dependent models demonstrating how cooperation-like effects emerge in structured microbial populations.

Findings

Models show growth limitation in small and large populations.

Reveals cooperation-like phenomena without actual cooperation.

Highlights importance of population structure in biodegradation dynamics.

Abstract

We introduce various models for cellulose bio-degradation by micro-organisms. Those models rely on complex chemical mechanisms, involve the structure of the cellulose chains and are allowed to depend on the phenotypical traits of the population of micro-organisms. We then use the corresponding models in the context of multiple-trait populations. This leads to classical, logistic type, reproduction rates limiting the growth of large populations but also, and more surprisingly, limiting the growth of populations which are too small in a manner similar to the effects seen in populations requiring cooperative interactions (or sexual reproduction). This study hence offers a striking example of how some mechanisms resembling cooperation can occur in structured biological populations, even in the absence of any actual cooperation.