Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 110, Issue 1, Pages 222-227Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1219574110
Keywords
experimental evolution; genomics; mutators; phylogenomics
Categories
Funding
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche [ANR-08-GENM-023-001]
- Universite Joseph Fourier Grenoble
- CNRS
- CNRS Projets Exploratoires/Premier Soutien and Projets Exploratoires Pluridisciplinaires Inter-Instituts
- National Institutes of Health [R00GM087550]
- National Science Foundation (NSF) [DEB-1019989]
- BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action [NSF] [DBI-0939454]
- ANR Program Genomique
- Division Of Environmental Biology
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1019989] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Mutations are the ultimate source of heritable variation for evolution. Understanding how mutation rates themselves evolve is thus essential for quantitatively understanding many evolutionary processes. According to theory, mutation rates should be minimized for well-adapted populations living in stable environments, whereas hypermutators may evolve if conditions change. However, the long-term fate of hypermutators is unknown. Using a phylogenomic approach, we found that an adapting Escherichia coli population that first evolved a mutT hypermutator phenotype was later invaded by two independent lineages with mutY mutations that reduced genome-wide mutation rates. Applying neutral theory to synonymous substitutions, we dated the emergence of these mutations and inferred that the mutT mutation increased the point-mutation rate by similar to 150-fold, whereas the mutY mutations reduced the rate by similar to 40-60%, with a corresponding decrease in the genetic load. Thus, the long-term fate of the hypermutators was governed by the selective advantage arising from a reduced mutation rate as the potential for further adaptation declined.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available