Persistence for "kill the winner" and nested infection Lotka-Volterra models

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Description
In recent decades, marine ecologists have conducted extensive field work and experiments to understand the interactions between bacteria and bacteriophage (phage) in marine environments. This dissertation provides a detailed rigorous framework for gaining deeper insight into these interactions. Specific features

In recent decades, marine ecologists have conducted extensive field work and experiments to understand the interactions between bacteria and bacteriophage (phage) in marine environments. This dissertation provides a detailed rigorous framework for gaining deeper insight into these interactions. Specific features of the dissertation include the design of a new deterministic Lotka-Volterra model with n + 1 bacteria, n
+ 1 phage, with explicit nutrient, where the jth phage strain infects the first j bacterial strains, a perfectly nested infection network (NIN). This system is subject to trade-off conditions on the life-history traits of both bacteria and phage given in an earlier study Jover et al. (2013). Sufficient conditions are provided to show that a bacteria-phage community of arbitrary size with NIN can arise through the succession of permanent subcommunities, by the successive addition of one new population. Using uniform persistence theory, this entire community is shown to be permanent (uniformly persistent), meaning that all populations ultimately survive.

It is shown that a modified version of the original NIN Lotka-Volterra model with implicit nutrient considered by Jover et al. (2013) is permanent. A new one-to-one infection network (OIN) is also considered where each bacterium is infected by only one phage, and that phage infects only that bacterium. This model does not use the trade-offs on phage infection range, and bacterium resistance to phage. The OIN model is shown to be permanent, and using Lyapunov function theory, coupled with LaSalle’s Invariance Principle, the unique coexistence equilibrium associated with the NIN is globally asymptotically stable provided that the inter- and intra-specific bacterial competition coefficients are equal across all bacteria.

Finally, the OIN model is extended to a “Kill the Winner” (KtW) Lotka-Volterra model

of marine communities consisting of bacteria, phage, and zooplankton. The zooplankton

acts as a super bacteriophage, which infects all bacteria. This model is shown to be permanent.
Date Created
2016
Agent

How Nested and Monogamous Infection Networks in Host-Phage Communities Come to Be

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Description

We show that a chemostat community of bacteria and bacteriophage in which bacteria compete for a single nutrient and for which the bipartite infection network is perfectly nested is permanent, a.k.a. uniformly persistent, provided that bacteria that are superior competitors

We show that a chemostat community of bacteria and bacteriophage in which bacteria compete for a single nutrient and for which the bipartite infection network is perfectly nested is permanent, a.k.a. uniformly persistent, provided that bacteria that are superior competitors for nutrient devote the least effort to defence against infection and the virus that are the most efficient at infecting host have the smallest host range. This confirms an earlier work of Jover et al. (J. Theor. Biol. 332:65–77, 2013) who raised the issue of whether nested infection networks are permanent. In addition, we provide sufficient conditions that a bacteria-phage community of arbitrary size with nested infection network can arise through a succession of permanent subcommunties each with a nested infection network by the successive addition of one new population. The same permanence results hold for the monogamous infection network considered by Thingstad (Limnol Oceanogr 45:1320–1328, 2000) but without the trade-offs.

Date Created
2015-02-01
Agent