Effects of periodic bottlenecks on the dynamics of adaptive evolution in microbial populations.

ABSTRACT: Population bottlenecks can impact the rate of adaptation in evolving populations. On the one hand, each bottleneck reduces the genetic variation that fuels adaptation. On the other hand, each founder that survives a bottleneck can undergo more generations and leave more descendants in a resource-limited environment, which allows surviving beneficial mutations to spread more quickly. A theoretical model predicted that the rate of fitness gains should be maximized using ~8-fold dilutions. Here we investigate the impact of repeated bottlenecks on the dynamics of adaptation using numerical simulations and experimental populations of Escherichia coli. Our simulations confirm the model's prediction when populations evolve in a regime where beneficial mutations are rare and waiting times b

SUBMITTER: Izutsu M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11410044 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature