Sex allocation pattern of the diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana.
Sex allocation pattern of the diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana.
复制标题
硅藻小环藻的性别分配模式。
DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2013.0503
复制
发表时间：
2013
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Shirokawa;Y. and Shimada;M.
性别分配是进化博弈论最成功的应用之一。该理论通常应用于多细胞生物。然而，单细胞生物的条件性性别分配仍然是一个尚未探索的研究领域。细胞水平的观察对于理解克隆单细胞生物体内个体之间的表型性别分配策略是必不可少的。硅藻Cyclotella meneghiniana的性别是由营养细胞产生的，适合研究表型可塑性因素对性别分配的影响，同时排除遗传差异。我们设计了一种微流体系统，使我们能够追踪单个细胞的命运。单个母细胞的性别分配受到细胞谱系、细胞大小和细胞密度的影响。兄弟细胞对倾向于分化成相同的命运（性别比例不同）。我们发现母细胞的细胞面积与两个兄弟细胞的性别比之间存在显着的负相关。随着局部细胞密度的增加，偏男性的性别比例下降，支持了生育保险假说。我们的结果描述了影响表型单细胞水平性别分配的多种非遗传因素。硅藻的性别分配可能为测试单细胞生物的进化博弈论提供模型系统。
Sex allocation is one of the most successful applications of evolutionary game theory. This theory has usually been applied to multicellular organisms; however, conditional sex allocation in unicellular organisms remains an unexplored field of research. Observations at the cellular level are indispensable for an understanding of the phenotypic sex allocation strategy among individuals within clonal unicellular organisms. The diatomCyclotella meneghiniana, in which the sexes are generated from vegetative cells, is suitable for investigating effects of phenotypic plasticity factors on sex allocation while excluding genetic differences. We designed a microfluidic system that allowed us to trace the fate of individual cells. Sex allocation by individual mother cells was affected by cell lineage, cell size and cell density. Sibling cell pairs tended to differentiate into the same fates (split sex ratio). We found a significant negative correlation between the cell area of the mother cell and sex ratio of the two sibling cells. The male-biased sex ratio declined with higher local cell population density, supporting the fertility insurance hypothesis. Our results characterize multiple non-genetic factors that affect the phenotypic single cell-level sex allocation. Sex allocation in diatoms may provide a model system for testing evolutionary game theory in unicellular organisms.