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| Open AccessIntegrating evolutionary dynamics into treatment of metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer
Evolution of resistance is a common cause of cancer treatment failure and tumor progression. Here, the authors present a method for integrating evolutionary principles based on adaptive therapy into abiraterone therapy for metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer and show the positive results of an interim analysis of a trial cohort.
- Jingsong Zhang
- , Jessica J. Cunningham
- & Robert A. Gatenby
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| Open AccessThe genetic basis for the adaptation of E. coli to sugar synthesis from CO2
An E. coli strain able to use CO2 fixation for sugar synthesis was previously generated by experimental evolution of an engineered strain. Here, Herz et al. show that specific mutations in five genes, encoding carbon metabolism enzymes or key regulators, are sufficient to enable robust growth of the strain.
- Elad Herz
- , Niv Antonovsky
- & Ron Milo
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| Open AccessAdaptive artificial evolution of droplet protocells in a 3D-printed fluidic chemorobotic platform with configurable environments
Few studies have explored the effect of a changing environment on artificial chemical evolution. Here, the authors develop an evolutionary platform that alters the physical environment of droplet protocells, showing that a population of simple chemical species can adapt to its surroundings, in analogy to natural evolution.
- Juan Manuel Parrilla-Gutierrez
- , Soichiro Tsuda
- & Leroy Cronin
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| Open AccessTime-programmable drug dosing allows the manipulation, suppression and reversal of antibiotic drug resistance in vitro
It is unclear whether strategies involving antibiotic cycling can efficiently control the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Here, Yoshidaet al. show that the evolution of multi-drug-resistant bacteria in vitrocan be manipulated by administering pairs of antibiotics and switching between them.
- Mari Yoshida
- , Sabrina Galiñanes Reyes
- & Leroy Cronin
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| Open AccessSynergistic cooperation promotes multicellular performance and unicellular free-rider persistence
Multicellularity can arise by cells aggregating or remaining connected after cell division. Here, Driscoll and Travisano show that both mechanisms operate in experimentally evolved strains of the yeastKluyveromyces lactis, with transient aggregation facilitating the coexistence of unicellular and multicellular genotypes.
- William W Driscoll
- & Michael Travisano
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| Open AccessMistranslation can enhance fitness through purging of deleterious mutations
Mistranslation results in amino acid changes in proteins known as phenotypic mutations and these occur at a much higher rate than DNA mutations. Here, the authors show that mistranslation can increase the response to directional selection by exacerbating the fitness effects of deleterious DNA mutations.
- Sinisa Bratulic
- , Macarena Toll-Riera
- & Andreas Wagner
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| Open AccessPayoff information hampers the evolution of cooperation
Knowledge of payoffs has been assumed to be weakly beneficial for the emergence of cooperation between humans. Here the authors provide evidence to the contrary, showing that during interactions in a competitive environment access to information about payoffs leads to less cooperative behaviour.
- Steffen Huck
- , Johannes Leutgeb
- & Ryan Oprea
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| Open AccessDe novo evolved interference competition promotes the spread of biofilm defectors
The production of secreted polymers in bacterial biofilms is costly, and therefore mechanisms preventing invasion of non-producing mutants are hypothesized. Here, the authors show that non-producers can evolve the ability to better incorporate into biofilms via phage-mediated interference.
- Marivic Martin
- , Anna Dragoš
- & Ákos T. Kovács
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| Open AccessReal-time divergent evolution in plants driven by pollinators
Pollinators are thought to be a driver of plant diversification, but their effects are difficult to disentangle from those of other biotic and abiotic factors. Here, the authors let plants evolve under different pollination regimes and show rapid and divergent evolution of plant height, floral traits and mating system.
- Daniel D. L. Gervasi
- & Florian P Schiestl
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| Open AccessRapid evolution of dispersal ability makes biological invasions faster and more variable
Theory suggests that spatial sorting by dispersal ability can generate evolutionarily accelerated range expansions. Using the bean beetleCallosobruchus maculatus, this study shows that evolution not only increases the speed of range expansion, as predicted, but also increases variability.
- Brad M. Ochocki
- & Tom E. X. Miller
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| Open AccessRapid trait evolution drives increased speed and variance in experimental range expansions
Spatial structure provides unique opportunities for evolution during range expansions. Here, the authors show experimentally using the red flour beetle,Tribolium castaneum, that dispersal and growth can evolve through spatial processes, increasing expansion speed and its variance.
- Christopher Weiss-Lehman
- , Ruth A Hufbauer
- & Brett A Melbourne
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| Open AccessMicrobe-mediated host defence drives the evolution of reduced pathogen virulence
Some microbes protect their hosts from pathogens and likely drive pathogens’ evolution. Here, Fordet al. show that a host-protective microbe selects for reduced virulence of a pathogen in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans.
