From cooperation to predation: the evolutionary origins of phagocytosis

Authors

Solowiej-Wedderburn, J., Leimar, A., Kempes, C., Okie, J. G., Libby, E.

Abstract

A major transition in the evolution of eukaryotic cells was phagocytosis: the ability of one cell to engulf another. In some cases, the engulfed cell persists, forming an endosymbiosis which is often mutually beneficial. However, it is unclear whether the interaction between the ancestors was also cooperative. There are clear benefits to developing the ability to eat a competitor, but can it ever be beneficial to eat a cooperator? We use a dynamical systems framework to identify the ecological conditions under which phagocytosis can evolve from a system of cooperating microbes.Beginning with a system of two cooperating species, we use invasion analysis to identify the parameter regimes under which a phagocytosing mutant can invade and the subsequent population dynamics. We identify a critical threshold that determines whether an invading predator will coexist with the cooperative community or replace members. Repeatedly invading with different predators, we find that the system saturates when there are three coexisting species, though this community does not have a single optimal composition. However, if we incorporate additional costs, we find there is a single evolutionarily stable community of two cooperators and a pure predator. Ultimately, we show that it is possible for phagocytosis to evolve from a cooperative community and, moreover, coexist with the original cooperating species.

Preprint server: bioRxiv
The authors list and abstract were imported from bioRxiv on 11 Oct 2026.

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