In chimerae between wild-type and chtC mutant cells, the wild-type cells preferentially give rise to prestalk cells, and the chtC mutants increase their representation in the spore mass. chtC mutants are defective in maintaining the prestalk cell fate as some of their prestalk cells transdifferentiate into prespore cells, but that defect does not affect gross developmental morphology or sporulation efficiency. The chtC gene is developmentally regulated and its mRNA becomes stalk-enriched at the end of development. Here we describe cheater C ( chtC), a strong facultative cheater mutant that cheats by affecting prestalk differentiation. Laboratory screens in Dictyostelium have shown that the genetic potential for facultative cheating is high, and field surveys have shown that cheaters are abundant in nature, but the cheating mechanisms are largely unknown. The cooperative developmental system of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is susceptible to exploitation by cheaters-strains that make more than their fair share of spores in chimerae.
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