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Microbial evolution. Global epistasis makes adaptation predictable despite sequence-level stochasticity.

Sergey Kryazhimskiy1,2, Daniel P Rice1,2, Elizabeth R Jerison3,2

  • 1Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138.

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Evolutionary trajectories are not limited by initial mutations. Beneficial mutations have smaller effects in fitter backgrounds, leading to predictable fitness evolution despite stochastic adaptation.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Genetics
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Epistatic interactions between mutations influence evolutionary paths.
  • Adaptability can vary significantly among genotypes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify evolutionary contingency in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
  • To investigate how initial genotype affects future mutational trajectories.
  • To understand the role of epistasis in adaptation.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental evolution in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
  • Sequencing of evolved clones.
  • Reconstruction of mutation combinations.

Main Results:

  • Initial genotype did not constrain future mutational trajectories.
  • Diminishing-returns epistasis observed: beneficial mutations have smaller effects in fitter backgrounds.
  • Beneficial mutations are globally coupled through their effect on fitness.

Conclusions:

  • Fitness evolution follows a predictable trajectory.
  • Sequence-level adaptation is stochastic, but overall fitness gains are constrained.
  • Epistatic interactions play a crucial role in shaping evolutionary outcomes.