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Optimal strategy for competence differentiation in bacteria.

C Scott Wylie1, Aaron D Trout, David A Kessler

  • 1Center For Theoretical Biological Physics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America. wylie@fas.harvard.edu

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Bacterial transformation, a form of gene exchange, accelerates adaptive evolution and increases fitness. Phenotypic switching between competence and persistence offers an evolutionary advantage, explaining bacterial subpopulations.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Microbial genetics
  • Population genetics

Background:

  • Bacterial transformation facilitates horizontal gene transfer, increasing genetic variation.
  • Natural competence is observed across diverse bacterial species.
  • Transformation involves homologous recombination between bacterial lineages.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary advantages of bacterial transformation.
  • To model the impact of competence and a linked persister phenotype on bacterial evolution.
  • To explain the existence of subpopulations expressing competence.

Main Methods:

  • Stochastic population genetic computer simulations were employed.
  • Simulations incorporated beneficial and deleterious mutations across the genome.
  • Finite deterministic equations were derived and solved to analyze evolutionary dynamics.

Main Results:

  • Transformation was found to increase the rate of adaptive evolution.
  • Transformation can elevate the equilibrium level of bacterial fitness.
  • Strains dynamically switching between competence and persistence were evolutionarily favored over single-phenotype strains.

Conclusions:

  • The trade-off between recombination benefits and persistence costs explains the emergence of subpopulations with varying competence.
  • Phenotypic diversity can arise in bacterial populations due to population genetic forces, even in stable environments.
  • Dynamic switching of phenotypes is an evolutionarily advantageous strategy for bacteria.