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Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

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Published on: August 18, 2023

Evolution repeats itself in replicate long-term studies in the wild.

Patrik Nosil^1,2, Clarissa F de Carvalho³, Romain Villoutreix²

¹Theoretical and Experimental Ecology (SETE), CNRS, 2 route du CNRS, 09200 Moulis, France.

Science Advances

|May 24, 2024

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Evolutionary dynamics are repeatable, with predictable fluctuations in cryptic color patterns observed in stick insects. These patterns are driven by negative frequency-dependent selection acting on existing genetic variation, though new mutations add complexity.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary Biology
Population Genetics
Genomics

Background:

The repeatability of evolution is a central question in biology.
Understanding the role of standing genetic variation and new mutations in evolutionary trajectories is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the predictability and repeatability of evolutionary dynamics in cryptic color patterns.
To determine the role of negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS) in driving these dynamics.
To assess the impact of new mutations on evolutionary predictability.

Main Methods:

Analysis of long-term field data (30 years) from 10 replicate stick insect populations.
Field experiments to test for negative frequency-dependent selection.
Genomic analysis to identify variants associated with new cryptic forms.

Main Results:

Consistent "up-and-down" fluctuations in stripe frequency were observed across all populations.
Negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS) was confirmed as the mechanism driving these fluctuations.
The emergence of new cryptic forms was linked to multiple structural genomic variants.

Conclusions:

Evolutionary change from standing genetic variation is predictable and repeatable.
Demographic and selective variability, coupled with NFDS, drives populations toward predictable dynamics.
While selection on existing variation is deterministic, the origin of new mutations introduces complexity to long-term evolutionary outcomes.