ArticleCurrent biology : CB2016
A Combinatorial Kin Discrimination System in Bacillus subtilis.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers.
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Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed.
- ERF transcription factor StPti5 is a regulator of endophyte community maintenance in potato.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- Review
- Regulatory rewiring drives intraspecies competition in Bacillus subtilis.PLoS genetics · 2026Article
- Lives in a gram of soil: linking life cycle biology to soil ecology.The ISME journal · 2026Review
- Bacterial social interactions in syntheticiMeta · 2025Article
- Naturally competent bacteria and their genetic parasites-a battle for control over horizontal gene transfer?FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Bacillus subtilis Intraspecies Interactions Shape Probiotic Activity Against Salmonella Typhimurium.Microbial biotechnology · 2024Article
- The Utilization ofMicroorganisms · 2024Article
- Escherichia coli has an undiscovered ability to inhibit the growth of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Signatures of kin selection in a natural population of the bacteriaEvolution letters · 2023Article
- The putative role of the epipeptide EpeX inMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2023Article
- Review
- Article
- Kin Discrimination Modifies Strain Distribution, Spatial Segregation, and Incorporation of Extracellular Matrix Polysaccharide Mutants of Bacillus subtilis Strains into Mixed Floating Biofilms.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2022Article
- Nutritional stress induced intraspecies competition revealed by transcriptome analysis in Sphingomonas melonis TY.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2022Article
- Founder cell configuration drives competitive outcome within colony biofilms.The ISME journal · 2022Article
- Occurrence of phenotypic variation inBiotechnology reports (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2022Article
- Annulment of Bacterial Antagonism Improves Plant Beneficial Activity of a Bacillus velezensis Consortium.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2022Article
- Systems view of Bacillus subtilis pellicle development.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2022Article
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Abstract
Multicellularity inherently involves a number of cooperative behaviors that are potentially susceptible to exploitation but can be protected by mechanisms such as kin discrimination. Discrimination of kin from non-kin has been observed in swarms of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, but the underlying molecular mechanism has been unknown. We used genetic, transcriptomic, and bioinformatic analyses to uncover kin recognition factors in this organism. Our results identified many molecules involved in cell-surface modification and antimicrobial production and response. These genes varied significantly in expression level and mutation phenotype among B. subtilis strains, suggesting interstrain variation in the exact kin discrimination mechanism used. Genome analyses revealed a substantial diversity of antimicrobial genes present in unique combinations in different strains, with many likely acquired by horizontal gene transfer. The dynamic combinatorial effect derived from this plethora of kin discrimination genes creates a tight relatedness cutoff for cooperation that has likely led to rapid diversification within the species. Our data suggest that genes likely originally selected for competitive purposes also generate preferential interactions among kin, thus stabilizing multicellular lifestyles.
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