Mutators and Sex in Bacteria: Conflict between Adaptive Strategies

Bacterial mutation rates can increase and produce genetic novelty, as shown by in vitro and in silico experiments. Despite the cost due to a heavy deleterious mutation load, mutator alleles, which increase the mutation rate, can spread in asexual populations during adaptation because they remain ass...

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Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 97; no. 19; pp. 10465 - 10470
Main Authors Tenaillon, Olivier, Le Nagard, Herve, Godelle, Bernard, Taddei, Francois
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 12.09.2000
National Acad Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences
Subjects
Adaptation, Physiological
Alleles
Bacteria
Bacteria - genetics
Bacterial Physiological Phenomena
Biological Sciences
Evolution
Evolutionary genetics
Genetic exchange
Genetic loci
Genetic mutation
Genome, Bacterial
Mutation
Population genetics
Population growth rate
Population mean
Population size
Reproduction
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Summary:Bacterial mutation rates can increase and produce genetic novelty, as shown by in vitro and in silico experiments. Despite the cost due to a heavy deleterious mutation load, mutator alleles, which increase the mutation rate, can spread in asexual populations during adaptation because they remain associated with the rare favorable mutations they generate. This indirect selection for a genetic system generating diversity (second-order selection) is expected to be highly sensitive to changes in the dynamics of adaptation. Here we show by a simulation approach that even rare genetic exchanges, such as bacterial conjugation or transformation, can dramatically reduce the selection of mutators. Moreover, drift or competition between the processes of mutation and recombination in the course of adaptation reveal how second-order selection is unable to optimize the rate of generation of novelty.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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Edited by John Maynard Smith, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom, and approved July 3, 2000
To whom reprint requests should be addressed at: E9916 INSERM, Génétique Moleculaire Evolutive et Médicale, Faculté de Médecine–“Necker–Enfants malades,” Université René Descartes–Paris V, 156 Rue de Vaugirard, 75730 Paris Cedex 15, France. E-mail: tenaillon@necker.fr.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.180063397