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The Impact of Phages on Interspecific Competition in Experimental Populations of Bacteria by Michael A Brockhurst; Andrew Fenton; Barrie Roulston; Paul B Rainey is a Environmental Science article available to read on EtoBox.
What is The Impact of Phages on Interspecific Competition in Experimental Populations of Bacteria about?
## Background Phages are thought to play a crucial role in the maintenance of diversity in natural bacterial communities. Theory suggests that phages impose density dependent regulation on bacterial populations, preventing competitive dominants from excluding less competitive species. To test this, we constructed experimental communities containing two bacterial species (__Pseudomonas fluorescens__ and __Pseudomonas aeruginosa__) and their phage parasites. Communities were propagated at two environmental temperatures that reversed the outcome of competition in the absence of phage. ## Results The evenness of coexistence was enhanced in the presence of a phage infecting the superior competitor and in the presence of phage infecting both competitors. This occurred because phage altered the balance of competitive interactions through reductions in density of the superior competitor, allowing concomitant increases in density of the weaker competitor. However, even coexistence was not equally stable at the two environmental temperatures. ## Conclusion Phage can alter competitive interactions between bacterial species in a way that is consistent with the maintenance of coexistence. Howev
Who reads The Impact of Phages on Interspecific Competition in Experimental Populations of Bacteria?
It is typically read by researchers, students, and practitioners in Environmental Science.
- Author
- Michael A Brockhurst; Andrew Fenton; Barrie Roulston; Paul B Rainey
- Publisher
- BioMed Central; Springer (Biomed Central Ltd.); London: BioMed Central, 2001-; Springer Science and Business Media LLC (ISSN 1472-6785)
- Published
- 2006
- Language
- EN
- Field
- Environmental Science (Physical Sciences)