Disentangling genetic and epigenetic determinants of ultrafast adaptation.

ABSTRACT: A major rationale for the advocacy of epigenetically mediated adaptive responses is that they facilitate faster adaptation to environmental challenges. This motivated us to develop a theoretical-experimental framework for disclosing the presence of such adaptation-speeding mechanisms in an experimental evolution setting circumventing the need for pursuing costly mutation-accumulation experiments. To this end, we exposed clonal populations of budding yeast to a whole range of stressors. By growth phenotyping, we found that almost complete adaptation to arsenic emerged after a few mitotic cell divisions without involving any phenotypic plasticity. Causative mutations were identified by deep sequencing of the arsenic-adapted populations and reconstructed for validation. Mutation effects on gr

SUBMITTER: Gjuvsland AB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5199126 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature