Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026
15:00
Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli
Published on: August 18, 2023
Tuning gene expression to changing environments: from rapid responses to evolutionary adaptation.
Luis López-Maury1, Samuel Marguerat, Jürg Bähler
1Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Nature Reviews. Genetics
|July 2, 2008
Summary
Organisms adapt to environmental changes by balancing stress and growth gene expression. Cellular strategies help tune gene expression for resilience and fuel evolutionary innovation through phenotypic variation.
Area of Science:
- Environmental science
- Genetics
- Evolutionary biology
Background:
- Organisms face continuous environmental fluctuations across lifetimes and generations.
- Gene expression involves balancing stress-response and growth-related programs.
- Transcriptional noise characterizes stress-related gene expression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore cellular strategies for adapting gene expression to environmental changes.
- To understand how organisms maintain resilience to external challenges.
- To investigate the role of environmental challenges in driving phenotypic variation and evolution.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of recent studies on gene expression.
- Investigating cellular mechanisms for environmental adaptation.
- Examining data on phenotypic variation and evolutionary innovation.
Main Results:
- Organisms employ sophisticated strategies to align gene expression with environmental demands.
- Cellular mechanisms ensure adaptation to both short-term and long-term environmental shifts.
- Environmental challenges are exploited by organisms to generate phenotypic diversity.
Conclusions:
- Organisms exhibit remarkable resilience to environmental stressors.
- Environmental challenges can serve as a catalyst for evolutionary innovation.
- The study highlights the dynamic interplay between environment, gene expression, and adaptation.
Related Concept Videos
01:10Transcription
Overview
Transcription is the process of synthesizing RNA from a DNA sequence by RNA polymerase. It is the first step in producing a protein from a gene sequence. Additionally, many other proteins and regulatory sequences are involved in the proper synthesis of messenger RNA (mRNA). Regulation of transcription is responsible for the differentiation of all the different types of cells and often for the proper cellular response to environmental signals.
Transcription Can Produce Different Kinds...
Transcription is the process of synthesizing RNA from a DNA sequence by RNA polymerase. It is the first step in producing a protein from a gene sequence. Additionally, many other proteins and regulatory sequences are involved in the proper synthesis of messenger RNA (mRNA). Regulation of transcription is responsible for the differentiation of all the different types of cells and often for the proper cellular response to environmental signals.
Transcription Can Produce Different Kinds...
01:16Transduction
Among the three main modes of HGT—transformation, conjugation, and transduction—transduction is unique in that it is mediated by bacteriophages, or bacterial viruses.Transduction occurs in two ways. Generalized transduction occurs during the lytic cycle of a bacteriophage infection. In this process, bacteriophages infect bacterial cells, replicate within them, and ultimately cause cell lysis, releasing newly assembled virions. Occasionally, random fragments of the bacterial genome are...
01:24Evolution of New Traits in Microbes
Microorganisms evolve rapidly due to their large population sizes and short generation times, often exhibiting measurable changes within days under laboratory conditions. Natural selection acts on standing genetic variation, enabling the retention and amplification of beneficial traits that confer fitness advantages in changing environments.Adaptive Pigment Regulation in RhodobacterIn Rhodobacter, a genus of purple non-sulfur bacteria, light-harvesting pigments such as bacteriochlorophyll and...
01:15Natural Selection and Adaptation
Natural selection, a fundamental concept in evolutionary biology, is the mechanism by which evolution is driven, favoring organisms that are best adapted to their environments. This process enhances their chances of survival and reproduction. Adaptation, a key outcome of this process, involves genetic modifications that optimize an organism's functionality under specific environmental challenges, such as extreme cold or thinner air at high altitudes.
Beyond physical adaptations, psychological...
Beyond physical adaptations, psychological...
01:22Diversity in Cell Signaling Responses
The physiological function of a cell and cellular communication are outcomes of a range of extrinsic signals, intracellular signaling pathways, and cellular responses. No two cell types express the same repertoire of signaling components. Receptors are highly selective for their cognate ligands, but once activated, they can alter multiple cellular processes such as DNA transcription, protein synthesis, and metabolic activity.
Graded and Abrupt Responses
Some signaling systems generate...
Graded and Abrupt Responses
Some signaling systems generate...
02:05Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
In contrast, regions which code...
In contrast, regions which code...