Kin discrimination in social yeast is mediated by cell surface receptors of the Flo11 adhesin family

Microorganisms have evolved specific cell surface molecules that enable discrimination between cells from the same and from a different kind. Here, we investigate the role of Flo11-type cell surface adhesins from social yeasts in kin discrimination. We measure the adhesion forces mediated by Flo11A-...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife 2020-04, Vol.9
Main Authors: Brückner, Stefan, Schubert, Rajib, Kraushaar, Timo, Hartmann, Raimo, Hoffmann, Daniel, Jelli, Eric, Drescher, Knut, Müller, Daniel J, Oliver Essen, Lars, Mösch, Hans-Ulrich
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adhesins
Adhesion
Adhesives
Amino acids
biofilm
Biofilms
Cell adhesion
Cell Adhesion - physiology
Cell aggregation
Cell Communication - physiology
Cell surface
Flo11 flocculin
kin discrimination
Membrane Glycoproteins - metabolism
Microorganisms
Proteins
Saccharomyces cerevisiae - metabolism
Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins - metabolism
Social interactions
Species
Spectroscopy
Strains (organisms)
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Yeast
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Microorganisms have evolved specific cell surface molecules that enable discrimination between cells from the same and from a different kind. Here, we investigate the role of Flo11-type cell surface adhesins from social yeasts in kin discrimination. We measure the adhesion forces mediated by Flo11A-type domains using single-cell force spectroscopy, quantify Flo11A-based cell aggregation in populations and determine the Flo11A-dependent segregation of competing yeast strains in biofilms. We find that Flo11A domains from diverse yeast species confer remarkably strong adhesion forces by establishing homotypic interactions between single cells, leading to efficient cell aggregation and biofilm formation in homogenous populations. Heterotypic interactions between Flo11A domains from different yeast species or strains confer weak adhesive forces and lead to efficient strain segregation in heterogenous populations, indicating that in social yeasts Flo11A-mediated cell adhesion is a major mechanism for kin discrimination at species and sub-species levels. These findings, together with our structure and mutation analysis of selected Flo11A domains, provide a rationale of how cell surface receptors have evolved in microorganisms to mediate kin discrimination.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/elife.55587