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Somatic deficiency causes reproductive parasitism in a fungus

Alexey A Grum-Grzhimaylo1,2, Eric Bastiaans1, Joost van den Heuvel1

  • 1Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Nature Communications
|February 5, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Fungal fusion can favor cheaters, but evolved cheater lineages often cannot initiate fusion. This fusion deficiency paradoxically benefits cheaters by increasing their reproductive success, especially when rare.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Mycology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Multicellular organisms can fuse for mutual benefit.
  • Experimental evolution in *Neurospora crassa* shows free mycelial fusion favors cheater lineages.
  • The mechanism and evolutionary dynamics of this exploitation remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mechanism and evolutionary dynamics of cheater exploitation during fungal fusion.
  • To understand the genetic basis and consequences of fusion deficiencies in evolved cheater lineages.
  • To explore how asymmetric fusion outcomes impact the fitness of interacting fungal partners.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental evolution of *Neurospora crassa*.
  • Analysis of fusion-deficient cheater lineages.
  • Assessing nuclear contribution to somatic and reproductive structures.
  • Quantifying fitness consequences under varying cheater frequencies.

Main Results:

  • Evolved cheater lineages exhibit convergent fusion deficiencies, unable to initiate fusion.
  • These mutants exploit wild-type partners that do fuse with them.
  • Fusion asymmetry reduces cheater contribution to somatic networks but increases nuclear representation in reproductive structures.
  • Cheaters benefit most when rare, imposing a genetic load.

Conclusions:

  • Fungal fusion dynamics can be complex, with evolved cheaters exploiting fusion mechanisms.
  • Asymmetric fusion outcomes can lead to differential fitness benefits among interacting partners.
  • Fusion deficiencies in cheaters represent a novel evolutionary strategy with implications for fungal interactions in nature.

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