Modelling of Yeast Mating Reveals Robustness Strategies for Cell-Cell Interactions
Fig 7
Modeling mating discrimination.
(A) Three-cell mating discrimination simulations. One a-cell and two α-cells were arranged so that the a-cell was equidistant from the α-cells. One α-cell makes α-factor (α-factor producer, green) and the other α-cell does not (α-factor non-producer, blue). 20 simulations were run to determine the ratio at which the a-cell would mate with the α-factor producer versus the non-producer. Two sample simulations are presented. The left panel shows an a-cell with wild-type sensitivity, and the right panel shows a supersensitive a-cell. ME indicates mating efficiency; MD indicates mating discrimination. (B) Five-cell mating discrimination simulations. Four α-cells are arranged in a square with one bar1Δ a-cell in the center. One α-cell makes α-factor (α-factor producer, green) and the other three cells α-cell do not (α-factor non-producers, blue). 20 simulations were run to determine mating discrimination, and two sample simulations are presented. The left panel shows an a-cell with wild-type sensitivity, and the right panel shows a supersensitive a-cell. (C) Mating location plots for a-cells possessing normal sensitivity (WT, green) or supersensitivity (SS, red) in five-cell mating discrimination simulations. Each dot (correct MD) or cross (incorrect MD) symbol represents the polarisome location of the a-cell at the time of mating. The α-cell producing α-factor was in the top-right quadrant. The cells possessing normal sensitivity showed significantly better mating discrimination (MD) than the supersensitive cells (p < 0.0001, Fisher’s Exact Test).