Concept Paper
Version 2
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Metabolic Heat in Microbial Conflict and Cooperation
Version 1
: Received: 11 May 2020 / Approved: 12 May 2020 / Online: 12 May 2020 (12:38:25 CEST)
Version 2 : Received: 15 July 2020 / Approved: 17 July 2020 / Online: 17 July 2020 (09:35:22 CEST)
Version 2 : Received: 15 July 2020 / Approved: 17 July 2020 / Online: 17 July 2020 (09:35:22 CEST)
How to cite: Frank, S. A. Metabolic Heat in Microbial Conflict and Cooperation. Preprints 2020, 2020050211. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202005.0211.v2 Frank, S. A. Metabolic Heat in Microbial Conflict and Cooperation. Preprints 2020, 2020050211. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202005.0211.v2
Abstract
Many microbes live in habitats below their optimum temperature. Retention of metabolic heat by aggregation or insulation would boost growth. Generation of excess metabolic heat may also provide benefit. A cell that makes excess metabolic heat pays the cost of production, whereas the benefit may be shared by neighbors within a zone of local heat capture. Metabolic heat as a shareable public good raises interesting questions about conflict and cooperation of heat production and capture. Metabolic heat may also be deployed as a weapon. Species with greater thermotolerance gain by raising local temperature to outcompete less thermotolerant taxa. Metabolic heat may provide defense against bacteriophage attack, by analogy with fever in vertebrates. This article outlines the theory of metabolic heat in microbial conflict and cooperation, presenting several predictions for future study.
Keywords
Thermoregulation; microbial metabolism; overflow metabolism; biofilms; public goods; social evolution; ecological competition; fever; bacteriophage defense
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Endocrinology and Metabolism
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Commenter: Steven Frank
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