Evidence for multiple adaptive peaks from populations of bacteria evolving in a structured habitat

Spatial structure could explain the maintenance of alternative reproductive tactics in tree cricket males

Trait polymorphisms are widespread in nature, and explaining their stable co-existence is a central problem in ecology and evolution. Alternative reproductive tactics, in which individuals of one or more sex exhibit discrete, discontinuous traits in response to reproductive competition, represent a special case of trait polymorphism in which the traits are often complex, behavioural, and dynamic. Thus, studying how alternative reproductive tactics are maintained may provide general insights into how complex trait polymorphisms are maintained in populations. We construct a spatially explicit individual-based model inspired from extensively collected empirical data to address the mechanisms behind the co-existence of three behavioural alternative reproductive tactics in males of a tree cricket (Oecanthus henryi). Our results show that the co-existence of these tactics over ecological time scales is facilitated by the spatial structure of the landscape they inhabit, which serves to equalise the otherwise unequal mating benefits of the three tactics. We also show that this co-existence is unlikely if spatial aspects of the system are not considered. Our findings highlight the importance of spatial dynamics in understanding ecological and evolutionary processes and underscore the power of integrative approaches that combine models with empirical data.

Biofilms preserve the transmissibility of a multi-drug resistance plasmid

Self-transmissible multidrug resistance (MDR) plasmids are a major health concern because they can spread antibiotic resistance to pathogens. Even though most pathogens form biofilms, little is known about how MDR plasmids persist and evolve in biofilms. We hypothesize that (i) biofilms act as refugia of MDR plasmids by retaining them in the absence of antibiotics longer than well-mixed planktonic populations and that (ii) the evolutionary trajectories that account for the improvement of plasmid persistence over time differ between biofilms and planktonic populations. In this study, we evolved Acinetobacter baumannii with an MDR plasmid in biofilm and planktonic populations with and without antibiotic selection. In the absence of selection, biofilm populations were better able to maintain the MDR plasmid than planktonic populations. In planktonic populations, plasmid persistence improved rapidly but was accompanied by a loss of genes required for the horizontal transfer of plasmids. In contrast, in biofilms, most plasmids retained their transfer genes, but on average, plasmid, persistence improved less over time. Our results showed that biofilms can act as refugia of MDR plasmids and favor the horizontal mode of plasmid transfer, which has important implications for the spread of MDR.

Biofilm antimicrobial susceptibility through an experimental evolutionary lens

Experimental evolution experiments in which bacterial populations are repeatedly exposed to an antimicrobial treatment, and examination of the genotype and phenotype of the resulting evolved bacteria, can help shed light on mechanisms behind reduced susceptibility. In this review we present an overview of why it is important to include biofilms in experimental evolution, which approaches are available to study experimental evolution in biofilms and what experimental evolution has taught us about tolerance and resistance in biofilms. Finally, we present an emerging consensus view on biofilm antimicrobial susceptibility supported by data obtained during experimental evolution studies.

Soil microbial distribution and assembly are related to vegetation biomass in the alpine permafrost regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

It is generally believed that there is a vegetation succession sequence from alpine marsh meadow to desert in the alpine ecosystem of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. However, we still have a limited understanding about distribution patterns and community assemblies of microorganisms' response to such vegetation changes. Hence, across a gradient represented by three types of alpine vegetation from swamp meadow to meadow to steppe, the soil bacterial, fungal and archaeal diversity was evaluated and then associated with their assembly processes, and glacier foreland vegetation was also surveyed as a case out of this gradient. Vegetation biomass was found to decrease significantly along the vegetation gradient. In contrast to irregular shifts in alpha diversity, bacterial and fungal beta diversities that were dominated by species replacement components (71.07-79.08%) significantly increased with the decreasing gradient in vegetation biomass (P < 0.05). These trends of increase were also found in the extent of stochastic bacterial and fungal assembly. Moreover, an increase in microbial beta diversity but a decrease in beta nearest taxon index were observed along with increased discrepancy in vegetation biomass (P < 0.001). Stepwise regression analyses and structural equation models suggested that vegetation biomass was the major variable that was related to microbial distribution and community assembly, and there might be associations between the dominance of species replacements and stochastic assembly. These findings enhanced our recognition of the relationship between vegetation and soil microorganisms and would facilitate the development of vegetation-microbe feedback models in alpine ecosystems.

Lineage dynamics in growing biofilms: Spatial patterns of standing vs. de novo diversity

Microbial biofilms show high phenotypic and genetic diversity, yet the mechanisms underlying diversity generation and maintenance remain unclear. Here, we investigate how spatial patterns of growth activity within a biofilm lead to spatial patterns of genetic diversity. Using individual-based computer simulations, we show that the active layer of growing cells at the biofilm interface controls the distribution of lineages within the biofilm, and therefore the patterns of standing and de novo diversity. Comparing biofilms of equal size, those with a thick active layer retain more standing diversity, while de novo diversity is more evenly distributed within the biofilm. In contrast, equal-sized biofilms with a thin active layer retain less standing diversity, and their de novo diversity is concentrated at the top of the biofilm, and in fewer lineages. In the context of antimicrobial resistance, biofilms with a thin active layer may be more prone to generate lineages with multiple resistance mutations, and to seed new resistant biofilms via sloughing of resistant cells from the upper layers. Our study reveals fundamental "baseline" mechanisms underlying the patterning of diversity within biofilms.

Hydrodynamic flow and concentration gradients in the gut enhance neutral bacterial diversity

The gut microbiota features important genetic diversity, and the specific spatial features of the gut may shape evolution within this environment. We investigate the fixation probability of neutral bacterial mutants within a minimal model of the gut that includes hydrodynamic flow and resulting gradients of food and bacterial concentrations. We find that this fixation probability is substantially increased, compared with an equivalent well-mixed system, in the regime where the profiles of food and bacterial concentration are strongly spatially dependent. Fixation probability then becomes independent of total population size. We show that our results can be rationalized by introducing an active population, which consists of those bacteria that are actively consuming food and dividing. The active population size yields an effective population size for neutral mutant fixation probability in the gut.

