Fig. 2: Mutualism tends to rescue mutants while competition slightly decreases mutant fitness.
From: Mutualism reduces the severity of gene disruptions in predictable ways across microbial communities
The mean fitness effect of each gene knockout in monoculture vs. co-culture with E. coli (A, D) or M. extorquens (B, E). The top row shows mutualistic co-cultures while the bottom row shows competitive co-cultures. Each point represents the mean fitness of one gene knockout across 5 replicates. Red dots indicate the co-culture fitness value differed significantly from the monoculture fitness value. C, F The number of genes with significant changes in fitness, categorized by their fitness effects in monoculture: negative (left facet) and positive (right facet). Gray bars indicate genes that exhibited significantly lower fitness in co-culture (with either E or M) compared to monoculture. In contrast, white bars denote genes that showed significantly higher fitness in co-culture. The overlap bars represent genes that experienced consistent directional changes in fitness in the presence of either E or M.
