Whole genome sequencing and variant analysis of Dictyostelium discoideum experimentally evolved under low relatedness

Aggregative multicellularity relies on cooperation among formerly independent cells to form a multicellular body. Previous work with Dictyostelium discoideum showed that experimental evolution under low relatedness profoundly decreased cooperation, as indicated by the loss of fruiting body formation in many clones and an increase of cheaters that contribute proportionally more to spores than to the dead stalk (Kuzdzal-Fick et al. 2011, Science). We generated whole genome sequences of these evolved lines and one non-fruiting clone from each line to investigate the underlying genomics.

聚合式多细胞性（Aggregative multicellularity）依赖于原本独立的细胞间的协作以形成多细胞体。既往针对盘基网柄菌（Dictyostelium discoideum）的研究显示，低亲缘关系下的实验演化会显著削弱细胞协作能力，具体表现为多数克隆株丧失子实体形成能力，且更倾向于仅贡献孢子而非死亡柄细胞的欺骗型细胞比例升高（Kuzdzal-Fick等人，2011，《科学》）。本研究对这些演化菌株系及各菌株系中的一株非子实体形成克隆株进行了全基因组测序，以探究其背后的基因组学机制。