Evolving Populations in Biofilms Contain More Persistent Plasmids

Bacterial plasmids substantially contribute to the rapid spread of antibiotic resistance, which is a crisis in healthcare today. Coevolution of plasmids and their hosts promotes this spread of resistance by ameliorating the cost of plasmid carriage. However, our knowledge of plasmid–bacteria coevolution is solely based on studies done in well-mixed liquid cultures, even though biofilms represent the main way of bacterial life on Earth and are responsible for most infections. The spatial structure and the heterogeneity provided by biofilms are known to lead to increased genetic diversity as compared with well-mixed liquids. Therefore, we expect that growth in this complex environment could affect the evolutionary trajectories of plasmid–host dyads. We experimentally evolved Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 with plasmid pBP136Gm in biofilms and chemostats and sequenced the genomes of clones and populations. Biofilm populations not only maintained a higher diversity of mutations than chemostat populations but contained a few clones with markedly more persistent plasmids that evolved via multiple distinct trajectories. These included the acquisition of a putative toxin–antitoxin transposon by the plasmid and chromosomal mutations. Some of these genetic changes resulted in loss of plasmid transferability or decrease in plasmid cost. Growth in chemostats led to a higher proportion of variants with decreased plasmid persistence, a phenomenon not detected in biofilms. We suggest that the presence of more stable plasmid–host dyads in biofilms reflects higher genetic diversity and possibly unknown selection pressures. Overall, this study underscores the importance of the mode of growth in the evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Evolution in alternating environments with tunable interlandscape correlations

Natural populations are often exposed to temporally varying environments. Evolutionary dynamics in varying environments have been extensively studied, although understanding the effects of varying selection pressures remains challenging. Here, we investigate how cycling between a pair of statistically related fitness landscapes affects the evolved fitness of an asexually reproducing population. We construct pairs of fitness landscapes that share global fitness features but are correlated with one another in a tunable way, resulting in landscape pairs with specific correlations. We find that switching between these landscape pairs, depending on the ruggedness of the landscape and the interlandscape correlation, can either increase or decrease steady-state fitness relative to evolution in single environments. In addition, we show that switching between rugged landscapes often selects for increased fitness in both landscapes, even in situations where the landscapes themselves are anticorrelated. We demonstrate that positively correlated landscapes often possess a shared maximum in both landscapes that allows the population to step through sub-optimal local fitness maxima that often trap single landscape evolution trajectories. Finally, we demonstrate that switching between anticorrelated paired landscapes leads to ergodic-like dynamics where each genotype is populated with nonzero probability, dramatically lowering the steady-state fitness in comparison to single landscape evolution.

Compost spatial heterogeneity promotes evolutionary diversification of a bacterium

Spatial resource heterogeneity is expected to be a key driver for the evolution of diversity. However, direct empirical support for this prediction is limited to studies carried out in simplified laboratory environments. Here, we investigate how altering spatial heterogeneity of potting compost-by the addition of water and mixing-affects the evolutionary diversification of a bacterial species, Pseudomonas fluorescens, that is naturally found in the environment. There was a greater propensity of resource specialists to evolve in the unmanipulated compost, while more generalist phenotypes dominated the compost-water mix. Genomic data were consistent with these phenotypic findings. Competition experiments strongly suggest these results are due to diversifying selection as a result of resource heterogeneity, as opposed to other covariables. Overall, our findings corroborate theoretical and in vitro findings, but in semi-natural, more realistic conditions.

Spatiotemporal pattern formation in E. coli biofilms explained by a simple physical energy balance

While the biofilm growth mode conveys notable thriving advantages to bacterial populations, the mechanisms of biofilm formation are still strongly debated. Here, we investigate the remarkable spontaneous formation of regular spatial patterns during the growth of an Escherichia coli biofilm. These patterns reported here appear with non-motile bacteria, which excludes both chemotactic origins and other motility-based ones. We demonstrate that a minimal physical model based on phase separation describes them well. To confirm the predictive capacity of our model, we tune the cell-cell and cell-surface interactions using cells expressing different surface appendages. We further explain how F pilus-bearing cells enroll their wild type kindred, poorly piliated, into their typical pattern when mixed together. This work supports the hypothesis that purely physicochemical processes, such as the interplay of cell-cell and cell-surface interactions, can drive the emergence of a highly organized spatial structure that is potentially decisive for community fate and for biological functions.

John ME. How to Investigate the Origins of Novelty: Insights Gained from Genetic, Behavioral, and Fitness Perspectives

Biologists are drawn to the most extraordinary adaptations in the natural world, often referred to as evolutionary novelties, yet rarely do we understand the microevolutionary context underlying the origins of novel traits, behaviors, or ecological niches. Here we discuss insights gained into the origins of novelty from a research program spanning biological levels of organization from genotype to fitness in Caribbean pupfishes. We focus on a case study of the origins of novel trophic specialists on San Salvador Island, Bahamas and place this radiation in the context of other rapid radiations. We highlight questions that can be addressed about the origins of novelty at different biological levels, such as measuring the isolation of novel phenotypes on the fitness landscape, locating the spatial and temporal origins of adaptive variation contributing to novelty, detecting dysfunctional gene regulation due to adaptive divergence, and connecting behaviors with novel traits. Evolutionary novelties are rare, almost by definition, and we conclude that integrative case studies can provide insights into this rarity relative to the dynamics of adaptation to more common ecological niches and repeated parallel speciation, such as the relative isolation of novel phenotypes on fitness landscapes and the transient availability of ecological, genetic, and behavioral opportunities.

