Spatio-selection in Expanding Bacterial Colonies
arXiv:cond-mat/9811208 · doi:10.1209/epl/i1999-00524-7
Abstract
Segregation of populations is a key question in evolution theory. One important aspect is the relation between spatial organization and the population's composition. Here we study a specific example -- sectors in expanding bacterial colonies. Such sectors are spatially segregated sub-populations of mutants. The sectors can be seen both in disk-shaped colonies and in branching colonies. We study the sectors using two models we have used in the past to study bacterial colonies -- a continuous reaction-diffusion model with non-linear diffusion and a discrete ``Communicating Walkers'' model. We find that in expanding colonies, and especially in branching colonies, segregation processes are more likely than in a spatially static population. One such process is the establishment of stable sub- population having neutral mutation. Another example is the maintenance of wild-type population along side with sub-population of advantageous mutants. Understanding such processes in bacterial colonies is an important subject by itself, as well as a model system for similar processes in other spreading populations.
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Cited by in corpus (7)
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- Frequency-Dependent Selection at Rough Expanding Fronts
- Structured Interactions Drive Abrupt Transitions in the Spatial Organization of Microbial Communities