Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: The eukaryotic amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is commonly used to study sociality. The amoebae cooperate during development, exhibiting altruism, cheating, and kin-discrimination, but growth while preying on bacteria has been considered asocial. Here we show that Dictyostelium are cooperative predators. Using mutants that grow poorly on Gram-negative bacteria but grow well on Gram-positive bacteria, we show that growth depends on cell-density and on prey type. We also found synergy, by showing that pairwise mixes of different mutants grow well on live Gram-negative bacteria. Moreover, wild-type amoebae produce diffusible factors that facilitate mutant growth and some mutants exploit the wild type in mixed cultures. Finding cooperative predation in D. discoideum should facilitate studies of this fascinating phenomenon, which has not been amenable to genetic analysis before.
Source: PLoS ONE
Authors: Michelle Rubin, Amber D. Miller, Mariko Katoh-Kurasawa, Christopher Dinh, Adam Kuspa, Gad Shaulsky
Institution: Baylor College of Medicine
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,595
OpenAlex ID: W2910119834