Contingency and determinism in evolution: Replaying life’s tape

Historical processes display some degree of “contingency,” meaning their outcomes are sensitive to seemingly inconsequential events that can fundamentally change the future. Contingency is what makes historical outcomes unpredictable. Unlike many other natural phenomena, evolution is a historical process. Evolutionary change is often driven by the deterministic force of natural selection, but natural selection works upon variation that arises unpredictably through time by random mutation, and even beneficial mutations can be lost by chance through genetic drift. Moreover, evolution has taken place within a planetary environment with a particular history of its own. This tension between determinism and contingency makes evolutionary biology a kind of hybrid between science and history. While philosophers of science examine the nuances of contingency, biologists have performed many empirical studies of evolutionary repeatability and contingency. Here, we review the experimental and comparative evidence from these studies. Replicate populations in evolutionary “replay” experiments often show parallel changes, especially in overall performance, although idiosyncratic outcomes show that the particulars of a lineage’s history can affect which of several evolutionary paths is taken. Comparative biologists have found many notable examples of convergent adaptation to similar conditions, but quantification of how frequently such convergence occurs is difficult. On balance, the evidence indicates that evolution tends to be surprisingly repeatable among closely related lineages, but disparate outcomes become more likely as the footprint of history grows deeper. Ongoing research on the structure of adaptive landscapes is providing additional insight into the interplay of fate and chance in the evolutionary process.

Experimental Design, Population Dynamics, and Diversity in Microbial Experimental Evolution

In experimental evolution, laboratory-controlled conditions select for the adaptation of species, which can be monitored in real time. Despite the current popularity of such experiments, nature's most pervasive biological force was long believed to be observable only on time scales that transcend a researcher's life-span, and studying evolution by natural selection was therefore carried out solely by comparative means. Eventually, microorganisms' propensity for fast evolutionary changes proved us wrong, displaying strong evolutionary adaptations over a limited time, nowadays massively exploited in laboratory evolution experiments. Here, we formulate a guide to experimental evolution with microorganisms, explaining experimental design and discussing evolutionary dynamics and outcomes and how it is used to assess ecoevolutionary theories, improve industrially important traits, and untangle complex phenotypes. Specifically, we give a comprehensive overview of the setups used in experimental evolution. Additionally, we address population dynamics and genetic or phenotypic diversity during evolution experiments and expand upon contributing factors, such as epistasis and the consequences of (a)sexual reproduction. Dynamics and outcomes of evolution are most profoundly affected by the spatiotemporal nature of the selective environment, where changing environments might lead to generalists and structured environments could foster diversity, aided by, for example, clonal interference and negative frequency-dependent selection. We conclude with future perspectives, with an emphasis on possibilities offered by fast-paced technological progress. This work is meant to serve as an introduction to those new to the field of experimental evolution, as a guide to the budding experimentalist, and as a reference work to the seasoned expert.

Phenotypic Switching Can Speed up Microbial Evolution

Stochastic phenotype switching has been suggested to play a beneficial role in microbial populations by leading to the division of labour among cells, or ensuring that at least some of the population survives an unexpected change in environmental conditions. Here we use a computational model to investigate an alternative possible function of stochastic phenotype switching: as a way to adapt more quickly even in a static environment. We show that when a genetic mutation causes a population to become less fit, switching to an alternative phenotype with higher fitness (growth rate) may give the population enough time to develop compensatory mutations that increase the fitness again. The possibility of switching phenotypes can reduce the time to adaptation by orders of magnitude if the “fitness valley” caused by the deleterious mutation is deep enough. Our work has important implications for the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In line with recent experimental findings, we hypothesise that switching to a slower growing — but less sensitive — phenotype helps bacteria to develop resistance by providing alternative, faster evolutionary routes to resistance.

Population size changes and selection drive patterns of parallel evolution in a host-virus system

Predicting the repeatability of evolution remains elusive. Theory and empirical studies suggest that strong selection and large population sizes increase the probability for parallel evolution at the phenotypic and genotypic levels. However, selection and population sizes are not constant, but rather change continuously and directly affect each other even on short time scales. Here, we examine the degree of parallel evolution shaped through eco-evolutionary dynamics in an algal host population coevolving with a virus. We find high degrees of parallelism at the level of population size changes (ecology) and at the phenotypic level between replicated populations. At the genomic level, we find evidence for parallelism, as the same large genomic region was duplicated in all replicated populations, but also substantial novel sequence divergence between replicates. These patterns of genome evolution can be explained by considering population size changes as an important driver of rapid evolution.

Tools for Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis of Microbes at Single-Cell Level

Microbiologists traditionally study population rather than individual cells, as it is generally assumed that the status of individual cells will be similar to that observed in the population. However, the recent studies have shown that the individual behavior of each single cell could be quite different from that of the whole population, suggesting the importance of extending traditional microbiology studies to single-cell level. With recent technological advances, such as flow cytometry, next-generation sequencing (NGS), and microspectroscopy, single-cell microbiology has greatly enhanced the understanding of individuality and heterogeneity of microbes in many biological systems. Notably, the application of multiple ‘omics’ in single-cell analysis has shed light on how individual cells perceive, respond, and adapt to the environment, how heterogeneity arises under external stress and finally determines the fate of the whole population, and how microbes survive under natural conditions. As single-cell analysis involves no axenic cultivation of target microorganism, it has also been demonstrated as a valuable tool for dissecting the microbial ‘dark matter.’ In this review, current state-of-the-art tools and methods for genomic and transcriptomic analysis of microbes at single-cell level were critically summarized, including single-cell isolation methods and experimental strategies of single-cell analysis with NGS. In addition, perspectives on the future trends of technology development in the field of single-cell analysis was also presented.

Convergence and Divergence in a Long-Term Experiment with Bacteria

Suitably designed experiments offer the possibility of quantifying evolutionary convergence because the fraction of replicate populations that converge is known. Here I review an experiment with Escherichia coli, in which 12 populations were founded from the same ancestral strain and have evolved for almost 30 years and more than 65,000 generations under the same conditions. The tension between divergence and convergence has been a major focus of this experiment. I summarize analyses of competitive fitness, correlated responses to different environments, cell morphology, the capacity to use a previously untapped resource, mutation rates, genomic changes, and within-population polymorphisms. These analyses reveal convergence, divergence, and often a complicated mix thereof. Complications include concordance in the direction of evolutionary change with sustained quantitative variation among populations, and the potential for a given trait to exhibit divergence on one timescale and convergence on another. Despite these complications, which also occur in nature, experiments provide a powerful way to study evolutionary convergence based on analyzing replicate lineages that experience the same environment.

