Adaptive mutation: A general phenomenon or special case?

Benson, Spencer A.

doi:10.1002/bies.950190104

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The rapidity of takeover of chemostat populations by fitter bacteria is also well known (Helling et al, 1987), but the number and type of mutations in these evolved bacteria has never been defined. Also, the relationship of DNA changes under nutrient limitation to the contentious 'directed' or 'adaptive' mutations observed in agar plate selections of Cairns et al (1988), Foster (1993), Sniegowski and Lenski (1995) and Benson (1997) is also unknown. In this and the accompanying study (Notley-McRobb and Ferenci, 1999), we identify some of the most commonly found mutations in glucose-limited populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, the relationship of DNA changes under nutrient limitation to the contentious ‘directed’ or ‘adaptive’ mutations observed in agar plate selections of Cairns et al . (1988), Foster (1993), Sniegowski and Lenski (1995) and Benson (1997) is also unknown. In this and the accompanying study (Notley‐McRobb and Ferenci, 1999), we identify some of the most commonly found mutations in glucose‐limited populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The generation of multiple co‐existing mal‐regulatory mutations through polygenic evolution in glucose‐limited populations of Escherichia coli

McRobb

Ferenci

1999

Environmental Microbiology

106

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The multicomponent glucose transport system of Escherichia coli was used to study the polygenic basis of increased fitness in prolonged nutrient-limited, continuous cultures. After 280 generations of glucose-limited growth, nearly all bacteria in four independent chemostat populations exhibited increased glucose transport and contained multiple, stable mutations. Fitter bacteria increased outer membrane permeability for glucose through overexpression of the LamB glycoporin. Three classes of mutation influenced LamB levels as well as regulation of other mal genes. Low-level mal/lamB constitutivity resulted from mlc mutations acquired in all populations as well as changes at another uncharacterized locus. Larger increases in transporter content resulted from widespread acquisition of a regulatory malT-con mutation in fit isolates. The malT mutations sequenced from 67 adapted isolates were all single base substitutions resulting in amino acid replacements in the N-terminal third of the MalT activator protein. Analysis of malT-con sequences revealed a mutational spectrum distinct from that found in plate-selected malT mutants, suggesting that mutational pathways were affected by environmental factors. A second major finding was the remarkable allele diversity in malT within a population derived from a single clone, with at least 11 different alleles co-existing in a population. The multiplicity of alleles (as well as those found in adaptive mgl changes in the accompanying study) suggest that the periodic selection events observed previously in such populations are not a major factor in reducing genetic diversity. A simple model is presented for the generation of genetic heterogeneity in bacterial populations undergoing polygenic selection.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The generation of multiple co‐existing mal‐regulatory mutations through polygenic evolution in glucose‐limited populations of Escherichia coli

McRobb

Ferenci

1999

Environmental Microbiology

106

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“…Other workers can and do use it in a variety of other senses. Our discussion, however, concerns Lamarckian inheritance as a biological phenomenon (for a sampling of the recent literature on Lamarckian forms of inheritance, see Andersson et al 1998;Benson 1997;Jablonka & Lamb 1995;Lenski & Mittler 1993;MacPhee & Ambrose 1996;Peck & Eyre-Walker 1998;Rosenberg et al 1995).…”

Section: Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A general account of selection: Biology, immunology, and behavior

