The fitness burden imposed by synthesising quorum sensing signals
It is now well established that bacterial populations utilize cell-to-cell signaling (quorum-sensing, QS) to control the production of public goods and other co-operative behaviours. Evolutionary theory predicts that both the cost of signal production and the response to signals should incur fitness...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37087/ |
| _version_ | 1848795389170286592 |
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| author | Ruparell, Avika Dubern, Jean-Frédéric Ortori, Catharine A. Harrison, F. Halliday, N.M. Emtage, A. Ashawesh, M.M. Laughton, Charles A. Diggle, Stephen P. Williams, P. Barrett, David A. Hardie, Kim R. |
| author_facet | Ruparell, Avika Dubern, Jean-Frédéric Ortori, Catharine A. Harrison, F. Halliday, N.M. Emtage, A. Ashawesh, M.M. Laughton, Charles A. Diggle, Stephen P. Williams, P. Barrett, David A. Hardie, Kim R. |
| author_sort | Ruparell, Avika |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | It is now well established that bacterial populations utilize cell-to-cell signaling (quorum-sensing, QS) to control the production of public goods and other co-operative behaviours. Evolutionary theory predicts that both the cost of signal production and the response to signals should incur fitness costs for producing cells. Although costs imposed by the downstream consequences of QS have been shown, the cost of QS signal molecule (QSSM) production and its impact on fitness has not been examined. We measured the fitness cost to cells of synthesising QSSMs by quantifying metabolite levels in the presence of QSSM synthases. We found that: (i) bacteria making certain QSSMs have a growth defect that exerts an evolutionary cost, (ii) production of QSSMs negatively correlates with intracellular concentrations of QSSM precursors, (iii) the production of heterologous QSSMs negatively impacts the production of a native QSSM that shares common substrates, and (iv) supplementation with exogenously added metabolites partially rescued growth defects imposed by QSSM synthesis. These data identify the sources of the fitness costs incurred by QSSM producer cells, and indicate that there may be metabolic trade-offs associated with QS signaling that could exert selection on how signaling evolves. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:31:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-37087 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:31:18Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-370872020-05-04T18:12:44Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37087/ The fitness burden imposed by synthesising quorum sensing signals Ruparell, Avika Dubern, Jean-Frédéric Ortori, Catharine A. Harrison, F. Halliday, N.M. Emtage, A. Ashawesh, M.M. Laughton, Charles A. Diggle, Stephen P. Williams, P. Barrett, David A. Hardie, Kim R. It is now well established that bacterial populations utilize cell-to-cell signaling (quorum-sensing, QS) to control the production of public goods and other co-operative behaviours. Evolutionary theory predicts that both the cost of signal production and the response to signals should incur fitness costs for producing cells. Although costs imposed by the downstream consequences of QS have been shown, the cost of QS signal molecule (QSSM) production and its impact on fitness has not been examined. We measured the fitness cost to cells of synthesising QSSMs by quantifying metabolite levels in the presence of QSSM synthases. We found that: (i) bacteria making certain QSSMs have a growth defect that exerts an evolutionary cost, (ii) production of QSSMs negatively correlates with intracellular concentrations of QSSM precursors, (iii) the production of heterologous QSSMs negatively impacts the production of a native QSSM that shares common substrates, and (iv) supplementation with exogenously added metabolites partially rescued growth defects imposed by QSSM synthesis. These data identify the sources of the fitness costs incurred by QSSM producer cells, and indicate that there may be metabolic trade-offs associated with QS signaling that could exert selection on how signaling evolves. 2016-09-12 Article PeerReviewed Ruparell, Avika, Dubern, Jean-Frédéric, Ortori, Catharine A., Harrison, F., Halliday, N.M., Emtage, A., Ashawesh, M.M., Laughton, Charles A., Diggle, Stephen P., Williams, P., Barrett, David A. and Hardie, Kim R. (2016) The fitness burden imposed by synthesising quorum sensing signals. Scientific Reports, 6 . p. 33101. ISSN 2045-2322 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep33101 doi:10.1038/srep33101 doi:10.1038/srep33101 |
| spellingShingle | Ruparell, Avika Dubern, Jean-Frédéric Ortori, Catharine A. Harrison, F. Halliday, N.M. Emtage, A. Ashawesh, M.M. Laughton, Charles A. Diggle, Stephen P. Williams, P. Barrett, David A. Hardie, Kim R. The fitness burden imposed by synthesising quorum sensing signals |
| title | The fitness burden imposed by synthesising quorum sensing signals |
| title_full | The fitness burden imposed by synthesising quorum sensing signals |
| title_fullStr | The fitness burden imposed by synthesising quorum sensing signals |
| title_full_unstemmed | The fitness burden imposed by synthesising quorum sensing signals |
| title_short | The fitness burden imposed by synthesising quorum sensing signals |
| title_sort | fitness burden imposed by synthesising quorum sensing signals |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37087/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37087/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37087/ |