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Sociobiology

The Phoenix effect

Nature volume 441, pages 291–292 (2006)Cite this article

A spore-forming bacterium can escape from social collapse and extinction with a single mutation that has a dramatic effect. Here is evidence that a cooperative system can recover from the very brink of destruction.

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Figure 1: Fruiting bodies of the social bacterium Myxococcus xanthus emerging from soil.
Figure 2: Four possible outcomes when a cheater evolves in a social species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University,

    Kevin R. Foster

  2. Bauer Center for Genomics Research, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    Kevin R. Foster

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  1. Kevin R. Foster
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Foster, K. The Phoenix effect. Nature 441, 291–292 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/441291a

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