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Articles 751 - 780 of 1126
Full-Text Articles in Biology
Point Of View: The Sustainable Professor, Elizabeth S. Haswell
Point Of View: The Sustainable Professor, Elizabeth S. Haswell
Biology Faculty Research
Responsible agricultural practices provide a useful lens through which to consider the lives and careers of researchers.
Life Behind The Wall: Sensing Mechanical Cues In Plants, Olivier Hamant, Elizabeth S. Haswell
Life Behind The Wall: Sensing Mechanical Cues In Plants, Olivier Hamant, Elizabeth S. Haswell
Biology Faculty Research
There is increasing evidence that all cells sense mechanical forces in order to perform their functions. In animals, mechanotransduction has been studied during the establishment of cell polarity, fate, and division in single cells, and increasingly is studied in the context of a multicellular tissue. What about plant systems? Our goal in this review is to summarize what is known about the perception of mechanical cues in plants, and to provide a brief comparison with animals.
Negative Density Dependence Mediates Biodiversity–Productivity Relationships Across Scales, Joseph A. Lamanna, R Travis Belote, Laura A. Burkle, Christopher P. Catano, Jonathan A. Myers
Negative Density Dependence Mediates Biodiversity–Productivity Relationships Across Scales, Joseph A. Lamanna, R Travis Belote, Laura A. Burkle, Christopher P. Catano, Jonathan A. Myers
Biology Faculty Research
Regional species diversity generally increases with primary productivity whereas local diversity–productivity relationships are highly variable. This scale-dependence of the biodiversity–productivity relationship highlights the importance of understanding the mechanisms that govern variation in species composition among local communities, which is known as β-diversity. Hypotheses to explain changes in β-diversity with productivity invoke multiple mechanisms operating at local and regional scales, but the relative importance of these mechanisms is unknown. Here we show that changes in the strength of local density-dependent interactions within and among tree species explain changes in β-diversity across a subcontinental-productivity gradient. Stronger conspecific relative to …
A Genomics Education Alliance, Sarah C.R. Elgin, Gita Bangera, Vincent Buonaccorsi, Douglas L. Chalker, Elizabeth Dinsdale, Erin L. Dolan, Linnea Fletcher, Arthur G. Hunt, Carolyn Lawrence-Dill, Wilson Leung, Laura Reed, Anne Rosenwald, Sandesh Subramanya, Emily Wiley, Jason Williams
A Genomics Education Alliance, Sarah C.R. Elgin, Gita Bangera, Vincent Buonaccorsi, Douglas L. Chalker, Elizabeth Dinsdale, Erin L. Dolan, Linnea Fletcher, Arthur G. Hunt, Carolyn Lawrence-Dill, Wilson Leung, Laura Reed, Anne Rosenwald, Sandesh Subramanya, Emily Wiley, Jason Williams
Biology Faculty Research
Scientists are sequencing new genomes at an increasing rate with the goal of associating genome contents with phenotypic traits. After a new genome is sequenced and assembled, structural gene annotation is often the first step in analysis. Despite advances in computational gene prediction algorithms, most eukaryotic genomes still benefit from manual gene annotation. Undergraduates can become skilled annotators, and in the process learn both about genes/genomes and about how to utilize large datasets. Data visualizations provided by a genome browser are essential for manual gene annotation, enabling annotators to quickly evaluate multiple lines of evidence (e.g., sequence similarity, RNA-Seq, gene …
The Tension-Sensitive Ion Transport Activity Of Msl8 Is Critical For Its Function In Pollen Hydration And Germination, Eric S. Hamilton
The Tension-Sensitive Ion Transport Activity Of Msl8 Is Critical For Its Function In Pollen Hydration And Germination, Eric S. Hamilton
Biology Faculty Research
