Iron is an essential trace element for most organisms. A common way for bacteria to acquire
this nutrient is through the secretion of siderophores, which are secondary metabolites that …

Iron is important for bacterial growth and survival, as it is a common co-factor in essential
enzymes. Although iron is very abundant in the earth crust, its bioavailability is low in most …

All social organisms experience dilemmas between cooperators performing group-
beneficial actions and cheats selfishly exploiting these actions. Although bacteria have …

Determining the fitness of specific microbial genotypes has extensive application in
microbial genetics, evolution, and biotechnology. While estimates from growth curves are …

Microbes have the potential to be highly cooperative organisms. The archetype of microbial
cooperation is often considered to be the secretion of siderophores, molecules scavenging …

The term “cheating” is used in the evolutionary and ecological literature to describe a wide
range of exploitative or deceitful traits. Although many find this a useful short hand, others …

Cooperation has been studied extensively across the tree of life, from eusociality in insects
to social behavior in humans, but it is only recently that a social dimension has been …

Cooperative behaviors provide a collective benefit, but are considered costly for the
individual. Here, we report that these costs vary dramatically in different contexts and have …

Bacterial cooperation can be disrupted by non-producers that can profit from public goods
without paying their production cost. A cheater can increase in frequency, exhausting the …

The maintenance of cooperation in populations where public goods are equally accessible
to all but inflict a fitness cost on individual producers is a long-standing puzzle of …