Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 35: SYBE: Statistical Physics and Biological Evolution

BP 35.1: Invited Talk

Friday, March 18, 2011, 10:30–11:00, TRE Ma

Microbial evolution in spatially-structured environments — •Arjan de Visser — Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

The theory of evolution is increasingly powerful in explaining the diversity of life by looking back, but is still largely unable to predict the future course of evolution. One problem with the development of a predictive theory of evolution is the lack of direct experimental tests of evolutionary models, which are constrained by the slow pace of evolution. Microbial experimental evolution offers a promising tool in this respect. Microbes, such as bacteria and fungi, allow relatively rapid evolutionary changes under controlled conditions that can be replicated. Moreover, they can be temporarily stored in non-evolving state in the freezer and molecular tools allow the manipulation of their genotypes and identification of evolved genetic changes. One limitation of these studies so far has been the use of unstructured well-mixed environments, while natural environments are spatially structured. Spatial environmental structure has several consequences for the process of evolution, including (i) increased environmental heterogeneity allowing more diverse adaptive opportunities, (ii) fragmentation of populations into small semi-isolated subpopulations with a greater role of genetic drift, and (iii) decreased access to nutrients due to slow diffusion leading to inefficient local resource competition among clone mates. I will introduce the approach of experimental evolution, and present examples of studies addressing various consequences of spatial environmental structure for microbial evolution.