In microbial communities, each species may have multiple, distinct phenotypes . How do these subpopulations affect the stability of the community? Here, we address this question theoretically, showing that simple models with subpopulation structure and averaged versions thereof generically give contradictory linear stability results. Specialising to the bacterial persister phenotype, we analyse stochastic switching between phenotypes in detail in an asymptotic limit . Abundant phenotypic variation tends to be linearly destabilising, but, surprisingly, a rare phenotype can have a stabilising effect. Finally, we extend these results by showing numerically that subpopulations also modify the stability of the system to large perturbations such as antibiotic treatments.
In microbial communities, each species often has multiple, distinct phenotypes , but studies of ecological stability have largely ignored this subpopulation structure. Here, we show that such implicit averaging over phenotypes leads to incorrect linear stability results. We then analyze the effect of phenotypic switching in detail in an asymptotic limit and partly overturn classical stability paradigms: abundant phenotypic variation is linearly destabilizing but, surprisingly, a rare phenotype such as bacterial persisters has a stabilizing effect. Finally, we extend these results by showing how phenotypic variation modifies the stability of the system to large perturbations such as antibiotic treatments.
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. How do these subpopulations affect the stability of the community?
, but studies of ecological stability have largely ignored this subpopulation structure.
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address this question theoretically, showing that simple models with subpopulation structure and averaged versions thereof generically give contradictory
show that such implicit averaging over phenotypes leads to incorrect
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Specialising to the bacterial persister phenotype, we analyse stochastic switching between phenotypes
We then analyze the effect of phenotypic switching
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. Abundant phenotypic variation tends to be linearly destabilising,
and partly overturn classical stability paradigms: abundant phenotypic variation is linearly destabilizing
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such as bacterial persisters has a stabilizing
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numerically that subpopulations also modify
how phenotypic variation modifies