Killing by type VI secretion drives genetic phase separation and correlates with increased cooperation

By nature of their small size, dense growth and frequent need for extracellular metabolism, microbes face persistent public goods dilemmas. Genetic assortment is the only general solution stabilizing cooperation, but all known mechanisms structuring microbial populations depend on the availability of free space, an often unrealistic constraint. Here we describe a class of self-organization that operates within densely packed bacterial populations. Through mathematical modelling and experiments with Vibrio cholerae, we show how killing adjacent competitors via the Type VI secretion system (T6SS) precipitates phase separation via the ‘Model A' universality class of order-disorder transition mediated by killing. We mathematically demonstrate that T6SS-mediated killing should favour the evolution of public goods cooperation, and empirically support this prediction using a phylogenetic comparative analysis. This work illustrates the twin role played by the T6SS, dealing death to local competitors while simultaneously creating conditions potentially favouring the evolution of cooperation with kin

Recommendations of generic names in Diaporthales competing for protection or use

In advancing to one name for fungi, this paper treats generic names competing for use in the order Diaporthales (Ascomycota, Sordariomycetes) and makes a recommendation for the use or protection of one generic name among synonymous names that may be either sexually or asexually typified. A table is presented that summarizes these recommendations. Among the genera most commonly encountered in this order, Cytospora is recommended over Valsa and Diaporthe over Phomopsis. New combinations are introduced for the oldest epithet of important species in the recommended genus. These include Amphiporthe tiliae, Coryneum lanciforme, Cytospora brevispora, C. ceratosperma, C. cinereostroma, C. eugeniae, C. fallax, C. myrtagena, Diaporthe amaranthophila, D. annonacearum, D. bougainvilleicola, D. caricae-papayae, D. cocoina, D. cucurbitae, D. juniperivora, D. leptostromiformis, D. pterophila, D. theae, D. vitimegaspora, Mastigosporella georgiana, Pilidiella angustispora, P. calamicola, P. pseudogranati, P. stromatica, and P. terminaliae

Levels of selection in biofilms: multispecies biofilms are not evolutionary individuals

Microbes are generally thought of as unicellular organisms, but we know that many microbes live as parts of biofilms—complex, surface-attached microbial communities numbering millions of cells. Some authors have recently argued in favour of reconceiving biofilms as biological entities in their own right. In particular, some have claimed that multispecies biofilms are evolutionary individuals (Doolittle in Biol Philos 28:351–378, 2013; Ereshefsky and Pedroso in PNAS USA 112(33): 10126–10132 2015). Against this view, I defend the conservative consensus that selection acts primarily upon microbial cells

Lebensrettende Maßnahmen bei Kindern („paediatric life support“): Kapitel 6 der Leitlinien zur Reanimation 2015 des European Resuscitation Council

SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe