Article
A bacterial symbiont is converted from an inedible producer of beneficial molecules into food by a single mutation in the gacA gene.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - 3 Sept 2013
Stallforth Pierre, Brock Debra A, Cantley Alexandra M, Tian Xiangjun, Queller David C, Strassmann Joan E, Clardy Jon
Abstract excerpt
Stable multipartite mutualistic associations require that all partners benefit. We show that a single mutational step is sufficient to turn a symbiotic bacterium from an inedible but host-beneficial secondary metabolite producer into a host food source. The bacteria's host is a "farmer" clone of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum that carries and disperses bacteria during its spore stage. Associated with...
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