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Monitoring Intraspecies Competition in a Bacterial Cell Population by Cocultivation of Fluorescently Labelled Strains
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Sympatric speciation: when is it possible in bacteria?

Jonathan Friedman1, Eric J Alm, B Jesse Shapiro

  • 1Program in Computational and Systems Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.

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Summary

Sympatric speciation occurs in bacteria when few genetic loci are needed for adaptation. This resolves an evolutionary tradeoff, allowing bacterial populations to diverge into distinct ecological species.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Sympatric speciation theory in sexual eukaryotes suggests few loci are needed for reproductive isolation and niche adaptation.
  • Clonally reproducing bacteria face unique evolutionary constraints compared to sexual eukaryotes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mechanisms of sympatric speciation in simulated microbial populations.
  • To determine if similar speciation outcomes can be achieved in asexual organisms with fewer genetic loci.

Main Methods:

  • Computer simulations of microbial populations undergoing adaptation to new niches.
  • Analysis of the role of recombination and the number of loci involved in speciation.
  • Comparison of simulated results with theoretical predictions for sexual eukaryotes.

Main Results:

  • An evolutionary tradeoff exists between early and late stages of niche adaptation in bacteria.
  • Recombination accelerates early adaptation by combining beneficial alleles but hinders later divergence by homogenizing gene pools.
  • Reducing the number of loci required for adaptation or limiting recombination resolves this tradeoff, facilitating ecological speciation.

Conclusions:

  • Sympatric speciation in bacteria is facilitated by a reduced number of loci required for adaptation.
  • Recombination presents a tradeoff between adaptation speed and species divergence in asexual populations.
  • Bacterial populations can achieve ecological speciation under similar constraints as sexual eukaryotes, despite life history differences.