Yeast biofilm colony as an orchestrated multicellular organism

Abstract

Although still often considered as simple unicellular organisms, in natural settings yeast cells tend to organize into intricate multicellular communities. Due to specific mechanisms only feasible at the population level, their capacity for social behavior is advantageous for their survival in a harmful environment. Feral Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains form complex structured colonies, which display many properties typical of natural biofilms causing (among others) serious infections in the human body. In our recent paper, we looked inside a growing colony using two-photon confocal microscopy. This allowed us to elucidate its three-dimensional colony architecture and some mechanisms responsible for community protection. Moreover, we showed how particular protective mechanisms complement each other during colony development and how each of them contributes to its defense against attacks from the environment. Our findings broaden current understanding of microbial multicellularity in general and also shed new light on the enormous resistance of yeast biofilms.