A Social Amoeba Discriminates in Favor of Kin

Robin Meadows

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060290

Abstract

A Social Amoeba Discriminates in Favor of Kin

Highlights

Though seemingly simple life forms, microorganisms can display surprisingly complex behaviors, such as altruism and cheating, that are more often associated with “higher” organisms. This paradox makes microorganisms—which are more amenable to laboratory investigations than, say, dolphins or elephants—ideal for investigating social evolution
The Strassmann and Queller laboratory previously found that two different D. discoideum strains will cooperate to form fruiting bodies that contain a mix of cells
Laboratory strain based on 12 repetitive DNA sequences called microsatellite loci, which provide a good measure of genetic distance

Summary

Introduction

Though seemingly simple life forms, microorganisms can display surprisingly complex behaviors, such as altruism and cheating, that are more often associated with “higher” organisms. The Strassmann and Queller laboratory previously found that two different D. discoideum strains will cooperate to form fruiting bodies that contain a mix of cells. Researchers Elizabeth Ostrowski (of the Strassmann and Queller laboratory) and Mariko Katoh (of the Shaulsky laboratory) asked whether cooperation between D. discoideum strains depends on how genetically similar the strains are. The researchers estimated the wild strains’ genetic similarity to the doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060290.g001

Results

Conclusion