Does selective gene activation direct evolution?

Wright, Barbara E.

doi:10.1016/s0014-5793(96)01479-2

Cited by 25 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The mutations were stable in that after mutant cells were grown on fructose or glucose and put through a transfer on cellobiose, they still grew rapidly on fructose or glucose. These findings (138,253) constituted one of the early reports of adaptive mutation (48,112,350).…”

Section: ϫ4mentioning

confidence: 61%

Cellulase, Clostridia, and Ethanol

Demain

Newcomb

2005

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

810

579

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SUMMARY Biomass conversion to ethanol as a liquid fuel by the thermophilic and anaerobic clostridia offers a potential partial solution to the problem of the world's dependence on petroleum for energy. Coculture of a cellulolytic strain and a saccharolytic strain of Clostridium on agricultural resources, as well as on urban and industrial cellulosic wastes, is a promising approach to an alternate energy source from an economic viewpoint. This review discusses the need for such a process, the cellulases of clostridia, their presence in extracellular complexes or organelles (the cellulosomes), the binding of the cellulosomes to cellulose and to the cell surface, cellulase genetics, regulation of their synthesis, cocultures, ethanol tolerance, and metabolic pathway engineering for maximizing ethanol yield.

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Section: ϫ4mentioning

confidence: 61%

Cellulase, Clostridia, and Ethanol

Demain

Newcomb

2005

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

810

579

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“…Starvation for a specific amino acid usually causes the genes for the biosynthesis of that amino acid to be derepressed, while the stringent response causes a general increase in transcription. Since active transcription tends to increase the mutation rate of the transcribed DNA [27][28][29][30][31], the stringent response provides a way that mutations can be directed to useful genes [30].…”

Section: The Stringent Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Stress responses and genetic variation in bacteria

Foster

2005

Mutation Research/Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutag

178

106

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Under stressful conditions mechanisms that increase genetic variation can bestow a selective advantage. Bacteria have several stress responses that provide ways in which mutation rates can be increased. These include the SOS response, the general stress response, the heat-shock response, and the stringent response, all of which impact the regulation of error-prone polymerases. Adaptive mutation appears to be process by which cells can respond to selective pressure specifically by producing mutations. In Escherichia coli strain FC40 adaptive mutation involves the following inducible components: (i) a recombination pathway that generates mutations; (ii) a DNA polymerase that synthesizes error-containing DNA; and (iii) stress responses that regulate cellular processes. In addition, a subpopulation of cells enters into a state of hypermutation, giving rise to about 10% of the single mutants and virtually all of the mutants with multiple mutations. These bacterial responses have implications for the development of cancer and other genetic disorders in higher organisms.

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“…From the standpoint of molecular mechanisms it is conceivable that the mutagenic effects associated with a cell sensing its environment and history could be as exquisitely regulated as transcription often is (Davis 1989), perhaps through the action of the same factors (Liu and Doetsch 1998). Transcription plus high levels of guanosine tetraphosphate in E. coli is reported to increase mutagenesis specifically in genes are that are ppGpp induced (Wright 1996(Wright , 1997Wright and Minnick 1997). The extent of focused mutagenesis during stress responses is controversial with critiques and counter-critiques of experimental design and interpretation.…”

Section: Developmental and Physiological Themes In Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hereditary stability and variation in evolution and development

Thaler

1999

Evolution and Development

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SUMMARY Evolution and development are both lineage processes but are often conceptualized as occurring by different and mutually exclusive mechanisms. It is conventionally asserted that evolution occurs via the random generation of diversity and the subsequent survival of those that pass selection. On the other hand, development is too often presented as proceeding via the unfolding of a deterministic program encoded in the DNA sequence. In biology, universal generalizations are rare and dogmas are often wrong for particular cases. Deterministic mechanisms contribute some of the new DNA sequences that subsequently become substrates for natural selection. Conversely, stochastic and selective mechanisms are intrinsic to development, and also to maintenance of the immune, and possibly, nervous systems. Cancer appears to be another process that straddles distinctions between evolutionary and developmental modes of hereditary change and stabilization. DNA sequence changes are an essential feature of many cancers, but there are also aspects of the disease similar to developmental lineage gone awry. The literature suggests that the cellular changes that give rise to cancer occur by mechanisms commonly associated with both evolutionary and developmental lineage pathways.

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Does selective gene activation direct evolution?

Cited by 25 publications

References 39 publications

Cellulase, Clostridia, and Ethanol

Cellulase, Clostridia, and Ethanol

Stress responses and genetic variation in bacteria

Hereditary stability and variation in evolution and development

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