Brief Communications
Nature 442, 881-882 (24 August 2006) | doi:10.1038/442881a; Received 16 January 2006; Accepted 29 June 2006; Published online 23 August 2006
Social evolution: Kin preference in a social microbe
Natasha J. Mehdiabadi1, Chandra N. Jack1, Tiffany Talley Farnham1, Thomas G. Platt1,3, Sara E. Kalla1, Gad Shaulsky2, David C. Queller1 and Joan E. Strassmann1
Kin recognition helps cooperation to evolve in many animals1, but it is uncertain whether microorganisms can also use it to focus altruistic behaviour on relatives. Here we show that the social amoeba Dictyostelium purpureum prefers to form groups with its own kin in situations where some individuals die to assist others. By directing altruism towards kin, D. purpureum should generally avoid the costs of chimaerism2, 3 experienced by the related D. discoideum.
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
- Present address: Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA
Correspondence to: Natasha J. Mehdiabadi1 Email: njum@rice.edu
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