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Design and Use of a Low Cost, Automated Morbidostat for Adaptive Evolution of Bacteria Under Antibiotic Drug Selection
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The evolution of reduced microbial killing.

Jan A C Vriezen1, Michael Valliere, Margaret A Riley

  • 1Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, MA, USA. cvriezen@bio.umass.edu

Genome Biology and Evolution
|March 25, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Bacteria evolved reduced killing ability and increased fitness when producing colicins without a target. Chromosomal gene expression changes, not plasmid mutations, drove these adaptations, involving DNA repair, magnesium uptake, and prophage genes.

Keywords:
DNA repairEscherichia colicolicinogenyprophageserial transfertranscriptional profiling

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Bacterial Genetics

Background:

  • Bacteria engage in intense competition, leading to the evolution of biological weapons like colicins.
  • Colicins are plasmid-encoded toxins targeting strains of Escherichia coli, crucial in bacterial arms races.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate molecular responses in colicin-producing bacteria during evolution without a target.
  • To determine if colicin-mediated killing ability is maintained in the absence of prey.
  • To identify evolutionary changes in response to colicin production pressures.

Main Methods:

  • Serial transfer evolution of colicinogenic and non-colicinogenic Escherichia coli strains for 253 generations.
  • Monitoring of bacterial killing ability throughout the experimental evolution.
  • DNA sequencing of colicin plasmids and analysis of chromosomal gene expression in evolved strains.

Main Results:

  • Colicin-producing strains showed decreased killing ability and increased fitness by the 38th transfer.
  • No sequence changes were detected in the colicin plasmids of evolved strains.
  • Significant changes in chromosomal gene expression were observed, including downregulation of DNA repair genes and upregulation of Mg ion uptake and late prophage genes.

Conclusions:

  • Bacterial evolution under colicin production pressure involves complex chromosomal gene expression changes, not just plasmid alterations.
  • Adaptations include reduced killing efficacy and enhanced fitness, mediated by coordinated shifts in DNA repair, ion transport, and phage-related gene expression.
  • The study reveals a more extensive genetic regulatory network involved in colicin production evolution than previously anticipated.