Fig. 4. The asymmetric functional complementary pair (AFCP) that emerged first would obtain a ‘region size advantage’ to help it win in competition against other AFCPs.
A A typical example of simulations was selected to illustrate the development of the segregated interdependent spatial pattern. After the successful colonization of [1, 1, 0] and [1, 0, 1], Two-function loss genotype (TFLG) [0, 0, 1] emerged first and gathered with its functional complementary partner [1, 1, 0] to form a spatial aggregate, and occupied some space. After a TIME GAP, the second TFLG [0, 1, 0] also emerged, aggregated with its partner [1, 0, 1], and expanded. Due to the prior space occupancy, the aggregate formed by [0, 0, 1] and [1, 1, 0] can occupy more space, possessing a ‘region size advantage’, which help it to win the competition that followed between the aggregates. Cyan arrows indicate the position of the emergence of the two TFLGs. t1: time point when the TFLG member of the first AFCP emerged. t2: time point when the TFLG member of the second AFCP emerged. TIMEGAP equals t2 - t1, that is, the time lag between the emergences of two TFLG members of the two AFCPs. t3: time point when the segregated interdependent spatial pattern was newly established, which was defined as the first time when the total abundance of the two AFCPs reaches 95%. B Correlation between the prior occupied space sizes of the first emerged AFCP at t2 and the TIME GAP. C Percentage of the community space occupied by the first emerged AFCP at t3 as a function of its prior occupied space size at t2. D Percentage of the community space occupied by the first emerged AFCP at t3 as a function of TIMEGAP. For (B), (C) and (D), results were analyzed from all replicates, where two types of AFCPs formed a segregated spatial pattern during the evolution (75 replicates, from 296 interdependent simulations related to Fig. 3). Red dots indicate the first emerged AFCP won the competition in the corresponding replicate, while, conversely, the green dots indicate the second emerged AFCP won the competition. Blue dashed line in (B) indicates a dividing value of prior occupied space size, i.e., when prior occupied space size over that value, the first emerged AFCP would surely win the competition. Orange dashed line in (C) indicates the dividing value of TIMEGAP, i.e., over this value the first emerged AFCP would surely win the competition.