Heterogeneous flow environments mediate defector exclusion during yeast floc formation
<p>Flocculation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is cooperative phenotype that offers protection against various external stresses. It is modulated by cell-surface proteins, called flocculins, that bind with sugar residues of neighboring cells, effectively increasing cell-cell adhesion. These flocculins are predominantly encoded by the FLO1, which is considered as a &#8216;green beard&#8217; gene as it governs both the cooperative phenotype and kin recognition of other cooperators. Conversely, defecting cells, lacking FLO1 expression, can still be incorporated in the flocs and &#8216;cheat&#8217; on the cooperative benefits.</p> <p>In this work, we investigate various pathways involved in floc formation and specifically their effect on the exclusion of defecting cells. Initially, we experimentally confirmed the heterophilic binding mode of FLO1 and consequently the potential to &#8216;cheat&#8217;. These measured cell mechanical properties were adopted to calibrate the parameters of an individual cell-based model of interacting yeast cells. Using this model, we investigate exclusion of defecting cells for the two mechanisms of group formation; clonal development (staying together) and shear-driven aggregation (coming together). Our results indicate the need for a multi-stage mechanism and selection for the macroscopic flocs with high degree of defector exclusion, as observed experimentally. The stages in this process are (i) nucleation of clusters with FLO1+ rich cores, either due to aggregation or growth, (ii) high shear flow conditions causing erosion of flo1- cells from clusters and exclusion of aggregates due to remodeling, (iii) fast clustering of small but dense flocs of FLO1+ cells in low shear conditions or due to gravitational sedimentation.</p>