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Colizzi ES, van Dijk B, Merks RMH, Rozen DE, Vroomans RMA. Evolution of genome fragility enables microbial division of labor. Mol Syst Biol 2023; 19:e11353. [PMID: 36727665 PMCID: PMC9996244 DOI: 10.15252/msb.202211353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Division of labor can evolve when social groups benefit from the functional specialization of its members. Recently, a novel means of coordinating the division of labor was found in the antibiotic-producing bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor, where specialized cells are generated through large-scale genomic re-organization. We investigate how the evolution of a genome architecture enables such mutation-driven division of labor, using a multiscale computational model of bacterial evolution. In this model, bacterial behavior-antibiotic production or replication-is determined by the structure and composition of their genome, which encodes antibiotics, growth-promoting genes, and fragile genomic loci that can induce chromosomal deletions. We find that a genomic organization evolves, which partitions growth-promoting genes and antibiotic-coding genes into distinct parts of the genome, separated by fragile genomic loci. Mutations caused by these fragile sites mostly delete growth-promoting genes, generating sterile, and antibiotic-producing mutants from weakly-producing progenitors, in agreement with experimental observations. This division of labor enhances the competition between colonies by promoting antibiotic diversity. These results show that genomic organization can co-evolve with genomic instabilities to enable reproductive division of labor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enrico Sandro Colizzi
- Mathematical Institute, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Origins Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
| | - Bram van Dijk
- Department of Microbial Population Biology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
| | - Roeland M H Merks
- Mathematical Institute, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Origins Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Daniel E Rozen
- Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Renske M A Vroomans
- Origins Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.,Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.,Informatic Institute, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Haig D. Concerted evolution of ribosomal DNA: Somatic peace amid germinal strife: Intranuclear and cellular selection maintain the quality of rRNA. Bioessays 2021; 43:e2100179. [PMID: 34704616 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202100179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Most eukaryotes possess many copies of rDNA. Organismal selection alone cannot maintain rRNA function because the effects of mutations in one rDNA are diluted by the presence of many other rDNAs. rRNA quality is maintained by processes that increase homogeneity of rRNA within, and heterogeneity among, germ cells thereby increasing the effectiveness of cellular selection on ribosomal function. A successful rDNA repeat will possess adaptations for spreading within tandem arrays by intranuclear selection. These adaptations reside in the non-coding regions of rDNA. Single-copy genes are predicted to manage processes of intranuclear and cellular selection in the germline to maintain the quality of rRNA expressed in somatic cells of future generations.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Haig
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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