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Automated Microbial Cultivation and Adaptive Evolution using Microbial Microdroplet Culture System MMC
Published on: February 18, 2022
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Survival of the simplest in microbial evolution
Torsten Held1, Daniel Klemmer1, Michael Lässig2
1Institut für Biologische Physik, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicherstr. 77, 50937, Köln, Germany.
Nature Communications
|June 8, 2019
Summary
Clonal interference, a competition in microbial evolution, limits genetic and phenotypic complexity by affecting gene function and population dynamics. Recombination can overcome this, explaining the evolution of sex and genome complexity.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Systems biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Microbial and viral evolution often involves clonal interference, where competing genetic clades arise within a population.
- Clonal interference is a significant factor influencing evolutionary dynamics and the development of biological complexity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how clonal interference impacts systems biology by constraining genetic and phenotypic complexity.
- To analyze the relationship between gene function, evolutionary dynamics, and the evolution of sex.
Main Methods:
- Utilized biophysically grounded evolutionary models for molecular phenotypes, including gene fold stability and enzymatic activity.
- Analyzed the coupling between individual gene function and global population evolutionary dynamics.
Main Results:
- Identified a generic mode of phenotypic interference that links individual gene function to population-level evolutionary dynamics.
- Demonstrated that increased genome complexity incurs a cost proportional to the number of genes, leading to system degradation during adaptation.
- Showed that recombination, above a specific rate, can eliminate this cost, providing a scenario for the evolution of sex.
Conclusions:
- Phenotypic interference plays a crucial role in constraining biological complexity in evolving populations.
- The evolution of sex may be a mechanism to overcome the constraints imposed by phenotypic interference.
- Microbial systems biology is intrinsically linked to their evolutionary mechanisms.
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