Responses to abiotic environmental stresses among phylloplane and soil isolates of Beauveria bassiana from two holm oak ecosystems

The response of entomopathogenic mitosporic ascomycete (EMAs) to abiotic stresses might be adapted to the microhabitats in which they inhabit. In phylloplane, these organisms are more exposed to such stresses than they are in soil, which may have led to adaptation to this environment. In the present work, we investigate whether Beauveria bassiana genotype or isolation habitat, i.e., soil or phylloplane, within the same geographic area influences their responses to key environmental stresses, such as temperature, moisture and ultraviolet radiation (UV-B), which can affect their successful use in microbial control. Twenty isolates of B. bassiana obtained from the soil and phylloplane in two ecosystems from southern Spain (holm oak dehesa and a reforested area) were selected to study the population distribution of these isolates and evaluate their thermal, humidity and UV-B requirements. Molecular characterization was conducted by using elongation factor-1α (EF-1α), the intergenic nuclear region Bloc and 15 microsatellite primers. The cluster analysis based on concatenated EF-1α and Bloc sequences grouped the 20 isolates into five clades within B. basiana, with Clades a, b, d and e containing both soil and phylloplane isolates and Clade c including three phylloplane isolates. The dendrogram and the minimal spanning network generated from the genetic distances among multilocus genotypes showed four divergent groups corresponding to the five clades obtained based on the sequence data (Clades b and d were represented in the same group), with a high degree of shared alleles within groups and few alleles shared among groups. Although no relationship was found between MLG and the habitat (soil or phylloplane) of isolation, isolates grouped into Clade c, all of which were collected from phylloplane, formed a separate group of MLGs. To investigate our hypothesis, the responses to temperature (germination and colony growth evaluated in the range 15-35°C), water activity (conidia germination evaluated against values of a_w between 1 and 0.862) and UV-B exposure (conidia exposed to 920 or 1200mWm^-2 for 2, 4 or 6h) of the soil and phylloplane isolates from the five clades were investigated. No associations of isolate-specific genetic or physiological characteristics with isolate habitat, i.e., soil or phylloplane, were found. These results provide no support for the hypothesis that EMAs strains from the phylloplane have evolved to resist unfavourable environmental conditions.

Evolution by flight and fight: diverse mechanisms of adaptation by actively motile microbes

Evolutionary adaptation can be achieved by mechanisms accessible to all organisms, including faster growth and interference competition, but self-generated motility offers additional possibilities. We tested whether 55 populations of the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus that underwent selection for increased fitness at the leading edge of swarming colonies adapted by swarming faster toward unused resources or by other means. Populations adapted greatly but diversified markedly in both swarming phenotypes and apparent mechanisms of adaptation. Intriguingly, although many adapted populations swarm intrinsically faster than their ancestors, numerous others do not. Some populations evolved interference competition toward their ancestors, whereas others gained the ability to facultatively increase swarming rate specifically upon direct interaction with ancestral competitors. Our results both highlight the diverse range of mechanisms by which actively motile organisms can adapt evolutionarily and help to explain the high levels of swarming-phenotype diversity found in local soil populations of M. xanthus.

Mechanisms of Competition in Biofilm Communities

Bacterial biofilms are dense and often mixed-species surface-attached communities in which bacteria coexist and compete for limited space and nutrients. Here we present the different antagonistic interactions described in biofilm environments and their underlying molecular mechanisms, along with ecological and evolutionary insights as to how competitive interactions arise and are maintained within biofilms.

Experimental evolution in biofilm populations

Biofilms are a major form of microbial life in which cells form dense surface associated communities that can persist for many generations. The long-life of biofilm communities means that they can be strongly shaped by evolutionary processes. Here, we review the experimental study of evolution in biofilm communities. We first provide an overview of the different experimental models used to study biofilm evolution and their associated advantages and disadvantages. We then illustrate the vast amount of diversification observed during biofilm evolution, and we discuss (i) potential ecological and evolutionary processes behind the observed diversification, (ii) recent insights into the genetics of adaptive diversification, (iii) the striking degree of parallelism between evolution experiments and real-life biofilms and (iv) potential consequences of diversification. In the second part, we discuss the insights provided by evolution experiments in how biofilm growth and structure can promote cooperative phenotypes. Overall, our analysis points to an important role of biofilm diversification and cooperation in bacterial survival and productivity. Deeper understanding of both processes is of key importance to design improved antimicrobial strategies and diagnostic techniques.

This review paper provides an overview of (i) the different experimental models used to study biofilm evolution, (ii) the vast amount of diversification observed during biofilm evolution (including potential causes and consequences) and (iii) recent insights in how growth in biofilms can lead to the evolution of cooperative phenotypes.

Gene expression variability in clonal populations: Causes and consequences

During the last decade it has been shown that among cell variation in gene expression plays an important role within clonal populations. Here, we provide an overview of the different mechanisms contributing to gene expression variability in clonal populations. These are ranging from inherent variations in the biochemical process of gene expression itself, such as intrinsic noise, extrinsic noise and bistability to individual responses to variations in the local micro-environment, a phenomenon called phenotypic plasticity. Also genotypic variations caused by clonal evolution and phase variation can contribute to gene expression variability. Consequently, gene expression studies need to take these fluctuations in expression into account. However, frequently used techniques for expression quantification, such as microarrays, RNA sequencing, quantitative PCR and gene reporter fusions classically determine the population average of gene expression. Here, we discuss how these techniques can be adapted towards single cell analysis by integration with single cell isolation, RNA amplification and microscopy. Alternatively more qualitative selection-based techniques, such as mutant screenings, in vivo expression technology (IVET) and recombination-based IVET (RIVET) can be applied for detection of genes expressed only within a subpopulation. Finally, differential fluorescence induction (DFI), a protocol specially designed for single cell expression is discussed.

Cancer Evolution and the Limits of Predictability in Precision Cancer Medicine

The ability to predict the future behavior of an individual cancer is crucial for precision cancer medicine. The discovery of extensive intratumor heterogeneity and ongoing clonal adaptation in human tumors substantiated the notion of cancer as an evolutionary process. Random events are inherent in evolution and tumor spatial structures hinder the efficacy of selection, which is the only deterministic evolutionary force. This review outlines how the interaction of these stochastic and deterministic processes, which have been extensively studied in evolutionary biology, limits cancer predictability and develops evolutionary strategies to improve predictions. Understanding and advancing the cancer predictability horizon is crucial to improve precision medicine outcomes.

A tortoise-hare pattern seen in adapting structured and unstructured populations suggests a rugged fitness landscape in bacteria

In the context of Wright's adaptive landscape, genetic epistasis can yield a multipeaked or "rugged" topography. In an unstructured population, a lineage with selective access to multiple peaks is expected to fix rapidly on one, which may not be the highest peak. In a spatially structured population, on the other hand, beneficial mutations take longer to spread. This slowdown allows distant parts of the population to explore the landscape semiindependently. Such a population can simultaneously discover multiple peaks, and the genotype at the highest discovered peak is expected to dominate eventually. Thus, structured populations sacrifice initial speed of adaptation for breadth of search. As in the fable of the tortoise and the hare, the structured population (tortoise) starts relatively slow but eventually surpasses the unstructured population (hare) in average fitness. In contrast, on single-peak landscapes that lack epistasis, all uphill paths converge. Given such "smooth" topography, breadth of search is devalued and a structured population only lags behind an unstructured population in average fitness (ultimately converging). Thus, the tortoise-hare pattern is an indicator of ruggedness. After verifying these predictions in simulated populations where ruggedness is manipulable, we explore average fitness in metapopulations of Escherichia coli. Consistent with a rugged landscape topography, we find a tortoise-hare pattern. Further, we find that structured populations accumulate more mutations, suggesting that distant peaks are higher. This approach can be used to unveil landscape topography in other systems, and we discuss its application for antibiotic resistance, engineering problems, and elements of Wright's shifting balance process.

Cancer: evolution within a lifetime

Subclonal cancer populations change spatially and temporally during the disease course. Studies are revealing branched evolutionary cancer growth with low-frequency driver events present in subpopulations of cells, providing escape mechanisms for targeted therapeutic approaches. Despite such complexity, evidence is emerging for parallel evolution of subclones, mediated through distinct somatic events converging on the same gene, signal transduction pathway, or protein complex in different subclones within the same tumor. Tumors may follow gradualist paths (microevolution) as well as major shifts in evolutionary trajectories (macroevolution). Although macroevolution has been subject to considerable controversy in post-Darwinian evolutionary theory, we review evidence that such nongradual, saltatory leaps, driven through chromosomal rearrangements or genome doubling, may be particularly relevant to tumor evolution. Adapting cancer care to the challenges imposed by tumor micro- and macroevolution and developing deeper insight into parallel evolutionary events may prove central to improving outcome and reducing drug development costs.

Length of adaptive walk on uncorrelated and correlated fitness landscapes

We consider the adaptation dynamics of an asexual population that walks uphill on a rugged fitness landscape which is endowed with a large number of local fitness peaks. We work in a parameter regime where only those mutants that are a single mutation away are accessible, as a result of which the population eventually gets trapped at a local fitness maximum and the adaptive walk terminates. We study how the number of adaptive steps taken by the population before reaching a local fitness peak depends on the initial fitness of the population, the extreme value distribution of the beneficial mutations, and correlations among the fitnesses. Assuming that the relative fitness difference between successive steps is small, we analytically calculate the average walk length for both uncorrelated and correlated fitnesses in all extreme value domains for a given initial fitness. We present numerical results for the model where the fitness differences can be large and find that the walk length behavior differs from that in the former model in the Fréchet domain of extreme value theory. We also discuss the relevance of our results to microbial experiments.

Quantifying the role of population subdivision in evolution on rugged fitness landscapes

Natural selection drives populations towards higher fitness, but crossing fitness valleys or plateaus may facilitate progress up a rugged fitness landscape involving epistasis. We investigate quantitatively the effect of subdividing an asexual population on the time it takes to cross a fitness valley or plateau. We focus on a generic and minimal model that includes only population subdivision into equivalent demes connected by global migration, and does not require significant size changes of the demes, environmental heterogeneity or specific geographic structure. We determine the optimal speedup of valley or plateau crossing that can be gained by subdivision, if the process is driven by the deme that crosses fastest. We show that isolated demes have to be in the sequential fixation regime for subdivision to significantly accelerate crossing. Using Markov chain theory, we obtain analytical expressions for the conditions under which optimal speedup is achieved: valley or plateau crossing by the subdivided population is then as fast as that of its fastest deme. We verify our analytical predictions through stochastic simulations. We demonstrate that subdivision can substantially accelerate the crossing of fitness valleys and plateaus in a wide range of parameters extending beyond the optimal window. We study the effect of varying the degree of subdivision of a population, and investigate the trade-off between the magnitude of the optimal speedup and the width of the parameter range over which it occurs. Our results, obtained for fitness valleys and plateaus, also hold for weakly beneficial intermediate mutations. Finally, we extend our work to the case of a population connected by migration to one or several smaller islands. Our results demonstrate that subdivision with migration alone can significantly accelerate the crossing of fitness valleys and plateaus, and shed light onto the quantitative conditions necessary for this to occur.

Experimental evidence has recently been accumulating to suggest that fitness landscape ruggedness is common in a variety of organisms. Rugged landscapes arise from interactions between genetic variants, called epistasis, which can lead to fitness valleys or plateaus. The time needed to cross such fitness valleys or plateaus exhibits a rich dependence on population size, since stochastic effects have higher importance in small populations, increasing the probability of fixation of neutral or deleterious mutants. This may lead to an advantage of population subdivision, a possibility which has been strongly debated for nearly one hundred years. In this work, we quantitatively determine when, and to what extent, population subdivision accelerates valley and plateau crossing. Using the simple model of an asexual population subdivided into identical demes connected by gobal migration, we derive the conditions under which crossing by a subdivided population is driven by its fastest deme, thus giving rise to the maximal speedup. Our analytical predictions are verified using stochastic simulations. We investigate the effect of varying the degree of subdivision of a population. We generalize our results to weakly beneficial intermediates and to different population structures. We discuss the magnitude and robustness of the effect for realistic parameter values.

