Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural yeast populations subject to environmental stress.

ABSTRACT: Populations of genetically uniform microorganisms exhibit phenotypic heterogeneity, where individual cells have varying phenotypes. Such phenotypes include fitness-determining traits. Phenotypic heterogeneity has been linked to increased population-level fitness in laboratory studies, but its adaptive significance for wild microorganisms in the natural environment is unknown. Here, we addressed this by testing heterogeneity in yeast isolates from diverse environmental sites, each polluted with a different principal contaminant, as well as from corresponding control locations. We found that cell-to-cell heterogeneity (in resistance to the appropriate principal pollutant) was prevalent in the wild yeast isolates. Moreover, isolates with the highest heterogeneity were consistently observed in

SUBMITTER: Holland SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4231229 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature