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Permissive aggregative group formation favors coexistence in yeast

View ORCID ProfileTom E. R. Belpaire, View ORCID ProfileJiří Pešek, View ORCID ProfileBram Lories, View ORCID ProfileKevin J. Verstrepen, View ORCID ProfileHans P. Steenackers, Herman Ramon, View ORCID ProfileBart Smeets
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.03.471114
Tom E. R. Belpaire
1Division of Mechatronics, Biostatistics, and Sensors, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
2Centre for Microbial and Plant Genetics, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
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  • For correspondence: tom.belpaire@kuleuven.be
Jiří Pešek
3team SIMBIOTX, Inria Saclay, 91120 Palaiseau, France
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Bram Lories
2Centre for Microbial and Plant Genetics, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
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Kevin J. Verstrepen
2Centre for Microbial and Plant Genetics, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
4Laboratory of Systems Biology, VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
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Hans P. Steenackers
2Centre for Microbial and Plant Genetics, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
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Herman Ramon
1Division of Mechatronics, Biostatistics, and Sensors, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
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Bart Smeets
1Division of Mechatronics, Biostatistics, and Sensors, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
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ABSTRACT

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the FLO1 gene encodes flocculins that lead to formation of multicellular flocs, that offer protection to the constituent cells. Flo1p was found to preferentially bind to fellow cooperators compared to defectors lacking FLO1 expression, resulting in enrichment of cooperators within the flocs. Given this dual function in cooperation and kin recognition, FLO1 has been termed a ‘green beard gene’. Because of the heterophilic nature of Flo1p binding however, we hypothesize that kin recognition is permissive and depends on the relative stability of FLO1+/flo1− versus FLO1+/FLO1+ bonds, which itself can be dependent on environmental conditions and intrinsic cell properties. We combine single cell measurements of adhesion strengths, individual cell-based simulations of cluster formation and evolution, and in vitro flocculation experiments to study the impact of relative bond stability on defector exclusion as well as benefit and stability of cooperation. We hereto vary the relative bond stability by changing the shear flow rate and the inherent bond strength. We identify a marked trade-off between both aspects of the green beard mechanism, with reduced relative bond stability leading to increased kin recognition, but at the expense of decreased cluster sizes and benefit of cooperation. Most notably, we show that the selection of FLO1 cooperators is negative-frequency dependent, which we directly attribute to the permissive character of the Flo1p bond. Taking into account the costs associated to FLO1 expression, this asymmetric selection results in a broad range of ecological conditions where coexistence between cooperators and defectors is stable. Although the kin recognition aspect of the FLO1 ‘green beard gene’ is thus limited and condition dependent, the negative-frequency dependency of selection can conserve the diversity of flocculent and non-flocculent phenotypes ensuring flexibility towards variable selective pressures.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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Posted December 04, 2021.
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Permissive aggregative group formation favors coexistence in yeast
Tom E. R. Belpaire, Jiří Pešek, Bram Lories, Kevin J. Verstrepen, Hans P. Steenackers, Herman Ramon, Bart Smeets
bioRxiv 2021.12.03.471114; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.03.471114
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Permissive aggregative group formation favors coexistence in yeast
Tom E. R. Belpaire, Jiří Pešek, Bram Lories, Kevin J. Verstrepen, Hans P. Steenackers, Herman Ramon, Bart Smeets
bioRxiv 2021.12.03.471114; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.03.471114

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