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Autonomous and non-autonomous traits mediate social cooperation in Dictyostelium discoideum

Mujumdar, Nameeta and Dubey, Ashvini Kumar and Nandimath, Krithi and Nanjundiah, Vidyanand (2011) Autonomous and non-autonomous traits mediate social cooperation in Dictyostelium discoideum. In: Journal of Biosciences, 36 (3, SI). pp. 505-516.

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Abstract

In the trishanku (triA(-)) mutant of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, aggregates are smaller than usual and the spore mass is located mid-way up the stalk, not at the apex. We have monitored aggregate territory size, spore allocation and fruiting body morphology in chimaeric groups of (quasi-wild-type) Ax2 and triA(-) cells. Developmental canalisation breaks down in chimaeras and leads to an increase in phenotypic variation. A minority of triA(-) cells causes largely Ax2 aggregation streams to break up; the effect is not due to the counting factor. Most chimaeric fruiting bodies resemble those of Ax2 or triA(-). Others are double-deckers with a single stalk and two spore masses, one each at the terminus and midway along the stalk. The relative number of spores belonging to the two genotypes depends both on the mixing ratio and on the fruiting body morphology. In double-deckers formed from 1:1 chimaeras, the upper spore mass has more Ax2 spores, and the lower spore mass more triA(-) spores, than expected. Thus, the traits under study depend partly on the cells' own genotype and partly on the phenotypes, and so genotypes, of other cells: they are both autonomous and non-autonomous. These findings strengthen the parallels between multicellular development and behaviour in social groups. Besides that, they reinforce the point that a trait can be associated with a genotype only in a specified context.

Item Type: Journal Article
Publication: Journal of Biosciences
Publisher: Indian Academy of Sciences
Additional Information: Copyright of this article belongs to Indian Academy of Sciences.
Keywords: Aggregation;canalisation;development;phenotype interactions; phenotypic plasticity;quorum sensing;social selection;trishanku
Department/Centre: Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Division of Biological Sciences > Molecular Reproduction, Development & Genetics
Date Deposited: 15 Sep 2011 11:07
Last Modified: 15 Sep 2011 11:07
URI: http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/40457

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