Single-cell phenotypic plasticity modulates social behavior in Dictyostelium discoideum.

ABSTRACT: In Dictyostelium chimeras, "cheaters" are strains that positively bias their contribution to the pool of spores, i.e., the reproductive cells resulting from development. On evolutionary time scales, the selective advantage; thus, gained by cheaters is predicted to undermine collective functions whenever social behaviors are genetically determined. Genotypes; however, are not the sole determinant of spore bias, but the relative role of genetic and plastic differences in evolutionary success is unclear. Here, we study chimeras composed of cells harvested in different phases of population growth. We show that such heterogeneity induces frequency-dependent, plastic variation in spore bias. In genetic chimeras, the magnitude of such variation is not negligible and can even reverse

SUBMITTER: Forget M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10206496 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature