Coexistence of Competing Microbial Strains under Twofold Environmental Variability and Demographic Fluctuations

TL;DR

This paper investigates how twofold environmental variability, including toxin levels and resource fluctuations, can enable long-term coexistence of competing microbial strains, contrasting with static environments where one strain dominates.

Contribution

It introduces a model of microbial competition under dual environmental fluctuations and analytically identifies conditions promoting coexistence versus dominance.

Findings

Environmental variability can promote coexistence of competing strains.

The model predicts specific conditions favoring long-term coexistence.

Demographic fluctuations can either hinder or promote strain coexistence.

Abstract

Microbial populations generally evolve in volatile environments, under conditions fluctuating between harsh and mild, e.g. as the result of sudden changes in toxin concentration or nutrient abundance. Environmental variability thus shapes the long-time population dynamics, notably by influencing the ability of different strains of microorganisms to coexist. Inspired by the evolution of antimicrobial resistance, we study the dynamics of a community consisting of two competing strains subject to twofold environmental variability. The level of toxin varies in time, favouring the growth of one strain under low drug concentration and the other strain when the toxin level is high. We also model time-changing resource abundance by a randomly switching carrying capacity that drives the fluctuating size of the community. While one strain dominates in a static environment, we show that species coexistence is possible in the presence of environmental variability. By computational and analytical means, we determine the environmental conditions under which long-lived coexistence is possible and when it is almost certain. Notably, we study the circumstances under which environmental and demographic fluctuations promote, or hinder, the strains coexistence. We also determine how the make-up of the coexistence phase and the average abundance of each strain depend on the environmental variability.