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Nutrient limitation determines the fitness of cheaters in bacterial siderophore cooperation

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  • D. Joseph Sexton

    (Oregon State University)

  • Martin Schuster

    (Oregon State University)

Abstract

Cooperative behaviors provide a collective benefit, but are considered costly for the individual. Here, we report that these costs vary dramatically in different contexts and have opposing effects on the selection for non-cooperating cheaters. We investigate a prominent example of bacterial cooperation, the secretion of the peptide siderophore pyoverdine by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, under different nutrient-limiting conditions. Using metabolic modeling, we show that pyoverdine incurs a fitness cost only when its building blocks carbon or nitrogen are growth-limiting and are diverted from cellular biomass production. We confirm this result experimentally with a continuous-culture approach. We show that pyoverdine non-producers (cheaters) enjoy a large fitness advantage in co-culture with producers (cooperators) and spread to high frequency when limited by carbon, but not when limited by phosphorus. The principle of nutrient-dependent fitness costs has implications for the stability of cooperation in pathogenic and non-pathogenic environments, in biotechnological applications, and beyond the microbial realm.

Suggested Citation

  • D. Joseph Sexton & Martin Schuster, 2017. "Nutrient limitation determines the fitness of cheaters in bacterial siderophore cooperation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-00222-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00222-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Cheng, Haihui & Meng, Xinzhu & Hayat, Tasawar & Hobiny, Aatef, 2023. "Multistability and bifurcation analysis for a three-strategy game system with public goods feedback and discrete delays," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 175(P1).
    2. Bryan L. Gitschlag & Claudia V. Pereira & James P. Held & David M. McCandlish & Maulik R. Patel, 2024. "Multiple distinct evolutionary mechanisms govern the dynamics of selfish mitochondrial genomes in Caenorhabditis elegans," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.

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