Genomics of adaptation and diversification in evolving populations of microbes

微生物种群进化的适应和多样化的基因组学

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-04836
• 负责人: Kassen, Rees
• 金额: $ 4.52万
• 依托单位: University of Ottawa
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=588045
• 关键词: Genomics; adaptation; diversification; evolving; populations

Why and how life became so diverse has been the central problem – one might more accurately say obsession – in biology. A history of answers would be a history of biology itself, if not a fairly accurate barometer of the attitudes and mores of society at large. It is also the problem that motivates my research. My aim is to provide a general theory for the evolution of diversity. This proposal explores the underlying genetic causes of ecological diversification. In essence, we are attempting to uncover what has become known as the ‘holy-grail’ of evolution: the genetic changes responsible for adaptation. To do this, we combine experimental evolution, a technique that uses microbial populations evolving in the defined conditions of the laboratory, with new technologies that permit rapid and inexpensive whole genome sequencing. By comparing the genomes of evolved and ancestral genotypes, we can identify the genetic changes responsible for adaptation. In this proposal I outline a series of projects that use these techniques to answer questions such as: How many genes are responsible for ecological diversification? How repeatable is adaptive evolution? What kinds of mutations are responsible for adaptive diversification? Taken together, the answers to these questions allow us to take the first steps towards a general theory of diversity, one that integrates both ecology and genetics. The results of this work will have wide implications both for our basic knowledge about how diversity evolves as well as informing more practical problems in human and ecosystem health that are impacted by the evolutionary emergence of diversity.

在生物学上，生活变得如此转移的原因以及如何变化一直是一个核心问题 - 人们可能会更准确地表达痴迷。答案的历史将是生物学本身的历史，即使不是与会者的准确晴雨表，也是整个社会的更多晴雨表。这也是激励我的研究的问题。我的目的是为多样性的演变提供一般理论。该提案探讨了生态多样化的潜在遗传原因。从本质上讲，我们试图揭示被称为进化的“圣洁”：造成适应的遗传变化。为此，我们结合了实验进化，这是一种使用在实验室定义条件下发展的微生物种群的技术，以及允许快速且廉价的整个基因组测序的新技术。通过比较进化和祖先基因型的基因组，我们可以确定导致适应的遗传变化。在此提案中，我概述了一系列使用这些技术来回答以下问题的项目，例如：多少基因负责生态多样化？自适应进化的重复程度如何？哪些突变导致自适应多样化？综上所述，这些问题的答案使我们能够迈出第一步，朝着多样性的一般理论迈进，既可以融合生态学和遗传学。这项工作的结果将对我们的基本知识具有广泛的含义，这是关于多样性如何发展以及向人类和生态系统健康中更实际的问题的知识，这些问题受到多样性进化紧急情况影响。