Abstract
AbstractThe Type VI Secretion System (T6SS) is a widespread and highly effective mechanism of microbial warfare; it confers the ability to efficiently kill susceptible cells within close proximity. Due to its large physical size, complexity, and ballistic basis for intoxication it has widely been assumed to incur significant growth costs in the absence of improved competitive outcomes. In this study, we precisely examine the fitness costs of constitutive T6SS firing in the bacteriumVibrio cholerae. We find that, contrary to expectations, constitutive use of T6SS has a negligible impact on growth, reducing growth fitness by 0.025 ± 0.5% (95% CI) relative to a T6SS-control. Mathematical modeling of microbial populations demonstrates that, due to clonal interference, constitutive expression of the T6SS will often be neutral, with little impact on evolutionary outcomes. Our findings underscore the importance of precisely measuring the fitness costs of microbial social behaviors, and help explain the prevalence of the T6SS across Gram negative bacteria.
Publisher
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Cited by
3 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献