Microbial Herd Protection Mediated by Antagonistic Interaction in Polymicrobial Communities

Abstract

Investigating the warfare of microbes allows us to better understand the ecological relationships in complex microbial communities such as the human microbiota. Here we use the T6SS, a deadly bacterial weapon, as a model to demonstrate the importance of lethal interactions in determining community structures and exchange of genetic materials. This simplified model elucidates a mechanism of microbial herd protection by which competing antagonistic species coexist in the same niche despite their diverse mutually destructive activities. Our results also suggest that antagonistic interaction imposes a strong selection that could promote multicellular like social behaviors and contribute to the transition to multicellularity during evolution.