Fluctuating Environments Maintain Genetic Diversity through Neutral Fitness Effects and Balancing Selection.

ABSTRACT: Genetic variation is the raw material upon which selection acts. The majority of environmental conditions change over time and therefore may result in variable selective effects. How temporally fluctuating environments impact the distribution of fitness effects and in turn population diversity is an unresolved question in evolutionary biology. Here, we employed continuous culturing using chemostats to establish environments that switch periodically between different nutrient limitations and compared the dynamics of selection to static conditions. We used the pooled Saccharomyces cerevisiae haploid gene deletion collection as a synthetic model for populations comprising thousands of unique genotypes. Using barcode sequencing, we find that static environments are uniquely characterized by a

SUBMITTER: Abdul-Rahman F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8476146 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature