TY - JOUR
T1 - Epistasis and allele specificity in the emergence of a stable polymorphism in Escherichia coli
AU - Plucain, Jessica
AU - Hindré, Thomas
AU - Le Gac, Mickaël
AU - Tenaillon, Olivier
AU - Cruveiller, Stéphane
AU - Médigue, Claudine
AU - Leiby, Nicholas
AU - Harcombe, William R.
AU - Marx, Christopher J.
AU - Lenski, Richard E.
AU - Schneider, Dominique
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Ecological opportunities promote population divergence into coexisting lineages. However, the genetic mechanisms that enable new lineages to exploit these opportunities are poorly understood except in cases of single mutations. We examined how two Escherichia coli lineages diverged from their common ancestor at the outset of a long-term coexistence. By sequencing genomes and reconstructing the genetic history of one lineage, we showed that three mutations together were sufficient to produce the frequency-dependent fitness effects that allowed this lineage to invade and stably coexist with the other. These mutations all affected regulatory genes and collectively caused substantial metabolic changes. Moreover, the particular derived alleles were critical for the initial divergence and invasion, indicating that the establishment of this polymorphism depended on specific epistatic interactions.
AB - Ecological opportunities promote population divergence into coexisting lineages. However, the genetic mechanisms that enable new lineages to exploit these opportunities are poorly understood except in cases of single mutations. We examined how two Escherichia coli lineages diverged from their common ancestor at the outset of a long-term coexistence. By sequencing genomes and reconstructing the genetic history of one lineage, we showed that three mutations together were sufficient to produce the frequency-dependent fitness effects that allowed this lineage to invade and stably coexist with the other. These mutations all affected regulatory genes and collectively caused substantial metabolic changes. Moreover, the particular derived alleles were critical for the initial divergence and invasion, indicating that the establishment of this polymorphism depended on specific epistatic interactions.
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U2 - 10.1126/science.1248688
DO - 10.1126/science.1248688
M3 - Article
C2 - 24603152
AN - SCOPUS:84897086957
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 343
SP - 1366
EP - 1369
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 6177
ER -