Data from: On the limits of interpreting some plastic responses through a cooperator/cheater prism. A comment on Harrison

Micro-organisms are known to exhibit phenotypic plasticity in response to changes in their environment. Recent studies have shown that a parasite strain can adjust its host exploitation strategies to the presence of unrelated strains, e.g. for Plasmodium chabaudi by adjusting its sex-ratio. J. Evol. Biol. 2013; 26: 1370–1378 claims to report a similar plastic response to the presence of unrelated strains in the case of siderophore-producing bacteria. I argue that she does not provide sufficient evidence to support the interpretation of the plastic response she observes (increasing siderophore production in the presence of cheaters) through a cooperator/cheater framework. I show that known plastic responses to physicochemical factors, such as siderophore or iron concentration, seem to offer a clearer and more parsimonious explanation. Finally, I also challenge the parallel she makes between the process she observes in siderophore-producing bacteria and compensation in bi-parental care models.已知微生物会响应环境变化而表现出表型可塑性（phenotypic plasticity）。近期研究表明，寄生虫菌株可根据非亲缘菌株的存在调整其宿主利用策略，例如查氏疟原虫（Plasmodium chabaudi）可通过调整性比实现该策略调整。发表于J. Evol. Biol. 2013; 26: 1370–1378的研究声称，在产铁载体细菌（siderophore-producing bacteria）中也存在类似的针对非亲缘菌株的可塑性响应。笔者认为，该研究未提供充分证据，以支持其通过合作者/欺骗者框架（cooperator/cheater framework）对观察到的欺骗者存在时铁载体产量升高的可塑性响应所做出的解读。笔者证明，已知的针对理化因子（如铁载体或铁浓度）的可塑性响应，似乎能提供更为清晰且更简约的解释。最后，笔者还对该研究中所观察到的产铁载体细菌的过程，与双亲照料模型（bi-parental care models）中的补偿行为之间所建立的类比提出了质疑。