Figure 2

Competitions between PCD+ versus PCD− genotypes. (A) Contour plot shows the percentage of wins for the PCD+ strain in competitions where at least one strain survived, over a range of switching probabilities (p) and PCD probabilities (c) with r = 0.5 (an unstructured population) and disaster probability of 0.1. There is an intermediate range of switching probabilities and PCD probabilities where the PCD+ strain is more successful. The blue area corresponds to where PCD+ loses to PCD− cells and the red area is where PCD+ wins. (B) Same as (A) but with r = 0.9 (a highly-structured population). PCD is more successful (higher number of wins) over a larger area of parameter space. (C) The success of PCD+ strains versus a PCD− competitor are shown as a function of PCD rate c and the assortment parameter r. The disaster probability is 0.1 and the switch rate for both genotypes is 0.1. With increasing r PCD is more beneficial. (D) The maximal amount of PCD selected is shown as a function of disaster probability for different values of r: 0.3 (blue), 0.5 (cyan), 0.7 (green), and 0.9 (red). Higher values of PCD are permitted for higher frequencies of disaster where there is greater benefit for diversification and in more structured environments where there is a lower cost to PCD.