Multicellular behaviour enables cooperation in microbial cell aggregates.

ABSTRACT: Oligosaccharides produced from the extracellular hydrolysis of biological materials can act as common goods that promote cooperative growth in microbial populations, whereby cell-cell aggregation increases both the per capita availability of resources and the per-cell growth rate. However, aggregation can also have detrimental consequences for growth, as gradients form within aggregates limiting the resource accessibility. We built a computational model, which predicts cooperation is restricted in dense cell aggregates larger than 10 µm because of the emergence of polymer and oligomer counter gradients. We compared these predictions to experiments performed with two well-studied alginate-degrading strains of Vibrio splendidus, which varied in their ability to secrete alginate lyase.

SUBMITTER: Ebrahimi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6792450 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature