Complex third-party effects in the Dictyostelium-Paraburkholderia symbiosis

In this study, we looked at how third-party prey bacteria affected the symbiosis between social amoeba hosts and Paraburkholderia bacteria. We measured bacteria that were left behind after host development and how this affected host fitness. To understand how development time was affected, we tracked development between hosts that had symbionts or not. Finally, we looked at whether hosts carried more third-party prey aftering developing in environments that were prey-rich or prey-poor.