scholarly journals Diverse phenotypic and genetic responses to short-term selection in evolving Escherichia coli populations

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus M Dillon ◽  
Nicholas P Rouillard ◽  
Brian Van Dam ◽  
Romain Gallet ◽  
Vaughn S Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Fitness Landscape ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Beneficial Mutations ◽  
True Nature ◽  
Term Selection ◽  
Adaptive Mutations ◽  
Fitness Effects ◽  
Genetic Responses

Beneficial mutations fuel adaptation by altering phenotypes that enhance the fit of organisms to their environment. However, the phenotypic effects of mutations often depend on ecological context, making the distribution of effects across multiple environments essential to understanding the true nature of beneficial mutations. Studies that address both the genetic basis and ecological consequences of adaptive mutations remain rare. Here, we characterize the direct and pleiotropic fitness effects of a collection of 21 first-step beneficial mutants derived from naive and adapted genotypes used in a long-term experimental evolution of Escherichia coli. Whole-genome sequencing was used to identify most beneficial mutations. In contrast to previous studies, we find diverse fitness effects of mutations selected in a simple environment and few cases of genetic parallelism. The pleiotropic effects of these mutations were predominantly positive but some mutants were highly antagonistic in alternative environments. Further, the fitness effects of mutations derived from the adapted genotypes were dramatically reduced in nearly all environments. These findings suggest that many beneficial variants are accessible from a single point on the fitness landscape, and the fixation of alternative beneficial mutations may have dramatic consequences for niche breadth reduction via metabolic erosion.

scholarly journals Evolutionary stalling and a limit on the power of natural selection to improve a cellular module

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (31) ◽  
pp. 18582-18590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandeep Venkataram ◽  
Ross Monasky ◽  
Shohreh H. Sikaroodi ◽  
Sergey Kryazhimskiy ◽  
Betul Kacar
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Adaptive Evolution ◽  
Genetic Load ◽  
Performance Theory ◽  
Biological Functions ◽  
Beneficial Mutations ◽  
Translation Machinery ◽  
Adaptive Mutations ◽  
Organismal Fitness

Cells consist of molecular modules which perform vital biological functions. Cellular modules are key units of adaptive evolution because organismal fitness depends on their performance. Theory shows that in rapidly evolving populations, such as those of many microbes, adaptation is driven primarily by common beneficial mutations with large effects, while other mutations behave as if they are effectively neutral. As a consequence, if a module can be improved only by rare and/or weak beneficial mutations, its adaptive evolution would stall. However, such evolutionary stalling has not been empirically demonstrated, and it is unclear to what extent stalling may limit the power of natural selection to improve modules. Here we empirically characterize how natural selection improves the translation machinery (TM), an essential cellular module. We experimentally evolved populations ofEscherichia coliwith genetically perturbed TMs for 1,000 generations. Populations with severe TM defects initially adapted via mutations in the TM, but TM adaptation stalled within about 300 generations. We estimate that the genetic load in our populations incurred by residual TM defects ranges from 0.5 to 19%. Finally, we found evidence that both epistasis and the depletion of the pool of beneficial mutations contributed to evolutionary stalling. Our results suggest that cellular modules may not be fully optimized by natural selection despite the availability of adaptive mutations.

scholarly journals Adaptation, Clonal Interference, and Frequency-Dependent Interactions in a Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohan Maddamsetti ◽  
Richard E. Lenski ◽  
Jeffrey E. Barrick
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Frequency Dependence ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Selective Sweeps ◽  
Clonal Interference ◽  
Beneficial Mutations ◽  
Frequency Dependent ◽  
Evolution Experiment ◽  
History Of

Twelve replicate populations of Escherichia coli have been evolving in the laboratory for more than 25 years and 60,000 generations. We analyzed bacteria from whole-population samples frozen every 500 generations through 20,000 generations for one well-studied population, called Ara???1. By tracking 42 known mutations in these samples, we reconstructed the history of this population???s genotypic evolution over this period. The evolutionary dynamics of Ara???1 show strong evidence of selective sweeps as well as clonal interference between competing lineages bearing different beneficial mutations. In some cases, sets of several mutations approached fixation simultaneously, often conveying no information about their order of origination; we present several possible explanations for the existence of these mutational cohorts. Against a backdrop of rapid selective sweeps both earlier and later, we found that two clades coexisted for over 6000 generations before one drove the other extinct. In that time, at least nine mutations arose in the clade that prevailed. We found evidence that the clades evolved a frequency-dependent interaction, which prevented the competitive exclusion of either clade, but which eventually collapsed as beneficial mutations accumulated in the clade that prevailed. Clonal interference and frequency dependence can occur even in the simplest microbial populations. Furthermore, frequency dependence may generate dynamics that extend the period of coexistence that would otherwise be sustained by clonal interference alone.

