Background: Bacteria excrete costly toxins to defend their ecological niche. The evolution of such antagonistic interactions between individuals is expected to depend on both the social environment and the strength of resource competition. Antagonism is expected to be weak among highly similar genotypes because most individuals are immune to antagonistic agents and among dissimilar genotypes because these are unlikely to be competing for the same resources and antagonism should not yield much benefit. The strength of antagonism is therefore expected to peak at intermediate genetic distance.

Results: We studied the ability of laboratory strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to prevent growth of 55 different clinical P. aeruginosa isolates derived from cystic fibrosis patients. Genetic distance was determined using genetic fingerprints. We found that the strength of antagonism was maximal among genotypes of intermediate genetic distance and we show that genetic distance and resource use are linked.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that the importance of social interactions like antagonism may be modulated by the strength of resource competition.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3391984PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2180-12-40DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

genetic distance
16
intermediate genetic
12
antagonistic interactions
8
peak intermediate
8
laboratory strains
8
strains pseudomonas
8
pseudomonas aeruginosa
8
strength resource
8
resource competition
8
antagonism expected
8

Similar Publications

Reconfigurable modular robots can be used in application domains such as exploration, logistics, and outer space. The robots should be able to assemble and work as a single entity to perform a task that requires high throughput. Selecting an optimum assembly position with minimum distance traveled by robots in an obstacle surrounding the environment is challenging.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Golden camellia species are endangered species with great ecological significance and economic value in the section Chrysantha of the genus Camellia of the family Theaceae. Literature shows that more than 50 species of golden camellia have been found all over the world, but the exact number remains undetermined due to the complex phylogenetic background, the non-uniform classification criteria, and the presence of various synonyms and homonyms; and phylogenetic relationships among golden camellia species at the gene level are yet to be disclosed. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the divergence time and phylogenetic relationships between all golden camellia species at the gene level to improve their classification system and achieve accurate identification of them.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Sweetpotato is a vegetatively propagated crop cultivated worldwide, predominantly in developing countries, valued for its adaptability, short growth cycle, and high productivity per unit land area. In most sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, it is widely grown by smallholder farmers. Niger, Nigeria, and Benin have a huge diversity of sweetpotato accessions whose potential has not fully been explored to date.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Little is known about how distance between homologous chromosomes are controlled during the cell cycle. Here, we show that the distribution of centromere components display two discrete clusters placed to either side of the centrosome and apical/basal axis from prophase to G interphase. 4-Dimensional live cell imaging analysis of centromere and centrosome tracking reveals that centromeres oscillate largely within one cluster, but do not cross over to the other cluster.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are commonly observed on MRI in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the molecular pathways underlying their relationships with the ATN biomarkers remain unclear. The aim of this study was to identify genetic variants that may modify the relationship between WMH and the ATN biomarkers.

Method: This genome-wide interaction study (GWIS) included individuals with AD, MCI, and normal cognition from ADNI (n = 1012).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!