Towards trait-based models for aquatic virology

Understanding the structure and stability of phage-host communities is an important challenge. Most studies have focused on the interaction network - who infects whom? Here we consider coadaptation of phage and their hosts - how do traits of one affect traits of the other? We characterise bacteria by growth traits (e.g. maximum growth rate, half-saturation) and phage by life history traits (e.g. burst size, latent period). We then use a simulated chemostat to examine how community structure is affected by competition between bacteria (for resources) and competition between phage (for hosts).