scholarly journals Escherichia coli with a Tunable Point Mutation Rate for Evolution Experiments

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2671-2681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas A. Sherer ◽  
Thomas E. Kuhlman
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Point Mutation ◽  
Mutation Rate ◽  
Fitness Landscape ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Mutation Rates ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Beneficial Mutations ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Evolution Experiment

The mutation rate and mutations’ effects on fitness are crucial to evolution. Mutation rates are under selection due to linkage between mutation rate modifiers and mutations’ effects on fitness. The linkage between a higher mutation rate and more beneficial mutations selects for higher mutation rates, while the linkage between a higher mutation rate and more deleterious mutations selects for lower mutation rates. The net direction of selection on mutations rates depends on the fitness landscape, and a great deal of work has elucidated the fitness landscapes of mutations. However, tests of the effect of varying a mutation rate on evolution in a single organism in a single environment have been difficult. This has been studied using strains of antimutators and mutators, but these strains may differ in additional ways and typically do not allow for continuous variation of the mutation rate. To help investigate the effects of the mutation rate on evolution, we have genetically engineered a strain of Escherichia coli with a point mutation rate that can be smoothly varied over two orders of magnitude. We did this by engineering a strain with inducible control of the mismatch repair proteins MutH and MutL. We used this strain in an approximately 350 generation evolution experiment with controlled variation of the mutation rate. We confirmed the construct and the mutation rate were stable over this time. Sequencing evolved strains revealed a higher number of single nucleotide polymorphisms at higher mutations rates, likely due to either the beneficial effects of these mutations or their linkage to beneficial mutations.

scholarly journals Inferring Parameters of the Distribution of Fitness Effects of New Mutations When Beneficial Mutations Are Strongly Advantageous and Rare

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2317-2326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom R. Booker
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Genetics ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Substantial Contribution ◽  
Beneficial Mutations ◽  
Adaptive Mutations ◽  
Fitness Effects ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Standing Variation ◽  
Accuracy And Precision ◽  
New Mutations

Characterizing the distribution of fitness effects (DFE) for new mutations is central in evolutionary genetics. Analysis of molecular data under the McDonald-Kreitman test has suggested that adaptive substitutions make a substantial contribution to between-species divergence. Methods have been proposed to estimate the parameters of the distribution of fitness effects for positively selected mutations from the unfolded site frequency spectrum (uSFS). Such methods perform well when beneficial mutations are mildly selected and frequent. However, when beneficial mutations are strongly selected and rare, they may make little contribution to standing variation and will thus be difficult to detect from the uSFS. In this study, I analyze uSFS data from simulated populations subject to advantageous mutations with effects on fitness ranging from mildly to strongly beneficial. As expected, frequent, mildly beneficial mutations contribute substantially to standing genetic variation and parameters are accurately recovered from the uSFS. However, when advantageous mutations are strongly selected and rare, there are very few segregating in populations at any one time. Fitting the uSFS in such cases leads to underestimates of the strength of positive selection and may lead researchers to false conclusions regarding the relative contribution adaptive mutations make to molecular evolution. Fortunately, the parameters for the distribution of fitness effects for harmful mutations are estimated with high accuracy and precision. The results from this study suggest that the parameters of positively selected mutations obtained by analysis of the uSFS should be treated with caution and that variability at linked sites should be used in conjunction with standing variability to estimate parameters of the distribution of fitness effects in the future.

scholarly journals Genome-Based Analyses of Fitness Effects and Compensatory Changes Associated with Acquisition of blaCMY-, blaCTX-M-, and blaOXA-48/VIM-1-Containing Plasmids in Escherichia coli

Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Michael Pietsch ◽  
Yvonne Pfeifer ◽  
Stephan Fuchs ◽  
Guido Werner
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Beta Lactamase ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
Genomic Changes ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Fitness Effects ◽  
Growth Differences

