The evolution of host-symbiont dependence
(2017) In Nature Communications 8.- Abstract
Organisms across the tree of life form symbiotic partnerships with microbes for metabolism, protection and resources. While some hosts evolve extreme dependence on their symbionts, others maintain facultative associations. Explaining this variation is fundamental to understanding when symbiosis can lead to new higher-level individuals, such as during the evolution of the eukaryotic cell. Here we perform phylogenetic comparative analyses on 106 unique host-bacterial symbioses to test for correlations between symbiont function, transmission mode, genome size and host dependence. We find that both transmission mode and symbiont function are correlated with host dependence, with reductions in host fitness being greatest when... (More)
Organisms across the tree of life form symbiotic partnerships with microbes for metabolism, protection and resources. While some hosts evolve extreme dependence on their symbionts, others maintain facultative associations. Explaining this variation is fundamental to understanding when symbiosis can lead to new higher-level individuals, such as during the evolution of the eukaryotic cell. Here we perform phylogenetic comparative analyses on 106 unique host-bacterial symbioses to test for correlations between symbiont function, transmission mode, genome size and host dependence. We find that both transmission mode and symbiont function are correlated with host dependence, with reductions in host fitness being greatest when nutrient-provisioning, vertically transmitted symbionts are removed. We also find a negative correlation between host dependence and symbiont genome size in vertically, but not horizontally, transmitted symbionts. These results suggest that both function and population structure are important in driving irreversible dependence between hosts and symbionts.
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- author
- Fisher, Roberta M. ; Henry, Lee M. ; Cornwallis, Charlie K. LU ; Kiers, E. Toby and West, Stuart A.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2017-07-04
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Nature Communications
- volume
- 8
- article number
- 15973
- publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:28675159
- wos:000404643700001
- scopus:85021705075
- ISSN
- 2041-1723
- DOI
- 10.1038/ncomms15973
- project
- Social Evolution
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- e37baf6d-0538-49e0-a879-03aa6e8b808b
- date added to LUP
- 2017-07-18 14:35:13
- date last changed
- 2024-04-14 15:12:33
@article{e37baf6d-0538-49e0-a879-03aa6e8b808b,
abstract = {{<p>Organisms across the tree of life form symbiotic partnerships with microbes for metabolism, protection and resources. While some hosts evolve extreme dependence on their symbionts, others maintain facultative associations. Explaining this variation is fundamental to understanding when symbiosis can lead to new higher-level individuals, such as during the evolution of the eukaryotic cell. Here we perform phylogenetic comparative analyses on 106 unique host-bacterial symbioses to test for correlations between symbiont function, transmission mode, genome size and host dependence. We find that both transmission mode and symbiont function are correlated with host dependence, with reductions in host fitness being greatest when nutrient-provisioning, vertically transmitted symbionts are removed. We also find a negative correlation between host dependence and symbiont genome size in vertically, but not horizontally, transmitted symbionts. These results suggest that both function and population structure are important in driving irreversible dependence between hosts and symbionts.</p>}},
author = {{Fisher, Roberta M. and Henry, Lee M. and Cornwallis, Charlie K. and Kiers, E. Toby and West, Stuart A.}},
issn = {{2041-1723}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{07}},
publisher = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
series = {{Nature Communications}},
title = {{The evolution of host-symbiont dependence}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15973}},
doi = {{10.1038/ncomms15973}},
volume = {{8}},
year = {{2017}},
}