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Updated: Mar 22, 2026

Monitoring Intraspecies Competition in a Bacterial Cell Population by Cocultivation of Fluorescently Labelled Strains
Published on: January 18, 2014
How to be in a good shape? The influence of clone morphology on cell competition
Romain Levayer1, Eduardo Moreno1
1Institute for Cell Biology, University of Bern , Baltzerstrasse 4 , Bern, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Cell competition is a conserved mechanism where slow proliferating cells (so called losers) are eliminated by faster proliferating neighbors (so called winners) through apoptosis.(1) It is an important process which prevents developmental malformations and maintains tissue fitness in aging adults.(2) Recently, we have shown that the probability of elimination of loser cells correlates with the surface of contact between losers and winners in Myc-induced competition.(3) Moreover, we have characterized an active mechanism that increases the surface of contact between losers and winners, hence accelerating the elimination of loser cells. This is the first indication that cell shape and mechanics can influence cell competition. Here, we will discuss the consequence of the relationship between shape and competition, as well as the relevance of this model for other modes of competition.
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