Bistability in a metabolic network underpins the de novo evolution of colony switching in Pseudomonas fluorescens.

ABSTRACT: Phenotype switching is commonly observed in nature. This prevalence has allowed the elucidation of a number of underlying molecular mechanisms. However, little is known about how phenotypic switches arise and function in their early evolutionary stages. The first opportunity to provide empirical insight was delivered by an experiment in which populations of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 evolved, de novo, the ability to switch between two colony phenotypes. Here we unravel the molecular mechanism behind colony switching, revealing how a single nucleotide change in a gene enmeshed in central metabolism (carB) generates such a striking phenotype. We show that colony switching is underpinned by ON/OFF expression of capsules consisting of a colanic acid-like polymer. We use molecu

SUBMITTER: Gallie J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4357382 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature