A Gradient Green-beard Gene in Fission Yeast

ABSTRACT: The social behaviors of microbes provide unique opportunities for testing social evolution theories. How can altruistic behaviors arise by natural selection is a central challenge in biology. Green-beard effect has been proposed as a basic mechanism for the evolution of altruistic behaviors. Yet, green-beard genes are generally thought to be rare. Here, we find that the Schizosaccharomyces pombe gsf2 gene mediates flocculation-like aggregation, and flocculation is triggered by acid stresses. gsf2-expressing cells preferentially adhere to each other. The expression of gsf2 is costly, but gsf2-expressing cells preferentially adhere to each other and protect each other from external stress. Gsf2 is highly variable in natural populations, likely contributing to different flocculation intensity

SUBMITTER: Zhiwei Wu 

PROVIDER: S-SCDT-10_1038-S44319-026-00748-X | biostudies-other |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other