Each of 3,323 metabolic innovations in the evolution of E. coli arose through the horizontal transfer of a single DNA segment.

ABSTRACT: Even closely related prokaryotes often show an astounding diversity in their ability to grow in different nutritional environments. It has been hypothesized that complex metabolic adaptations-those requiring the independent acquisition of multiple new genes-can evolve via selectively neutral intermediates. However, it is unclear whether this neutral exploration of phenotype space occurs in nature, or what fraction of metabolic adaptations is indeed complex. Here, we reconstruct metabolic models for the ancestors of a phylogeny of 53 Escherichia coli strains, linking genotypes to phenotypes on a genome-wide, macroevolutionary scale. Based on the ancestral and extant metabolic models, we identify 3,323 phenotypic innovations in the history of the E. coli clade that arose throug

SUBMITTER: Pang TY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6320504 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature