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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Microbial Ecology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Natural selection typically favors generalist predators that excel across diverse prey.
  • Intraspecific variation in predator performance can arise from antagonistic pleiotropy or relaxed selection due to prey-specific mutations.
  • Understanding the genetic basis of this variation is crucial for evolutionary dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the genetic underpinnings of variation in predatory performance within the microbial predator Dictyostelium discoideum.
  • To determine the relative contributions of antagonistic pleiotropy and prey-specific effects to maintaining genetic variation.

Main Methods:

  • Characterization of natural variation in predatory success across different bacterial prey types.
  • High-throughput experimental evolution using REMI-seq (repeated experimental evolution with sequencing) to identify mutations.
  • Analysis of mutation effects on predatory performance across varied prey.

Main Results:

  • Widespread nontransitive differences in predatory success were observed among Dictyostelium discoideum strains across different bacterial prey.
  • Approximately 77% of identified mutations exhibited prey-specific effects on predatory performance.
  • Antagonistic pleiotropy, where a mutation is beneficial on one prey but costly on another, was rare, accounting for only about 4% of mutations.

Conclusions:

  • Prey-specific mutation effects are the dominant factor maintaining genetic variation in predatory performance.
  • These prey-specific effects dilute the strength of natural selection, inhibiting the purging of variation.
  • The findings suggest that the evolution of a single, optimal generalist predator is unlikely due to the prevalence of prey-specific genetic adaptations.