Fitness effects of a demography-dispersal trade-off in expanding Saccharomyces cerevisiae mats

• Published in: Physical biology 2024-03, Vol.21 (2), p.26001
• Main Authors: Hall, Rebekah, Bandara, Akila, Charlebois, Daniel A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: demography-dispersal trade-off; fungal mat; phenotypic evolution; range expansion; stochastic spatiotemporal population dynamics
• ISSN: 1478-3975; 1478-3967; 1478-3975
• DOI: 10.1088/1478-3975/ad1ccd

Fungi expand in space and time to form complex multicellular communities. The mechanisms by which they do so can vary dramatically and determine the life-history and dispersal traits of expanding populations. These traits influence deterministic and stochastic components of evolution, resulting in complex eco-evolutionary dynamics during colony expansion. We perform experiments on budding yeast strains genetically engineered to display rough-surface and smooth-surface phenotypes in colony-like structures called 'mats'. Previously, it was shown that the rough-surface strain has a competitive advantage over the smooth-surface strain when grown on semi-solid media. We experimentally observe the emergence and expansion of segments with a distinct smooth-surface phenotype during rough-surface mat development. We propose a trade-off between dispersal and local carrying capacity to explain the relative fitness of these two phenotypes. Using a modified stepping-stone model, we demonstrate that this trade-off gives the high-dispersing, rough-surface phenotype a competitive advantage from standing variation, but that it inhibits this phenotype's ability to invade a resident smooth-surface population via mutation. However, the trade-off improves the ability of the smooth-surface phenotype to invade in rough-surface mats, replicating the frequent emergence of smooth-surface segments in experiments. Together, these computational and experimental findings advance our understanding of the complex eco-evolutionary dynamics of fungal mat expansion.