Abstract
By virtue of complex ecologies, the behavior of mutualisms is challenging to study and nearly impossible to predict. However, laboratory engineered mutualistic systems facilitate a better understanding of their bare essentials. On the basis of an abstract theoretical model and a modifiable experimental yeast system, we explore the environmental limits of self-organized cooperation based on the production and use of specific metabolites. We develop and test the assumptions and stability of the theoretical model by leveraging the simplicity of an artificial yeast system as a simple model of mutualism. We examine how one-off, recurring, and permanent changes to an ecological niche affect a cooperative interaction and change the population composition of an engineered mutualistic system. Moreover, we explore how the cellular burden of cooperating influences the stability of mutualism and how environmental changes shape this stability. Our results highlight the fragility of mutualisms and suggest interventions, including those that rely on the use of synthetic biology.IMPORTANCE The power of synthetic biology is immense. Will it, however, be able to withstand the environmental pressures once released in the wild. As new technologies aim to do precisely the same, we use a much simpler model to test mathematically the effect of a changing environment on a synthetic biological system. We assume that the system is successful if it maintains proportions close to what we observe in the laboratory. Extreme deviations from the expected equilibrium are possible as the environment changes. Our study provides the conditions and the designer specifications which may need to be incorporated in the synthetic systems if we want such "ecoblocs" to survive in the wild.
Highlights
By virtue of complex ecologies, the behavior of mutualisms is challenging to study and nearly impossible to predict
We leverage the simplicity of a mathematical model and complement it with an engineered yeast system
Synthetic biological systems apply engineering principles to an organism to promote precise control and predictability over natural behavior. Our work examines both the effects of how initial strain ratios and changes in the environment alter the dynamics of strain concentrations and influence mutualism stability
Summary
By virtue of complex ecologies, the behavior of mutualisms is challenging to study and nearly impossible to predict. On the basis of an abstract theoretical model and a modifiable experimental yeast system, we explore the environmental limits of self-organized cooperation based on the production and use of specific metabolites. As new technologies aim to do precisely the same, we use a much simpler model to test mathematically the effect of a changing environment on a synthetic biological system. Mutualistic interactions, a specific type of cooperation where replicating components benefit each other, can be targeted by selection at a higher level [2]. Examples such as coral-Symbiodinium symbioses or plant-rhizobium interactions are well-known [4,5,6]. Many such mutualisms have evolved over millions of years. Denton and Gokhale if mutualisms are fragile and susceptible to collapse, as hypothesized, how do they survive for eons in continually changing environments?
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