A common, non-optimal phenotypic endpoint in experimental adaptations of bacteriophage lysis time.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Optimality models of evolution, which ignore genetic details and focus on natural selection, are widely used but sometimes criticized as oversimplifications. Their utility for quantitatively predicting phenotypic evolution can be tested experimentally. One such model predicts optimal bacteriophage lysis interval, how long a virus should produce progeny before lysing its host bacterium to release them. The genetic basis of this life history trait is well studied in many easily propagated phages, making it possible to test the model across a variety of environments and taxa.

Results

We adapted two related small single-stranded DNA phages, ΦX174 and ST-1, to various conditions. The model predicted the evolution of the lysis interval in response to host density and ot

SUBMITTER: Chantranupong L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3324380 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature