Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural yeast populations subject to environmental stress
Populations of genetically uniform microorganisms exhibit phenotypic heterogeneity, where individual cells have varying phenotypes. Such phenotypes include fitness-determining traits. Phenotypic heterogeneity has been linked to increased population-level fitness in laboratory studies, but its a...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Wiley
2013
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2342/ |
| _version_ | 1848790760166522880 |
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| author | Holland, Sara L. Reader, Tom Dyer, Paul S. Avery, Simon V. |
| author_facet | Holland, Sara L. Reader, Tom Dyer, Paul S. Avery, Simon V. |
| author_sort | Holland, Sara L. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Populations of genetically uniform microorganisms
exhibit phenotypic heterogeneity, where individual
cells have varying phenotypes. Such phenotypes
include fitness-determining traits. Phenotypic heterogeneity
has been linked to increased population-level
fitness in laboratory studies, but its adaptive significance
for wild microorganisms in the natural environment
is unknown. Here, we addressed this by testing
heterogeneity in yeast isolates from diverse environmental
sites, each polluted with a different principal
contaminant, as well as from corresponding control
locations. We found that cell-to-cell heterogeneity (in
resistance to the appropriate principal pollutant) was
prevalent in the wild yeast isolates. Moreover, isolates
with the highest heterogeneity were consistently
observed in the polluted environments, indicating
that heterogeneity is positively related to survival in
adverse conditions in the wild. This relationship with
survival was stronger than for the property of mean
resistance (IC50) of an isolate. Therefore, heterogeneity
could be the major determinant of microbial survival
in adverse conditions. Indeed, growth assays
indicated that isolates with high heterogeneities
had a significant competitive advantage during
stress. Analysis of yeasts after cultivation for ≥ 500
generations additionally showed that high heterogeneity
evolved as a heritable trait during stress. The
results showed that environmental stress selects for
wild microorganisms with high levels of phenotypic
heterogeneity. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T18:17:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-2342 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T18:17:44Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-23422020-05-04T16:38:59Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2342/ Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural yeast populations subject to environmental stress Holland, Sara L. Reader, Tom Dyer, Paul S. Avery, Simon V. Populations of genetically uniform microorganisms exhibit phenotypic heterogeneity, where individual cells have varying phenotypes. Such phenotypes include fitness-determining traits. Phenotypic heterogeneity has been linked to increased population-level fitness in laboratory studies, but its adaptive significance for wild microorganisms in the natural environment is unknown. Here, we addressed this by testing heterogeneity in yeast isolates from diverse environmental sites, each polluted with a different principal contaminant, as well as from corresponding control locations. We found that cell-to-cell heterogeneity (in resistance to the appropriate principal pollutant) was prevalent in the wild yeast isolates. Moreover, isolates with the highest heterogeneity were consistently observed in the polluted environments, indicating that heterogeneity is positively related to survival in adverse conditions in the wild. This relationship with survival was stronger than for the property of mean resistance (IC50) of an isolate. Therefore, heterogeneity could be the major determinant of microbial survival in adverse conditions. Indeed, growth assays indicated that isolates with high heterogeneities had a significant competitive advantage during stress. Analysis of yeasts after cultivation for ≥ 500 generations additionally showed that high heterogeneity evolved as a heritable trait during stress. The results showed that environmental stress selects for wild microorganisms with high levels of phenotypic heterogeneity. Wiley 2013-09-03 Article PeerReviewed Holland, Sara L., Reader, Tom, Dyer, Paul S. and Avery, Simon V. (2013) Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural yeast populations subject to environmental stress. Environmental Microbiology . ISSN 1462-2912 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1462-2920.12243/full doi:10.1111/1462-2920.12243 doi:10.1111/1462-2920.12243 |
| spellingShingle | Holland, Sara L. Reader, Tom Dyer, Paul S. Avery, Simon V. Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural yeast populations subject to environmental stress |
| title | Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural
yeast populations subject to environmental stress |
| title_full | Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural
yeast populations subject to environmental stress |
| title_fullStr | Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural
yeast populations subject to environmental stress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural
yeast populations subject to environmental stress |
| title_short | Phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural
yeast populations subject to environmental stress |
| title_sort | phenotypic heterogeneity is a selected trait in natural
yeast populations subject to environmental stress |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2342/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2342/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2342/ |