Project

Predicting evolution

The ultimate goal of any theory is to be able to predict the outcome of a process. At present, the theory of evolution is very powerful in explaining life by looking back, but not so much in predicting the outcome of evolution.

Description:

However, recently some key factors have been identified that are involved in forcing evolution to repeatedly take the same pathway, including (i) the rate of production of genetic variation, and (ii) the environmental requirements and opportunities.  We would like to test these ideas by manipulating these factors and see how they affect the repeatability of evolution in replicated laboratory experiments with the enzyme beta-lactamase (see above), the bacterium E. coli and the fungus Aspergillus nidulans.  The advantage of the beta-lactamase system is that the mutations involved can be see relatively easily.  We intend not only to study the repeatability of evolutionary changes, but also to study the availability of adaptive mutations and how they interact to produce fitness, i.e. we want to map the fitness landscape involved.  For the latter, mutant strains carrying combinations of adaptive mutations will be constructed, while the analysis of these landscapes will be done in collaboration with Prof. Joachim Krug (University of Cologne).

Used skills:

Basic microbiological techniques and various molecular methods (such as PCR and sequence analysis) to monitor the results of the evolution experiments. Statistical analysis.

Requirements:

Molecular and Evolutionary Ecology (GEN20304) and Genetic Analyses Tools and Concepts (GEN30306) provide a good preparation.

Contact

Arjan de Visser

Reference:

Weinreich et al. 2006 Darwinian evolution can follow only very few mutational paths to fitter proteins. Science 312: 111-114; de Visser et al. 2009 Exploring the effect of sex on empricial fitness landscapes. Am. Nat., in press.