Genome dynamics during experimental evolution

Evolutionary changes in organismal traits may occur either gradually or suddenly. However, until recently, there has been little direct information about how phenotypic changes are related to the rate and the nature of the underlying genotypic changes. Technological advances that facilitate whole-genome and whole-population sequencing, coupled with experiments that 'watch' evolution in action, have brought new precision to and insights into studies of mutation rates and genome evolution. In this Review, we discuss the evolutionary forces and ecological processes that govern genome dynamics in various laboratory systems in the context of relevant population genetic theory, and we relate these findings to evolution in natural populations.

Baldwin effect under multipeaked fitness landscapes: phenotypic fluctuation accelerates evolutionary rate

Phenotypic fluctuations and plasticity can generally affect the course of evolution, a process known as the Baldwin effect. Several studies have recast this effect and claimed that phenotypic plasticity accelerates evolutionary rate (the Baldwin expediting effect); however, the validity of this claim is still controversial. In this study, we investigate the evolutionary population dynamics of a quantitative genetic model under a multipeaked fitness landscape, in order to evaluate the validity of the effect. We provide analytical expressions for the evolutionary rate and average population fitness. Our results indicate that under a multipeaked fitness landscape, phenotypic fluctuation always accelerates evolutionary rate, but it decreases the average fitness. As an extreme case of the trade-off between the rate of evolution and average fitness, phenotypic fluctuation is shown to accelerate the error catastrophe, in which a population fails to sustain a high-fitness peak. In the context of our findings, we discuss the role of phenotypic plasticity in adaptive evolution.

Population subdivision and adaptation in asexual populations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Population subdivision limits competition between individuals, which can have a profound effect on adaptation. Subdivided populations maintain more genetic diversity at any given time compared to well-mixed populations, and thus "explore" larger parts of the genotype space. At the same time, beneficial mutations take longer to spread in such populations, and thus subdivided populations do not "exploit" discovered mutations as efficiently as well-mixed populations. Whether subdivision inhibits or promotes adaptation in a given environment depends on the relative importance of exploration versus exploitation, which in turn depends on the structure of epistasis among beneficial mutations. Here we investigate the relative importance of exploration versus exploitation for adaptation by evolving 976 independent asexual populations of budding yeast with several degrees of geographic subdivision. We find that subdivision systematically inhibits adaptation: even the luckiest demes in subdivided populations on average fail to discover genotypes that are fitter than those discovered by well-mixed populations. Thus, exploitation of discovered mutations is more important for adaptation in our system than a thorough exploration of the mutational neighborhood, and increasing subdivision slows adaptation.

The causes of epistasis

Since Bateson's discovery that genes can suppress the phenotypic effects of other genes, gene interactions-called epistasis-have been the topic of a vast research effort. Systems and developmental biologists study epistasis to understand the genotype-phenotype map, whereas evolutionary biologists recognize the fundamental importance of epistasis for evolution. Depending on its form, epistasis may lead to divergence and speciation, provide evolutionary benefits to sex and affect the robustness and evolvability of organisms. That epistasis can itself be shaped by evolution has only recently been realized. Here, we review the empirical pattern of epistasis, and some of the factors that may affect the form and extent of epistasis. Based on their divergent consequences, we distinguish between interactions with or without mean effect, and those affecting the magnitude of fitness effects or their sign. Empirical work has begun to quantify epistasis in multiple dimensions in the context of metabolic and fitness landscape models. We discuss possible proximate causes (such as protein function and metabolic networks) and ultimate factors (including mutation, recombination, and the importance of natural selection and genetic drift). We conclude that, in general, pleiotropy is an important prerequisite for epistasis, and that epistasis may evolve as an adaptive or intrinsic consequence of changes in genetic robustness and evolvability.

Negative epistasis between beneficial mutations in an evolving bacterial population

Epistatic interactions between mutations play a prominent role in evolutionary theories. Many studies have found that epistasis is widespread, but they have rarely considered beneficial mutations. We analyzed the effects of epistasis on fitness for the first five mutations to fix in an experimental population of Escherichia coli. Epistasis depended on the effects of the combined mutations--the larger the expected benefit, the more negative the epistatic effect. Epistasis thus tended to produce diminishing returns with genotype fitness, although interactions involving one particular mutation had the opposite effect. These data support models in which negative epistasis contributes to declining rates of adaptation over time. Sign epistasis was rare in this genome-wide study, in contrast to its prevalence in an earlier study of mutations in a single gene.

Adaptive landscapes in evolving populations of Pseudomonas fluorescens

The repeatability of adaptive evolution depends on the ruggedness of the underlying adaptive landscape. We contrasted the relative ruggedness of two adaptive landscapes by measuring the variance in fitness and metabolic phenotype within and among genetically distinct strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens in two environments differing only in the carbon source provided (glucose vs. xylose). Fitness increased in all lines, plateauing in one environment but not the other. The pattern of variance in fitness among replicate lines was unique to the selection environment; it increased over the course of the experiment in xylose but not in glucose. Metabolic phenotypes displayed two results: (1) populations adapted via changes that were distinctive to their selection environment, and (2) endpoint phenotypes were less variable in glucose than in xylose. These results indicate that although the response to selection is highly repeatable at the level of fitness, the underlying genetic routes taken were different for each environment and more variable in xylose. We suggest that this reflects a more rugged adaptive landscape in xylose compared to glucose. Our study demonstrates the utility of using replicate selection lines with different evolutionary starting points to try and quantify the relative ruggedness of adaptive landscapes.

Evolutionary advantage of small populations on complex fitness landscapes

Recent experimental and theoretical studies have shown that small asexual populations evolving on complex fitness landscapes may achieve a higher fitness than large ones due to the increased heterogeneity of adaptive trajectories. Here, we introduce a class of haploid three-locus fitness landscapes that allow the investigation of this scenario in a precise and quantitative way. Our main result derived analytically shows how the probability of choosing the path of the largest initial fitness increase grows with the population size. This makes large populations more likely to get trapped at local fitness peaks and implies an advantage of small populations at intermediate time scales. The range of population sizes where this effect is operative coincides with the onset of clonal interference. Additional studies using ensembles of random fitness landscapes show that the results achieved for a particular choice of three-locus landscape parameters are robust and also persist as the number of loci increases. Our study indicates that an advantage for small populations is likely whenever the fitness landscape contains local maxima. The advantage appears at intermediate time scales, which are long enough for trapping at local fitness maxima to have occurred but too short for peak escape by the creation of multiple mutants.

Reciprocal sign epistasis is a necessary condition for multi-peaked fitness landscapes

Having multiple peaks within fitness landscapes critically affects the course of evolution, but whether their presence imposes specific requirements at the level of genetic interactions remains unestablished. Here we show that to exhibit multiple fitness peaks, a biological system must contain reciprocal sign epistatic interactions, which are defined as genetic changes that are separately unfavorable but jointly advantageous. Using Morse theory, we argue that it is impossible to formulate a sufficient condition for multiple peaks in terms of local genetic interactions. These findings indicate that systems incapable of reciprocal sign epistasis will always possess a single fitness peak. However, reciprocal sign epistasis should be pervasive in nature as it is a logical consequence of specificity in molecular interactions. The results thus predict that specific molecular interactions may yield multiple fitness peaks, which can be tested experimentally.

The chemostat with lateral gene transfer

We investigate the standard chemostat model when lateral gene transfer is taken into account. We will show that when the different genotypes have growth rate functions that are sufficiently close to a common growth rate function, and when the yields of the genotypes are sufficiently close to a common value, then the population evolves to a globally stable steady state, at which all genotypes coexist. These results can explain why the antibiotic-resistant strains persist in the pathogen population.

Evolutionary dynamics on strongly correlated fitness landscapes

We study the evolutionary dynamics of a maladapted population of self-replicating sequences on strongly correlated fitness landscapes. Each sequence is assumed to be composed of blocks of equal length and its fitness is given by a linear combination of four independent block fitnesses. A mutation affects the fitness contribution of a single block leaving the other blocks unchanged and hence inducing correlations between the parent and mutant fitness. On such strongly correlated fitness landscapes, we calculate the dynamical properties such as the number of jumps in the most populated sequence and the temporal distribution of the last jump, which is shown to exhibit an inverse square dependence as in evolution on uncorrelated fitness landscapes. We also obtain exact results for the distribution of records and extremes for correlated random variables.

Multiple peaks and reciprocal sign epistasis in an empirically determined genotype-phenotype landscape

Insight into the ruggedness of adaptive landscapes is central to understanding the mechanisms and constraints that shape the course of evolution. While empirical data on adaptive landscapes remain scarce, a handful of recent investigations have revealed genotype-phenotype and genotype-fitness landscapes that appeared smooth and single peaked. Here, we used existing in vivo measurements on lac repressor and operator mutants in Escherichia coli to reconstruct the genotype-phenotype map that details the repression value of this regulatory system as a function of two key repressor residues and four key operator base pairs. We found that this landscape is multipeaked, harboring in total 19 distinct optima. Analysis showed that all direct evolutionary pathways between peaks involve significant dips in the repression value. Consistent with earlier predictions, we found reciprocal sign epistatic interactions at the repression minimum of the most favorable paths between two peaks. These results suggest that the occurrence of multiple peaks and reciprocal epistatic interactions may be a general feature in coevolving systems like the repressor-operator pair studied here.

Experimental evolution with E. coli in diverse resource environments. I. Fluctuating environments promote divergence of replicate populations

BACKGROUND

Environmental conditions affect the topology of the adaptive landscape and thus the trajectories followed by evolving populations. For example, a heterogeneous environment might lead to a more rugged adaptive landscape, making it more likely that replicate populations would evolve toward distinct adaptive peaks, relative to a uniform environment. To date, the influence of environmental variability on evolutionary dynamics has received relatively little experimental study.

RESULTS

We report findings from an experiment designed to test the effects of environmental variability on the adaptation and divergence of replicate populations of E. coli. A total of 42 populations evolved for 2000 generations in 7 environmental regimes that differed in the number, identity, and presentation of the limiting resource. Regimes were organized in two sets, having the sugars glucose and maltose singly and in combination, or glucose and lactose singly and in combination. Combinations of sugars were presented either simultaneously or as temporally fluctuating resource regimes. This design allowed us to compare the effects of resource identity and presentation on the evolutionary trajectories followed by replicate populations. After 2000 generations, the fitness of all populations had increased relative to the common ancestor, but to different extents. Populations evolved in glucose improved the least, whereas populations evolving in maltose or lactose increased the most in their respective sets. Among-population divergence also differed across regimes, with variation higher in those groups that evolved in fluctuating environments than in those that faced constant resource regimens. This divergence under the fluctuating conditions increased between 1000 and 2000 generations, consistent with replicate populations evolving toward distinct adaptive peaks.

CONCLUSIONS

These results support the hypothesis that environmental heterogeneity can give rise to more rugged adaptive landscapes, which in turn promote evolutionary diversification. These results also demonstrate that this effect depends on the form of environmental heterogeneity, with greater divergence when the pairs of resources fluctuated temporally rather than being presented simultaneously.