- Suzanne A. Ford
- , Damian Kao
- & Kayla C. King
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| Open AccessExcess of mutational jackpot events in expanding populations revealed by spatial Luria–Delbrück experiments
Large mutant clones arising from early mutations in growing cell populations facilitate short-term evolution in microbes and in tumours. Here the authors analyse spatially expanding colonies, and show that large mutant clones can also arise late when they surf at expanding frontiers.
- Diana Fusco
- , Matti Gralka
- & Oskar Hallatschek
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| Open AccessThe evolution of antimicrobial peptide resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is shaped by strong epistatic interactions
Colistin is an antibiotic used in the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in cystic fibrosis patients. Here, Jochumsen et al. reconstruct the pathways for the molecular evolution of colistin resistance in P. aeruginosaand show that the number of pathways is highly constrained by interactions among genes.
- Nicholas Jochumsen
- , Rasmus L. Marvig
- & Anders Folkesson
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| Open AccessAn experimental phylogeny to benchmark ancestral sequence reconstruction
Methods for ancestral sequence reconstruction are currently tested with computer simulations, since true biological phylogenies are unknown. Here, Randall et al.build an experimental phylogeny to benchmark the performance of alternate ancestral sequence reconstruction algorithms in inferring ancestral genotypes and phenotypes.
- Ryan N. Randall
- , Caelan E. Radford
- & Eric A. Gaucher
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| Open AccessLocal adaptation of a bacterium is as important as its presence in structuring a natural microbial community
Though both the presence and traits of a species can influence the dynamics of its ecological community, the effects of these factors are difficult to disentangle. Here, Gómez et al. demonstrate in a microbial mesocosm that local adaptation of a focal species can influence the community as much as the presence of the focal species per se.
- Pedro Gómez
- , Steve Paterson
- & Angus Buckling
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| Open AccessEvolution of a G protein-coupled receptor response by mutations in regulatory network interactions
Co-evolution of a new receptor-ligand pair will affect the downstream signal transduction network. Here, the authors use experimental evolution of yeast mating receptor Ste2 to show the effect of enhanced binding affinity and weakened interactions with the network's negative regulators on protein evolution.
- Raphaël B. Di Roberto
- , Belinda Chang
- & Sergio G. Peisajovich
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| Open AccessExperimental evolution reveals that high relatedness protects multicellular cooperation from cheaters
Maintenance of cooperation in multicellular organisms is hypothesized to depend on high relatedness among cells. Here, Bastiaans et al. provide empirical support for this hypothesis by directly comparing the evolutionary stability of multicellular cooperation in experimental lines of a fungus kept at either high or low relatedness.
- Eric Bastiaans
- , Alfons J. M. Debets
- & Duur K. Aanen
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| Open AccessLower glycolysis carries a higher flux than any biochemically possible alternative
The biochemical pathways of central carbon metabolism are highly conserved across all domains of life. Here, Courtet al. use a computational approach to test all possible pathways of glycolysis and gluconeogenesis and find that the existing trunk pathways may represent a maximal flux solution selected for during evolution.
- Steven J. Court
- , Bartlomiej Waclaw
- & Rosalind J. Allen
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Shared rules of development predict patterns of evolution in vertebrate segmentation
Despite apparent morphological diversity, developmental interactions create predictable patterns of variation. Here the authors show that variation in the proportion of limbs, digits and somites and their response to artificial selection follow a rule that predicts the size of sequentially forming structures.
- Nathan M. Young
- , Benjamin Winslow
- & Kathryn Kavanagh
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| Open AccessMacrotene chromosomes provide insights to a new mechanism of high-order gene amplification in eukaryotes
Copy number variation is an important source of genetic variation in natural populations and may have a role in human disease. Here, the authors identify high-order amplification structures that form large extended chromosomes and suggest that these may occur due to accidental template switching in stress conditions.
- Agnès Thierry
- , Varun Khanna
- & Bernard Dujon
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Experimental evidence for the co-evolution of hominin tool-making teaching and language
Oldowan stone tool-making might have influenced the evolution of human language and teaching. Here the authors show that transmission of Oldowan tool-making skills improves with teaching and language, suggesting that hominin reliance on stone tool-making generated selection for teaching and language.
- T. J. H. Morgan
- , N. T. Uomini
- & K. N. Laland
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| Open AccessExperimental evolution of an alternating uni- and multicellular life cycle in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
The early steps in the evolution of multicellularity are poorly understood. Here, Ratcliff et al. show that multicellularity can rapidly evolve in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, demonstrating that single-cell developmental bottlenecks may evolve rapidly via co-option of the ancestral phenotype.
- William C. Ratcliff
- , Matthew D. Herron
- & Michael Travisano
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Experimental coevolution of male and female genital morphology
Studies of male genitalia show patterns of divergent evolution, whereas females have been less well studied. Using experimental evolution and quantitative genetic analysis, Simmons and Garcia-Gonzalez show that sexual selection drives the coevolution of female and male genital morphology in the dung beetleOnthophagus taurus.
- Leigh W. Simmons
- & Francisco Garcia-Gonzalez