The collapse of cooperation during range expansion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Cooperation is commonly believed to be favourable in spatially structured environments, as these systems promote genetic relatedness that reduces the likelihood of exploitation by cheaters. Here we show that a Pseudomonas aeruginosa population that exhibited cooperative swarming was invaded by cheaters when subjected to experimental evolution through cycles of range expansion on solid media, but not in well-mixed liquid cultures. Our results suggest that cooperation is disfavoured in a more structured environment, which is the opposite of the prevailing view. We show that spatial expansion of the population prolongs cooperative swarming, which was vulnerable to cheating. Our findings reveal a mechanism by which spatial structures can suppress cooperation through modulation of the quantitative traits of cooperation, a process that leads to population divergence towards distinct colonization strategies.
Duke Scholars
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- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Microbial Interactions
- Culture Media
- Biological Evolution
- 3107 Microbiology
- 1108 Medical Microbiology
- 0605 Microbiology
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Related Subject Headings
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Microbial Interactions
- Culture Media
- Biological Evolution
- 3107 Microbiology
- 1108 Medical Microbiology
- 0605 Microbiology