Are you my symbiont? Microbial polymorphic toxins and antimicrobial compounds as honest signals of beneficial symbiotic defensive traits

Abstract

In defensive symbioses where microbes benefit their host by killing competitors, predators or parasites, natural selection should favor the transmission of microbes with the most beneficial defensive traits. During the initiation of symbiosis, the host's ability to accurately pre-assess a symbiont's beneficial traits would be a selective advantage. We propose that one mechanism by which a host could recognize and select a beneficial partner would be if the latter displayed an honest signal of its defensive or other symbiotic capabilities. As one example, we suggest that polymorphic toxins and their surface receptors, which are involved in inter-microbial competition and predator killing activities, can be honest signals that facilitate partner choice in defensive symbioses.