All cells respond to osmotic challenges, including those imposed during normal growth and development. Mechanosensitive (MS) ion channels provide a conserved mechanism for regulating osmotic forces by conducting ions in response to increased membrane tension. We previously demonstrated that the MS ion channel MscS-Like 8 (MSL8) is required for pollen to survive multiple osmotic challenges that occur during the normal process of fertilization, and that it can inhibit pollen germination. However, it remained unclear whether these physiological functions required ion flux through a mechanically gated channel provided by MSL8. We introduced two point mutations into the predicted pore-lining domain of …
Family Living Sets The Stage For Cooperative Breeding And Ecological Resilience In Birds, Michael Griesser, Szymon M. Drobniak, Shinichi Nakagawa, Carlos A. Botero
Family Living Sets The Stage For Cooperative Breeding And Ecological Resilience In Birds, Michael Griesser, Szymon M. Drobniak, Shinichi Nakagawa, Carlos A. Botero
Biology Faculty Research
Cooperative breeding is an extreme form of cooperation that evolved in a range of lineages, including arthropods, fish, birds, and mammals. Although cooperative breeding in birds is widespread and well-studied, the conditions that favored its evolution are still unclear. Based on phylogenetic comparative analyses on 3,005 bird species, we demonstrate here that family living acted as an essential stepping stone in the evolution of cooperative breeding in the vast majority of species. First, families formed by prolonging parent–offspring associations beyond nutritional independency, and second, retained offspring began helping at the nest. These findings suggest that assessment of the conditions that …
Isolation And Comparative Genomic Analysis Of Final Third Of Satis Genome, Kelly Hartigan, Nicole Curnutt, Matthew Mcdermut
Isolation And Comparative Genomic Analysis Of Final Third Of Satis Genome, Kelly Hartigan, Nicole Curnutt, Matthew Mcdermut
Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters
A highly novel Streptomyces phage, Satis, was isolated from a direct environmental sample collected from outside Danforth House on the Washington University campus. Satis infects bacterial species Streptomyces lividans producing pinpoint, cloudy plaques less than 1mm in diameter. Electron microscope data shows rare atypical physical features. Rather than the common octahedral capsid shape, Satis has a prolate head with visible cross-linked hexagonal protein structure and average measurements of 285 nm by 47 nm with a long, flexible tail measuring 268 nm. Upon sequencing, it was found that Satis contains the longest phage genome discovered to date through the SEA-PHAGE program …
Sexual Selection, Speciation And Constraints On Geographical Range Overlap In Birds, Christopher Cooney, Joseph A. Tobias, Jason T. Weir, Carlos A. Botero, Nathalie Seddon
Sexual Selection, Speciation And Constraints On Geographical Range Overlap In Birds, Christopher Cooney, Joseph A. Tobias, Jason T. Weir, Carlos A. Botero, Nathalie Seddon
Biology Faculty Research
The role of sexual selection as a driver of speciation remains unresolved, not least because we lack a clear empirical understanding of its influence on different phases of the speciation process. Here, using data from 1306 recent avian speciation events, we show that plumage dichromatism (a proxy for sexual selection) does not predict diversification rates, but instead explains the rate at which young lineages achieve geographical range overlap. Importantly, this effect is only significant when range overlap is narrow (< 20%). These findings are consistent with a ‘differential fusion’ model wherein sexual selection reduces rates of fusion among lineages undergoing secondary contact, facilitating parapatry or limited co-existence, whereas more extensive sympatry is contingent on additional factors such as ecological differentiation. Our results provide a more mechanistic explanation for why sexual selection appears to drive early stages of speciation while playing a seemingly limited role in determining broad-scale patterns of diversification.
