Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Mc Ginty SE
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3038327 | biostudies-other | 2011 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Mc Ginty Sorcha E SE Rankin Daniel J DJ Brown Sam P SP
Evolution; international journal of organic evolution 20101006 1
Bacteria frequently exhibit cooperative behaviors but cooperative strains are vulnerable to invasion by cheater strains that reap the benefits of cooperation but do not perform the cooperative behavior themselves. Bacterial genomes often contain mobile genetic elements such as plasmids. When a gene for cooperative behavior exists on a plasmid, cheaters can be forced to cooperate by infection with this plasmid, rescuing cooperation in a population in which mutation or migration has allowed cheate ...[more]