Sample programs of an eco-redox model for the article: Microbial redox cycling enhances ecosystem thermodynamic efficiency and productivity

Microbial life in low-energy ecosystems relies on individual energy
conservation, optimizing energy use in response to interspecific
competition, and mutualistic interspecific syntrophy. Our study proposes a
novel community-level strategy for increasing energy use efficiency. By
utilizing an oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction network model that
represents microbial redox metabolic interactions, we investigated
multiple species-level competition and cooperation within the network. Our
results suggest that microbial functional diversity allows for metabolic
handoffs, which in turn lead to increased energy use efficiency.
Furthermore, the mutualistic division of labor and the resulting
complexity of redox pathways actively drive material cycling, further
promoting energy exploitation. Our findings reveal the potential of
self-organized ecological interactions to develop efficient energy
utilization strategies, with important implications for microbial
ecosystem functioning and co-evolution of life and Earth.