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Host sanctions and the legume–rhizobium mutualism

Author

Listed:
  • E. Toby Kiers

    (University of California)

  • Robert A. Rousseau

    (University of California)

  • Stuart A. West

    (University of Edinburgh)

  • R. Ford Denison

    (University of California)

Abstract

Explaining mutualistic cooperation between species remains one of the greatest problems for evolutionary biology1,2,3,4. Why do symbionts provide costly services to a host, indirectly benefiting competitors sharing the same individual host? Host monitoring of symbiont performance and the imposition of sanctions on ‘cheats’ could stabilize mutualism5,6. Here we show that soybeans penalize rhizobia that fail to fix N2 inside their root nodules. We prevented a normally mutualistic rhizobium strain from cooperating (fixing N2) by replacing air with an N2-free atmosphere (Ar:O2). A series of experiments at three spatial scales (whole plants, half root systems and individual nodules) demonstrated that forcing non-cooperation (analogous to cheating) decreased the reproductive success of rhizobia by about 50%. Non-invasive monitoring implicated decreased O2 supply as a possible mechanism for sanctions against cheating rhizobia. More generally, such sanctions by one or both partners may be important in stabilizing a wide range of mutualistic symbioses.

Suggested Citation

  • E. Toby Kiers & Robert A. Rousseau & Stuart A. West & R. Ford Denison, 2003. "Host sanctions and the legume–rhizobium mutualism," Nature, Nature, vol. 425(6953), pages 78-81, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:425:y:2003:i:6953:d:10.1038_nature01931
    DOI: 10.1038/nature01931
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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Lin & Wang, Rui-Wu, 2022. "Host regulation and seasonality generate population chaos in a fig-wasp mutualism," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 165(P2).
    2. Han, Jia-Xu & Wang, Rui-Wu, 2023. "Complex interactions promote the frequency of cooperation in snowdrift game," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 609(C).
    3. Guoting Shen & Wenliang Ju & Yuqing Liu & Xiaobin Guo & Wei Zhao & Linchuan Fang, 2019. "Impact of Urea Addition and Rhizobium Inoculation on Plant Resistance in Metal Contaminated Soil," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Gao, Lei & Li, Yaotang & Wang, Zhen & Wang, Rui-Wu, 2022. "Asymmetric strategy setup solve the Prisoner’s Dilemma of the evolution of mutualism," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 412(C).
    5. Chaitanya S. Gokhale & Marcus Frean & Paul B. Rainey, 2023. "Eco-evolutionary Logic of Mutualisms," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 1066-1087, December.
    6. Valentina Rotondi & Luigino Bruni & Luca Crivelli & Stefano Mancuso & Paolo Santori, 2022. "In praise of the persona economica: listening to plants for a new economic paradigm," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-6, December.

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