(1) Background: Resistance plasmids are under selective conditions beneficial for the bacterial host, but in the absence of selective pressure, this carriage may cause fitness costs. Compensation of this fitness burden is important to obtain competitive ability under antibiotic-free conditions. In this study, we investigated fitness effects after a conjugative transfer of plasmids containing various beta-lactamase genes transferred into Escherichia coli. (2) Methods: Fourteen beta-lactamase-encoding plasmids were transferred from clinical donor strains to E. coli J53. Growth rates were compared for all transconjugants and the recipient. Selected transconjugants were challenged in long-term growth experiments. Growth rates were assessed at different time points during growth for 500 generations. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of initial and evolved transconjugants was determined. Results: Most plasmid acquisitions resulted in growth differences, ranging from −4.5% to 7.2%. Transfer of a single blaCMY-16-carrying plasmid resulted in a growth burden and a growth benefit in independent mating. Long-term growth led to a compensation of fitness burdens and benefits. Analyzing WGS revealed genomic changes caused by Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertion sequences over time. Conclusions: Fitness effects associated with plasmid acquisitions were variable. Potential compensatory mutations identified in transconjugants’ genomes after 500 generations give interesting insights into aspects of plasmid–host adaptations.

scholarly journals Empirical determinants of adaptive mutations in yeast experimental evolution

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celia Payen ◽  
Anna B Sunshine ◽  
Giang T Ong ◽  
Jamie L Pogachar ◽  
Wei Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Fitness Landscape ◽  
Genome Structure ◽  
Mutation Spectrum ◽  
Relative Fitness ◽  
Yeast Genome ◽  
Beneficial Mutations ◽  
Adaptive Mutations ◽  
A Genome

High-throughput sequencing technologies have enabled expansion of the scope of genetic screens to identify mutations that underlie quantitative phenotypes, such as fitness improvements that occur during the course of experimental evolution. This new capability has allowed us to describe the relationship between fitness and genotype at a level never possible before, and ask deeper questions, such as how genome structure, available mutation spectrum, and other factors drive evolution. Here we combined functional genomics and experimental evolution to first map on a genome scale the distribution of potential beneficial mutations available as a first step to an evolving population and then compare these to the mutations actually observed in order to define the constraints acting upon evolution. We first constructed a single-step fitness landscape for the yeast genome by using barcoded gene deletion and overexpression collections, competitive growth in continuous culture, and barcode sequencing. By quantifying the relative fitness effects of thousands of single-gene amplifications or deletions simultaneously we revealed the presence of hundreds of accessible evolutionary paths. To determine the actual mutation spectrum used in evolution, we built a catalog of >1000 mutations selected during experimental evolution. By combining both datasets, we were able to ask how and why evolution is constrained. We identified adaptive mutations in laboratory evolved populations, derived mutational signatures in a variety of conditions and ploidy states, and determined that half of the mutations accumulated positively affect cellular fitness. We also uncovered hundreds of potential beneficial mutations never observed in the mutational spectrum derived from the experimental evolution catalog and found that those adaptive mutations become accessible in the absence of the dominant adaptive solution. This comprehensive functional screen explored the set of potential adaptive mutations on one genetic background, and allows us for the first time at this scale to compare the mutational path with the actual, spontaneously derived spectrum of mutations.

scholarly journals Tempo and mode of genome evolution in a 50,000-generation experiment

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Tenaillon ◽  
Jeffrey E. Barrick ◽  
Noah Ribeck ◽  
Daniel E. Deatherage ◽  
Jeffrey L. Blanchard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Genome Evolution ◽  
Mutation Rate ◽  
Beneficial Mutations ◽  
Insertions And Deletions ◽  
Constant Rate ◽  
Shifting Balance ◽  
Balance Of Forces ◽  
Neutral Mutations

Adaptation depends on the rates, effects, and interactions of many mutations. We analyzed 264 genomes from 12 Escherichia coli populations to characterize their dynamics over 50,000 generations. The trajectories for genome evolution in populations that retained the ancestral mutation rate fit a model where most fixed mutations are beneficial, the fraction of beneficial mutations declines as fitness rises, and neutral mutations accumulate at a constant rate. We also compared these populations to lines evolved under a mutation-accumulation regime that minimizes selection. Nonsynonymous mutations, intergenic mutations, insertions, and deletions are overrepresented in the long-term populations, supporting the inference that most fixed mutations are favored by selection. These results illuminate the shifting balance of forces that govern genome evolution in populations adapting to a new environment.

scholarly journals Core Genes Evolve Rapidly in the Long-term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohan Maddamsetti ◽  
Philip J. Hatcher ◽  
Anna G. Green ◽  
Barry L. Williams ◽  
Debora S. Marks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Positive Selection ◽  
Long Term Evolution ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Adaptive Mutations ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Term Evolution ◽  
Evolution Experiment ◽  
Core Genes

