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Facultative cheater mutants reveal the genetic complexity of cooperation in social amoebae

Author

Listed:
  • Lorenzo A. Santorelli

    (Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA)

  • Christopher R. L. Thompson

    (Department of Molecular and Human Genetics,
    Present address: Faculty of Life Sciences, Michael Smith Building, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK.)

  • Elizabeth Villegas

    (Department of Molecular and Human Genetics,)

  • Jessica Svetz

    (Department of Molecular and Human Genetics,)

  • Christopher Dinh

    (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,)

  • Anup Parikh

    (Department of Molecular and Human Genetics,
    Graduate Program in Structural Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA)

  • Richard Sucgang

    (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,)

  • Adam Kuspa

    (Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
    Department of Molecular and Human Genetics,
    Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,)

  • Joan E. Strassmann

    (Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA)

  • David C. Queller

    (Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA)

  • Gad Shaulsky

    (Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
    Department of Molecular and Human Genetics,
    Graduate Program in Structural Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA)

Abstract

Cheating but cleverly The evolution of cooperation is central to the transition by organisms from unicellular to multicellular states. Mutant cells that 'cheat' by benefiting from the cooperation of others but offering nothing in return are seen to undermine cooperation. This view is questioned by a new study of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. A genome-wide scan reveals more than 100 mutations that allow cheating. Many of these cheaters were of an unusual and clever type; they facultatively cheat others while cooperating amongst themselves and developing normally. These findings challenge the idea that cheaters threaten the existence of cooperation: facultative cheaters dominate this system, yet they can spread through a population leaving cooperation intact.

Suggested Citation

  • Lorenzo A. Santorelli & Christopher R. L. Thompson & Elizabeth Villegas & Jessica Svetz & Christopher Dinh & Anup Parikh & Richard Sucgang & Adam Kuspa & Joan E. Strassmann & David C. Queller & Gad Sh, 2008. "Facultative cheater mutants reveal the genetic complexity of cooperation in social amoebae," Nature, Nature, vol. 451(7182), pages 1107-1110, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:451:y:2008:i:7182:d:10.1038_nature06558
    DOI: 10.1038/nature06558
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Eran Even-Tov & Shira Omer Bendori & Julie Valastyan & Xiaobo Ke & Shaul Pollak & Tasneem Bareia & Ishay Ben-Zion & Bonnie L Bassler & Avigdor Eldar, 2016. "Social Evolution Selects for Redundancy in Bacterial Quorum Sensing," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Mariko Katoh-Kurasawa & Peter Lehmann & Gad Shaulsky, 2024. "The greenbeard gene tgrB1 regulates altruism and cheating in Dictyostelium discoideum," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.

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