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A new paper describing the results of a yeast evolution experiment has been published in Evolution. Jordan Gulli exposed nascent multicellular “snowflake yeast” to an environment in which solitary multicellular clusters experienced low survival. In response, snowflake yeast evolved to form cooperative groups composed of thousands of multicellular clusters.

Gulli et al. 2019 Fig. 2
Figure 2 from Gulli et al. 2019. Evolution of proteinaceous aggregates that bind many multicellular clusters. When subjected to strong settling selection, snowflake yeast evolved to form cooperative aggregates composed of hundreds of clusters (A). A composite image (B) reveals the aggregates are composed of both protein (C, green, Qubit fluorescent protein stain) and DNA (D, red, propidium iodide). Cells embedded within the aggregate are shown in blue (E, Cell Tracker Blue). Scale bars are 500 μm.

From the abstract:

Cooperation is a classic solution to hostile environments that limit individual survival. In extreme cases this may lead to the evolution of new types of biological individuals (e.g., eusocial super‐organisms). We examined the potential for inter‐individual cooperation to evolve via experimental evolution, challenging nascent multicellular ‘snowflake yeast’ with an environment in which solitary multicellular clusters experienced low survival. In response, snowflake yeast evolved to form cooperative groups composed of thousands of multicellular clusters that typically survive selection. Group formation occurred through the creation of protein aggregates, only arising in strains with high (>2%) rates of cell death. Nonetheless, it was adaptive and repeatable, though ultimately evolutionarily unstable. Extracellular protein aggregates act as a common good, as they can be exploited by cheats that do not contribute to aggregate production. These results highlight the importance of group formation as a mechanism for surviving environmental stress, and underscore the remarkable ease with which even simple multicellular entities may evolve—and lose—novel social traits.

Gulli J.G., Herron M.D., & Ratcliff W.C. 2019. Evolution of altruistic cooperation among nascent multicellular organisms. Evolution (online early). doi: 10.1111/evo.13727, publisher’s link, read only: rdcu.be/bxcTy