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Collaboration between Antagonistic Cell Type Regulators Governs Natural Variation in the Candida albicans Biofilm and Hyphal Gene Expression Network. mBio 2022; 13:e0193722. [PMID: 35993746 PMCID: PMC9600859 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.01937-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Candida albicans is among the most significant human fungal pathogens. However, the vast majority of C. albicans studies have focused on a single clinical isolate and its marked derivatives. We investigated natural variation among clinical C. albicans isolates in gene regulatory control of biofilm formation, a process crucial to virulence. The transcription factor Efg1 is required for biofilm-associated gene expression and biofilm formation. Previously, we found extensive variation in Efg1-responsive gene expression among 5 diverse clinical isolates. However, chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing analysis showed that Efg1 binding to genomic loci was uniform among the isolates. Functional dissection of strain differences identified three transcription factors, Brg1, Tec1, and Wor1, for which small changes in expression levels reshaped the Efg1 regulatory network. Brg1 and Tec1 are known biofilm activators, and their role in Efg1 network variation may be expected. However, Wor1 is a known repressor of EFG1 expression and an inhibitor of biofilm formation. In contrast, we found that a modest increase in WOR1 RNA levels, reflecting the expression differences between C. albicans strains, could augment biofilm formation and expression of biofilm-related genes. The analysis of natural variation here reveals a novel function for a well-characterized gene and illustrates that strain diversity offers a unique resource for elucidation of network interactions.
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Olovnikov AM. Eco-crossover, or environmentally regulated crossing-over, and natural selection are two irreplaceable drivers of adaptive evolution: Eco-crossover hypothesis. Biosystems 2022; 218:104706. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2022.104706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Revised: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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Dick GJ, Duhaime MB, Evans JT, Errera RM, Godwin CM, Kharbush JJ, Nitschky HS, Powers MA, Vanderploeg HA, Schmidt KC, Smith DJ, Yancey CE, Zwiers CC, Denef VJ. The genetic and ecophysiological diversity of Microcystis. Environ Microbiol 2021; 23:7278-7313. [PMID: 34056822 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Revised: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Microcystis is a cyanobacterium that forms toxic blooms in freshwater ecosystems around the world. Biological variation among taxa within the genus is apparent through genetic and phenotypic differences between strains and via the spatial and temporal distribution of strains in the environment, and this fine-scale diversity exerts strong influence over bloom toxicity. Yet we do not know how varying traits of Microcystis strains govern their environmental distribution, the tradeoffs and links between these traits, or how they are encoded at the genomic level. Here we synthesize current knowledge on the importance of diversity within Microcystis and on the genes and traits that likely underpin ecological differentiation of taxa. We briefly review spatial and environmental patterns of Microcystis diversity in the field and genetic evidence for cohesive groups within Microcystis. We then compile data on strain-level diversity regarding growth responses to environmental conditions and explore evidence for variation of community interactions across Microcystis strains. Potential links and tradeoffs between traits are identified and discussed. The resulting picture, while incomplete, highlights key knowledge gaps that need to be filled to enable new models for predicting strain-level dynamics, which influence the development, toxicity and cosmopolitan nature of Microcystis blooms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory J Dick
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Melissa B Duhaime
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jacob T Evans
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Reagan M Errera
- National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Casey M Godwin
- School for Environment and Sustainability, Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jenan J Kharbush
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Helena S Nitschky
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - McKenzie A Powers
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Henry A Vanderploeg
- National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Kathryn C Schmidt
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Derek J Smith
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Colleen E Yancey
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Claire C Zwiers
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Vincent J Denef
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Swiatczak B. Genomic Stress Responses Drive Lymphocyte Evolvability: An Ancient and Ubiquitous Mechanism. Bioessays 2020; 42:e2000032. [PMID: 32767393 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202000032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2020] [Revised: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Somatic diversification of antigen receptor genes depends on the activity of enzymes whose homologs participate in a mutagenic DNA repair in unicellular species. Indeed, by engaging error-prone polymerases, gap filling molecules and altered mismatch repair pathways, lymphocytes utilize conserved components of genomic stress response systems, which can already be found in bacteria and archaea. These ancient systems of mutagenesis and repair act to increase phenotypic diversity of microbial cell populations and operate to enhance their ability to produce fit variants during stress. Coopted by lymphocytes, the ancient mutagenic processing systems retained their diversification functions instilling the adaptive immune cells with enhanced evolvability and defensive capacity to resist infection and damage. As reviewed here, the ubiquity and conserved character of specialized variation-generating mechanisms from bacteria to lymphocytes highlight the importance of these mechanisms for evolution of life in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bartlomiej Swiatczak
- Department of History of Science and Scientific Archeology, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Rd., Hefei, 230026, China
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Arakelyan M, Harutyunyan T, Aghayan SA, Carretero MA. Infection of parthenogenetic lizards by blood parasites does not support the "Red Queen hypothesis" but reveals the costs of sex. ZOOLOGY 2019; 136:125709. [PMID: 31539860 DOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2019.125709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2019] [Revised: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Sexual organisms should be better suited than asexual ones in a context of continuous evolution in response to opposite organisms in changing environments ("Red Queen" hypothesis of sex). However, sex also carries costs associated with the maintenance of males and mating (sex cost hypothesis). Here, both non-mutually excluding hypotheses are tested by analysing the infestation by haemogregarines of mixed communities of Darevskia rock lizards composed of parthenogens generated by hybridisation and their bisexual relatives. Prevalence and intensity were recorded from 339 adult lizards belonging to six species from five syntopic localities and analysed using Generalized Mixed-Models (GLMM). Both infestation parameters depended on host-size (like due to longer exposure with age), sex and, for intensity, species. Once accounting for locality and species, males were more parasitized than conspecific females with bisexual species, but no signal of reproductive mode itself on parasitization was recovered. Essentially, male-male interactions increased haemogregarine intensity while females either sexual or asexual had similar reproductive costs when in the same conditions. These findings deviate from the predictions from "Red Queen" dynamics while asymmetric gender costs are here confirmed. Thus, increased parasitization pressure on males adds to other costs, such as higher social interactions and lower fecundity, to explain why parthenogenetic lizards apparently prevail in the short-term evolutionary scale. How this is translated in the long-term requires further phylogenetic analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marine Arakelyan
- Faculty of Biology, Yerevan State University, Alek Manoogian 1, 0025, Yerevan, Armenia.
| | - Tehmine Harutyunyan
- Faculty of Biology, Yerevan State University, Alek Manoogian 1, 0025, Yerevan, Armenia
| | - Sargis A Aghayan
- Faculty of Biology, Yerevan State University, Alek Manoogian 1, 0025, Yerevan, Armenia; Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology, Sevak str 7, 0014, Yerevan, Armenia
| | - Miguel A Carretero
- CIBIO Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, InBIO, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, Nº7, 4485-661 Vairão, Vila do Conde, Portugal
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