Experimental Evolution of <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> Reveals the Evolutionary Dynamics of Horizontal Gene Transfer and Suggests Adaptive and Neutral Effects
Shai Slomka, Itamar Françoise, Gil Hornung, Omer Asraf, Tammy Biniashvili, Yitzhak Pilpel, Orna Dahan
Abstract
donors but not from more remote donors. HGT occurred in bursts, whereby a single bacterial cell appears to have acquired dozens of fragments at once. In the largest burst, close to 2% of the genome has been replaced by HGT. Acquired segments tend to be clustered in integration hotspots. Other than HGT, genomes also acquired spontaneous mutations. Many of these mutations occurred within, and seem to alter, the sequence of flagellar proteins. Finally, we show that, while some HGT fragments could be neutral, others are adaptive and accelerate evolution.
Topics & Concepts
BiologyHorizontal gene transferBacillus subtilisGeneticsAdaptation (eye)Genome evolutionGenomeGeneExperimental evolutionEvolutionary biologyBacterial genome sizeConcerted evolutionEvolutionary dynamicsMolecular evolutionHuman evolutionary geneticsBacteriaPopulationNeuroscienceSociologyDemographyGenomics and Phylogenetic StudiesCRISPR and Genetic EngineeringEvolution and Genetic Dynamics