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Experimental evolution of aging in a bacterium.

Martin Ackermann1, Alexandra Schauerte, Stephen C Stearns

  • 1Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland. Martin.Ackermann@env.ethz.ch

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Evolutionary theory suggests aging arises from late-acting mutations. Experiments with bacteria show this can occur, but aging is not universal, suggesting it

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Microbiology
  • Gerontology

Background:

  • Aging is defined as a decline in reproduction and survival with age.
  • Evolutionary theory posits aging results from weak late-life selection and late-acting mutations.
  • The universality of aging and the applicability of this theory across organisms remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the generality of evolutionary aging theory.
  • To investigate the evolution of aging in Caulobacter crescentus under specific selection pressures.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental evolution of three Caulobacter crescentus populations for 2000 generations.
  • Application of strong early-life selection and weak late-life selection.
  • Observation of evolutionary changes in growth rate and aging patterns.

Main Results:

  • All populations evolved faster growth rates, primarily by reducing the age at first division.
  • Evolutionary changes in aging were inconsistent, with a predominant trend of slower aging.
  • A mutation causing earlier maternal aging, but reset in daughters, was observed.

Conclusions:

  • Late-acting deleterious mutations can invade populations under weak late-life selection.
  • Aging may be a fundamental property of most, if not all, cellular organisms.
  • Unanticipated mutation effects challenge theoretical predictions of aging evolution.