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Modelling the Evolution of Mutualistic Symbioses

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Bacterial Molecular Networks

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 804))

Abstract

Mutualistic microbial symbioses are one of the key innovations in the evolution of biological diversity, enabling the expansion of species’ niches and the production of sophisticated structures such as the eukaryotic cell. For some of the best-studied cases, we are beginning to have network models of symbiotic metabolism, but this work is in its infancy and has not been developed with an evolutionary perspective. However, theoreticians have long been interested in how these symbioses arise and persist and have applied modelling approaches from economics, evolution, ecology, and sociobology to a number of fundamental questions. We provide an overview of these questions, followed by specific modelling examples. We cover economic game theory, including the Prisoner’s Dilemma, the Snowdrift game, and biological markets. We also describe the eco-evolutionary framework of adaptive dynamics, inclusive fitness, and population genetic models. We aim to provide insight into the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and into how current evolutionary methods can benefit an understanding of the mechanistic basis of host–symbiont interactions elucidated by molecular network models.

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Acknowledgments

We thank D. Drown, B. Foley, the volume editors, and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by NSF PGRP 0820846 to S. Nuzhdin and NSF DMS 0540524 to R. Gomulkiewicz.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Maren L. Friesen

  2. School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

    Emily I. Jones

Authors
  1. Maren L. Friesen
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  2. Emily I. Jones
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maren L. Friesen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Labo. Bioinformatique des, Génomes et des Réseaux (BiGRe), Université Libre de Bruxelles, bd. du Triomphe, Bruxelles, 1050, Belgium

    Jacques van Helden

  2. Labo. Bioinformatique des, Génomes et des Réseaux (BiGRe), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bvd. du Triomphe, Bruxelles, 1050, Belgium

    Ariane Toussaint

  3. INSERM 1024, Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale, rue d'Ulm 46, Paris, 75230, France

    Denis Thieffry

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Friesen, M.L., Jones, E.I. (2012). Modelling the Evolution of Mutualistic Symbioses. In: van Helden, J., Toussaint, A., Thieffry, D. (eds) Bacterial Molecular Networks. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 804. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-361-5_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-361-5_24

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