Positive linkage between bacterial social traits reveals that homogeneous rather than specialised behavioral repertoires prevail in natural Pseudomonas communities

Title data

Kramer, Jos ; López Carrasco, Miguel Ángel ; Kümmerli, Rolf:
Positive linkage between bacterial social traits reveals that homogeneous rather than specialised behavioral repertoires prevail in natural Pseudomonas communities.
In: FEMS Microbiology Ecology. Vol. 96 (2020) Issue 1 . - fiz185.
ISSN 1574-6941
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiz185

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Abstract in another language

Bacteria frequently cooperate by sharing secreted metabolites such as enzymes and siderophores. The expression of such ‘public good’ traits can be interdependent, and studies on laboratory systems have shown that trait linkage affects eco-evolutionary dynamics within bacterial communities. Here, we examine whether linkage among social traits occurs in natural habitats by examining investment levels and correlations between five public goods (biosurfactants, biofilm components, proteases, pyoverdines and toxic compounds) in 315 Pseudomonas isolates from soil and freshwater communities. Our phenotypic assays revealed that (i) social trait expression profiles varied dramatically; (ii) correlations between traits were frequent, exclusively positive and sometimes habitat-specific; and (iii) heterogeneous (specialised) trait repertoires were rarer than homogeneous (unspecialised) repertoires. Our results show that most isolates lie on a continuum between a ‘social’ type producing multiple public goods, and an ‘asocial’ type showing low investment into social traits. This segregation could reflect local adaptation to different microhabitats, or emerge from interactions between different social strategies. In the latter case, our findings suggest that the scope for competition among unspecialised isolates exceeds the scope for mutualistic exchange of different public goods between specialised isolates. Overall, our results indicate that complex interdependencies among social traits shape microbial lifestyles in nature.

Further data

Item Type:	Article in a journal
Refereed:	Yes
Institutions of the University:	Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences > Department of Biology > Chair Animal Ecology II - Evolutionary Animal Ecology > Chair Animal Ecology II - Evolutionary Animal Ecology - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Sandra Steiger
Result of work at the UBT:	No
DDC Subjects:	500 Science > 500 Natural sciences 500 Science > 570 Life sciences, biology
Date Deposited:	24 Oct 2025 06:49
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2025 06:49
URI:	https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/94966