Tumor heterogeneity: causes and consequences

With rare exceptions, spontaneous tumors originate from a single cell. Yet, at the time of clinical diagnosis, the majority of human tumors display startling heterogeneity in many morphological and physiological features, such as expression of cell surface receptors, proliferative and angiogenic potential. To a substantial extent, this heterogeneity might be attributed to morphological and epigenetic plasticity, but there is also strong evidence for the co-existence of genetically divergent tumor cell clones within tumors. In this perspective, we summarize the sources of intra-tumor phenotypic heterogeneity with emphasis on genetic heterogeneity. We review experimental evidence for the existence of both intra-tumor clonal heterogeneity as well as frequent evolutionary divergence between primary tumors and metastatic outgrowths. Furthermore, we discuss potential biological and clinical implications of intra-tumor clonal heterogeneity.

The properties of adaptive walks in evolving populations of fungus

The rarity of beneficial mutations has frustrated efforts to develop a quantitative theory of adaptation. Recent models of adaptive walks, the sequential substitution of beneficial mutations by selection, make two compelling predictions: adaptive walks should be short, and fitness increases should become exponentially smaller as successive mutations fix. We estimated the number and fitness effects of beneficial mutations in each of 118 replicate lineages of Aspergillus nidulans evolving for approximately 800 generations at two population sizes using a novel maximum likelihood framework, the results of which were confirmed experimentally using sexual crosses. We find that adaptive walks do indeed tend to be short, and fitness increases become smaller as successive mutations fix. Moreover, we show that these patterns are associated with a decreasing supply of beneficial mutations as the population adapts. We also provide empirical distributions of fitness effects among mutations fixed at each step. Our results provide a first glimpse into the properties of multiple steps in an adaptive walk in asexual populations and lend empirical support to models of adaptation involving selection towards a single optimum phenotype. In practical terms, our results suggest that the bulk of adaptation is likely to be accomplished within the first few steps.

The impact of population size on the evolution of asexual microbes on smooth versus rugged fitness landscapes

BACKGROUND

It is commonly thought that large asexual populations evolve more rapidly than smaller ones, due to their increased rate of beneficial mutations. Less clear is how population size influences the level of fitness an asexual population can attain. Here, we simulate the evolution of bacteria in repeated serial passage experiments to explore how features such as fitness landscape ruggedness, the size of the mutational target under selection, and the mutation supply rate, interact to affect the evolution of microbial populations of different sizes.

RESULTS

We find that if the fitness landscape has many local peaks, there can be a trade-off between the rate of adaptation and the potential to reach high fitness peaks. This result derives from the fact that whereas large populations evolve mostly deterministically and often become trapped on local fitness peaks, smaller populations can follow more stochastic evolutionary paths and thus locate higher fitness peaks. We also find that the target size of adaptation and the mutation rate interact with population size to influence the trade-off between rate of adaptation and final fitness.

CONCLUSION

Our study suggests that the optimal population size for adaptation depends on the details of the environment and on the importance of either the ability to evolve rapidly or to reach high fitness levels.

Evolution of diversity in spatially structured Escherichia coli populations

The stochastic Ricker population model was used to investigate the generation and maintenance of genetic diversity in a bacterial population grown in a spatially structured environment. In particular, we showed that Escherichia coli undergoes dramatic genetic diversification when grown as a biofilm. Using a novel biofilm entrapment method, we retrieved 64 clones from each of six different depths of a mature biofilm, and after subculturing for approximately 30 generations, we measured their growth kinetics in three different media. We fit a stochastic Ricker population growth model to the recorded growth curves. The growth kinetics of clonal lineages descendant from cells sampled at different biofilm depths varied as a function of both the depth in the biofilm and the growth medium used. We concluded that differences in the growth dynamics of clones were heritable and arose during adaptive evolution under local conditions in a spatially heterogeneous environment. We postulate that under nutrient-limited conditions, selective sweeps would be protracted and would be insufficient to purge less-fit variants, a phenomenon that would allow the coexistence of genetically distinct clones. These findings contribute to the current understanding of biofilm ecology and complement current hypotheses for the maintenance and generation of microbial diversity in spatially structured environments.

Biodiversity of benthic microbial communities in bioturbated coastal sediments is controlled by geochemical microniches

We used a combination of field and laboratory approaches to address how the bioturbation activity of two crustaceans, the ghost shrimp Neotrypaea californiensis and the fiddler crab Uca crenulata, affects the microbial diversity in the seabed of a coastal lagoon (Catalina Harbor, Santa Catalina Island, CA, USA). Detailed geochemical analyses, including oxygen microsensor measurements, were performed to characterize environmental parameters. We used a whole-assemblage fingerprinting approach (ARISA: amplified ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis) to compare bacterial diversity along geochemical gradients and in relation to subsurface microniches. The two crustaceans have different burrowing behaviors. The ghost shrimp maintains complex, deep-reaching burrows and permanently lives subterranean, supplying its burrow with oxygen-rich water. In contrast, the fiddler crab constructs simpler, J-shaped burrows, which it does not inhabit permanently and does not actively ventilate. Our goal was to address how varying environmental parameters affect benthic microbial communities. An important question in benthic microbial ecology has been whether burrows support similar or unique communities compared with the sediment surface. Our results showed that sediment surface microbial communities are distinct from subsurface assemblages and that different burrow types support diverse bacterial taxa. Statistical comparisons by canonical correspondence analysis indicated that the availability of oxidants (oxygen, nitrate, ferric iron) play a key role in determining the presence and abundance of different taxa. When geochemical parameters were alike, microbial communities associated with burrows showed significant similarity to sediment surface communities. Our study provides implications on the community structure of microbial communities in marine sediments and the factors controlling their distribution.

Spatial structure leads to ecological breakdown and loss of diversity

Spatial structure has been identified as a major contributor to the maintenance of diversity. Here, we show that the impact of spatial structure on diversity is strongly affected by the ecological mechanisms maintaining diversity. In well-mixed, unstructured environments, microbial populations can diversify by production of metabolites during growth, providing additional resources for novel specialists. By contrast, spatially structured environments potentially limit such facilitation due to reduced metabolite diffusion. Using replicate microcosms containing the bacterium Escherichia coli, we predicted the loss of diversity during an environmental shift from a spatially unstructured environment to spatially structured conditions. Although spatial structure is frequently observed to be a major promoter of diversity, our results indicate that it can also have negative impacts on diversity.