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Protocols for Implementing an Escherichia coli Based TX-TL Cell-Free Expression System for Synthetic Biology

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Published on: September 16, 2013

Simpson's paradox in a synthetic microbial system.

John S Chuang¹, Olivier Rivoire, Stanislas Leibler

¹Center for Studies in Physics and Biology and Laboratory of Living Matter, Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA. chuangj@rockefeller.edu

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|January 10, 2009

Summary

Common good producers can increase overall, even when nonproducers grow faster within groups. This study used a synthetic microbial system to show how population structure and bottlenecks drive natural selection.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Microbial ecology
Systems biology

Background:

The evolution of cooperation is challenged by "common good" producers, whose shared resources benefit nonproducers.
Nonproducers may outcompete producers within local groups due to the cost of public good production.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the conditions under which common good producers can be maintained in a population.
To explore the role of population structure and stochasticity in the evolution of cooperation.

Main Methods:

A synthetic microbial system using two strains of Escherichia coli (producers and nonproducers) was constructed.
Population structure was manipulated by varying initial group compositions.
Stochastic fluctuations were introduced via population bottlenecks.

Main Results:

Nonproducers exhibited faster growth rates within individual groups.
Despite faster within-group growth of nonproducers, producers increased in overall population size.
Population structure and bottlenecks were identified as key factors generating this paradoxical outcome.

Conclusions:

The maintenance of common good producers is possible even with within-group competition.
Synthetic biology approaches can reveal fundamental mechanisms of natural selection.
Stochasticity and population structure are critical in shaping evolutionary dynamics.