The evolutionary consequences of quorum sensing in regulating bacterial cooperation are not fully understood. In this study, we reveal unexpected consequences of regulating public good production through quorum sensing on bacterial population dynamics, showing that quorum sensing can be a collectively harmful alternative to unregulated production. We analyze a birth-death model of bacterial population dynamics accounting for public good production and the presence of non-producing cheaters. Our model demonstrates that when demographic noise is a factor, the consequences of controlling public good production according to quorum sensing depend on the cost of public good production and the presence of non-public fitness benefits. When public good production is inexpensive, quorum sensing is a destructive alternative to unconditional production, in terms of the mean population extinction time. When costs are higher, quorum sensing becomes a constructive strategy for the producing strain, both stabilizing cooperation and decreasing the risk of population extinction.

中文翻译：

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通过群体感应抑制破坏性和建设性的作弊者

群体感应在调节细菌合作方面的进化后果尚不完全清楚。在这项研究中，我们揭示了通过群体感应对细菌种群动态进行调节公共产品生产的意外后果，表明群体感应可能是不受管制的生产的集体有害替代方案。我们分析了细菌种群动态的生死模型，该模型解释了公共产品生产和非生产骗子的存在。我们的模型表明，当人口噪声是一个因素时，根据群体感应控制公共产品生产的后果取决于公共产品生产的成本和非公共健身收益的存在。当公共产品生产成本低廉时，群体感应是无条件生产的破坏性替代方案，就平均种群灭绝时间而言。当成本更高时，群体感应成为生产菌株的建设性策略，既稳定合作又降低种群灭绝的风险。