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The Evidence for Evolution

The Evidence for Evolution

Genetic variations accumulating within populations over generations give rise to biological evolution. Evolutionary changes can result in the formation of novel varieties and entire new species. These changes are responsible for the diverse forms of life inhabiting the planet. The evidence for evolution suggests that all living organisms descended from common ancestors.

Convergent Evolution

Convergent Evolution

Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.

What is Natural Selection?

What is Natural Selection?

Natural selection is an evolutionary process in which individuals with survival-promoting traits reproduce at higher rates. These favorable traits become more common within a population or species. Naturally selected traits initially arise via random genetic mutations. In order for selection to occur, there must be variation within a population, the trait controlling the variation must be heritable, and there must be an evolutionary advantage for variation in the trait.

Mismatch Repair

Mismatch Repair

Overview of DNA Repair

Overview of DNA Repair

In order to be passed through generations, genomic DNA must be undamaged and error-free. However, every day, DNA in a cell undergoes several thousand to a million damaging events by natural causes and external factors. Ionizing radiation such as UV rays, free radicals produced during cellular respiration, and hydrolytic damage from metabolic reactions can alter the structure of DNA. Damages caused include single-base alteration, base dimerization, chain breaks, and cross-linkage.
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Base Excision Repair

Base Excision Repair

One of the common DNA damages is the chemical alteration of single bases by alkylation, oxidation, or deamination. The altered bases cause mispairing and strand breakage during replication. This type of damage causes minimal change to the DNA double helix structure and can be repaired by the base excision repair (BER) pathways. BER corrects damaged DNA sequences by removing the damaged base and restoring the original base sequence using the complementary strand as a template.
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Author Spotlight: Understanding Microbe Adaptation Using Innovative Techniques for Exploring Thermophilic Evolution

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Pseudogene repair driven by selection pressure applied in experimental evolution.

Amitesh Anand¹, Connor A Olson¹, Laurence Yang¹

¹Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.

Nature Microbiology

|January 30, 2019

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers repaired a pseudogene in Escherichia coli, restoring its iron uptake system. This study explores the functional potential of pseudogenes during adaptive laboratory evolution under selection pressure.

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Area of Science:

Genetics and Molecular Biology
Microbiology
Evolutionary Biology

Background:

Pseudogenes are non-functional gene remnants resulting from mutations.
The persistence of pseudogenes, despite their apparent lack of function, poses evolutionary questions.
Understanding pseudogene roles is crucial for comprehending genome evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the potential for pseudogene repair and functional restoration.
To explore the role of pseudogenes in bacterial adaptation.
To examine the impact of selection pressure on pseudogene evolution in Escherichia coli.

Main Methods:

Adaptive laboratory evolution of Escherichia coli.
Designed selection pressure to favor iron uptake.
Genetic analysis to identify pseudogene repair events.

Main Results:

Successful repair of the pseudogene efeU was achieved.
Restoration of the iron uptake system in Escherichia coli.
Demonstrated functional recovery of a pseudogene under selective conditions.

Conclusions:

Pseudogenes can be repaired to regain function.
Functional pseudogenes can play a role in organismal adaptation.
This highlights the dynamic nature of genomes and the potential for evolutionary innovation from non-functional sequences.