Using modern genetic technology, Ostrowski was able to put that assumption to a more rigorous test than ever before. She said BCM co-author Mariko Katoh played a key role by designing experiments and developing the method of tagging wild strains of D. discoideum with different fluorescent markers to see how the strains cooperate spatially and temporally during colony formation. Using these markers and Ostrowski's precise genetic profiles, the research team was able to determine exactly how much mixing occurred between dissimilar strains.
Queller, Rice evolutionary biologist Joan Strassmann and Gad Shaulsky, professor of molecular and human genetics at BCM, previously collaborated on a genome-wide search for mutations that produce D. discoideum cheaters. The search identified more than 100 mutations that would allow D. discoideum to cheat by avoiding service in the stalk.
The new findings suggest that specific genes also help closely related individuals cooperate in ways that keep these cheaters in check.
"We're showing that strains may not be mixing as much as scientists previously thought," Ostrowski said.
Shaulsky said, "By segregating, they minimize the risk that cells of their genetic similarity will die."
Ostrowski said the results suggest that "cooperative" genes are likely those that produce the sticky adhesives that the amoebae secrete to grab onto one another during colony formation. She said follow-up research is already under way to find precisely which genes are involved.
Strassmann, Rice's Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and chair of the Department of Ecology and Evoluti
'/>"/>
| Contact: Jade Boyd jadeboyd@rice.edu 713-348-6778 Rice University Source:Eurekalert |