Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 300, Issue 5624, Pages 1404-1409Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1082240
Keywords
-
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The evolutionary significance of stress-induced mutagenesis was evaluated by studying mutagenesis in aging colonies ( MAC) of Escherichia coli natural isolates. A large fraction of isolates exhibited a strong MAC, and the high MAC variability reflected the diversity of selective pressures in ecological niches. MAC depends on starvation, oxygen, and RpoS and adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate regulons; thus it may be a by-product of genetic strategies for improving survival under stress. MAC could also be selected through beneficial mutations that it generates, as shown by computer modeling and the patterns of stress-inducible and constitutive mutagenesis. We suggest that irrespective of the causes of their emergence, stress-induced mutations participate in adaptive evolution.
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