Structural, Biophysical, And Functional Studies Of Trem2 In Neurodegenerative Disease, Daniel L. Kober
Structural, Biophysical, And Functional Studies Of Trem2 In Neurodegenerative Disease, Daniel L. Kober
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases present a large and growing challenge to global health. The immune system, particularly the innate immune system, is increasingly recognized as having a major role in these pathologies. The innate immune system is responsible to contain disease and promote healing. However, immune misregulation exacerbates disease. The innate immunomodulatory receptor Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 (TREM2) is expressed on myeloid cells such as dendritic cells, macrophages, and in the brain, on microglia. TREM2 is a single-pass transmembrane receptor with an extracellular Ig domain that mediates ligand binding. This protein regulates inflammation in vitro …
Regulation Of The Pro-Tumorigenic Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype, Kevin Flanagan
Regulation Of The Pro-Tumorigenic Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype, Kevin Flanagan
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Tumorigenesis results from the convergence of cell autonomous mutations and corresponding stromal changes that promote tumor cell growth. Mutations and stromal changes both accumulate with age and together account for the dramatic increase in cancer incidence with age. One change that occurs with age is the accumulation of stromal senescent cells. Senescent stromal cells secrete pro-tumorigenic factors collectively termed the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). The SASP impacts every stage of tumorigenesis and is a promising therapeutic target. As such, it is important to understand how the SASP is regulated. Many but not all SASP factors are regulated transcriptionally by NF-kB …
Mitochondrial Dynamics Controls T Cell Fate Through Metabolic Programming, Michael Buck
Mitochondrial Dynamics Controls T Cell Fate Through Metabolic Programming, Michael Buck
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Activated effector T (TE) cells augment anabolic pathways of metabolism, such as aerobic glycolysis, while memory T (TM) cells engage catabolic pathways, like fatty acid oxidation (FAO). However, signals that drive these differences remain unclear. Mitochondria are metabolic organelles that actively transform their ultrastructure. Therefore, we questioned whether mitochondrial dynamics controls T cell metabolism. We show that TE cells have punctate mitochondria, while TM cells maintain fused networks. The fusion protein Opa1 is required for TM, but not TE cells after infection, and enforcing fusion in TE cells imposes TM cell characteristics and enhances antitumor function. Our data suggest that, …
Factors That Contribute To De Novo Protein Misfolding And Prion Formation In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Kathryn Morgan Keefer
Factors That Contribute To De Novo Protein Misfolding And Prion Formation In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Kathryn Morgan Keefer
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Protein misfolding is a common phenomenon that can have severe consequences on cellular and organismal health. Despite this, the causes of protein misfolding remain poorly understood. Prions are a class of proteins that, when misfolded, can convert other molecules into a heritable, non-native conformation. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae naturally harbors several diverse prion-forming proteins; thus, it is an ideal model with which to investigate the factors that influence misfolding and aggregation.This thesis utilizes the yeast prions [PSI+] and [RNQ+] to investigate two distinct steps of the protein misfolding pathway: interactions with chaperones and their cofactors, and heterologous templating by other …
The Role Of Rna Interference In The Control Of Leishmania Rna Virus 1 Infection, Erin Acino Brettmann
The Role Of Rna Interference In The Control Of Leishmania Rna Virus 1 Infection, Erin Acino Brettmann
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
The presence of Leishmania RNA virus 1 (LRV1) in parasites of the Leishmania (Viannia) subgenus increases the virulence of the parasite in mouse models of leishmaniasis and is correlated with treatment failure, relapse, and the development of mucocutaneous disease in humans. LRV1 is not shed or infectious; rather, the infection is persistent, and as yet it is unknown how the parasite controls virus levels. Many eukaryotic organisms use RNA interference (RNAi) to limit virus replication, and Leishmania (Viannia) parasites have an active RNAi pathway. To determine whether Leishmania are capable of using RNAi to control LRV1, we sequenced sRNAs from …
The Effects Of The Gut Microbiota On The Host Chromatin Landscape, Nicholas Semenkovich
The Effects Of The Gut Microbiota On The Host Chromatin Landscape, Nicholas Semenkovich
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
The human gut microbiota is home to tens of trillions of microbes belonging to all three domains of life. The structure and expressed functions of this community have myriad effects on host physiology, metabolism, and immune function. My studies focused on a facet of host-microbial interactions and mutualism that has not been explored to a significant degree in part because of the absence of suitable tools: namely, if, when, and how the gut microbiota produces durable effects on host biology through its impact on the epigenome. To address this area, I turned to gnotobiotic mice and developed a variety of …
Biophysical Studies Of The Intracellular Domains Of The Egfr Family Of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases, Kwabena A N Sarpong
Biophysical Studies Of The Intracellular Domains Of The Egfr Family Of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases, Kwabena A N Sarpong
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
The epidermal growth factor receptor and its three orthologues, HER2, HER3 and HER4 have been the subject of intensive basic, clinical and translational research due to their involvement in cancers. These proteins are part of elaborate networks that interact with a myriad of other molecules to effect diverse signaling pathways and affect cellular processes such as migration, apoptosis, cell differentiation and so on. In addition to the formation of preformed dimers, it is well established that ligand engagement leads to receptor dimerization in all family members, except HER2. In the past decade, it has been shown that their intracellular domains …
Epigenetic Activation Of The Mouse T Cell Receptor Beta Recombination Center, Jiangyang Zhao
Epigenetic Activation Of The Mouse T Cell Receptor Beta Recombination Center, Jiangyang Zhao
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Lymphocytes are the work horses of adaptive immunity. Compared to the B lymphocyte lineage, early stage progenitors of T lymphocytes maintain considerable potential for differentiation into other hematopoietic lineages. T lineage commitment requires the continuous coordination of transcription factors (TFs) by Notch1 signaling after multi-potent progenitors (MPPs) migrate to thymus. One of the first hall marks of T lineage commitment is expression of the T cell receptor β (TCRβ), which is encoded by the Tcrb locus following its assembly by V(D)J recombination, a somatic shuffling of the genome that joins one V, one D, and one J gene segment. Tcrb …
Functional Brain Organization In Space And Time, Timothy Laumann
Functional Brain Organization In Space And Time, Timothy Laumann
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
The brain is a network functionally organized at many spatial and temporal scales. To understand how the brain processes information, controls behavior and dynamically adapts to an ever-changing environment, it is critical to have a comprehensive description of the constituent elements of this network and how relationships between these elements may change over time. Decades of lesion studies, anatomical tract-tracing, and electrophysiological recording have given insight into this functional organization. Recently, however, resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has emerged as a powerful tool for whole-brain non-invasive measurement of spontaneous neural activity in humans, giving ready access to macroscopic …
Mitochondrial Damage Accumulation In Oocytes – A Potential Link Between Maternal Obesity And Increased Cardiometabolic Disease Risk In Offspring., Anna Louise Boudoures
Mitochondrial Damage Accumulation In Oocytes – A Potential Link Between Maternal Obesity And Increased Cardiometabolic Disease Risk In Offspring., Anna Louise Boudoures
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
The developmental origins of health and disease (DoHAD) hypothesis suggests that negative maternal lifestyle choices, such as obesity, affect the health of her offspring. Clinical and laboratory studies support this hypothesis – offspring born to obese mothers are at increased risk for health conditions including cardiometabolic syndrome and congenital abnormalities. Maternal obesity damages the oocytes, contributing to the increased disease risk by transmitting damaged organelles and epigenetic modifications to the offspring. Mitochondria, the most abundant organelle in the oocyte, are damaged in oocytes from obese females. However, we do not understand if mitochondrial damage in oocytes is reversible nor why …
Genetic And Genomic Dissections Of Myelinating Glial Cell Development, Breanne Leigh Harty
Genetic And Genomic Dissections Of Myelinating Glial Cell Development, Breanne Leigh Harty
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Myelin is a multilamellar sheath made by specialized glial cells that iteratively spiral and compact their plasma membranes around axon segments. In vertebrate nervous systems, myelination facilitates rapid action propagation and provides trophic support critical for neuronal survival. In the central nervous system (CNS), oligodendrocytes (OLs) extend many processes to simultaneously ensheath multiple axons, while in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), myelinating Schwann cells (SCs) pair 1:1 with a single axon segment. Elaboration of the myelin sheath is one of the most exquisite and complex examples of massive coordinated cellular shape changes in the vertebrate nervous system. Furthermore, the importance …
