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MIcrobial evolution and transitions along the parasite-mutualist continuum

TLDR
In this paper, the authors integrate theoretical and empirical findings to discuss the mechanisms underpinning these evolutionary shifts, as well as the ecological drivers and why some host-microorganism interactions may be stuck at the end of the continuum.
Abstract
Virtually all plants and animals, including humans, are home to symbiotic microorganisms. Symbiotic interactions can be neutral, harmful or have beneficial effects on the host organism. However, growing evidence suggests that microbial symbionts can evolve rapidly, resulting in drastic transitions along the parasite-mutualist continuum. In this Review, we integrate theoretical and empirical findings to discuss the mechanisms underpinning these evolutionary shifts, as well as the ecological drivers and why some host-microorganism interactions may be stuck at the end of the continuum. In addition to having biomedical consequences, understanding the dynamic life of microorganisms reveals how symbioses can shape an organism's biology and the entire community, particularly in a changing world.

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Host microbiota can facilitate pathogen infection.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the ways in which a host microbiota contributes to infectious disease throughout the host's life and potentially across evolutionary time and discuss the implications of these negative outcomes for microbiota manipulation and engineering in disease management.
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The effect of plant domestication on host control of the microbiota

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a double leash model to model how host control of the microbiota is influenced by domestication, where the double leash acts from domesticator to host and host to microbes, and discuss how this model applies to a plant compartment that has demonstrated remarkable phenotypic changes during domestication.
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Single mutation makes Escherichia coli an insect mutualist

TL;DR: In this article , the authors report an experimental system in which non-symbiotic Escherichia coli evolves into an insect mutualist, which may explain why microbial mutualisms are omnipresent in nature.
References
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Book

The Evolution of Cooperation

TL;DR: In this paper, a model based on the concept of an evolutionarily stable strategy in the context of the Prisoner's Dilemma game was developed for cooperation in organisms, and the results of a computer tournament showed how cooperation based on reciprocity can get started in an asocial world, can thrive while interacting with a wide range of other strategies, and can resist invasion once fully established.
Journal ArticleDOI

The Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism

TL;DR: In this paper, a model is presented to account for the natural selection of what is termed reciprocally altruistic behavior, and the model shows how selection can operate against the cheater (non-reciprocator) in the system.
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Coevolution of hosts and parasites.

TL;DR: The authors conclude that such associations may be responsible for much of the genetic diversity found within natural populations, from blood group polymorphisms to protein polymorphisms in general.
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Genomics and Evolution of Heritable Bacterial Symbionts

TL;DR: Insect heritable symbionts provide some of the extremes of cellular genomes, including the smallest and the fastest evolving, raising new questions about the limits of evolution of life.
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Trending Questions (1)
How do symbiotic dynamics affect the evolution of organisms?

Symbiotic dynamics can lead to rapid evolution in organisms, resulting in transitions along the parasite-mutualist continuum.