A fitness trade-off between local competition and dispersal in Vibrio cholerae biofilms

TY - JOUR

T1 - A fitness trade-off between local competition and dispersal in Vibrio cholerae biofilms

AU - Nadell, Carey D.

AU - Bassler, Bonnie L.

PY - 2011/8/23

Y1 - 2011/8/23

N2 - Bacteria commonly grow in densely populated surface-bound communities, termed biofilms, where they gain benefits including superior access to nutrients and resistance to environmental insults. The secretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which bind bacterial collectives together, is ubiquitously associated with biofilm formation. It is generally assumed that EPS secretion is a cooperative phenotype that benefits all neighboring cells, but in fact little is known about the competitive and evolutionary dynamics of EPS production. By studying Vibrio cholerae biofilms in microfluidic devices, we show that EPS-producing cells selectively benefit their clonemates and gain a dramatic advantage in competition against an isogenic EPS-deficient strain. However, this advantage carries an ecological cost beyond the energetic requirement for EPS production: EPS-producing cells are impaired for dispersal to new locations. Our study establishes that a fundamental tradeoff between local competition and dispersal exists among bacteria. Furthermore, this tradeoff can be governed by a single phenotype.

AB - Bacteria commonly grow in densely populated surface-bound communities, termed biofilms, where they gain benefits including superior access to nutrients and resistance to environmental insults. The secretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which bind bacterial collectives together, is ubiquitously associated with biofilm formation. It is generally assumed that EPS secretion is a cooperative phenotype that benefits all neighboring cells, but in fact little is known about the competitive and evolutionary dynamics of EPS production. By studying Vibrio cholerae biofilms in microfluidic devices, we show that EPS-producing cells selectively benefit their clonemates and gain a dramatic advantage in competition against an isogenic EPS-deficient strain. However, this advantage carries an ecological cost beyond the energetic requirement for EPS production: EPS-producing cells are impaired for dispersal to new locations. Our study establishes that a fundamental tradeoff between local competition and dispersal exists among bacteria. Furthermore, this tradeoff can be governed by a single phenotype.

KW - Cooperation

KW - Quorum sensing

KW - Social evolution

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/80052147742

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/80052147742#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1111147108

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1111147108

M3 - Article

C2 - 21825170

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 108

SP - 14181

EP - 14185

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 34

ER -