Dispersal network structure and infection mechanism shape diversity in a coevolutionary bacteria-phage system.

Resource availability, dispersal and infection genetics all have the potential to fundamentally alter the coevolutionary dynamics of bacteria-bacteriophage interactions. However, it remains unclear how these factors synergise to shape diversity within bacterial populations. We used a combination of laboratory experiments and mathematical modeling to test how the structure of a dispersal network affects host phenotypic diversity in a coevolving bacteria-phage system in communities of differential resource input. Unidirectional dispersal of bacteria and phage from high to low resources consistently increased host diversity compared with a no dispersal regime. Bidirectional dispersal, on the other hand, led to a marked decrease in host diversity. Our mathematical model predicted these opposing outcomes when we incorporated modified gene-for-gene infection genetics. To further test how host diversity depended on the genetic underpinnings of the bacteria-phage interaction, we expanded our mathematical model to include different infection mechanisms. We found that the direction of dispersal had very little impact on bacterial diversity when the bacteria-phage interaction was mediated by matching alleles, gene-for-gene or related infection mechanisms. Our experimental and theoretical results demonstrate that the effects of dispersal on diversity in coevolving host-parasite systems depend on an intricate interplay of the structure of the underlying dispersal network and the specifics of the host-parasite interaction.