When and why spatial structure favors metabolic cross-feeding
- 1KU Leuven
Abstract
Metabolic cross-feeding is central to microbial life. Theory predicts that spatial structure favors cross-feeding by affording cells preferential access to the exchanged metabolites. Yet recent evidence shows that spatial structure can, in some contexts, disfavor cross-feeding. Here, we resolve this contradiction by structuring cross-feeding interactions into three dimensions: (i) directionality, (ii) investment, and (iii) metabolic dependency. We then investigated their combined effects using a spatially explicit individual-based model. We find that the effect of spatial structure on cross-feeding is determined not by physical proximity alone, but by how microbial growth depends on exchanged metabolites. Metabolic dependence shapes the spatial organization of cells and metabolite fluxes, and this emergent organization, in turn, reshapes the ecological outcome of cross-feeding. Our results reconcile previously conflicting observations and provide a general framework for predicting and engineering metabolically interdependent microbial communities.
Related
- Cross-feeding reshapes interactions between antibiotic stressors through metabolic feedbacks
- Exchange of metabolic pathway intermediates as the origin for metabolite cross-feeding interactions in E. coli auxotrophic co-cultures
- Obligate cross-feeding of metabolites is common in soil microbial communities
- Pine weevil (Hylobius abietis L.) bark feeding reduces root carbohydrates without broad metabolic changes in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) seedlings
- Generalized modeling reveals stabilizing mechanisms in cross-feeding microbial communities
BibTeX
@misc{impe2026when,
title = {{When and why spatial structure favors metabolic cross-feeding}},
author = {J. Van Impe and J. Wang and I. Hashem and S. Bhonsale},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.09.757969},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.09.757969v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - When and why spatial structure favors metabolic cross-feeding
AU - J. Van Impe
AU - J. Wang
AU - I. Hashem
AU - S. Bhonsale
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.09.757969
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.09.757969v1
AB - Metabolic cross-feeding is central to microbial life. Theory predicts that spatial structure favors cross-feeding by affording cells preferential access to the exchanged metabolites. Yet recent evidence shows that spatial structure can, in some contexts, disfavor cross-feeding. Here, we resolve this contradiction by structuring cross-feeding interactions into three dimensions: (i) directionality, (ii) investment, and (iii) metabolic dependency. We then investigated their combined effects using a spatially explicit individual-based model. We find that the effect of spatial structure on cross-feeding is determined not by physical proximity alone, but by how microbial growth depends on exchanged metabolites. Metabolic dependence shapes the spatial organization of cells and metabolite fluxes, and this emergent organization, in turn, reshapes the ecological outcome of cross-feeding. Our results reconcile previously conflicting observations and provide a general framework for predicting and engineering metabolically interdependent microbial communities.
ER -