Horizontal gene transfer is predicted to overcome the diversity limit of competing microbial species

Abstract

Natural microbial ecosystems harbor substantial diversity of competing species. Explaining such diversity is challenging, because in classic theories it is extremely infeasible for a large community of competing species to stably coexist in homogeneous environments. One important aspect mostly overlooked in these theories, however, is that microbes commonly share genetic materials with their neighbors through horizontal gene transfer (HGT), which enables the dynamic change of species growth rates due to the fitness effects of the mobile genetic elements (MGEs). Here, we establish a framework of species competition by accounting for the dynamic gene flow among competing microbes. Combining theoretical derivation and numerical simulations, we show that in many conditions HGT can surprisingly overcome the biodiversity limit predicted by the classic model and allow the coexistence of many competitors, by enabling dynamic neutrality of competing species. In contrast with the static neutrality proposed by previous theories, the diversity maintained by HGT is highly stable against random perturbations of microbial fitness. Our work highlights the importance of considering gene flow when addressing fundamental ecological questions in the world of microbes and has broad implications for the design and engineering of complex microbial consortia.