FIGURE 1: Model for how M. xanthus eliminates starving/less fit cells from a physiologically heterogeneous population through T6SS attack. M. xanthus population is initially depicted as a mixture of growing and starving cells. Starving cells have lower levels of TsxEI and therefore are susceptible to TsxE intoxication. T6SS is expressed at elevated levels in growing cells and TsxE is delivered to neighboring siblings. As a consequence, starving cells are intoxicated, lysed, and removed from the population. This results in increased physiological homogeneity and improved fitness of the population to conduct coordinated multicellular functions.