2001

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Authors frequently refer to gene-based selection in biological evolution, the reaction of the immune system to antigens, and operant learning as exemplifying selection processes in the same sense of this term. However, as obvious as this claim may seem on the surface, setting out an account of “selection” that is general enough to incorporate all three of these processes without becoming so general as to be vacuous is far from easy. In this target article, we set out such a general account of selection to see how well it accommodates these very different sorts of selection. The three fundamental elements of this account are replication, variation, and environmental interaction. For selection to occur, these three processes must be related in a very specific way. In particular, replication must alternate with environmental interaction so that any changes that occur in replication are passed on differentially because of environmental interaction.One of the main differences among the three sorts of selection that we investigate concerns the role of organisms. In traditional biological evolution, organisms play a central role with respect to environmental interaction. Although environmental interaction can occur at other levels of the organizational hierarchy, organisms are the primary focus of environmental interaction. In the functioning of the immune system, organisms function as containers. The interactions that result in selection of antibodies during a lifetime are between entities (antibodies and antigens) contained within the organism. Resulting changes in the immune system of one organism are not passed on to later organisms. Nor are changes in operant behavior resulting from behavioral selection passed on to later organisms. But operant behavior is not contained in the organism because most of the interactions that lead to differential replication include parts of the world outside the organism. Changes in the organism's nervous system are the effects of those interactions. The role of genes also varies in these three systems. Biological evolution is gene-based (i.e., genes are the primary replicators). Genes play very different roles in operant behavior and the immune system. However, in all three systems, iteration is central. All three selection processes are also incredibly wasteful and inefficient. They can generate complexity and novelty primarily because they are so wasteful and inefficient.

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“…Gershenson [99] used the terminology directed mutations for these phenomena, but he called them non-adaptive because the mutations were of a certain kind, but unfavorable as such. Fifty years later, a revival of this terminology happened after Cairns and Foster [4,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Specificity Of Mutationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Davis [10] contributed in the discussion with a non-Lamarckian mechanism for substrate-induced mutations and by mentioning the implications of this controversial concept of environmentally induced mutations for the speed of evolution. The discussion [11][12][13][14][15][16] and generation of new data continue until today [17][18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concurrent teratogenic and mutagenic action of 2‐methoxyethanol in Drosophila melanogaster larvae resulted in similar phenotypes: Close resemblance to directed mutations

Eisses

1999

Teratog. Carcinog. Mutagen.

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Early third instar larvae of wild-type Drosophila melanogaster were transferred to medium supplemented with 2-methoxyethanol (2-ME) or ethylene glycol monomethyl ether. 2-ME produced terata in adult flies as wing notches and duplications of macrochaetae similar to feeding with methoxyacetic acid (MAA), the oxidation product of 2-ME. Larval feeding with 2-ME also affected the fertility of both females and males. 2-ME or more likely its intermediate oxidation product, methoxyacetaldehyde (MAALD), concurrently generated mutations in the premeiotic stages of the oocytes in the early third instar larvae. The mutagenicity of 2-ME has been confirmed in subsequent small scale experiments. The mutation frequency ranged from 4 x 10(-4) to 1 x 10(-2). Although terata were not supposed to be heritable, 1.1 to 8.7% of the affected females produced offspring with phenotypic similarity to the female parent. This phenomenon looked like a classical example of inheritance of an acquired character. The question is addressed why a Notch-like phenocopy, generated by larval 2-ME treatment, could bring forth Notch and rudimentary mutants in particular. Administration of 2-ME to larvae, containing the highly active alcohol dehydrogenase variant ADH-71k, exposed the mitotic germ cells and the mitotic somatic cells of the imaginal discs simultaneously to the mutagen MAALD and the teratogen MAA, respectively. The chances for specific gene mutations, though non-adaptive, were likely increased by a feedback mechanism: gene-products that were inhibited or disturbed by the teratogen demanded increased transcription of their encoding genes. Transcribed genes are more susceptible to mutagens.

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Adaptive mutation: A general phenomenon or special case?

Cited by 10 publications

References 32 publications

The generation of multiple co‐existing mal‐regulatory mutations through polygenic evolution in glucose‐limited populations of Escherichia coli

The generation of multiple co‐existing mal‐regulatory mutations through polygenic evolution in glucose‐limited populations of Escherichia coli

A general account of selection: Biology, immunology, and behavior

Concurrent teratogenic and mutagenic action of 2‐methoxyethanol in Drosophila melanogaster larvae resulted in similar phenotypes: Close resemblance to directed mutations

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