Loss of Social Behaviors by Myxococcus Xanthus During Evolution in an Unstructured Habitat

Overview

Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Specialty Science

Date 1998 Oct 15

PMID 9770494

Citations 63

Authors

G J Velicer

L Kroos

R E Lenski

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Social behaviors are often targets of natural selection among higher organisms, but quantifying the effects of such selection is difficult. We have used the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus as a model system for studying the evolution of social interactions. Changes in the social behaviors of 12 M. xanthus populations were quantified after 1,000 generations of evolution in a liquid habitat, in which interactions among individuals were continually hindered by shaking and low cell densities. Derived lineages were compared with their ancestors with respect to maximum growth rate, motility rates on hard and soft agar, fruiting body formation ability, and sporulation frequency during starvation. Improved performance in the liquid selective regime among evolved lines was usually associated with significant reductions in all of the major social behaviors of M. xanthus. Maintenance of functional social behaviors is apparently detrimental to fitness under asocial growth conditions.

Citing Articles

Ecological histories govern social exploitation by microorganisms.

Schaal K, Manhes P, Velicer G ISME J. 2024; 19(1).

PMID: 39711056 PMC: 11831026. DOI: 10.1093/ismejo/wrae255.

Unravelling a diversity of cellular structures and aggregation dynamics during the early development of .

Rivera-Yoshida N, Arzola A, Benitez M Biol Lett. 2024; 20(10):20240360.

PMID: 39439355 PMC: 11496945. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2024.0360.

Synergistic phenotypic adaptations of motile purple sulphur bacteria Chromatium okenii during lake-to-laboratory domestication.

Di Nezio F, Ong I, Riedel R, Goshal A, Dhar J, Roman S PLoS One. 2024; 19(10):e0310265.

PMID: 39436933 PMC: 11495639. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310265.

Short-range C-signaling restricts cheating behavior during development.

Hoang Y, Franklin J, Dufour Y, Kroos L mBio. 2024; 15(11):e0244024.

PMID: 39422488 PMC: 11559036. DOI: 10.1128/mbio.02440-24.

Reduced social function in experimentally evolved implies selection for social conflict in nature.

Larsen T, Jahan I, Brock D, Strassmann J, Queller D Proc Biol Sci. 2023; 290(2013):20231722.

PMID: 38113942 PMC: 10730294. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1722.

References

Lenski R, Bennett A . Evolutionary response of escherichia coli to thermal stress. Am Nat. 2009; 142 Suppl 1:S47-64. DOI: 10.1086/285522. View

Hagen D, Bretscher A, Kaiser D . Synergism between morphogenetic mutants of Myxococcus xanthus. Dev Biol. 1978; 64(2):284-96. DOI: 10.1016/0012-1606(78)90079-9. View

Shi W, Zusman D . The two motility systems of Myxococcus xanthus show different selective advantages on various surfaces. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993; 90(8):3378-82. PMC: 46303. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.90.8.3378. View

Bjorkman J, Hughes D, Andersson D . Virulence of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella typhimurium. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998; 95(7):3949-53. PMC: 19943. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.95.7.3949. View

Kaiser D . Social gliding is correlated with the presence of pili in Myxococcus xanthus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979; 76(11):5952-6. PMC: 411771. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.76.11.5952. View

Schrag S, Perrot V, Levin B . Adaptation to the fitness costs of antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli. Proc Biol Sci. 1997; 264(1386):1287-91. PMC: 1688596. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.1997.0178. View

MacNeil S, Calara F, Hartzell P . New clusters of genes required for gliding motility in Myxococcus xanthus. Mol Microbiol. 1994; 14(1):61-71. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1994.tb01267.x. View

Bednarz J . Cooperative Hunting Harris' Hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus). Science. 1988; 239(4847):1525-7. DOI: 10.1126/science.239.4847.1525. View

Kroos L, Kuspa A, Kaiser D . A global analysis of developmentally regulated genes in Myxococcus xanthus. Dev Biol. 1986; 117(1):252-66. DOI: 10.1016/0012-1606(86)90368-4. View

10.

Downard J, Ramaswamy S, Kil K . Identification of esg, a genetic locus involved in cell-cell signaling during Myxococcus xanthus development. J Bacteriol. 1993; 175(24):7762-70. PMC: 206950. DOI: 10.1128/jb.175.24.7762-7770.1993. View

11.

Modi R, Adams J . COEVOLUTION IN BACTERIAL-PLASMID POPULATIONS. Evolution. 2017; 45(3):656-667. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1991.tb04336.x. View

12.

Schrag S, Perrot V . Reducing antibiotic resistance. Nature. 1996; 381(6578):120-1. DOI: 10.1038/381120b0. View

13.

Hodgkin J, Kaiser D . Cell-to-cell stimulation of movement in nonmotile mutants of Myxococcus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977; 74(7):2938-42. PMC: 431354. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.74.7.2938. View

14.

Ross K . Multilocus evolution in fire ants: effects of selection, gene flow and recombination. Genetics. 1997; 145(4):961-74. PMC: 1207900. DOI: 10.1093/genetics/145.4.961. View

15.

Bouma J, Lenski R . Evolution of a bacteria/plasmid association. Nature. 1988; 335(6188):351-2. DOI: 10.1038/335351a0. View

16.

Devreotes P . Dictyostelium discoideum: a model system for cell-cell interactions in development. Science. 1989; 245(4922):1054-8. DOI: 10.1126/science.2672337. View

17.

Shoemaker D, Ross K, Arnold M . GENETIC STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION OF A FIRE ANT HYBRID ZONE. Evolution. 2017; 50(5):1958-1976. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1996.tb03583.x. View

18.

Chao L, Levin B . Structured habitats and the evolution of anticompetitor toxins in bacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981; 78(10):6324-8. PMC: 349031. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.78.10.6324. View

19.

Behmlander R, Dworkin M . Extracellular fibrils and contact-mediated cell interactions in Myxococcus xanthus. J Bacteriol. 1991; 173(24):7810-20. PMC: 212571. DOI: 10.1128/jb.173.24.7810-7820.1991. View

20.

Wu S, Kaiser D . Genetic and functional evidence that Type IV pili are required for social gliding motility in Myxococcus xanthus. Mol Microbiol. 1995; 18(3):547-58. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1995.mmi_18030547.x. View