Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Experimental demonstration that screening can enable the environmental recruitment of a defensive microbiome

Tabitha Innocent, Neil Holmes, Mahmoud Al Bassam, Morten Schiott, Istvan Scheuring, Barrie Wilkinson, Matthew I Hutchings, Jacobus J Boomsma, Douglas Yu
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/375634
Tabitha Innocent
University of Copenhagen;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Neil Holmes
University of East Anglia;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Mahmoud Al Bassam
University of East Anglia;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Morten Schiott
University of Copenhagen;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Istvan Scheuring
MTA-ELTE Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Barrie Wilkinson
John Innes Centre
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Matthew I Hutchings
University of East Anglia;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jacobus J Boomsma
University of Copenhagen;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Douglas Yu
University of East Anglia;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: dougwyu@mac.com
  • Abstract
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Many animals and plants recruit beneficial microbes from the environment, enhancing their defence against pathogens. However, we have only a limited understanding of the assembly mechanisms involved. A game-theoretical concept from economics, screening, potentially explains that a host can selectively recruit antibiotic-producing microbes from the environment by fomenting and biasing competition among potential symbionts in such a way that the likely winners are mutualists. The cuticular microbiomes of Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants inspired one of the first applications of screening theory to mutualisms, and here we use inoculation experiments to test the efficacy of screening in vitro. Using agar infused with antibacterial metabolites from the ants' vertically transmitted Pseudonocardia symbionts, we show that secondary antibiotic-producing bacteria have higher growth rates than do non-producer strains and are more likely to win in direct competition. Our results demonstrate that game-theoretical concepts from economics can provide powerful insight into host-microbiome coevolution.

Footnotes

  • The subject category has been changed to Microbiology, and the abstract has had minor edits for clarity

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted July 29, 2018.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Experimental demonstration that screening can enable the environmental recruitment of a defensive microbiome
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
Share
Experimental demonstration that screening can enable the environmental recruitment of a defensive microbiome
Tabitha Innocent, Neil Holmes, Mahmoud Al Bassam, Morten Schiott, Istvan Scheuring, Barrie Wilkinson, Matthew I Hutchings, Jacobus J Boomsma, Douglas Yu
bioRxiv 375634; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/375634
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Experimental demonstration that screening can enable the environmental recruitment of a defensive microbiome
Tabitha Innocent, Neil Holmes, Mahmoud Al Bassam, Morten Schiott, Istvan Scheuring, Barrie Wilkinson, Matthew I Hutchings, Jacobus J Boomsma, Douglas Yu
bioRxiv 375634; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/375634

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Microbiology
  • Evolutionary Biology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (997)
  • Biochemistry (1485)
  • Bioengineering (941)
  • Bioinformatics (6810)
  • Biophysics (2414)
  • Cancer Biology (1783)
  • Cell Biology (2523)
  • Clinical Trials (106)
  • Developmental Biology (1688)
  • Ecology (2558)
  • Epidemiology (1491)
  • Evolutionary Biology (5007)
  • Genetics (3605)
  • Genomics (4620)
  • Immunology (1160)
  • Microbiology (4233)
  • Molecular Biology (1618)
  • Neuroscience (10764)
  • Paleontology (82)
  • Pathology (236)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (408)
  • Physiology (554)
  • Plant Biology (1450)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (410)
  • Synthetic Biology (542)
  • Systems Biology (1870)
  • Zoology (259)