Escherichia colicultures maintain stable subpopulation structure during long-term evolution
Abstract
Understanding how microbes adapt to novel environments is essential to understanding acute bacterial infection and long-term disease, as genetic architecture underlying the production and maintenance of genetic variation influences a population’s potential for adaptation. In this in-depth analysis of a highly replicatedEscherichia colilong-term evolution experiment, we observe rapid diversification into stable subpopulations in response to several environmental variables. This niche separation creates novel genetic backgrounds upon which new traits, such as differential nutrient utilization or antimicrobial resistance, can arise. The observed genetic changes, in a simple and tractable experimental system, mimic events known to occur during bacterial infections.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Apr 30, 2018
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1708371115
Entities
People
- Brian I. Choi
- Jonathan A. Karty
- Megan G. Behringer
- Michael Lynch
- Samuel F. Miller
- Thomas G. Doak
- Wanfeng Guo
Organizations
- Arizona State University
- Army Research Office
- Indiana University
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences