Leapfrog dynamics in phage-bacteria coevolution revealed by joint analysis of cross-infection phenotypes and whole genome sequencing.

ABSTRACT: Viruses and their hosts can undergo coevolutionary arms races where hosts evolve increased resistance and viruses evolve counter-resistance. Given these arms race dynamics (ARD), both players are predicted to evolve along a single trajectory as more recently evolved genotypes replace their predecessors. By coupling phenotypic and genomic analyses of coevolving populations of bacteriophage λ and Escherichia coli, we find conflicting evidence for ARD. Virus-host infection phenotypes fit the ARD model, yet genomic analyses revealed fluctuating selection dynamics. Rather than coevolution unfolding along a single trajectory, cryptic genetic variation emerges and is maintained at low frequency for generations until it eventually supplants dominant lineages. These observations suggest a hybrid 'l

SUBMITTER: Gupta A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10167754 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature