Figure 4.

The benefit of bimodality is reduced when environmental variation increases. (A) Cartoon showing increasing noise in the stress levels. (B and C) The benefit of bimodality is reduced for both (B) no sensing and (C) sensing populations as noise increases. Dots correspond to the replicate with highest evolved growth rate out of three independent simulations (Materials and Methods). (D) Cartoon showing the presence of an intermediate, medium stress environment. (E and F) The benefit of bimodality is reduced for both (E) no sensing and (F) sensing populations as the time in the intermediate environment increases. In (B) and (E), the benefit results for stress ratios 10⁻¹ to 10¹ are all zero, and thus are hidden behind the 10¹ line. To see this figure in color, go online.