Compensatory evolution for a gene deletion is not limited to its immediate functional network.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Genetic disruption of an important phenotype should favor compensatory mutations that restore the phenotype. If the genetic basis of the phenotype is modular, with a network of interacting genes whose functions are specific to that phenotype, compensatory mutations are expected among the genes of the affected network. This perspective was tested in the bacteriophage T3 using a genome deleted of its DNA ligase gene, disrupting DNA metabolism.

Results

In two replicate, long-term adaptations, phage compensatory evolution accommodated the low ligase level provided by the host without reinventing its own ligase. In both lines, fitness increased substantially but remained well below that of the intact genome. Each line accumulated over a dozen compensating mutations dur

SUBMITTER: Harcombe WR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2696425 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature