The Evolution of Quorum Sensing as a Mechanism to Infer Kinship.

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Version: Final published version
Serval ID
serval:BIB_B7293A315430
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
The Evolution of Quorum Sensing as a Mechanism to Infer Kinship.
Journal
PLoS computational biology
Author(s)
Schluter J., Schoech A.P., Foster K.R., Mitri S.
ISSN
1553-7358 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
1553-734X
Publication state
Published
Issued date
03/2016
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
12
Number
4
Pages
e1004848
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Publication Status: epublish
Abstract
Bacteria regulate many phenotypes via quorum sensing systems. Quorum sensing is typically thought to evolve because the regulated cooperative phenotypes are only beneficial at certain cell densities. However, quorum sensing systems are also threatened by non-cooperative "cheaters" that may exploit quorum-sensing regulated cooperation, which begs the question of how quorum sensing systems are maintained in nature. Here we study the evolution of quorum sensing using an individual-based model that captures the natural ecology and population structuring of microbial communities. We first recapitulate the two existing observations on quorum sensing evolution: density-dependent benefits favor quorum sensing but competition and cheating will destabilize it. We then model quorum sensing in a dense community like a biofilm, which reveals a novel benefit to quorum sensing that is intrinsically evolutionarily stable. In these communities, competing microbial genotypes gradually segregate over time leading to positive correlation between density and genetic similarity between neighboring cells (relatedness). This enables quorum sensing to track genetic relatedness and ensures that costly cooperative traits are only activated once a cell is safely surrounded by clonemates. We hypothesize that under similar natural conditions, the benefits of quorum sensing will not result from an assessment of density but from the ability to infer kinship.

Keywords
Bacteria/genetics, Bacterial Physiological Phenomena, Biological Evolution, Computer Simulation, Microbial Consortia/genetics, Microbial Consortia/physiology, Models, Biological, Quorum Sensing/genetics, Quorum Sensing/physiology
Pubmed
Open Access
Yes
Create date
17/02/2016 16:37
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:25
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