The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum rescues Paraburkholderia hayleyella, but not P. agricolaris, from interspecific competition.

Bacterial endosymbionts can provide benefits for their eukaryotic hosts, but it is often unclear if endosymbionts benefit from these relationships. The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum associates with three species of Paraburkholderia endosymbionts, including P. agricolaris and P. hayleyella. These endosymbionts can be costly to the host but are beneficial in certain contexts because they allow D. discoideum to carry prey bacteria through the dispersal stage. In experiments where no other species are present, P. hayleyella benefits from D. discoideum while P. agricolaris does not. However, the presence of other species may influence this symbiosis. We tested if P. agricolaris and P. hayleyella benefit from D. discoideum in the context of resource competition with Klebsiella pneumoniae, the typical laboratory prey of D. discoideum. Without D. discoideum, K. pneumoniae depressed the growth of both Paraburkholderia symbionts, consistent with competition. P. hayleyella was more harmed by interspecific competition than P. agricolaris. We found that P. hayleyella was rescued from competition by D. discoideum, while P. agricolaris was not. This may be because P. hayleyella is more specialized as an endosymbiont; it has a highly reduced genome compared to P. agricolaris and may have lost genes relevant for resource competition outside of its host.