Widespread density dependence of bacterial growth under acid stress

Abstract

Benefits of cooperation intrinsically depend on density because biological interaction requires organismal proximity. Microbial cooperative traits are common, yet systematic tests for a shared cooperative phenotype across diverse species are rare, as are direct tests for the Allee effect - positive density dependence of fitness. Here we test for positive density dependence of growth under acid stress in five phylogenetically widespread bacterial species - three Gram-negative and two Gram-positive - and find the Allee effect in all five. However, social protection from acid stress appears to have evolved by different mechanisms across species. In Myxococcus xanthus, the acid-stress Allee effect is found to be mediated by pH-regulated secretion of a diffusible molecule present in supernatant from high-density cultures. In contrast, growth from low density under acid stress by the other species was not enhanced by high-density supernatant. Additionally, density dependence of Myxococcus fruiting-body formation during starvation is found to increase with acid stress, suggesting that abiotic stresses other than starvation shape the evolution of aggregative development. Our findings suggest that high cell density may protect against acid stress in most bacterial species and in Myxococcus may promote predation on microbes that acidify their local environment by secretion of metabolic byproducts.