Cargando…

The evolution of strategy in bacterial warfare via the regulation of bacteriocins and antibiotics

Bacteria inhibit and kill one another with a diverse array of compounds, including bacteriocins and antibiotics. These attacks are highly regulated, but we lack a clear understanding of the evolutionary logic underlying this regulation. Here, we combine a detailed dynamic model of bacterial competit...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Niehus, Rene, Oliveira, Nuno M, Li, Aming, Fletcher, Alexander G, Foster, Kevin R
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8423443/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34488940
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.69756
_version_ 1783749466122092544
author Niehus, Rene
Oliveira, Nuno M
Li, Aming
Fletcher, Alexander G
Foster, Kevin R
author_facet Niehus, Rene
Oliveira, Nuno M
Li, Aming
Fletcher, Alexander G
Foster, Kevin R
author_sort Niehus, Rene
collection PubMed
description Bacteria inhibit and kill one another with a diverse array of compounds, including bacteriocins and antibiotics. These attacks are highly regulated, but we lack a clear understanding of the evolutionary logic underlying this regulation. Here, we combine a detailed dynamic model of bacterial competition with evolutionary game theory to study the rules of bacterial warfare. We model a large range of possible combat strategies based upon the molecular biology of bacterial regulatory networks. Our model predicts that regulated strategies, which use quorum sensing or stress responses to regulate toxin production, will readily evolve as they outcompete constitutive toxin production. Amongst regulated strategies, we show that a particularly successful strategy is to upregulate toxin production in response to an incoming competitor’s toxin, which can be achieved via stress responses that detect cell damage (competition sensing). Mirroring classical game theory, our work suggests a fundamental advantage to reciprocation. However, in contrast to classical results, we argue that reciprocation in bacteria serves not to promote peaceful outcomes but to enable efficient and effective attacks.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8423443
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-84234432021-09-09 The evolution of strategy in bacterial warfare via the regulation of bacteriocins and antibiotics Niehus, Rene Oliveira, Nuno M Li, Aming Fletcher, Alexander G Foster, Kevin R eLife Ecology Bacteria inhibit and kill one another with a diverse array of compounds, including bacteriocins and antibiotics. These attacks are highly regulated, but we lack a clear understanding of the evolutionary logic underlying this regulation. Here, we combine a detailed dynamic model of bacterial competition with evolutionary game theory to study the rules of bacterial warfare. We model a large range of possible combat strategies based upon the molecular biology of bacterial regulatory networks. Our model predicts that regulated strategies, which use quorum sensing or stress responses to regulate toxin production, will readily evolve as they outcompete constitutive toxin production. Amongst regulated strategies, we show that a particularly successful strategy is to upregulate toxin production in response to an incoming competitor’s toxin, which can be achieved via stress responses that detect cell damage (competition sensing). Mirroring classical game theory, our work suggests a fundamental advantage to reciprocation. However, in contrast to classical results, we argue that reciprocation in bacteria serves not to promote peaceful outcomes but to enable efficient and effective attacks. eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2021-09-07 /pmc/articles/PMC8423443/ /pubmed/34488940 http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.69756 Text en © 2021, Niehus et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Ecology
Niehus, Rene
Oliveira, Nuno M
Li, Aming
Fletcher, Alexander G
Foster, Kevin R
The evolution of strategy in bacterial warfare via the regulation of bacteriocins and antibiotics
title The evolution of strategy in bacterial warfare via the regulation of bacteriocins and antibiotics
title_full The evolution of strategy in bacterial warfare via the regulation of bacteriocins and antibiotics
title_fullStr The evolution of strategy in bacterial warfare via the regulation of bacteriocins and antibiotics
title_full_unstemmed The evolution of strategy in bacterial warfare via the regulation of bacteriocins and antibiotics
title_short The evolution of strategy in bacterial warfare via the regulation of bacteriocins and antibiotics
title_sort evolution of strategy in bacterial warfare via the regulation of bacteriocins and antibiotics
topic Ecology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8423443/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34488940
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.69756
work_keys_str_mv AT niehusrene theevolutionofstrategyinbacterialwarfareviatheregulationofbacteriocinsandantibiotics
AT oliveiranunom theevolutionofstrategyinbacterialwarfareviatheregulationofbacteriocinsandantibiotics
AT liaming theevolutionofstrategyinbacterialwarfareviatheregulationofbacteriocinsandantibiotics
AT fletcheralexanderg theevolutionofstrategyinbacterialwarfareviatheregulationofbacteriocinsandantibiotics
AT fosterkevinr theevolutionofstrategyinbacterialwarfareviatheregulationofbacteriocinsandantibiotics
AT niehusrene evolutionofstrategyinbacterialwarfareviatheregulationofbacteriocinsandantibiotics
AT oliveiranunom evolutionofstrategyinbacterialwarfareviatheregulationofbacteriocinsandantibiotics
AT liaming evolutionofstrategyinbacterialwarfareviatheregulationofbacteriocinsandantibiotics
AT fletcheralexanderg evolutionofstrategyinbacterialwarfareviatheregulationofbacteriocinsandantibiotics
AT fosterkevinr evolutionofstrategyinbacterialwarfareviatheregulationofbacteriocinsandantibiotics