title: Weak mutators can drive the evolution of fluoroquinolone resistance in Escherichia coli.
abstract: Weak mutators are common among clinical isolates of Escherichia coli. We show that the relative mutation rate and the "evolvability of fluoroquinolone resistance" are related by a power law slope of 1.2 over 3 orders of magnitude. Thus, even weak mutators can drive the evolution of fluoroquinolone resistance under selection pressure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Biomedical Center, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Orlén
authors.forename: Diarmaid
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hughes
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D048168:Escherichia coli K12 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D024841:Fluoroquinolones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009154:Mutation
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D024841:Fluoroquinolones