Is it “winner-takes all” when the simplest living things compete? Check out my fresh publication on phage coexistence in Science and a thread below🧵 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

We grew diverse phage species on a clonal (non-evolving) E. coli population and expected one species to beat out all others. Instead we found the opposite: multiple species coexisted in every single community. (2/8)

Coexistence wasn’t random or short-lived, but was stable even when we tried to drive different species towards extinction 🦖 (ie. negative frequency dependent selection). (3/8)

We mapped how each species interacted with their neighbor and found that most species didn’t love sharing their host population ⚔️. So how did they coexist despite this hostility? (4/8)

The E. coli culture wasn’t really a single resource, it’s more like a buffet 🥗 of different cellular phenotypes. Different phage species preferred slow 🥬 or fast 🍅 growing cells which enabled their coexistence. (5/8)

This study shifts how we think about phage diversity in nature. Phages don’t just rely on host genotypic diversity for coexistence. They use diversity in host phenotypes—similar to how viruses infect different tissues in a human made of genetically identical cells. (6/8)

Our work shows how ecological “niches” are almost endlessly divisible. Even under strict laboratory conditions, the E.coli population had heterogeneity that phage species could rely on. (7/8)

And lastly, our study highlights how phages can live as social organisms. Just like organisms in the macroscopic world, these tiny bits of life find ways to coexist 🫂. (8/8)

I’m lucky to have had lots of help with my big postdoc project and a special thanks to @asanchezlab.bsky.social , Kevin Foster, @paulturnerlab.bsky.social, Jonas Schluter, @jgoldford.bsky.social, Odera Nweke, and @asherleeks.bsky.social.