TY - JOUR TI - Kin discrimination in social yeast is mediated by cell surface receptors of the Flo11 adhesin family AU - Brückner, Stefan AU - Schubert, Rajib AU - Kraushaar, Timo AU - Hartmann, Raimo AU - Hoffmann, Daniel AU - Jelli, Eric AU - Drescher, Knut AU - Müller, Daniel J AU - Oliver Essen, Lars AU - Mösch, Hans-Ulrich A2 - Brakhage, Axel A A2 - Barkai, Naama VL - 9 PY - 2020 DA - 2020/04/14 SP - e55587 C1 - eLife 2020;9:e55587 DO - 10.7554/eLife.55587 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.55587 AB - Microorganisms have evolved specific cell surface molecules that enable discrimination between cells from the same and from a different kind. Here, we investigate the role of Flo11-type cell surface adhesins from social yeasts in kin discrimination. We measure the adhesion forces mediated by Flo11A-type domains using single-cell force spectroscopy, quantify Flo11A-based cell aggregation in populations and determine the Flo11A-dependent segregation of competing yeast strains in biofilms. We find that Flo11A domains from diverse yeast species confer remarkably strong adhesion forces by establishing homotypic interactions between single cells, leading to efficient cell aggregation and biofilm formation in homogenous populations. Heterotypic interactions between Flo11A domains from different yeast species or Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains confer weak adhesive forces and lead to efficient strain segregation in heterogenous populations, indicating that in social yeasts Flo11A-mediated cell adhesion is a major mechanism for kin discrimination at species and sub-species levels. These findings, together with our structure and mutation analysis of selected Flo11A domains, provide a rationale of how cell surface receptors have evolved in microorganisms to mediate kin discrimination. KW - kin discrimination KW - cell adhesion KW - yeast KW - biofilm KW - Flo11 flocculin JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -