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Updated: Jun 19, 2026
08:11
Adaptation at the Extremes of Life: Experimental Evolution with the Extremophile Archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius
Published on: June 14, 2024
Comparative systems biology across an evolutionary gradient within the Shewanella genus
Konstantinos T Konstantinidis1, Margrethe H Serres, Margaret F Romine
1School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 310 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA. kostas@ce.gatech.edu
Summary
Genotypic and phenotypic similarities in Shewanella are predictable by evolutionary relatedness, but gene expression differences are larger than genomic ones. This highlights gene regulation
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Genomics
- Systems Biology
Background:
- Understanding the link between genotype and phenotype is crucial for defining microbial species.
- Shewanella species offer a model system due to available genomic and proteomic data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantitatively assess how genotypic differences relate to phenotypic variation in Shewanella.
- To explore the influence of evolutionary relatedness and ecological specialization on these variations.
Main Methods:
- Comparative genomics of 10 Shewanella strains/species.
- Analysis of expressed proteomic profiles.
- Physiological studies under controlled conditions.
Main Results:
- Genotypic and phenotypic similarities generally correlate with evolutionary relatedness, despite horizontal gene transfer.
- Ecological specialization impacts the predictability of similarities.
- Whole-cell protein expression differences exceed genomic differences, suggesting regulatory divergence.
Conclusions:
- Evolutionary relatedness is a key predictor of Shewanella similarity, but gene expression is a critical factor for species definition.
- A systems-level approach integrating genomics, proteomics, and physiology is needed for a comprehensive understanding of bacterial species.
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