Epigenetic Regulation Of Lymphocyte Development And Transformation, Yue Huang
Epigenetic Regulation Of Lymphocyte Development And Transformation, Yue Huang
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Cell identity and function rely on intricately controlled programs of gene regulation, alterations of which underlie many diseases, including cancer. Epigenetic analyses of normal and diseased cells have started to elucidate different facets of epigenetic mechanisms for gene regulation. These include changes in nucleosome density, histone modifications, factor binding and chromosomal architecture. All of these aspects contribute to the activities of regulatory elements conferring promoter, enhancer and insulator functions and the cis-regulatory circuits formed by these elements. Despite this progress, an urgent need remains to profile these features and to study how they cooperatively function in normal and pathogenic settings. …
Mechanisms Of G Protein Regulation By Rgs Proteins And Small Molecule Inhibitors, Stanley Michinobu Kanai
Mechanisms Of G Protein Regulation By Rgs Proteins And Small Molecule Inhibitors, Stanley Michinobu Kanai
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
G protein coupled receptors transduce diverse extracellular signals like hormones, neurotransmitters, and photons to specific cellular responses through heterotrimeric G proteins. G proteins activate numerous effectors and signal transduction pathways, and therefore the regulation of G proteins is crucial for faithful propagation of specific cellular and physiological responses. A better understanding of the mechanisms that regulate G proteins should provide new insight into signaling pathways that govern healthy and disease states, and also provide opportunities for discovery of novel therapeutic targets.Regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins are crucial regulators of G proteins, for they control amplitude and duration of …
The Rpl13a Snorna U33 Forms Novel Snornps During Lipotoxicity, Miquia Sherree Henderson
The Rpl13a Snorna U33 Forms Novel Snornps During Lipotoxicity, Miquia Sherree Henderson
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Lipid overload contributes to the pathogenesis of diabetic complications, causing tissue damage and cell death in a number of organ systems. This process is termed lipotoxicity. Animal and cell culture studies have demonstrated that oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress are major pathways engaged in the lipotoxic response. However, the molecular mechanisms of lipotoxicity are not well understood. A genetic screen revealed that small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) encoded in the introns of the Rpl13a locus are critical for cell death in response to lipotoxicity. Initial studies have suggested that the Rpl13a snoRNAs function in this pathway through non-canonical modes of …
Beta-Diversity Patterns And Community Assembly Across Latitudes, Emma Moran
Beta-Diversity Patterns And Community Assembly Across Latitudes, Emma Moran
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
A major goal of community ecology is in understanding variation in community composition, generally termed β-diversity. This variation can result from a variety of mechanisms, including deterministic factors, wherein species sort along biotic or abiotic gradients; stochastic processes, whereby random fluctuations in population sizes cause variation in community composition; and/or dispersal limitation. Although all of these processes are likely occurring in all biological communities, a key question in community ecology research is if their relative importance may vary systematically across environmental or biogeographic gradients. In this dissertation, we combine both observational and experimental research to investigate β-diversity across a biogeographic …
Metabolic Regulation Of Cd8 T Cell Functions In The Tumor Microenvironment, Jing Qiu
Metabolic Regulation Of Cd8 T Cell Functions In The Tumor Microenvironment, Jing Qiu
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Failure of T cells to protect against cancer is thought to result from lack of antigen recognition, chronic activation, and/or suppression by other cells. Using a mouse sarcoma model, we show that glucose consumption by tumors metabolically restricts T cells in the tumor microenvironment, leading to their dampened mTOR activity, glycolytic capacity, and IFN-γ production, and thereby allowing tumor progression. We demonstrate that enhancing glycolysis in an antigenic ‘regressor’ tumor is sufficient to override the ability of T cells to respond to a major tumor rejection antigen, allowing progression of tumors that are normally rejected. Checkpoint blockade therapy is used …
The Role Of Histidine Rich Protein Ii In Cerebral Malaria, Priya Pal
The Role Of Histidine Rich Protein Ii In Cerebral Malaria, Priya Pal
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Human malaria is caused by five species of Plasmodium. Of these, P. falciparum is the deadliest and is the only species that causes cerebral malaria (CM). CM is a disease of the vascular endothelium characterized by parasite sequestration, increased inflammatory cytokine production, vascular leakage and leukocyte infiltration. A distinguishing feature of P. falciparum infection is the parasite’s production and secretion of histidine-rich protein II (HRPII). HRPII accumulates to high concentrations (up to 100 µg/ml) in serum, which correlates with disease severity. Due to high serum levels of this protein, HRPII has classically been considered a biomarker for P. falciparum infection. …
