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18:10
Isolation of Fidelity Variants of RNA Viruses and Characterization of Virus Mutation Frequency
Published on: June 16, 2011
Coevolution with viruses drives the evolution of bacterial mutation rates
Csaba Pal1, María D Maciá, Antonio Oliver
1Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK. angus.buckling@zoo.ox.ac.uk
Nature
|December 7, 2007
Summary
Bacteriophages, or phages, can drive bacteria to evolve higher mutation rates. This bacterial adaptation, driven by coevolution with phages, may provide an advantage in their evolutionary arms race.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Microbial Genetics
- Bacteriophage-Bacteria Interactions
Background:
- Bacteria with elevated mutation rates (mutators) are common in various environments and infections.
- High mutation rates can enhance adaptability but risk accumulating harmful mutations.
- Rapidly changing selection pressures, like parasite coevolution, may maintain high mutation rates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if coevolution with viral parasites (phages) drives the evolution of bacterial mutation rates.
- To determine the impact of phage-bacterium coevolution on bacterial mutation rates in laboratory populations.
Main Methods:
- Laboratory evolution experiment using Pseudomonas fluorescens populations.
- Coevolution with bacteriophages (phages) under controlled conditions.
- Measurement of mutation rates and identification of mutations in mismatch-repair genes.
Main Results:
- 25% of phage-coevolving populations showed 10- to 100-fold increases in mutation rates within 200 generations.
- No significant mutation rate changes were observed in populations evolving without phages.
- Mutator bacterial populations demonstrated a higher likelihood of driving phage populations to extinction.
Conclusions:
- Coevolution with bacteriophages can significantly increase bacterial mutation rates.
- Mutator bacteria exhibit an advantage against phages in the coevolutionary arms race.
- Bacteriophages likely play a crucial role in shaping bacterial mutation rate evolution.
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