K. A. Schaal

Ecological histories determine the success of social exploitation

The paper shows that ecological history affects the success of social exploitation in bacteria, with resource-level histories influencing fitness outcomes between cooperators and cheaters.

Antagonistic, synergistic, and social pleiotropy in microbial cheaters

The paper investigates pleiotropic effects of cheater mutations in Myxococcus xanthus, showing antagonistic, synergistic, and social pleiotropy can both promote and limit cheating alleles.

Behavioral interactions between bacterivorous nematodes and predatory bacteria in a synthetic community

This study examines behavioral interactions between predatory nematodes and bacteria in a synthetic microbial community, finding mutual behavioral influences and avoidance patterns.

Allopatric divergence of cooperators confers cheating resistance and limits the effects of a defector mutation

The paper shows that allopatric divergence of cooperators reduces cheater spread by limiting the range of cooperators a defector can exploit and altering mutation effects on social traits.