AbstractBacteria can evolve rapidly under positive selection owing to their vast numbers, allowing their genes to diversify by adapting to different environments. We asked whether the same genes that are fast evolving in the long-term evolution experiment with Escherichia coli (LTEE) have also diversified extensively in nature. We identified ~2000 core genes shared among 60 E. coli strains. During the LTEE, core genes accumulated significantly more nonsynonymous mutations than flexible (i.e., noncore) genes. Furthermore, core genes under positive selection in the LTEE are more conserved in nature than the average core gene. In some cases, adaptive mutations appear to fine-tune protein functions, rather than merely knocking them out. The LTEE conditions are novel for E. coli, at least in relation to the long sweep of its evolution in nature. The constancy and simplicity of the environment likely favor the complete loss of some unused functions and the fine-tuning of others.Competing Interests StatementWe, the authors, declare that we have no conflicts of interest.

scholarly journals Evolutionary Stalling and a Limit on the Power of Natural Selection to Improve a Cellular Module

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandeep Venkataram ◽  
Ross Monasky ◽  
Shohreh H Sikaroodi ◽  
Sergey Kryazhimskiy ◽  
Betül Kaçar
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Adaptive Evolution ◽  
Genetic Load ◽  
Performance Theory ◽  
Biological Functions ◽  
Beneficial Mutations ◽  
Translation Machinery ◽  
Adaptive Mutations ◽  
Organismal Fitness

AbstractCells consist of molecular modules which perform vital biological functions. Cellular modules are key units of adaptive evolution because organismal fitness depends on their performance. Theory shows that in rapidly evolving populations, such as those of many microbes, adaptation is driven primarily by common beneficial mutations with large effects, while other mutations behave as if they are effectively neutral. As a consequence, if a module can be improved only by rare and/or weak beneficial mutations, its adaptive evolution would stall. However, such evolutionary stalling has not been empirically demonstrated, and it is unclear to what extent stalling may limit the power of natural selection to improve modules. Here, we empirically characterize how natural selection improves the translation machinery (TM), an essential cellular module. We experimentally evolved populations of Escherichia coli with genetically perturbed TMs for 1,000 generations. Populations with severe TM defects initially adapted via mutations in the TM, but TM adaptation stalled within about 300 generations. We estimate that the genetic load in our populations incurred by residual TM defects ranges from 0.5 to 19%. Finally, we found evidence that both epistasis and the depletion of the pool of beneficial mutations contributed to evolutionary stalling. Our results suggest that cellular modules may not be fully optimized by natural selection despite the availability of adaptive mutations.

scholarly journals Expected genetic responses from selection indexes for Canadian dairy cattle under present and future milk pricing systems

1998 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Sivanadian ◽  
M. M. Lohuis ◽  
J. C. M. Dekkers
Keyword(s):  
Net Present Value ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Term Selection ◽  
Pricing System ◽  
Total Economic Value ◽  
Large Herd ◽  
Selection Indexes ◽  
Genetic Responses ◽  
Sire Selection

Expected selection responses and profit under alternative milk pricing scenarios for various selection indexes were compared: Lifetime Profit Index (LPI) with 60:40:0:0 emphasis on production:type:herdlife:somatic cell score and 9:2:0 relative weights on Protein:fat:milk, and Total Economic Value (TEV) reflecting the present pricing system, Neutral Total Economic Value (NTEV) and Future Total Economic Value (FTEV) reflecting future milk prices, each with 64:0:26:10 emphasis on production:type:herdlife:somatic cell score and 9:2:0, 1:0:0 and 18:–2:–5 relative weights, respectively, on protein:fat:milk and Large Herd Operator Index (LHO) with 83:17:0:0 emphasis and 13.5:–1.5:0 relative weights. Among the correlations between indexes the lowest was.93 (correlation of LPI with NTEV and FTEV) and the highest was 0.99 (between TEV and NTEV). For present and probable future milk pricing the most profitable sire selection indexes were TEV and FTEV in both whole and grade-only populations. When selection intensity and number of daughters per sire were equal to 1.0 and 50, respectively, profit expressed in Canadian dollars in net present value of lifetime profit of a milking daughter were 231.75 (226.62 in grade population) and 234.89 (229.89 in grade population) from TEV and FTEV respectively. The choice of sire selection indexes depends on individual farmer goals. However, if the total economic merit resulting from typical dairy production is the goal, then TEV and FTEV are advised for short-term and long term selection, respectively. Key words: Index, selection, genetic response, profit, milk pricing

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