The Role Of Bhlhe40 In Autoimmune Neuroinflammation And Mycobacterial Infection, Chih-Chung Lin
The Role Of Bhlhe40 In Autoimmune Neuroinflammation And Mycobacterial Infection, Chih-Chung Lin
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
The mammalian immune system is composed of innate and adaptive compartments, which cooperate with each other to maintain homeostasis and protect the host from the invasion by a variety of pathogens. The tight control of immune responses is extremely important for all individuals. Here, we discovered that the transcription factor basic helix-loop-helix family, member e40 (Bhlhe40) is a critical protein that regulates the autoimmune ("against self") and anti-microbial ("against non-self") responses of myeloid cells and T lymphocytes. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a human neuroinflammatory disease in the central nervous system with an autoimmune etiology. We have reported that Bhlhe40 positively …
Modeling Complex Patterns Of Differential Dna Methylation That Associate With Expression Change, Christopher E. Schlosberg
Modeling Complex Patterns Of Differential Dna Methylation That Associate With Expression Change, Christopher E. Schlosberg
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
Gene expression is driven by specific combinations of transcription factors binding to regulatory sequences to define cell type expression profiles. Changes in DNA sequence alter transcription factor binding affinities and gene expression, and DNA methylation is an additional source of variation that is maintained throughout cellular division. Numerous genomic studies are underway to determine which genes are abnormally regulated by DNA methylation in disease. However, we have a poor understanding of how disease-specific methylation variation affects expression. Global DNA demethylation agents have been clinically approved for use in cancer, which has spurred interest in identifying genes which would be most …
Defining The Ontogeny And Functions Of Macrophages In Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Yu Zhu
Defining The Ontogeny And Functions Of Macrophages In Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Yu Zhu
Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations
The immune system plays an essential role in protecting the host organisms against both foreign invaders and self-attacks arisen within the host, such as tumors. Instead of promoting the long-term fitness of the organism, the immune system is often suppressed or hijacked by tumor cells to accelerate the progression of malignancies. Among the key drivers of immune suppression, macrophages are one of the most abundant immune cells present in tumor tissues. High levels of macrophage infiltration in the malignant tissues correlate with negative patient outcome in many types of cancers, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), one of the most lethal …
Ancient Bacteria–Amoeba Relationships And Pathogenic Animal Bacteria, Joan E. Strassmann, Longfei Shu
Ancient Bacteria–Amoeba Relationships And Pathogenic Animal Bacteria, Joan E. Strassmann, Longfei Shu
Biology Faculty Research
Long before bacteria infected humans, they infected amoebas, which remain a potentially important reservoir for human disease. Diverse soil amoebas including Dictyostelium and Acanthamoeba can host intracellular bacteria. Though the internal environment of free-living amoebas is similar in many ways to that of mammalian macrophages, they differ in a number of important ways, including temperature. A new study in PLOS Biology by Taylor-Mulneix et al. demonstrates that Bordetella bronchiseptica has two different gene suites that are activated depending on whether the bacterium finds itself in a hot mammalian or cool amoeba host environment. This study specifically shows that B. …
Does High Relatedness Promote Cheater-Free Multicellularity In Synthetic Lifecycles?, R F. Inglis, E Ryu, O Asikhia, Joan E. Strassmann, David C. Queller
Does High Relatedness Promote Cheater-Free Multicellularity In Synthetic Lifecycles?, R F. Inglis, E Ryu, O Asikhia, Joan E. Strassmann, David C. Queller
Biology Faculty Research
The evolution of multicellularity is one of the key transitions in evolution and requires extreme levels of cooperation between cells. However, even when cells are genetically identical, noncooperative cheating mutants can arise that cause a breakdown in cooperation. How then, do multicellular organisms maintain cooperation between cells? A number of mechanisms that increase relatedness amongst cooperative cells have been implicated in the maintenance of cooperative multicellularity including single-cell bottlenecks and kin recognition. In this study, we explore how relatively simple biological processes such as growth and dispersal can act to increase relatedness and promote multicellular cooperation. Using experimental populations of …